Rearranging Forums

[vangogh]

Hey All. You probably already noticed that I rearranged things a little on the home page. I moved the Community Talk section from the top to the bottom just above the Forum News & Announcements.

Since we're a business forum I thought it made more sense to lead the home page with a section about business instead of the off topic threads. This should let visitors to the site know what we're about a little sooner.

Thanks.

[nealrm]

I agree with your logic, the small talk should be towards the bottom. However, I would have left the Introduction area towards the top. I would also add a few sticky posts regarding posting educate, policies, etc.

[vangogh]

Well it was an all or nothing move since the introduction forum and small talk forum are grouped together. With the stickies where do you think they should be placed? We have a TOS/Rules sticky in the News & Announcements forum. They should probably be in the main menu, but that requires modifying the template, which I'm hesitant to do until I have to time to really redesign the whole site.

[Chimpie]

Random thought: When I see 'Small Talk', I think about a place to brainstorm, bounce ideas of someone else, a place to create a topic when you're not sure where else to put it.

Maybe you should change the name of the off topic area to something like "The Water Cooler".

[vangogh]

Water Cooler might not be a bad idea. That forum really is just a place to talk about non-business stuff and be a catchall for topics that don't belong anywhere else.

I'll let others weight in, but it makes sense as a name.

[Chimpie]

Is there a particular place to go if we have a non-specific question, like by architecture/contractor question?

[vangogh]

Depends on the question. For example I saw you ask a question about architecture, though it did relate to planning your business. That would make sense for the Planning Your Business Section, which is where you started the thread.

If you were starting a thread about beautiful homes you happen to see on your commute to work then it wouldn't be business related and would make the most sense in the Small Talk section.

What it comes down to is look at the current sections and forums and if you can justify your thread belonging in any of them then start it there. If none of the current forums makes any sense then post it to Small Talk. The threads can always be moved later, but it helps if they start in the section most related to the topic of the thread. Not every thread will fit nicely, which is ok. Just do your best to find the best fit.

[nealrm]

With the stickies where do you think they should be placed? We have a TOS/Rules sticky in the News & Announcements forum. They should probably be in the main menu, but that requires modifying the template, which I'm hesitant to do until I have to time to really redesign the whole site.

I like them in the Introduction areas. That should be the first place someone joining post. But it is just a personnel preference. Putting them in the main menu is also a good idea.

[vangogh]

That makes sense. The Intro section is probably a good place.

The main issue with stickies is that most people don't read them. We haven't used a lot here, but on another forum where I admin there are a few stickies in each forum. Unfortunately it's quite clear most people don't ever read them there. The few that do are the type of members who didn't need to read them in the first place.

Still until I decide to tackle a new design for the template, stickies in the intro forum would be a good idea. Thanks.

[Steve B]

Since it's a package deal - my opinion would have been to leave it the way it was. It seems like the Introduction section should be the first thing people see. I would feel differently if they could be split up.