Author Topic: More Electronics Forum Categories? (Read 8818 times)

EEVblog · « **on:** February 10, 2013, 08:43:47 am »

Following on from recent discussion on the off-topic thread.
Given that this is an electronics forum, and we only have 5 electronics areas:
Beginners
    Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
    Product Reviews, Photos, and Discussion
    Microcontrollers & FPGA's
    Open Source Hardware

Should we have more?
It has been suggested that there be a specific test equipment section for example.

Dave.

Chet T16 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2013, 08:56:27 am »

Sometimes I've had a question to ask but I wouldn't class it as beginners but then it doesn't seem right to post it in the projects section either so I think something in between is needed.

AlfBaz · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2013, 09:01:48 am »

I was wondering this just the other day. Would the creation of particular catagories stimulate discussions in those areas?
If so would renaming beginners or perhaps a new catagory along the lines of Fundamental Electrical Principles or how about an Analogue forum?

IanB · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2013, 09:20:15 am »

Comparing with other sites CPF for instance has very many different forum categories and the moderators are strict about moving threads to the right forum if they are apparently started in the wrong place. Personally I don't think it helps much and I'd rather just see one forum with category tags in the subject to allow filtering--but I don't know of any forum software that works that way. So on balance, it doesn't seem worth making more categories.

kripton2035 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2013, 09:36:24 am »

yes a test instrument section would be nice
also a "repair fix yourself"
a distinction between analog and digital stuff may be ?

jaqie · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2013, 10:00:35 am »

I suggest these:
test equipment
repair specific (any type of electronics)

as a transverse to the beginners section, I also suggest these:
analog circuits/projects design, troubleshooting, discussion
digital circuits/projects design, troubleshooting, discussion
hybrid circuits/projects design, troubleshooting, discussion

and maybe also:
power supply circuits/projects design, troubleshooting, discussion

Maybe these would be useful, maybe not... I dunno but to me it sounds like a good idea to have them right now.

mikeselectricstuff · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2013, 10:02:49 am »

Definitely need test equipment section ( don't think there is any need to subdivide it in to types), as things other than reviews don't have any obvious home.

Rick · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2013, 10:08:05 am »

A repair section would be helpful for those who want to locate quickly the past threads created by other people.

CarlG · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2013, 10:13:58 am »

I think a test equipment section is a good idea.

I don't think separate Analog and Digital sections is a good idea, since the boundary is floating and many devices contain both analog and digtal parts.

grumpydoc · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2013, 10:38:13 am »

Separating Analogue¹ and Digital, possibly, but a lot of digital projects have a significant analogue component.

+1 for test equipment (though it might have been me that suggested it anyway)
+1 for a repair projects forum

But then where do test equipment repair projects go?

[1] Delete last two letters to taste.

HLA-27b · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2013, 10:54:44 am »

+1 for test equipment

May I also suggest a "NEWS" section?
A place to post and discuss the latest news (and gossip) like the latest corporate cannibalism or the latest development from the lab, or the latest fad of the maker community for example.
In short, something of a more temporary (but still on topic) nature.

Kevin.D · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2013, 11:20:52 am »

I agree with chet 16 ,,theres only two places to post electronics questions ,in "beginners" or in " projects,design and technical stuff ".
I think the "projects,design and technical stuff" should be split into two , "projects and designs", and " Technical Questions " .
I like reading through peoples project's and what they are working on or have built ,but the few projects that get posted do get buried in with the multitude of questions under one heading presently .
Why another separate section for test equipment. ? I don't think that's needed when it already basically has one in "product reviews" ,if you look in there it's 95% already about reviews of test equipment . I mean if you split it up into "test equipment" and "other reviews" then the latter will not have much in it.

EEVblog · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2013, 11:44:35 am »

I've created a Test Equipment section, but have not moved everything yet. Let me know how you like it.
BTW, SMF is smart enough to auto-redirect URL's, so any old URL for threads will be redirected to the new test equipment board.

Dave.

EEVblog · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2013, 11:56:57 am »

Quote from: kevotronic on February 10, 2013, 11:20:52 am

Why another separate section for test equipment. ? I don't think that's needed when it already basically has one in "product reviews" ,if you look in there it's 95% already about reviews of test equipment . I mean if you split it up into "test equipment" and "other reviews" then the latter will not have much in it.

I've been bulk moving threads over, and I'd guess it's about 60-70% test equipment, so seems worthwhile.
Those who don't care about test gear can ignore the topic, and still get other interesting products and tools etc.

Dave.

M. András · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2013, 12:08:43 pm »

maybe some form of chat again? for things you want to ask but not worth to open a thread for it

SLJ · « **Reply #15 on:** February 10, 2013, 01:06:26 pm »

Quote from: EEVblog on February 10, 2013, 11:44:35 am

I've created a Test Equipment section, but have not moved everything yet. Let me know how you like it.
Dave.

IonizedGears · « **Reply #16 on:** February 10, 2013, 04:16:22 pm »

I really would like a section for "Electronics Design Help" or "Misc. Electronics Help" <---Misc electronics help seems like a really good idea that really would only pertain to simple questions to get simple answers rather than having a full on rant about something.

Martin.M · « **Reply #17 on:** February 10, 2013, 04:23:35 pm »

... and a place for vintage Electronics & restoration projects.

My postings are mostly glowing, full of tubes

greetings
Martin

Lightages · « **Reply #18 on:** February 10, 2013, 04:29:56 pm »

I agree with the idea of splitting "Designs and Projects" from "Technical Questions". "Designs and Projects" could be for discussing designs on the larger scale and "Technical Questions" for discussing specific bits of information relating to transistor biasing, component failures, capacitor types, grounding techniques, etc... as examples.

Lightages · « **Reply #19 on:** February 10, 2013, 04:54:30 pm »

I would like to amend my suggestion. I think it would also be useful to have another section in the electronics area named "Equipment Repair and Restoration". I also think that instead of just a "General" section that another might be added "Physics, Chemistry and Mechanical Relating to Electronics" that specifically omits any woowoo stuff.

free_electron · « **Reply #20 on:** February 10, 2013, 05:35:15 pm »

Repair section
Theory section
Review section ( review can include a teardown )
How-to section ( here a topic start cannot be a question. It is a short article where someone explains how to do something. Then questions can be posted in thetopic asking to elaborate on soemthing , or provide additional information.

smashedProton · « **Reply #21 on:** February 10, 2013, 06:45:27 pm »

+1 for the how to section
+1 for test equipment
+1 for forum chat
News would be alright too
This will pull most of the off topic stuff out of general chat.

Also, chat is better for off topic stuff. It's more personal and It's temporary

IonizedGears · « **Reply #22 on:** February 10, 2013, 06:57:12 pm »

Wait didn't there used to be a chatbox at the top of the forum? Where did that go?

alm · « **Reply #23 on:** February 10, 2013, 08:42:15 pm »

Caused a lot of server load and traffic, if I remember correctly. Much more than the rest of the forum.

IonizedGears · « **Reply #24 on:** February 11, 2013, 12:53:11 am »

Why not get an outside source to host the chatbox, maybe chatango?


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Author Topic: More Electronics Forum Categories? (Read 8818 times)

HLA-27b

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