Announcement Forum structure changes summary

[Second Summer]

I've moved all the philosophy, religion & spirituality threads into their parent forum which is the
Social Sciences & Humanities forum. Each of these threads now instead has a corresponding thread prefix: philosophy, religion or spirituality.

Additionally, I created more thread prefixes for other threads in Social Sciences & Humanities: History, linguistics, sociology etc. I edited some of the threads to add in a suitable prefix.

If you're posting a new thread and you're not sure which prefix to use, don't panic. Just leave it empty and I'm sure a friendly moderator will pick one for you. Or just pick the one you feel fits the best.

The reason for these changes is my ongoing effort to rationalise and simplify the forum structure.

 

[Amy SF]

It looks more nicely streamlined. Thanks.

 

[Second Summer]

In addition to the changes to the Social Sciences & Humanities sub-forums, here is the rest:

• Merged Physical Exercise and Nutrition & Diet and Health Issues into a new forum called Health & Body which is now inside the Lifestyle section. The sub-forums under Health Issues are now under the new forum instead.
• The Children sub-forum has been merged with its parent forum, Family & Relationships.
  
• Moved the Frugality and Family & Relationships and Sexuality forums into the Lifestyle section.
  
• Merged Animal Rights and Animal Activism & Advocacy into a new forum called Animal Rights & Advocacy.
• Renamed the Academic Disciplines section to Science & The Humanities.
• Merged Canada, Aus & NZ forums into Other Countries.
• ... and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

In almost all cases where forums were merged, I have created thread prefixes for the affected threads. So we now rely more on thread prefixes as a way to categorise threads. Thread prefixes, like thread titles, also have the advantage that you can edit them yourself in your own threads. (I believe Tapatalk also supports thread prefixes.)

Hopefully these changes contribute towards making it slightly easier to navigate, and also to find a suitable forum when posting a new thread.

 

[Amy SF]

I like the idea of streamlining everything. Thank you!

 

[Second Summer]

Thank you, Amy It's been a lot of work!

... for those who don't like the changes, maybe it will grow on you?

 

[Second Summer]

I've now also merged Literature, Music, and TV & Film into one mega-forum called Media & Entertainment.

I think now the structure is pretty streamlined, so hopefully that's the end of these changes.

 

[Second Summer]

I thought that was the end of it, but no! I couldn't resist, so I've just replaced the USA sub-forums (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) with corresponding thread prefixes.

 

[shyvas]

I thought that was the end of it, but no! I couldn't resist, so I've just replaced the USA sub-forums (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) with corresponding thread prefixes.

It's like housework; never ending !!!!

I also think that using a prefix is much better and makes the forum look neater.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I think prefixes make it harder to look through thread titles.

 

[beancounter]

I can't handle change.

 

[Second Summer]

More changes: Have merged Debates and Current Events into a forum called General Discussion. (Have a better idea for name? Please let me know!) The threads from the Current Events forum have been given a thread prefix called News. The News thread prefix is now available in all the forums.

I also want to merge Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden and possibly Frugality. Either merge them into one new forum, or merge them into existing forums, or make them sub-forums of other forums. These are low traffic forums on their own, so I feel it makes sense to merge them.

However, I also want to add some new forums: One for product and restaurant reviews, and one for promotion of products - perhaps The Bazaar? The latter will not be visible unless you're logged in, and it will be possible to opt-out. It will also require some tweaking of the rules.

What I'm missing are ideas for names for all these forums.

 

[Second Summer]

Misc thread prefixes added to Computer Science & Technology.

 

[Amy SF]

"I also want to merge Arts & Crafts, Home & Garden and possibly Frugality. Either merge them into one new forum, or merge them into existing forums, or make them sub-forums of other forums. These are low traffic forums on their own, so I feel it makes sense to merge them."

I recommend merging them into The Lounge main forum and using Home & Garden, Arts & Crafts and Frugality as subforums. They might generate more traffic in The Lounge. The Lounge may be better as a way of encouraging new visitors and lurkers to sign up and contribute discussion.

 

[Amy SF]

Instead of a vague "General Discussion", how about "General News Discussion"?

Edited to add: Another idea: How about making the News/Current Events and Debates forum subforums of The Lounge in order to streamline things a bit?