Dinner suggested in the Violet Room thread that we should consider merging and/or pairing down the overall forum structure. He and a couple of other people elaborated on the idea, but such a discussion deserves its own thread. I have mixed feelings on it. On the one hand, my own sense of organization does find a simpler, less cluttered structure to me more elegant. But at the same time, I recognize that many of our current forums have a particular history and purpose that we may want to preserve. Whether we merge some or leave things as is, all of the posts and threads will still exist, the content that is Wordforge will still be here, and Wordforge will still be what it is. Also, I'll get the first, obligatory suggestion out of the way: hey fucker, why don't you merge the Red and Violet Rooms? Anything else? Discuss!
I am glad you guys have decided to consult us first this time. Thank you. Yes, rwducing the number of forums will make the remaining forums appear more busy and thus more attractive to new people who check the place out.
One idea I definitely liked was dropping the introductions forum. A single pinned thread in the Helpdesk is probably sufficient to that purpose.
Campforge can go into Green Room. Press Start goes into Media. TK Sanctuary, Introductory, Starscape Lounge, Violet Room into the trash.
Just for that, I'm pinning the Starscape Lounge on top of everything, putting it all in bold, and having it flash neon colors.
It gives me the creeping heebie jeebies to say it, but Chup nailed it: Red Room, Green Room, Media Central, and Blue Room. I hadn't thought about how to fold the existing threads into them, but the solutions suggested above seem to make the nut.
As I said in the Violet Room thread... The 11 pos reps I got for it would seem to suggest this idea has legs.
I'll just paste what I said in the Shelter thread to save time... I'm not a fan of more mergers. I would be if we had an unmanageable number of forums, like those boards where every single season of a TV show has to have its own section or whatever, but I don't think we do. And, even though I may be the only one who cares, I would like to reinstate the Gold Room. (The "general advice, harness-the-collective-intelligence-of-Wordforge" forum.) Not only was it useful and a lot of fun to just browse through, but I think it might even have helped the atmosphere -- it was a room whose sole purpose was for members to be helpful to each other.
Hell, if Volp, Chup, Zombie, and me are all agreeing on the same solution either the world is about to end or it's likely the right one.
All more forums result in is dead forums with no activity. New posters show up, she posts from two years ago on the first page, and then leave because the forum is obviously dead. As an added benefit fewer mods will be needed.
True, but baseball is boring and this last election was a choice of which testicle Americans wanted to crush in a car door...
Techforge is a memorial of sorts to Techman, so I'd really like to see that one remain. Otherwise Red, Green, Blue, and Media. Violet is just silly and should fold back into Red.
I mostly like this idea (though we'd desperately need a colour for Media Central in that case), but I wonder whether the smaller, more specific fora inspire more topics. For instance, you certainly can start a thread on black holes in the Green Room, but would some posters even think of such content for WF if Techforge weren't there?
This presumes the board members are idiots. I say give them the benefit of the doubt. As for the colour for Media Central - Silver.
Colors for rooms isnt very descriptive. Keep Red Room for tradition, and Blue b/c it is hidden from newbs anyway, but change Green and Violet. Preserve Media Central name.
The only "Forum merging" I'm interested in is Wordforge absorbing the TrekBBS and being allowed to flog their members for a number of years to come. Sounds reasonable.
