Recently I’ve noticed a number of posts that have been posted in the General Discussion forum that should technically or more appropriately be posted in one of the other three forums. I realize that some of these may have been posted by newbies out of ignorance; while others may have been intentionally posted in the General Discussion forum for greater exposure because it is the most used/frequented forum of the four.
Even so, please familiarize (or refamiliarize) yourself with each of the four Model Railroader forum categories:
General Discussion (Model Railroader)
Advice, tips, questions and general information on the hobby
Where’s the MR 70th Anniversary Boxcar?
Report sightings of the Wisconsin & Southern boxcar here!
Layouts and layout building
Benchwork, wiring, DCC, scenery, track, and more
Prototype information for the modeler
The prototype from A to Z for modelers in G to Z
Even if you think your post might get a better response in the General Discussion forum, the folks with the tip you need about a DCC problem or the right answer about a particular prototype question that you’ve been looking for might actually be found at one of the other forums.
tstage, I have to disagree with you here somewhat, for several reasons. The heading of this forum is “General Discussion”. Now to me, “general discussion” means just that and anything goes as long as it is connected to our hobby and in a tasteful manner. Secondly, for new people and some older ones, some are not really familiar with the different forums. You stated four, actually there are twenty two to choose from when you log on. Thirdly, the way the index to these forums is set up basically directs one to this forum. Example: A new person to the hobby has a question about bench work. They log on and go to forums. One of the things they see is that the number of paticipants are posted on each heading. They see “General Discussion” has 12 but the heading for benchwork shows none. Where are they going to go? If this is not a “general discussion” forum, then it should be named something else or what can’t be asked here should be placed under it’s heading. On the other hand, I do understand your point here. After all, there are different areas of expertise. As long as this is a “General Discussion” forum, the brunt of posts and questions are going to be placed here. I for one like it that way. With all due respect, Ken
My first post and questions regarding MR were in the Layouts and buildings forum, because my questions were specific to that region. I only later started posting in the General forum because of the huge amount of posts there. I’ll still switch back and forth between forums for specific questions, BUT I’m not a noobie and know better.
Tom, I don’t think you can ask or even recommend where people post. They’re gonna post where ever, and if its waaaaayy off track (pun intended) then of course the moderators will move it. Noobies are Noobies and I’m sure we want them here regardless of where they post. After a while they’ll eventually “get it”.
My original post was intended strictly for the Model Railroader forum crowd, not the entire Trains.com forum - hence, why there are only four mentioned.
My purpose was to bring the categories/sub-categories to folks attention so that they are aware of them and to consider which of the four Model Railroader forums their post might be most appropriately posted at.
I agree. Some posts might cross more than one specific forum. However, I would have to say that most of the time you can usually narrow it down to a specific forum. (Which forum you’d post a sighting of the MR 70th Anniversary boxcar on would be an extreme case.)
Again, this is not a hard and fast rule, nor will anyone be forced to sit in the corner during recess. It was merely a suggestion of consideration - nothing more.
TOM, I agree with you, I have tried to find info that might have already been discussed, and have a devil of time trying to find it, so I get disgusted and edit a new question, probably the 1001 time on the same topic over 10 years!!!
I know there are better ways to handle this. I would breakdown MRR to a number of sub-topics . This would look something like this:
DCC, DC, Benchwork, Track , Wiring, Design, Decoders and Installation, Scenery, Painting, the list can go on, you get the idea.
Can you imagine how much easier it would be to find answers, and to post them in a specific area?
There is nothing wrong with also having a General tab, because some questions just fall into that category, such as , " I live in California, where can I find foam insulation?"
Another suggestion would be a “conversation” sub-forum.
The subheading under General Discussion says " Advice, tips, questions and general information on the hobby". For members with disertations or who just want to show their work off, this wouldn’t be the place by discription, nor would the Layouts and Layout building; again by subheading discription.
Logic would tell me that the Layout and Layout building sub would be the place to start those threads, but Gereral discussion says to me, “conversation”, and I’ve been guilty of such offenses.
[#ditto] again! I belong to Atlas & several other forums, but spend 95% of my “surfing” time here. I like the format, and the ability to find most everything I need to ask about MODEL RAILROADING here. If I were to have a question about Lionel, spotted the MR box car (not likely here in NJ), or had questions about the prototype, I’d go to the other forums, but questions about a model car or loco, structure, weathering, etc, etc, etc, are fine right here. [:)][2c]
It does seem 95% of the posts would fall very well into one of several more specific categories that would make finding answers much easier. If it was up to me, I’d break them down as follows:
Electrical (DC, DCC, Circuits, Wiring, and Lighting)
Scenery (Ground, Trees, Backdrops, and Structures)
On another forum, I hit the ‘active topics’ or ‘new posts’ button. Most of the people on that forum are N or HO scale modelers. That forum is divided into like fifteen different areas. It’s difficult to see what anyone is talking about if you don’t use the aforementioned buttons. On this forum, if you hit the active topics button, you get everything from toy trains, to garden trains, to real trains. I actually like the catch all of ‘general discussion’. It helps to see what everyone is talking about.
It works and I am getting too old to learn new things. Just in case my opinion is useful. I stay away from the other forums because I have to jump around too much to see what is there.
Thanks for this thread. I used to go only to the general discussion. I just made my first post to the prototype forum. If I don’t get a reply, you’ll see it in general discussion!