What goes in which forum?
by Daniel Buckmaster · in Site Feedback · 05/10/2009 (7:42 am) · 5 replies
At the moment, it doesn't seem very clear what sorts of posts are supposed to go in which forums. Just popping into the Hardware Issues forum is a great example - there are all sorts of questions currently floating on top there, and none of the related to hardware. Technical Issues is another forum that seems to attract any sort of posts - as with General Discussion. In GD, of course, we're supposed to post about all sorts of things, but there are many questions that seem like they should be in an engine-specific forum.
Is it just me, or do we need more guidance/rules about what to post where? Even just a sticky in each forum telling people what to put in there would help.
Is it just me, or do we need more guidance/rules about what to post where? Even just a sticky in each forum telling people what to put in there would help.
About the author
Studying mechatronic engineering and computer science at the University of Sydney. Game development is probably my most time-consuming hobby!
#2
No, it's not just you. I've begun thinking that some people just post on any forum at random hoping to get attention. One of the reasons for the loss of sub-forums from the old site was this very issue. It was felt to be too confusing to have so many forums, yet now most of them have been added back -- and a few additions.
Occasionally you'll see a thread get moved. Some employees are pretty good for slapping down thread derailments, and you'll see posts deleted, but it seems that no one wants to enforce the "What goes in which forum?" conundrum -- or even set forth rules! It's usually the community who does most of the pointing towards the more appropriate forums section.
05/10/2009 (12:37 pm)
I'm having problems with application X, I know that I'm in the wrong forum but this seems like a good place to ask because this one gets a lot of traffic.No, it's not just you. I've begun thinking that some people just post on any forum at random hoping to get attention. One of the reasons for the loss of sub-forums from the old site was this very issue. It was felt to be too confusing to have so many forums, yet now most of them have been added back -- and a few additions.
Occasionally you'll see a thread get moved. Some employees are pretty good for slapping down thread derailments, and you'll see posts deleted, but it seems that no one wants to enforce the "What goes in which forum?" conundrum -- or even set forth rules! It's usually the community who does most of the pointing towards the more appropriate forums section.
#3
I've been using the iTGB forums as a testing ground for forum policies and sticky threads. I currently have a thread called "iTGB Forum Guidelines". It explicitly states to flag your thread as either bug or general discussion, but some users still do not do that =/
Honestly, it's an Intarweb thing...not GG. There is no easier way to label our forums more appropriately. If you have a TGE problem, but no license, post in the TGE public. If you have a license, post in the TGE Private...seems simple enough. It's a lot better on this site than the old one, that's for sure.
05/10/2009 (2:04 pm)
We will be rolling out a TOS agreement very soon, as well as implementing some new web features that will make it easier to move threads.I've been using the iTGB forums as a testing ground for forum policies and sticky threads. I currently have a thread called "iTGB Forum Guidelines". It explicitly states to flag your thread as either bug or general discussion, but some users still do not do that =/
Honestly, it's an Intarweb thing...not GG. There is no easier way to label our forums more appropriately. If you have a TGE problem, but no license, post in the TGE public. If you have a license, post in the TGE Private...seems simple enough. It's a lot better on this site than the old one, that's for sure.
#4
05/11/2009 (9:25 am)
Quote:There is no easier way to label our forums more appropriately.Maybe even a small description line under each forum title would help at least a little? I know I'm quibbling, and it's not GG's responsibility to correct poor netiquette.
#5
i would suggest perhaps having an additional somewhat more verbose description field for each forum, and displaying that field in the Start A New Thread page, on the thread-list page, and possibly even on the forums list page, which looks like it has room for an extra line of text.
.. which is what daniel just suggested. :p
also, some of the categorizations of forums are a bit weird.
why are "Artist Corner" and "Jobs" and "Game Design and Creative Issues" filed in the "GarageGames" section of the forums list ? Are "add-ons" specifically third-party add-ons ?
i would also suggest listing the private forum for engine foo next to the public forum for engine foo rather than up in a seperate "My Products" list. at least move "My Products" down below "My Watched Threads" so that it's next to the other lists of forums.
and finally, it's still ambiguous where to post stuff that's pertinent to a licensee of any torque engine, not just engine foo. eg extensions to torquescript or SimObject etc.
05/11/2009 (9:42 am)
funny, just before reading Daniel's post i was thinking to myself that there seems to be a lot more mis-categorization of posts with the new forums than the old ones.i would suggest perhaps having an additional somewhat more verbose description field for each forum, and displaying that field in the Start A New Thread page, on the thread-list page, and possibly even on the forums list page, which looks like it has room for an extra line of text.
.. which is what daniel just suggested. :p
also, some of the categorizations of forums are a bit weird.
why are "Artist Corner" and "Jobs" and "Game Design and Creative Issues" filed in the "GarageGames" section of the forums list ? Are "add-ons" specifically third-party add-ons ?
i would also suggest listing the private forum for engine foo next to the public forum for engine foo rather than up in a seperate "My Products" list. at least move "My Products" down below "My Watched Threads" so that it's next to the other lists of forums.
and finally, it's still ambiguous where to post stuff that's pertinent to a licensee of any torque engine, not just engine foo. eg extensions to torquescript or SimObject etc.
Associate Russell Fincher
Sickhead Games
Its just going to take more guidance in terms of moderators moving misplaced threads. Hopefully then people will notice that they need to choose forums wisely.
Just my opinion. I feel your pain, though... misplaced threads are pretty irritating.