-
IMPORTANT POLL: New Forum Categories / Reorg
Posted by
EEVblog
on 26 Dec, 2015 12:14
-
Ok, it's almost new years.
Another year of growth for the forum. Over 80,000,000 views a month, and over 20,000 new posts per month.
I think it's time to revisit the forum organisation.
It hasn't really changed much since it's inception, just a PCB/EDA section, and the odd new category created.
But looking at the main page with all the categories, I have to admit it does look rather haphazard.
The EEVblog Section has Jobs, General Chat, and Buy/Sell/Wanted.
Electronics has Crowd Funded Project & Products & Test Gear etc.
It looks pretty disorganised.
I know there have been polls in the past on creating new categories for stuff, and it's generally "leave it be" or maybe 50/50 in which case I haven't done anything.
But I now do think it needs at least a good reorg.
Perhaps
Electronics: Beginners,Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff, Repair, Microcontrollers & FPGAs, Open Source Hardware. Ripe for some new ones?
Products: Test Equipment, Other Equipment & Products + ripe for some new ones and/or splits (thermal cameras was suggested)
General: General Chat, Crowd Funded Projects, Buy/Sell/Wanted, Work Wanted, Jobs
EEVblog: EEVBlog Specific, Supporter Lounge, Other Blog Specific, EEVblab, The AmpHour Radio Show, Contests
PCB: Remains the same. Maybe not child boards?
I really think that countless child sub categories for everything would suck, but half a dozen more wouldn't hurt?
The SMF forum software is of course excellent in doing this and not breaking links and doing redirects etc.
What say you all?
-
#1 Reply
Posted by
firewalker
on 26 Dec, 2015 12:16
-
A reorg would be nice, but only small number of new sub-categories.
Alexander.
-
#2 Reply
Posted by
cs.dk
on 26 Dec, 2015 12:17
-
-
-
Maybe "Repair" could disappear and be covered by test equipment/other equipment?
"contests" maybe extend to cover events, seminars,courses and other time-sensitive things
Maybe merge Amp Hour into Other blogs?
As PCB design section only has one entry maybe move it to the main electronics section
Can we get more "recent posts" at the bottom of the mian page - this his how I tend to randomly browse.
-
#4 Reply
Posted by
EEVblog
on 26 Dec, 2015 12:57
-
Maybe "Repair" could disappear and be covered by test equipment/other equipment?
Not with 23,000 posts it won't disappear.
BTW, that would be a huge amount of work figuring out where all those posts go, and it would have to be done manually.
Any new categories also have to be populated manually with moving posts from other sections. But search helps with this. Not nearly as bad as removing a category.
IIRC, Repair was a category that was asked for and added later. It's popular.
"contests" maybe extend to cover events, seminars,courses and other time-sensitive things
Yep.
Maybe merge Amp Hour into Other blogs?
Don't know about that. I've gotta have one perk of running the forum
As PCB design section only has one entry maybe move it to the main electronics section
It's only one main category, but it's actually 6 sub categories. I was going to ask if these child categories should be expanded.
But yeah, could be moved to electronics perhaps and keep the child categories compacted.
Can we get more "recent posts" at the bottom of the mian page - this his how I tend to randomly browse.
I think that's a setting that can be changed.
-
#5 Reply
Posted by
GreyWoolfe
on 26 Dec, 2015 13:22
-
Your reorganization ideas sound reasonable.
-
#6 Reply
Posted by
mk_
on 26 Dec, 2015 13:25
-
It looks pretty disorganised.
.
.
.
What say you all?
Well... this disorganisation is well known and at least is works fine for me.. same chaotic set of unkonwn rules like usenet, I like it.
What would be fine is a much longer threadview so maybe also 100/200/inedefinitly posts per page could be realised (even 50 are not enough for me) . Threads like the LTZ1000, Rigol 1054 or E4 would be easier for reading (I do have enough bandwith for this and scrolling is easier then reloading a new page with only 50 comments.
What also would be fine: a better concept for finding to whom the answer in a thread goes... its disturbing if there is an answer and you dont`know what was ansered because the person didn`t quote....
anyway, thanks for this fourm, even if you don`t reorganize it - it`s great
regads
michael
-
#7 Reply
Posted by
AndyC_772
on 26 Dec, 2015 13:40
-
I always use the "show unread posts" link at the top of the page to see what's new - so I don't see (or care) what categories threads have been posted in.
-
#8 Reply
Posted by
EEVblog
on 26 Dec, 2015 13:44
-
I always use the "show unread posts" link at the top of the page to see what's new - so I don't see (or care) what categories threads have been posted in.
Several advantages of categories:
1) People who like to use them to browse instead of "Show unread"
2) Newbies who see the forum for the first time and need to decide if there is a category that interests them and hence stick around
3) Allows people to block categories they have no interest in
4) People who only visit the forum for that category, and have no interest in anything else.
-
#9 Reply
Posted by
Shock
on 26 Dec, 2015 14:01
-
Beginner
Design
- Projects, PCB, KiCad/gEDA, DIPtrace, Eagle, Altium Designer, DesignSpark
Hardware
- Open source, Crowd Funding, Micros & FPGA, Manufacturing & Assembly
Equipment
- Oscilloscopes, Multimeters, Soldering, Other (open more if required)
Repair
Buy/Sell/Wanted
EEVblog
- EEVBlab, Amphour, News, Suggestions, Contests
General Chat
- Supporters, Blogs, Jobs, Work Wanted
Not a radical change just tidy up the child forums move some and shorten the length of the front page (descriptions for each forum could be shortened).
-
#10 Reply
Posted by
Chipguy
on 26 Dec, 2015 14:35
-
I never know where to put teardown pics from test&measurement equipment.
They would fit into "Repair" but also in "Equipment"
-
#11 Reply
Posted by
timofonic
on 26 Dec, 2015 14:37
-
Beginner
Design
- Projects, PCB, KiCad/gEDA, DIPtrace, Eagle, Altium Designer, DesignSpark
Hardware
- Open source, Crowd Funding, Micros & FPGA, Manufacturing & Assembly
Equipment
- Oscilloscopes, Multimeters, Soldering, Other (open more if required)
Repair
Buy/Sell/Wanted
EEVblog
- EEVBlab, Amphour, News, Suggestions, Contests
General Chat
- Supporters, Blogs, Jobs, Work Wanted
Not a radical change just tidy up the child forums move some and shorten the length of the front page (descriptions for each forum could be shortened).
gEDA and KiCad only have one thing in common: Both are Open Source.
Different workflows, different communities. Please make them first class citizens, they deserve it.
I would all subcategories related to: retrocomputing and retrogaming hardware projects, hackable devices,a more explicit and orgnized open hardware section.
Wiki integration would be very nice. Volunteer people could summarize interesting posts and those would be checked with a link to the relevant wiki. When people ask very common questions (what oscilloscope/soldering station/DMM to get? What EDA software to use? How to do PCB etching? Where to get my PCB manufactured? Etc) they can get the relevant wiki page instead
This would make information less repeated and more organized, so new posts would be more interesting and less boring to read.
-
#12 Reply
Posted by
SeanB
on 26 Dec, 2015 15:30
-
The ability to either see an entire thread ( like the 500 page Flir one) on one page, or a print view that shows images and links as clickable, or has a base that will expand them into full URL format as an appendix.
As to organisation, some more granularity would be nice, and perhaps a little more main page explanation as to the major sections. The FAQ would also need updating.
Perhaps a duplication of all sticky topics into a Sticky topics section of its own, so that they all show up together. They tend to be sticky for a good reason.
A search bar that does not use the SMF search, but which simply opens a new page with the search terms and site:eevblog into a search engine like Google or Duckduckgo. I prefer DDG these days, just because it actually will run with no javascript on the client side, and has a pretty good index on EEVblog.
Yes I know Gnif will be screaming...........
-
#13 Reply
Posted by
daqq
on 26 Dec, 2015 16:00
-
How about just adding a tag system to posts? Under every post you could add tags what they concern. Then you could search by tags - say, 'teardown' 'microwave' 'hp'.
-
#14 Reply
Posted by
magetoo
on 26 Dec, 2015 16:03
-
Right now I'm seeing Cloudflare's timeout error message every other time I'm opening a thread, so "infinite posts on one page" might not be the best idea if it is the forum software that's timing out.
The suggestion for new categories looks reasonable. (I usually open subforums in separate tabs so reorganizing them in different categories wouldn't really make much of a difference.)
How about just adding a tag system to posts? Under every post you could add tags what they concern. Then you could search by tags - say, 'teardown' 'microwave' 'hp'.
I like this idea in principle, but the tags are only as good as the people who use them. In my experience, most people just don't care.
-
#15 Reply
Posted by
Seekonk
on 26 Dec, 2015 16:16
-
I'd have to think there is a place for solar. Isn't that the future? RE sites have very sketchy sections for electronics. Though, I have seen very little interest here in solar.
-
#16 Reply
Posted by
Christe4nM
on 26 Dec, 2015 16:48
-
I voted for minor changed only: the forum as it is could do with a few minor changes, but in general it is structured fine.
The main change I’d suggest is to put the PCB/EDA board in the ‘Electronics’ Section, below Projects, Designs and Technical Stuff. At the least since it is a better fit in the Electronics Section.
Main sections
The current main sections ‘Electronics’ and ‘EEVblog’ are great. One is dedicated to everything electronics, and the other to more as a community section with the boards directly related to the EEVblog, electronics and the community.
To me the PCB/EDA Design section and board always has been a bit strange, like the black sheep on the bottom of the page. Yet I encounter many topics in the ‘beginners’ and ‘Projects, design and technical stuff’ –boards that are a good fit in this section/board/sub-category.
Deciding on boards/sub-boards
I think the main reason to have sub-categories is when the main category turns out to be too generic. So when deciding on splitting boards into sub-categories, that should be the main deciding factor.
The reverse is true as well. If a board has a too specific topic, it might be better to merge it with a similar board. That way the topics should get more views and stay alive.
I remember that a while ago, the ‘Microcontroller & FPGAs’ section was decided not to be split into sub-sections for this reason. Since then I’ve never thought that I should’ve.
Suggestions
• Currently the ‘Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff’ board is “This is the big catch-all thread for anything electronic.” This board in particular could do with a few sub-boards. I’d suggest at least one for projects/logs. I think those topics in particular are important as the discussion takes you through a lot of design decisions. I’ve found that there is a wealth of information in those threads and putting them into a separate category could help distinguish them from the shorter, more ‘single-question’ related topics.
• From time to time there are threads asking fellow members to review a design, mostly a PCB layout. I think those topics fit into a board within what is currently the PCB/EDA board. I’d suggest renaming it into Schematic & PCB design & Manufacturing i.e. everything related into getting your design actually made. The current EDA software specific boards can stay, those really help to get to your specific package quickly. Or vice versa to easily locate and answer question on the software you are familiar with. I suggest to put this board and its sub-boards directly below the ‘projects, designs, and technical stuff’ board for visibility.
• The ‘Test equipment’ board is one important section of the forum. Since it’s so big it might help to put a few sub-boards in on the most encountered types of gear: oscilloscopes and multimeters
• I’d be against merging the ‘Test equipment’, ‘other equipment & products‘ and/or ‘repair’ boards. The current division between them really helps to keep the topics apart.
• It might be helpful to create a ‘soldering equipment’ or ‘soldering’ sub-board in ‘other equipment & products’
• I don’t really know how much the ‘Open Source Hardware’ and ‘Crowd Funded Projects’ need a separate main-board. It might be an idea to put them both as sub-boards under a ‘new’ (merged) main-board.
• I really like the suggestion posted above to change the “Contest” board into a board on events, seminars, webinars, exhibitions, promotions, contests etc. Please do that.
So in summary:
Electronics {
Beginners
Projects, Designs, & Technical Stuff
Project Logs, <important sub-category 1>, <important sub-category 2>
Schematic, PCB design & manufacturing
PCB Design, Manufacturing & Assembly, KiCad/gEDA, DIPtrace, Eagle, Altium Designer, DesignSpark
Test Equipment
Oscilloscopes, Multimeters, Power Supplies (?)
Other Equipment & Products
Soldering Tools
Repair
Microcontrollers & FPGAs
<new name>
Open Source Hardware, CrowdFunded Projects
}
EEVblog {
<Everything the same except:>
Events, promotions & contests (instead of 'Contests')
}
-
#17 Reply
Posted by
SeanB
on 26 Dec, 2015 16:59
-
Right now I'm seeing Cloudflare's timeout error message every other time I'm opening a thread, so "infinite posts on one page" might not be the best idea if it is the forum software that's timing out.
The suggestion for new categories looks reasonable. (I usually open subforums in separate tabs so reorganizing them in different categories wouldn't really make much of a difference.)
How about just adding a tag system to posts? Under every post you could add tags what they concern. Then you could search by tags - say, 'teardown' 'microwave' 'hp'.
I like this idea in principle, but the tags are only as good as the people who use them. In my experience, most people just don't care.
Off topic from this thread, but this might explain your cloudflare issues.....
Really interesting video here, and really a scary thought.
-
#18 Reply
Posted by
TiN
on 26 Dec, 2015 17:24
-
I vote for more sections:
Test gear -> Reference devices and calibration (voltnuts, ohmnuts, timenuts, all those nuts will move their stuff in there).
It's not uncommon to have these folks now posting everywhere instead...
Having bit more separation and subforums isn't any bad than having stuff buried in pages in one single section.
-
#19 Reply
Posted by
T3sl4co1l
on 26 Dec, 2015 19:38
-
Absolutely!
While I start threads infrequently, I've always looked for the best section to post them in, and almost invariably it's just generically "projects and stuff". More categories should be used, maybe along the lines of:
- Embedded (already have -- good!)
- Arduino/RPi maybe?
- Analog/Audio
- Analog/Radio
- Components
- Theory, analysis
- Informative, Historical
- DSP
Stuff like that?
As for existing contents, if you organize it by category and leave a "general" in each, that would be the natural place to leave it. Or the next closest subject, if no general section is used.
Tim
-
#20 Reply
Posted by
pickle9000
on 26 Dec, 2015 20:10
-
Can we get more "recent posts" at the bottom of the mian page - this his how I tend to randomly browse.
I vote for this one
-
-
A few comments:
1. Add a "Techniques" category. Perhaps as part of Repair?
2. How about a "Research" or "Discoveries" category? Something that might not fall under the Projects category. Maybe move "Technical Stuff" out of it?
and even though this is an electronics blog venue...
3. A Software Engineering category?
-
#22 Reply
Posted by
AF6LJ
on 26 Dec, 2015 21:02
-
If you were going to do anything I would suggest adding an Amateur Radio forum.
We have enough posts scattered out through the various forums to justify an Amateur Radio forum. You certianly have enough hams here who know which end of the soldering iron gets hot to justify one.
-
#23 Reply
Posted by
EEVblog
on 26 Dec, 2015 21:04
-
I never know where to put teardown pics from test&measurement equipment.
They would fit into "Repair" but also in "Equipment"
I'm not sure a teardown category would work well on it's own?
If there are sufficient product sections then they should go into those.
Repairs should actually talk about repairs and repair techniques.
-
#24 Reply
Posted by
EEVblog
on 26 Dec, 2015 21:06
-
gEDA and KiCad only have one thing in common: Both are Open Source.
gEDA could be dropped really, hardly anyone uses it.
Different workflows, different communities. Please make them first class citizens, they deserve it.
I would all subcategories related to: retrocomputing and retrogaming hardware projects, hackable devices,a more explicit and orgnized open hardware section.
Could do.