Forum getting big...and disorganized...suggestions.

[Ottawa]

Hi all, I thought I might start something here to allow people to make suggestions about forum organization.  We've grown to a very respectable size and have somewhere in the order of 150,000 posts!!!  I see that at least 50% of these are in the "Ask a Mustachian" and "Welcome and General Discussion" categories.  I suspect it is getting more unwieldy for the moderators to handle as well. 

I have noticed alot of repeat-theme postings and questions of a similar nature...heck, I'm guilty myself!  I find the search function to be so-so with finding specific things - mainly because it tosses up so many hits.

So, I wonder if we can start creating sub categories under "The only category"?  For example:

Car Stuff
Bike Stuff
House Stuff

This might allow newcomers (and old hats alike) to better organize and search relevant categories.  I'm not sure what the limits are behind the scenes for creating a more efficient forum structure. 

I'm sure any and all input/suggestions would be welcomed by our most excellent moderators!

[dragoncar]

A separate sub for case studies could be useful... If there was a way to unsubscribe from certain sub fora (I use the "unread comments" function and would love for case studies to not show up in there... Or maybe an ignore button for threads I don't want to keep popping up).  It's not that I never want to help with a case study, just that I don't want to see them every single day.

[Jamesqf]

I think there needs to be a tech sub-forum, too.

[dragoncar]

I think there needs to be a tech sub-forum, too.

Off topic could definitely be its own category with multiple subtopics

[Leisured]

The MMM forum seems to be a victim of its own success. I like Ottawa' suggestions.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Lord Money Mustache for graciously inviting us all into his huge hall, so that we can talk about Mustachianism.

[swick]

We (Mods) have been thinking about this.

One train of thought was that having too many forums tends to split up discussion, and you actually get less interaction and responses. It's easier to find things,but can have a negative effect on participation.

Granted, this was a couple of months ago and even in that time things have gotten quite a bit busier.

I'll put a "notify" on this thread, I'd love to hear everyone's ideas.

[davisgang90]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

That being said, I would avoid having too many sub-categories.

[smalllife]

I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

I do as well.  It would be nice to be able to ignore threads to prevent clutter when going this route (still searchable, but defaulted as read so they do not show on unread).   

[hybrid]

Hmmmm, I'm the opposite, I only gravitate to certain forum categories and completely ignore others.  I tend to favor a few more categories under Ask a Mustachian given there are 52,000 + posts there.  And perhaps a consolidation of less used ones?

I would love to see a cataegory dealing strictly with optimization.  MMM focuses quite a bit on optimization, and I'm always thinking about ways to optimize this or that.  Lots of posts would fit under this thread, and I believe they would be quite useful to both the new folks and old.

[jpo]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

This is exactly what I do as well.

[oldtoyota]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

This is exactly what I do as well.

This.

[ace1224]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

This is exactly what I do as well.

This.

me too

[elaine amj]

When I used to run a forum, we determined new forum needs based on how many posts we were getting about a particular topic and if we felt it "needed" it's own section. There is something to be said about keeping the community tightknit into ffewer forums (and I believe in erring towards fewer forums) but like you have noticed, it becomes a bit unwieldy.

I'm actually surprised there is no "Life after FIRE" forum - and kept going back through the forums about a dozen times looking for it.

[aclarridge]

Mods, maybe propose a few ideas and put it to a vote?

I would be for consolidating some of the lesser used categories, and adding maybe a couple new ones ("Mustachian Transportation" is one that comes to mind).

[aclarridge]

For example, Do it yourself and ask a mustachian could be merged, or share your badassity, throw down the gauntlet, and reader recommendations could be merged.

Meetups and social events and personals could be merged.

Just some ideas.

[arebelspy]

Mods, maybe propose a few ideas and put it to a vote?

There has been almost no one who agreed on anything in this thread, except the people who browse by unread post, in which case none of this even matters to them because they don't see the forum organization at all.

Your own post is a great example of people not agreeing:

For example, Do it yourself and ask a mustachian could be merged, or share your badassity, throw down the gauntlet, and reader recommendations could be merged.

Meetups and social events and personals could be merged.

Just some ideas.

This is the exact opposite of what everyone else was saying about making new categories because everything is too big and unorganized, instead you want to do the opposite and merge things.

I don't think making random moves at this point benefits anyone.

[hoodedfalcon]

I think making more categories will just make things bigger and could lead to more confusion about where you are supposed to post something.

Honestly, "Show unread posts since last visit" coupled with a periodic "Mark all messages as read" keeps everything nice and tidy from this reader's perspective.

[Ottawa]

Mods, maybe propose a few ideas and put it to a vote?

There has been almost no one who agreed on anything in this thread, except the people who browse by unread post, in which case none of this even matters to them because they don't see the forum organization at all.

Your own post is a great example of people not agreeing:

For example, Do it yourself and ask a mustachian could be merged, or share your badassity, throw down the gauntlet, and reader recommendations could be merged.

Meetups and social events and personals could be merged.

Just some ideas.

This is the exact opposite of what everyone else was saying about making new categories because everything is too big and unorganized, instead you want to do the opposite and merge things.

I don't think making random moves at this point benefits anyone.

If you see no value in changing anything that's fine too!  There may be limitations due to the program environment, however, I do believe a more efficient structure could be produced...with the right tools..

We seem to follow this guy's reasoning more or less:
http://www.managingcommunities.com/2012/07/30/your-forum-structure-and-new-members/

I think structure and relevant material can be gained though the voting systems that are common in online newspaper settings, among others...in this way the best or most voted reply can rise to the top. 

Duplicate thread prevention would be useful (from wikipedia):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software#Flat_vs._threaded

Duplicate thread prevention[edit]
Many users do not bother to search a forum and directly create new threads to seek an answer to a question. On some forums, when the user types a new thread subject, the forum software brings up similar threads automatically on the side. This helps keep the number of redundant threads (or the overall forum pollution) to a lower level as users who neglect to search for a topic and are posting a thread may find the answer to their question as they are creating the new thread. Instead of having to search the forum, and then creating a thread if there is no satisfying answer, duplicate thread prevention allows the user to go and seek the answer to a topic.

[KimPossible]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

This is exactly what I do as well.

This.

me too

Me three

[dragoncar]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

This is exactly what I do as well.

This.

me too

Me three

Hodor

[KulshanGirl]

Dammit, dragoncar. 

*wipes off monitor*

LOL.   

[Foxy66]

I think too many categories is off putting and then you're not sure where to post things to get the best response .

[gooki]

Less is more.

[grantmeaname]

I'm in the 'ain't broke, don't fix it' camp.

[arebelspy]

I'm in the 'ain't broke, don't fix it' camp.

Agreed.  But clearly, as indicated by this thread, some think it is broken.

[Siamond]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

That being said, I would avoid having too many sub-categories.

+1

I used to be very involved with another forum, we added a bunch of sub-categories, and this mostly created confusion. Some older people of an engineering nature tend to think in folders and like it, while most members tend to think "ala Google", and just read the latest and occasionally use a broad text search. I am personally shifting more and more from the former to the latter. If (and that's a big IF) there is a really good search function, then forget folders, sub-categories and so on. I totally love GMail as a case in point. And don't use labels very much...

My suggestion to moderators would therefore be to improve the search function, creating an easy user interface to use a Google search on the overall content of the forum (across all categories) in addition to the traditional (and not so good) classic forum search. And forget creating new categories.

[FuckRx]

been on a lotta forums and love the layout...
love the moderation...
search is pretty good too ...

[Simple Abundant Living]

I would love an option to see "today's posts" regardless if they're read or unread. Sometimes  I don't read everything I want to read, but when I go back to the unread page, it has gotten rid of the old stuff.

I also would like to ignore some threads that I am currently following.

Other than that, I don't mind how things are.

[Nords]

If you see no value in changing anything that's fine too!  There may be limitations due to the program environment, however, I do believe a more efficient structure could be produced...with the right tools..

We seem to follow this guy's reasoning more or less:
http://www.managingcommunities.com/2012/07/30/your-forum-structure-and-new-members/

I think structure and relevant material can be gained though the voting systems that are common in online newspaper settings, among others...in this way the best or most voted reply can rise to the top. 

Duplicate thread prevention would be useful (from wikipedia):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software#Flat_vs._threaded

Pfffft.

Early-Retirement.org is over a decade old, with over a million posts through two software conversions to boot, and the only people who grump about the organization & search are us old-timers who have trouble finding something we said in 2006.

Your original comment (that search throws up too many results) could be handled by filtering for relevance or age.  And if this board's search software doesn't do it for you then you could try Google.

But a "Life after FIRE" category would match one of E-R.org's layouts, including the hugely popular thread "What did you do today?" designed to inspire those who are worrying about what they'll do all day after FIRE.

[Rebecca Stapler]

I don't really tend to use the forum topics.  I search for unread posts and look at those that interest me.

This is exactly what I do as well.

This.

me too

Me three

Hodor

Now I'm just sad that the next book isn't out :(

I agree w/ Hodor. Although, Mrs. GreenStache has a good point -- I use a forum that has "recent posts" (regardless of whether I've read them) and I like that feature.

But really, everything's fine the way it is for me.

[dragoncar]

Like this? https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/recent

[Simple Abundant Living]

Like this? https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/recent

Yes, but it would look like "show unread posts since last visit" from the past 24hrs, ideally.  (More concise for scanning)

[arebelspy]

Like this? https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/recent

Yes, but it would look like "show unread posts since last visit" from the past 24hrs, ideally.  (More concise for scanning)

How about this: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/unread/

[Simple Abundant Living]

Like this? https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/recent

Yes, but it would look like "show unread posts since last visit" from the past 24hrs, ideally.  (More concise for scanning)

How about this: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/unread/

Isn't that just the "Show unread posts since last visit"?  I was wishing for something to see the posts of the day, read or unread. 

[grantmeaname]

But with the topic-only view like the unread link?

[Bigote]

I second (figuratively, since many have mentioned it) the notion that too many categories is bad for participation.  I think we have some categories that overlap considerably. 

'Ask a Mustachian' for example - most of those threads could easily find a home under DIY, real estate, investing, etc. 

We have other topics that have strayed from their original intention.  'Share your badassity' has become 'share your milestone', for the most part.   Again, nothing wrong with that, but it is a bit confusing given what the topic description says.


Another comment - I think the 'Introduce yourself' thread has outlived its usefulness.  It made sense with 50 participants, it makes no sense today.  It is somewhat awkward to comment on people's introductions as it works today.  I often find myself wanting to comment on an intro post but I don't - especially when you want to comment on someone who introduced himself a few posts back. It feels a bit rude commenting on that post but not the more recent ones.  I'm not the only one who feels this way, since most intro posts go uncommented upon.   A better method would be encouraging new 'Hi, I am...' threads for newbees, like early-retirement.org does.   I think these would get comments from posters with something in common with the newbee, and make him or her feel more welcome.  Also, that wouldn't need a new category, just lock the current thread and edit the first and/or last post to say 'please introduce yourself with a fresh topic rather than a post here'.  Or something like that.


Anyway, those are my 2c.   

[Simple Abundant Living]

But with the topic-only view like the unread link?

Yes!

[tooqk4u22]

Self proclaimed tech idiot - but could you leave it as is but with have certain tags imbedded.

This way you can read as it stands by topic, "Unread posts since last visit", "new replies to posts", you can still search but then there is a separate/new page(?) with tags, that will bring them up.

Example
Better to pay of mortgage or invest.  This ends up in real estate, ask a mustachian, investing, etc.

But maybe there could be tags (radial buttons) that can be select so it gets aggregated with others that have been similarly tagged.

[dragoncar]

But with the topic-only view like the unread link?

Yes!

There's a plugin/mod for that but it would require more work than just selecting an option

[aclarridge]

Mods, maybe propose a few ideas and put it to a vote?

There has been almost no one who agreed on anything in this thread, except the people who browse by unread post, in which case none of this even matters to them because they don't see the forum organization at all.

Your own post is a great example of people not agreeing:

For example, Do it yourself and ask a mustachian could be merged, or share your badassity, throw down the gauntlet, and reader recommendations could be merged.

Meetups and social events and personals could be merged.

Just some ideas.

This is the exact opposite of what everyone else was saying about making new categories because everything is too big and unorganized, instead you want to do the opposite and merge things.

I don't think making random moves at this point benefits anyone.

I should have been clearer - the OP's suggestion was to add certain new categories and I'm for that. A mod (swick) said one train of thought was that they don't want too many. So I was just suggesting ways to decrease the existing number of categories so that new ones could be added. Net result is roughly the same number of categories.

[kiwi]

I would also love to see a "life after FIRE" topic area.  That's the area I'm most interested in - creating a socially engaged, productive, happy life after you no longer need to work for money.  Especially the socially engaged part!  For those of us that can't plug into the active senior retiree network (which is of course the whole point of EARLY retirement), it can be very challenging.

[cbgg]

In my opnion the way to keep the forum organized is not to create more topics, but to change the forum mechanics.  I've already suggested this in the "suggestions" area, but I would suggest implementing some new features if you want to support a larger base for the forum

1) Thread responses.
2) After posting, don't get kicked back to the general forum page, go back to that topic.
3) Add a feature to notify you of responses that directly reply to you.

If the forums are more user friendly they will be more engaging and you won't need to make the categories more granular.

[grantmeaname]

2) After posting, don't get kicked back to the general forum page, go back to that topic.

This already exists, as I mentioned in my reply to your other post. I think it would be inconvenient, so I have that setting turned off, but you can certainly turn it on for your browsing.

3) Add a feature to notify you of responses that directly reply to you.

You can already do this, unless you mean you want the forum software to read the posts and decide which specific posts are being responded to, in which case it's technically impossible.

[Simple Abundant Living]

In another forum, I can hover my mouse over a thread and read the beginning of the post.  Would that be possible?  It doesn't make it more organized, but it would help my browsing. ;)