Proposed Forum Reorganization

[ToSeek]

We've had some discussion in the admin area about how we'd like to reorganize the site to reduce the number of forums and to clean things up a bit. Below is what we've come up with. We have about three weeks before the build team would implement this in order to consider suggestions, so fire away.

About the Forums
Forum Rules, FAQs, and Information
Forum Introductions and Feedback

Citizen Science << Major compaction of these forums.
Mappers - Exploring Rocky Worlds
Planetary Surfaces
Investigators - Exploring Planetary Environments

Listen, Learn, Teach, Engage
Astronomy Activism
Astronomy Education
Public Outreach
Google Hangouts

Science and Space
Space/Astronomy Questions and Answers
Astronomical Observing, Equipment and Accessories
Astrophotography
Space Exploration
Life in Space
Astronomy
Science and Technology << Move dgavin's geology posts back here (which is where they were before the CQ merger).

Collaborators of CosmoQuest
Universe Today << Combines story links and feedback.
Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy << Combines Bad Astronomy Stories and Bad Astronomy: The Books. Will include a sticky that points to Phil's blog.
Astronomy Cast

The Proving Grounds
Against the Mainstream
Conspiracy Theories

General Interest
Off-Topic Babbling
Small Media at Large << Merge Bad Astronomy in the Media here
Fun-n-Games

Open Source Projects
Coder Talk
API Wishlist
Mobile App Development
Widgets

[SRH]

I know it is not a popular opinion, but I would very much like to see a "Crackpot Forum" under General Interest, where people can discuss and collaborate on ATM ideas.
And then leave all of the posts in this forum OUT of the "What's New" section, so that these threads could be easily ignored by those who wish to ignore them. Thanks.

[Solfe]

Could I request a sticky of BigDon's Post "What is an API?" under the API Wishlist? It would be really cool if the CQ team posted some information about the API's and usage in that thread.

Thank you in advance.

[Swift]

I know it is not a popular opinion, but I would very much like to see a "Crackpot Forum" under General Interest, where people can discuss and collaborate on ATM ideas.
And then leave all of the posts in this forum OUT of the "What's New" section, so that these threads could be easily ignored by those who wish to ignore them. Thanks.

We are certainly not going to do such a thing under this reorganization. The intent of this reorganization is to reorganize existing content, not add new content. Your proposal would also involve a major revision of the rules.

To be frank, such an idea has been proposed many times before and the answer has been consistently no. However, if you would like to propose it again, please start a new thread in Feedback.

[Ara Pacis]

Perhaps Universe Today and Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy should be placed under a heading titled "Cosmic Castaways".

[ToSeek]

Perhaps Universe Today and Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy should be placed under a heading titled "Cosmic Castaways".

We're certainly open to alternate titles for that section. Neither "Beloved Content" nor "Collaborators of CosmoQuest" has much of a spark to it, IMHO.

[Van Rijn]

Thanks for describing the proposed changes. When the reorganization was mentioned earlier, the details weren't mentioned, and I was a bit concerned about what it might affect. But this looks good. There should be some consolidation. There are too many forum sections, and it is easy to miss threads in low volume board sections. That's a shame since there have been some very interesting topics in some of those sections.

[Arneb]

I think that the small, original CQ forums could be collapsed further: Why not make one category, "Citizen Science & Outreach" which then contains the three citizen science projects plus "Listen, Learn, Teach, Engage" - that section now has a grand total of 44 threads in three forums, and I really can't see any reason to keep them seperate. The Open Source Projects forum could also be collapsed into a single forum and put under the "Citizen Science and Outreach" category. I don't think it makes sense to keep the 25 threads /186 posts now finely distributed over four forums separate. Google hangouts, meanwhile could go into the "Collaborators" category, where it would enjoy a prominent (Phil, Fraser, Pamela) neighbourhood.

One thing that has always irked me since the last merger: Why is the "Astronomy" forum the penultimate forum in its category, Science and Space"? I'd say since discussing astronomy was the original point of the BABB and UT, it should have prominent place, very much above speculative things like LiS, but also above questions, photography and space exploration. That misplacement could be corrected now.

Oh, one more thing: Could the small BAUT icon at the top be a bit larger? And could it conatin a link to the BA and UT sites again?

[ToSeek]

I think that the small, original CQ forums could be collapsed further: Why not make one category, "Citizen Science & Outreach" which then contains the three citizen science projects plus "Listen, Learn, Teach, Engage" - that section now has a grand total of 44 threads in three forums, and I really can't see any reason to keep them seperate. The Open Source Projects forum could also be collapsed into a single forum and put under the "Citizen Science and Outreach" category. I don't think it makes sense to keep the 25 threads /186 posts now finely distributed over four forums separate. Google hangouts, meanwhile could go into the "Collaborators" category, where it would enjoy a prominent (Phil, Fraser, Pamela) neighbourhood.

The organization of the "Citizen Science" and related sections are non-negotiable (well, very nearly), partially because they have to organize it a certain way in order for their software to keep track of participation and partially because those folks are now the ones paying the bills. If they want 11 forums, they get 11 forums.

One thing that has always irked me since the last merger: Why is the "Astronomy" forum the penultimate forum in its category, Science and Space"? I'd say since discussing astronomy was the original point of the BABB and UT, it should have prominent place, very much above speculative things like LiS, but also above questions, photography and space exploration. That misplacement could be corrected now.

I'd like to keep the Q&A first, but I'd be fine with moving "Astronomy" to the second position. There was never any intention of dissing astronomy, I think I just put it there because the section was roughly organized (other than the Q&A) from the more specific to the more general, so people could go down the list and put their topic in the first forum that seemed appropriate. "Astronomy" is one catch-all and "Science and Space" is of course the final catch-all for stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else in that section.

Oh, one more thing: Could the small BAUT icon at the top be a bit larger? And could it conatin a link to the BA and UT sites again?

We'll see about bringing it up with the build team. It would be nice, but they've got a lot on their plate right now.

[Arneb]

The organization of the "Citizen Science" and related sections are non-negotiable (well, very nearly), partially because they have to organize it a certain way in order for their software to keep track of participation and partially because those folks are now the ones paying the bills. If they want 11 forums, they get 11 forums.t forum that seemed appropriate. "Astronomy" is one catch-all and "Science and Space" i

Actually, I was afraid you would say that... thanks a lot, anyway.

[ASTRO BOY]

Being a newbie and also a busy little Beaver, I have found that the forum is a bit burdensome.
I will welcome the changes.

[Cougar]

I'd like to keep the Q&A first, but I'd be fine with moving "Astronomy" to the second position.

Hey, a bipartisan compromise.

I didn't have any major problems in glancing through the new structure, but now that Arneb mentions a few things, I'm nodding my head along with him.

[Solfe]

So, no one else tries to read every thread, every day regardless of location within the forum?

In case you are thinking of it, it never works. I end with about five pages left everyday.

[CJSF]

Oh, one more thing: Could the small BAUT icon at the top be a bit larger? And could it conatin a link to the BA and UT sites again?

I don't see *any* icons at the top - never have.

CJSF

[Jim]

I don't see *any* icons at the top - never have.

CJSF

There's a small icon on the CQ (red) skin. The links are broken so there are no icons on the vB4 default (blue) skin.

[Trebuchet]

Speaking of skins, can we do something with the red skin so at least the links are a little less invisible?

[KnowTheCosmos]

Speaking of skins, can we do something with the red skin so at least the links are a little less invisible?

Thanks for the feedback, I'll approach the issue with the rest of the build team tonight during our telecon.

[Swift]

Speaking of skins, can we do something with the red skin so at least the links are a little less invisible?

I'll echo that. It is probably my most serious problem with the red skin.

[NEOWatcher]

I'll echo that. It is probably my most serious problem with the red skin.

Well, it's good if you're roasting, but I'd go Idaho for baking, and Yukon Gold for stews.

[Swift]

Well, it's good if you're roasting, but I'd go Idaho for baking, and Yukon Gold for stews.

Thank goodness you didn't make an NFL pun.

[R.A.F.]

The organization of the "Citizen Science" and related sections are non-negotiable (well, very nearly), partially because they have to organize it a certain way in order for their software to keep track of participation and partially because those folks are now the ones paying the bills. If they want 11 forums, they get 11 forums.

"They" can have 11 forums if they like....what they won't have is any monetary donation from me.

Just sayin'.

[Cosmologist]

About time. I was getting a fear of heights from scrolling down the page.

I see you have added 'Life in Space' to the general spacey sciency material and bundled it all up into a single nice pretty package. Very brave. I look forward to seeing the result. The ufools will have fun with that.

[caveman1917]

About time. I was getting a fear of heights from scrolling down the page.

I see you have added 'Life in Space' to the general spacey sciency material and bundled it all up into a single nice pretty package. Very brave. I look forward to seeing the result. The ufools will have fun with that.

Life in Space has been under Science for as long as i can remember, you're probably thinking of Conspiracy Theories which is where UFO claims go.

[Van Rijn]

"They" can have 11 forums if they like....what they won't have is any monetary donation from me.

Just sayin'.

If you aren't interested in the section, you can click on the up arrow in the section header to collapse it. As for me, I'm not concerned about extra forums. Major changes to the heavy traffic forums from BAUT would be a concern, but from ToSeek's post it sounds like the changes there will be minor.