Because of the growth of new members, it may be time for the owners to add new file folds to help organize our subject matter. This has been done on other parts of this form, like Model Railroads, etc.
Big-Boy has offered to talk to them about it. [tup]
Maybe we can help by giving suggestions of which folders we would like.
General Discussion = all about O guage
Reviews = reviews of new products
Train Shows = Up coming trains shows
Layouts = questions and comments of layout building
Thanks for picking up the ball here Tom, this is exactly what I’m hoping for. I think at this point the best we could hope for is ONE to start.
Bergie will be in for a bit of a surprise when he returns to work from his parental leave, (his wife recently had a baby) to find the number of new members and increased activity here on CTT.[:D][swg]
My thought was maybe something as simple as General and Technical. Techincal would be for TMCC, DCS, repairs, track, electrical, restoration, etc. General would be things like events, new products, layouts, humor, photos, and anything else we can think of. How does that sound?[?]
I would also like to ask for polls like they have on the MR forum[:)].
Well until this happens Spankybird, I think it might be good to use those ideas in the subject title. And here I think common sense can help… a question on FasTrack might start “TRACK: FasTrack layout ideas” or “TRACK: 027 list prices drop.”
Almost like using the same mindset you would use when posting an item on ebay: how will the most people who might want “x” find it. Examples:
CATALOGS: New MTH R-T-R released
REVIEW: K-Line versus MTH dump cars
COMMAND: New DCS, TMCC help available on web
LAYOUTS: How many use insulated blocks?
Just an idea until the Forum changes. Of course there’s always the danger with my idea that someone will really want their post read and will start off with… FREE BEER:
While this sounds like a good idea at first, it could get carried away. Remember that the “other” forum had quite a few folders covering different subjects, but only a few were utilized with any regularity. By separating out too many topics you could have a detrimental impact on overall forum participation from confusion over where to post what, “you shoulda posted this over there” comments, questions and replies being missed, etc. A few separate folders to start would be a good idea IMHO, such as"General Discussion", “Command Control” or “Technical”, “Reviews, Shows, and Announcements”, but don’t go overboard.
Not as interested in standardizing subject headers - Besides the inherent problems of holding 3-railers to any sort of “standard”, I suspect it would snowball into a confusing system that would hurt more than help over the long run. Besides, it would detract for the “creativity” that many employ when titleing their posts, and what do you do when the direction of the topic shifts in mid-reply?
I have to concur with GP J68. Too many folders will lessen the chance that each topic will be seen by all the people that might benefit from it. Perhaps after a thread has been posted for a time, it could be put into a folder that mirrors its topic, but, for some initial period of time, I think it should appear in the folder for “General Topics”.[:)]
You could say that it is case of the ridiculous and the sublime. I agree that the OGR forum may very well have had too many, and here at CTT we have too few. The goal is to find a happy medium.
By the way isn’t the term “3 rail standards” an oxymoron ala military inteligence?[banghead][(-D][(-D][:P][;)]
I think that Brian has a great idea for today. This is basically a data base format. Starting each posting with a common key word would allow quick sort and searches.
Just back from vacation and still trying to catch up. The traffic has really picked up. The only folder I would add to the aformentioned list is one dedicated to “Accessories”.