Orientation around Categories

[Raphael van Lierop]

Hey all,

We're testing a new orientation or organization for the forums, built around Categories. The idea is to future-proof the forums for expansion, and avoid the feeling that all discussions go into a general "bucket", which will become an issue as things become more active.

We've set up some categories to try things out. I've already started moving things around into the new categories.

BUG: From the Categories section, you can see the headings but many say "0 Discussion" when in fact there are threads in that Category. We're looking into it.

Keep in mind you can still jump to the most recent discussions by clicking the "Discussions" heading in the Navbar.

Feel free to post your feedback and ideas here.

Thanks!

- Raph

[anomrabbit]

Since there's now sections for books, movies, and games, how about one for music/podcasts/&c.?

Also, perhaps a poll every few weeks for new categories if there's a lot of demand?

[Bill Tarling]

I'm not sure what type of Category module is used on this forum (or whether Vanilla has one to handle extended categories), but a better approach may be to structure it with Sub-Categories.

One of the risks with throwing every possible topic in separately is that the forum category list can get out of hand very quickly.

However, using a Sub-Category structure, you can add in additional [more specific] sub topics within each category on the fly, or as request and interest warrant.

For instance (from that starting structure list I posted previously), a category like "System Compatibilities Q&A" might eventually have sub sections such as "Gaming Consoles" (which could later be expanded with its own sub-category like "PS4, Xbox One, etc."), 3D Hardware (again eventually capable of specific systems as they show interest), and so on.

That way you don't just start having long category lists such as books, movies, music, (etc. etc. etc.) all on the main/master index list. Since many of the categories will also lead into a lot of off-topic general discussions [i.e. not related to TLD], once you start getting 20 or 30k users (when the game is released), you still want some of the main forum areas to have focus.

The additional topics (as above in previous posts) are worthwhile, but you also want to plan ahead for manageability.

[Don Reba]

Looks a tad too fine-grained. In my experience, people have enough trouble choosing between general, gameplay, and support. Keep the YAGNI and KISS principles in mind.