Vote for the new Category structure!!!!

[Ryan]

Okay fellas, so the absolute #1 complaint I've fielded about the garage journal is the category structure. Folks aren't sure where to post questions or where to look for certain stuff. Historically, I've dealt with this by using the absolute smallest number of forums I could get away. That said, I know some of you like the division... So, I thought a vote was in order... Pick your favorite structure!

Option 1:
Keep the garage journal exactly as is.

Option 2:
The Garage
- General Discussion
- Garage Gallery
- Free Parking

The Tools
- Hand Tools
- Power Tools

Garage Sale
- Classifieds
- Product and Vendor Reviews

To The Editor
- Questions & Suggestions
- Test

Option 3:
The Garage
- General Discussion
- Flooring
- HVAC
- Garage Gallery
- Free Parking

The Tools
- Hand Tools
- Power Tools

Garage Sale
- Classifieds
- Product and Vendor Reviews

To The Editor
- Questions & Suggestions
- Test

Option 4:
The Garage (in the garage)
- General Discussion
- Tools
- Garage Gallery
- Free Parking

Construction/Maintenance (building the garage)
- HVAC
- Flooring
- Electrical
- Plumbing

Garage Sale
- Classifieds
- Product and Vendor Reviews

To The Editor
- Questions & Suggestions
- Test

Option 5
The Garage
- General Discussion
- Flooring
- HVAC
- Lifts
- Openers/Doors

The Tools
- Hand Tools
- Power Tools

Garage Sale
- Classifieds
- Product and Vendor Reviews

To The Editor
- Questions & Suggestions
- Test

Option 6
The Garage
- General Discussion
- Garage Gallery
- Tools
- Free Parking

Garage Sale
- Classifieds
- Product and Vendor Reviews

To The Editor
- Questions & Suggestions
- Test

 

[Tman]

I went with two. Seems the easiest.

 

[imported_banzaitoyota]

I like #4. Keeps the construction aspects seperate.

 

[dboat]

I would go with #5

 

[kartracer55]

Option 5, but I say keep the "ask the pros" section as well.

For the tools, make it Power tools/machinery

Also, what will happen to the current tool section posts? Will they be lost?

Thanks

Jim

 

[Ryan]

Nope... No posts would be lost... we would simply move them to the appropriate forums...

As for ask the pros... The only thing that bothers me is the legality aspect. Whos a pro and whos not? How do we know the advice is sound? Etc...

And if I have a questions about flooring - where do I ask it? The pros or the flooring forum?

 

[evildky]

I voted for 4 2 was my second choice FWIW

 

[the intimidator]

i would go with number 1 or 2 i like the forum the way it is now but i think number 2 would help out with the were to post stuff questions that people seem to be asking

what are you planning to do with the regins section? are you going to keep it or not i think it will pick up speed with all the new members mayby give it a test run and have a poll in a few months abought what to do with it

 

[dboat]

Ryan,
I inadvertently hit three and wanted 5. would you change my vote?
Also, on another forum, they have a product rebates, promotions, etc forum. We frequently have folks post up this type of info here.. any thought to having a forum just for this type of posting?
Dana

 

[DynoDave]

Is the "last post read" feature gone now? I can't seem to find it.

 

[heavytlc]

I like 4. It seems the best way for a new guy (me) to look and post in the right place.

 

[FiddyFour]

numbah two oh great one

 

[Paradise Ridge]

Number 2, but ditto on the "Last Post Read" button.

Maybe it's there and I just can't find it, but this forum is the first one I saw that had it and it was great!

Scott

 

[Rrumbler]

Personally, I don't see anything in need of changing; the only thing you did when you changed it over was to rearrange the colors a little bit. I'm for #1.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I think the number of threads bears out the fact that the "regionals" section is not needed. I think it was divided all wrong, such as lumping the deep south with the mid Atlantic states, and similar dissimiliar groupings, but the number of threads bears out the fact that they are simply not needed.

Other than that, what is the problem that people cannot read the topic title and decide where to place their post? Actually, most do, only ocassionally does someone slip and get in the wrong forum.

I moderate a technical forum for Cessna 150 aircraft. We did start a FAQ forum that is a read only type of thing. It has worked well for us, but I simply don't have the time to create the FAQs that we need. When someone does ask a question that a FAQ answers, we simply refer them there and that is the end of the discussion........... no more half dozen answers to "what the part number is for an o-ring for an engine primer pump?"..........

In the case of this discussion group, a FAQ would be a place to post a long and through, organized, technically correct, well diocumented, "professionally" created discussion on "Why PVC pipe is a bad thing to use for air lines.." and other similar "need to stop them before they get started" types of dicsussions.

The only other thing I could suggest is to take the Tool section and break it up into "little tools" such as hand tools and such, and "big tools" such as lifts, air compressors, blast cabinets, parts washers, workbenches, etc.

Beyond this, I don't see the need for major changes. There will always be drivel, some useful, some not, in any forum, and much, much good information, which we do not want to stifle..........

Charles

 

[ddjjeep]

I like it the way it is. I dont think the "bare bones" is the way to go because it will make it harder to sort through stuff when looking for something specific like heating or flooring.

 

[atch]

i voted for really bare bones, my 2nd pick would be bare bones, and my 3rd choice would be leave it alone.

 

[camarojoe]

I voted to leave it as it is... if it aint broke why fix it? I'm already having enough problems coping with the changes in look that have already taken place in changing our garage junkies site into the garage journal, please... no changes in layout or content!

 

[Gregdoo]

Hey guys,

For those of you thinking "Bare bones" (Options 2 and 6), I just wanted to offer a few things to think about. I will use the Flooring topic as an example.

This is a topic that tends to be specific and is also possibly a "one time" occurances for garage owners. As an example, when someone is interested in flooring, they are probably looking for the experiences of others in choices and installation to help them determine what to buy. Once they have a floor successfully installed, they probably have little future significant interest in reading flooring posts.

Looking at the thread stats, you can see that the flooring section is well-used and has numerous threads. Many folks looking at the general garage section probably don't want to wade through numerous floor threads, once they have a floor in their garage that meets their needs or budget.

Some folks might mention that using the search function to get this same info. This isn't always true. As an example with floors, if you search on "epoxy" you don't find anything about concrete sealers, paints, mats, tiles, etc. It makes it much harder to locate comprehensive listings of all floor related topics. This is especially true if the writer didn't use the term "epoxy" or spelled it differently, or just used a brand name and not a generic term.

I think of this as being similar to a library. With the computer catalog, the staff could shelve all the car repair books wherever they want; mixed in with fiction, childrens books and magazines, because by searching the catalog a patron would still be able to find the Chilton's manual that covers a 1969 Dodge Dart. In this case let's say it is between Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" and the English-Spanish dictionary. If you wanted only that Chilton's manual, it would be just as easy to locate it there as where it is now, with the rest of the car repair books. However.....

The current library system of all car repair books in one section allows a browsing patron see that in addition to that Chilton's manual he was looking for, he would also find a Haynes manual and a book just on repairing electrical systems in Mopars and a book on alternator testing and rebuilding...possibly better information than the Chilton's manual he thought to look for.

Improved search capabilities are great, but if you don't guess the right term, you might not find what you are looking for.

So, I feel that topics such as Floors, HVAC and a few others are worthy of being separate, as they might be of interest only while you are at that phase of garage ownership; after a while everyone not interested in "epoxy" for example, will get very tired of looking at all those posts and will ask for them to be consolodated or will get snippy with the person writing the post; current searches might not pull the post you are interested in; and finally and possibly most importantly they are already nicely consolidated and easy to find, so let's keep them available as they are.

For those of you that made it all the way through this lengthy post, THANKS for your attention, and consider the potential downside of the "bare bones" approach.

 

[DANNO]

Some good points, Gregdoo! I am relatively new and was enjoying the great new site I had found. Seems the flavor and atmosphere is changing here.


Dan (which is too bad)

 

[camarojoe]

Well said Gregg. The less categories there are, the more stuff you gotta wade through to find something you're interested in. The more specific each category is, the easier it is to find exactly what you want. ( I think thats basically what you said, condensed into 2 sentences.)

 

[Slide]

I'm really too new here to feel that I have the right to actually vote. But since I'm more active on the HAMB, a couple points:

As a new user here, I have already seen some posts in "General Garage" that I thought should be in the "Tool" secition, and vice-versa. I'm still kinda trying to figure out what goes where. I know I'm not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree, but with increased complexity comes decreased user-friendliness. However, the increased complexity may or may not result in a more powerful tool.

The HAMB has a feature for TECH- and ART-related threads (which get started on the main board). Once the main activity starts to fizzle, they get moved to their respective sections. Users can still reply to these threads, but they cannot start new threads in these sections. The thing about this is that the moderators have to put in a lot of the human element to make sure the threads get moved when they should... not too early that it missed out on some good additional material, and not too late that it gets buried on the main board. Not sure if this concept is appropriate for this place, but I thought I'd mention it for those who are non-HAMBers around here.

Both boards (HAMB & GJ) allow you to select multiple sections when doing an advanced seach. (Hold down the Control key while clicking on multiple sections.) I almost always search multiple sections, but not all of them at once.

 

[Gregdoo]

Camarojoe: Thanks for condensing it! That's the essence of my diatribe.

Slide: You can search multiple terms and sections, but if the writer only refers to "Ucoatit", "Supercoat" or another brand name, without using the word "epoxy", then you would miss that post that might help you decide for or against that partcular product. Having a category makes it one-stop-shopping.

I like the HAMB method you mention about threads all originating in one area and later being moved to the appropriate classification, but that must take moderators a huge amount of time. If we could get several moderators willing to do this, it might be the best solution.

 

[FiddyFour]

over at the HAMB and on the Jockey Journal there are several moderators for different areas...

Tech
Classifieds
Events
Artwork
and regular ol run of the mill Mods...

i cant speak for Ryan or what he has in mind over here on TGJ, but the "heiarchy" ( ) of moderators he has on the other boards works smooth, and effective...

ALL HAIL THE MODS

 

[nova65ss]

Some good points, Gregdoo! I am relatively new and was enjoying the great new site I had found. Seems the flavor and atmosphere is changing here.


Dan (which is too bad)

I'm with ya Danno!

Gregdoo makes a very good point. I can't see wading through AC and flooring posts in the general section as I may never have a need for either. If I ever do I'll go to the section. They each get plenty of posts to warrant their own section.

Jimmy

 

[Ryan]

Don't fret fellas... I'm not taking this poll and running... Notice how option 1 & 3 are very similar and when added together they seem to be matching option 2 from a vote standpoint.

I don't plan on making any HUGE changes at all from this stand point. I think past success should weigh in considerably here...

 

[Runs With Scissors]

over at the HAMB and on the Jockey Journal there are several moderators for different areas...

Tech
Classifieds
Events
Artwork
and regular ol run of the mill Mods...

i cant speak for Ryan or what he has in mind over here on TGJ, but the "heiarchy" ( ) of moderators he has on the other boards works smooth, and effective...

ALL HAIL THE MODS

I have to agree with fiddy on this one.... That is one fine classified section over at the HAMB.

 

[JohnReynolds]

Gregdoo,

Couldn't have said it better myself. I am going to be doing the floor soon and have been browsing the flooring section. Also scanned the "How To" section as I am finally getting close to completing my garage renovation.

John