WAYNE RESPONDS: Thinking of Breaking up this forum...

[Wayne 962]

In response to recent feedback on this forum...

It would seem that there was almost too many people posting in this one forum. I would like to propose that we break the forum up into subforums that would be grouped under a single Porsche 911 forum:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=220

This would allow good conversation to continue, yet would prevent questions and other good posts from quickly disappearing into 'page 2'.

Please consider the pluses and minuses of these changes. Eventually this forum will indeed grow too big, and will need to be divided up. This is a chance to have a say in how that's done.

I have picked about five different forums based on the questions and comments I've seen here. I think that grouping them together here will make good sense, and not cause too much turmoil.

I realize that no one likes change, however, with growth, change is necessary. While you may not be warm to this idea right now, if you ponder and think about it a bit, it makes perfect sense. Please vote - your opinion counts in my decisions...

Thanks,

Wayne

[Bill Douglas]

Please Wayne, can we stay as we are - a happy bunch of lunatics.

[masraum]

I don't know how hard it is to start and stop new sections of the board, so I don't know how feasible this might be. My only concern about the proposed split is that the newbie list may not get the attention by the senior members that it would need. Other than that one concern I think what you have proposed is great. I enjoy this board very much, but do find that the topics shoot by too quickly.

[island911]

Hey Wayne, if you really feel the need to organize topics; go write a book!
. . .Oh right, you are writing a book.
Correction: if anyone wants alll this stuff organized buy Waynes books.
. . .Or, canned responce #1; use the search button.

[island911]

dont bounce the enter button when submitting a post.

[Zeke]

I agree that Racing of any Pcars could be a separate forum. As far as newbies go, do you all think that you that have the most knowledge will go over and help or will you just stick to *home?* And lastly, look at the Boxster Haven, well none of you do, but when it goes dead, its dead. Then guys like me want to come over to where the fun is.

This is a great bunch of guys and Sarah. Sorry if I missed any other female posters. Its not so much about the individual models as it is the group as a whole. I'd give anything to be as witty and cool as most of the members. My dad always said that if you wanted to play better tennis, play with better tennis players. This is where the better players are. I know, I'm on 7 boards.

[CamB]

Wayne

Not having ANY idea about how the software behind the BB works, is there any way you could have the user cp incorporate a choice between "aggregate all" and "separate forums", for each user?

I guess when you post a new topic, you have to pick a forum (easy), but I (for one) would choose to read all 5, and would prefer to do this from one screen. In other words, I would want to see all the topics from the 5 sub-boards in one list by date order.

Otherwise, I prefer it like it is... I don't think much stuff would end up in the "other" categories anyway. As it is, if a poster is posting something only vaguely on-topic looking for opinions/discussion etc, they will post to the largest group of readers... so a lot will end up in the one board. I reckon this represents up to 50% of the traffic (and I like it).

My 2 cents.

[kstar]

I know the following statement goes against my typical attitude towards working on my 911, but "if it ain't broken, don't fix it."

IMHO, breaking down the present 911 board will only cause the present community to begin to end.

If there were posts to this board regarding problems associated with the heavy traffic, then I must have missed them.

I have seen some boards never gain critical mass because of too many forums and I have seen vibrant boards die after being subdivided into more specific forums.

Wayne, I thank you for allowing this fine community to flourish and all the costs and hard work associated with keeping it up. Please don't split us up!!!

Best to you,

Kurt

[Chuck Moreland]

I would suggest that the new forums wouldn't develop critical mass and the 911 forum would continue as is.

There is already a an autocross and track forum, no traffic. a 964+ forum, no traffic. I don't think a newbie or engine forum would get an play either.

IMHO, the 911 forum is great as is. It is the volume that makes it work.

[turbo dave]

Wayne, I could see splitting off engines, and maybe even track (although there is already a dead track section here, as has already been mentioned). I think newbie & 964... would die quickly.

Problem is, where would people post topics? For example, if I have a problem starting up the motor, do I go to the engine section, which is probably mostly technical talk between a few very knowledgable people, or general, where it is probably OT, but where the most people will likely be? I might suggest two forums for very specific info (Engine Upgrades & Rebuilding, Track Events & Preparation), and one General. I think that might work. Five is way too many, let another couple hundred active posters join before taking it that far, please!

[dickster]

i agree i think its the volume that makes it such a success

i've noticed when the board is slow a bit of general chat etc goes on......thats the result of the great little community.

i've tried other forums and none come near to this one.

i do not know whats involved with the software etc, but i hope you do not have to split the board up

[82SC]

don't know if it is possible...

but if you can have a general link that would be all the threads....

as well as the sub catagories...that way people can choose if they want to cruise specifics or be more specific in what they have on their screen...

and when you post, you can have a drop down menu of which subfolder you want the thread to be posted (if you are using the general all combined view)

the more you fragment, it will be harder to get responses...

I know that for me if I had to cruise a page, then go back, choose another catagory, cruise that, etc...I would be lazy and prob cruise thru less of pelican then I do now...yeah it is only a couple mouse clicks...but you get lazy....

[Rufblackbird]

I would prefer for everything to be here on this board, and not separate it up. Granted, other boards may just be a few clicks away, but it IS extra work, and lazy people like me just wants to stay on one board.

As mentioned above, some of the other boards are just dead. And I agree that sometimes it may be hard to post your question on a particular board, and whether or not the guys who know their stuff will be on that specific board. I vote to keep it just the way it is.

[Eagle Keeper]

Change BAD! Me fear change!!!!

[Deeks]

I agree with the majority on this one.......

The vastness of knowledge on this board makes it what it is. From engine maintenance to trackdays to fixing the upholstery in your seat - this board has all the expertise and experience.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but my day at work consists of logging onto my pc, checking my hotmail account, one other favourite site then spending the rest of the day logged onto Pelican..... Addicted..? Maybe....

But I think that the division of this pool of knowledge would be a shame. It would be an act of fratricide.

Though from a technical standpoint, is it really necessary ? Only Wayne knows...

[walt]

I would leave it much like it is, but breaking off a performace/racing group would be OK. I think to many subgroups may have hurt the core 911 board at Rennlist.

[epbrown]

As someone that runs a type of discusion forum elsewhere on the net, my opinion is that a forum has to reach "critical mass" to achieve the kind of synergy we have here, and breaking up the group would destroy that. The main issue is that some posts are "scrolled off" the first page before some people see them, and it's "out of sight, out of mind."

My suggestion would be to make the first page longer, or at least offer people the option of setting how many posts appear on each page. It's basically a text list and doesn't take long to load no matter how slow your connection (I'm on a dial-up), and would help alleviate the problem. We're current at 40 threads/page, and I'd have no problem with paging down for 100 rather than turning to page two or three - scrolling is your friend!

Emanuel

[MMARSH]

Originally posted by epbrown
The main issue is that some posts are "scrolled off" the first page before some people see them, and it's "out of sight, out of mind."

My suggestion would be to make the first page longer, or at least offer people the option of setting how many posts appear on each page. Emanuel

I agree, I dont think sub grouping would make any difference. people post where the people are.

[Doug E]

Even though it takes almost an hour each night for me to catch up on the day's posts, I love being able to sit down and see everything in one place.

This board and community are great because of the volume and diversity and I have yet to find it anyplace else.

While I know change is supposedly for the best, in this case I'd like to see it remain as is.

BTW, thanks for considering our opinion!

[jluetjen]

Wayne;
I think that the "Newbie" forum will be still-born soon after the transistion, the only people who will go there will be "Newbies" and they won't get a lot of support from the "graybeards". An alternative that might work would be as follows. It only has 3 groupings, but that should cut the activity pretty much by a third for each.

911 Lifestyle: (Posts about Buying, selling and events)
Air Cooled 911 Technical: (Engines, Suspensions, Modifications)
Watercooled 911 Technical: (Engines, Suspensions, Modifications)

I first thought that breaking "Racing" out would be good, but I suspect that it is so interwined with the other groups that it would just be confusing. In the world of 911's the same car often encompasses both worlds. Breaking out the watercooled from the air cooled as far as technical discussion makes sense since their really isn't that much in common between the two except for the engine in the back and badge on the front.

The problem is that a lot of us often browse for both "technical" and "lifestyle" content, but I guess if we just use the higher level "911 Forum" we can still do that too.