Forum Organization Changes

On the flip side, it shouldn't be too hard to understand exactly what goes into a price check forum.

Sure, there could be only one forum for everything. Or, there could be 50 or more as some thriving forums have. While it's fine to nitpick each and every suggested new sub-forum, what I was hoping to get is feedback on the proposed organization/layout.

I'm a woman with an ordered, analytical (typically male) brain, so take this for what you will.

I can see the need for better organization, but I agree that too many forums may cause guests to say "Too complicated, forget it"

I'll leave the manufacturer section alone since I saw that you just want to set that part aside for right now. How about something like this? The bold parts signify major sections like we have "Safety" and "General" ie upstairs and downstairs. Safety and Admin would be the only forums available to guests and then members would have access to some of the community forums (carseat chat, coupons, sponsors, strollers)


Safety
General Car Seat Questions – Visitors Start Here (category only)
-General Carseat Help and What Seat Should I Buy?

Carseat Safety Topics (category only)
-Installation and Technical Issues *Sticky – Vehicle Compatability
-Special Needs
-Canadian and International Topics

Vehicle and Transportation Safety (category only)
-Auto Safety
-School Buses and Other Transportation

Carseat Reviews and Recalls (category Only)
-Recalls (Child Restraints, Vehicles, and Other Products)
-Carseat Reviews
-Vehicle Reviews

News, Media and Child Passenger Safety Articles (category only)
-CPS News, Press Releases and Media Coverage
-Member Articles and FAQs on Child Passenger Safety

Community
Shopping for Car Seats, Strollers, and Gear (category only)
-Carseat Coupons, Codes and Deals
-Strollers, Travel Systems and Other Baby Gear
-Carseat Swap
-Swap O Rama
-Please Support Our Sponsors
---Sponsor SubForums

Community Chat (category only)
-Carseat Chat (On-Topic)
-Community Member Coffee Break (Off-Topic)
---Pregnancy and TTC
---Medical Issues and TMI
---Senior Community Members Chat
-Technical Professionals

Administrative
Forum Issues (category only)
-Announcements, Guidelines, Feedback
-Test Forum

Darren, you said that there's a need to reorganize things, but what is that need, other than the car seat forum being "too busy"? (That's not asked out of snark--I'm really wondering.)

The thing is, the boards will be just as busy, it's just that the questions will be all over the place. Instead of clicking onto page 2 of one forum, I'd have to go visit several forums just to see everything.

If anything, I think we need fewer boards, not more.

Have General Car Seat stuff, install and technical, other transportation, and news together. Car seat chat could stay separate.

I agree with Jennie. What is the problem that you're trying to answer? The general board public doesn't see the behind-the-scenes stuff, so we just plain don't know what's going on or the reasoning behind your proposal. If we knew more of the nitty-gritty, we would better understand what you're trying to accomplish and be able to offer better feedback.

Thanks! This will help when I make another pass at it. I'm trying to make it "shorter" top to bottom, but still keep things arranged in a logical manner.

LISmama810 said:

Darren, you said that there's a need to reorganize things, but what is that need, other than the car seat forum being "too busy"? (That's not asked out of snark--I'm really wondering.)

The thing is, the boards will be just as busy, it's just that the questions will be all over the place. Instead of clicking onto page 2 of one forum, I'd have to go visit several forums just to see everything.

If anything, I think we need fewer boards, not more.

Have General Car Seat stuff, install and technical, other transportation, and news together. Car seat chat could stay separate.

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The arrangement has just kind of fallen together haphazard over the years. I'd like to make it grouped a little better.

I also want to break out and emphasize the shopping related forums since those are growing quickly.

For any new forums, the idea is that they will have a clear and specific purpose so that it is clear what goes there and that people not interested in that topic don't even have to read them.

Simplysomething said:

I did. I know I went off on a tangent, sorry.

But what about subdiving the review forum?

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Do you think the review forum might be better placed in the shopping section? So, it was subdivided in the future, the separate manufacturer forums could go there rather than upstairs?

CPSDarren said:

Do you think the review forum might be better placed in the shopping section? So, it was subdivided in the future, the separate manufacturer forums could go there rather than upstairs?

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So long as the reviews were to remain visible to guests.

Simplysomething said:

So long as the reviews were to remain visible to guests.

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Of course.

I'm not sure if the reviews are better in the shopping section. At first blush, it seems so. After more thought, not really. To me, reviews are technical beasts, and shopping is... shopping. And shopping is rarely "what should I buy?" in terms of seats. Maybe gear reviews (do we have those?) would be better there. But car seat reviews... I'm almost thinking they'd be better in the main car seat forum. Because people are coming there asking what to buy, but if they have a few in mind they might check a review first. I also think people would write more reviews if they were more visible.

I do think one sticky is needed above all else... the great Frontier v Nautilus debate. That seems to be one of the most frequently asked specific questions. Write a good post and sticky that thing, maybe with links to the previous 9,584,910 threads on the same topic.

Hey, Beck had some suggestions. You know, just to let you guys know...

LuvMyCharlie said:

Hey, Beck had some suggestions. You know, just to let you guys know...

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Very helpful post, I replied to it also!

test

ETA: Thought I found a glitch, so I was playing around, but I can't replicate it, so never mind.

Defrost said:

test

ETA: Thought I found a glitch, so I was playing around, but I can't replicate it, so never mind.

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Is that a +1 for a test forum?

Admin said:

Is that a +1 for a test forum?

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LOL! Yeah, I did look around for one.

I also know on other forums I've been on that have a test forum, it tends to get used mostly by newbies learning how to use the features. Which is nice, because it cuts down on double-posts and other such mistakes.