Idea for a New Forum Topic

  • October 08, 2012 8:31 AM
    Message # 1097936
    I've wondered for some time if it wouldn't be worthwhile to add a new topic on the forum for quick and easy improvements... projects that take reasonably little time to complete, yet result in benefits that exceed the time required to do so. My recent post regarding the companionway hatch storage would be an example, as I really couldn't decide where the post would best fit. I can think of many other threads that would have better fit in this category as well... projects are not truly a good fit for "In the Yard", but that could benefit others. Granted, the various rendezvous are a great place to pick up these ideas, but only for those who are able to attend the given event.

    Perhaps a title like "Quick Improvements", or "Small Projects, Big Returns", or "Weekend Improvements", etc. (No doubt, someone will come up with a better title.)

    I'm sure we all have ideas that have resulted in big benefits for little time/money investment. I'd personally love to see more of others' ideas... no point in always reinventing the wheel.

    Jack Webb
  • October 08, 2012 5:37 PM
    Reply # 1098378 on 1097936
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    While we do have a long list of forum's - adding another isn't a technicial issue - except the list gets longer when you open the menu.

    Maybe the forums - In the yard, Sail Plan, Gear for the boat, The Iron Genny and the new "Boat Projects"? could be moved under a menu called "Vessel Impovments"?  This should not change the home page listing of most recient posts. 

    Jay

  • October 09, 2012 3:42 AM
    Reply # 1098727 on 1097936
    Deleted user

    I like Jack's idea as often these little modifications don't fit into one of the existing pigeon holes.  I would be all for adding it to the (already pretty short) list and not doing any rejigging of the links list/structure.

    Ralph

  • October 09, 2012 6:26 AM
    Reply # 1099007 on 1097936
    I lean the other way.  I would prefer having no categories at all.
    • No matter how long the category list, there will always be cases where a post fits none of the listed categories.  Then posters like Jack or Ralph may be hindered from posting at all because of fear of criticism that his post does not fit the category definition.

    • Searching for old posts is more difficult with multiple categories.  If there was only one category, then all posts would be in a single PDF archive.  With N categories, there are N PDF files, and N searches are needed. I much prefer 1 search rather than N searches.  (Jack Webb has a much more elegant solution to searching on his web site.)

    • The whole idea of categories is to allow you to skip reading posts that don't interest you.  If this forum had 100 new posts per day, you would choose to view only those in the categories that interest you.  However, we have only 3-4 posts per day and I bet most members read them all.  If you read them all, then multiple categories are a hindrance, not a help.  I use the "WOA Forum Updates" list on the home page rather than categories, to decide which posts to read.

    • Perhaps the exceptions should be FOR SALE posts, and temporal posts such as DON'T FORGET TOMORROW'S RENDEZVBOUS.  When searching archives, nothing is more useless than posts about things for sale that are no longer for sale, or reminders about events already past. I would like to see date sensitive things like those simply disappear as soon as they become moot.  That would best be handled with an expiration date rather than a forum category. 
    Last modified: October 09, 2012 6:29 AM | Anonymous member
  • October 10, 2012 7:41 AM
    Reply # 1100042 on 1097936
    Thanks all, for your thoughtful comments, as each comment has merit. While the current forum has both strengths and weaknesses, there is little we can do to change its inner workings, hosting the with Wild Apricot. Though we've all felt the shortcomings of this choice, it does make for a reasonably painless and non-techinical administrative solution. I understand this was one of the primary goals in the move to Wild Apricot, and that's a good thing. And with Jay's (and others') constant efforts, the site is becoming much better than I would have expected. Kudos to those efforts!

    ==================================
    Dick,

    I like your thoughts about a forum void of categories... or with limited categories delineated by their temporal nature. It is frustrating to retrieving search results inundated with "already-sold" items, reminders about past events, etc. But, I caution against removing or restructuring the current forum topics. This will surely lead to dead links, thereby diminishing the effectiveness of current search routines. I'm sure all of us have come across this from time to time...



    Adding new topics is a different matter and has no impact. Neither does changing the name of a given forum topic, provided that the id number associated to it remains the same and that the intended meaning remains the same.

    ==================================

    The biggest shortcoming of the current hosting solution is the lack of a good search engine, both for the forum and for the core site. While this was promised long ago (by Wild Apricot), it has not been delivered. It's possible, however, that there may be effective work-arounds for this enhancement that may never come.

    Though it's nice to have a reasonably simple editor to format posts, the net result is the most incredibly bloated HTML output that I've ever seen. (This probably doesn't mean much to anyone other than Dick. But, if you right-click in your browser window and search for an option something to the effect of "View page source", then scroll near the bottom, you might see what I mean. Look for long strings of embedded tags like "</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>". There is never a need to have this kind of code!)

    This is of the biggest hurdles that one faces in designing a search engine for the forum. I don't know what arrangements were made with Wild Apricot, but I would hope that we have the ability to acquire regular downloads of the forum core database. If so, I would also hope that the core data does not have all of the bloating that appears in the end HTML. Again, if so, then it would be possible to continue to host the forum with Wild Apricot, but create a background search utility that would search against a mirrored dataset, yet link to the live forum. IF this is possible, then it might also be possible to combine the data from the archives that I now host on my own server.

    I would be happy to discuss this possibility offline, with anyone who might be interested. My time is a bit more restricted than it was when I first created the archives at Westsail.info, but with appropriate starting data, the process should require a great deal less effort than initially required to build that site.

    It wasn't my intention that the initial suggestion to add ad forum topic would metamorphose in this manor. But, Dick's thoughtful comments seemed to beg for further discussion on the issue. The longer we wait to do something like this, the more difficult the task. I find great benefit from the Forum, though I would like to see it get more input than just from the handful of very loyal contributors we now have. I find their contributions to be incredibly helpful, but it never hurts to hear alternate opinions and experiences. Enhancing the general effectiveness of the forum is the best way I can think of to grow the site usage and thereby increase the value of our beloved vessels. While there is much to be gained by the WOA site in general, ask yourself what percentage of your total time spent on the site is viewing the constantly changing forum content.

    Jack

  • October 11, 2012 7:03 AM
    Reply # 1100917 on 1097936
    Anonymous member (Administrator)
    I've added a forum "small projects"  let's fill'er up...

  • October 11, 2012 12:37 PM
    Reply # 1101213 on 1097936

    Jay,

    'Small Projects' forum needs a few tweaks, it appears at the leftmost column but not in the main body of Forums. Also needs a control to create a thread.

    scott 

  • October 11, 2012 8:18 PM
    Reply # 1101546 on 1097936
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Scott -- right you are -- working now...

    Jay

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