Should we move to EEVFORUM.COM (and expand?)

[EEVblog]

Hi Everyone
Two questions in one really:

I've just been trying to set up www.altiumforum.com and Altium have taken offense to my use of their Trademarked name in the title, so I was going to change the name.
But, I'm now thinking I should just add a PCB Category to the EEVblog forum to leverage the existing community?, possibly with different sections for the different packages?
And possibly I could expand the forum to include other categories? (any suggestions)

2nd thing:
That leads me to the eevforum.com domain.
Technically the forum currently resides at eevblog.com/forum, but I'm thinking if I expand the forum with extra categories it really should have it's own domain. You could argue it's already too big and has outgrown it's original intended link to the EEVblog?

Should I just make the move to EEVforum.com now and be done with it?

Thanks
Dave.

[Arthur]

There is no harm in registering the domain and pointing it at the forum, regardless of whether you choose to expand the forum or not.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum could still point to the forum as well so people don't get lost. At least for a while.

[EEVblog]

There is no harm in registering the domain and pointing it at the forum, regardless of whether you choose to expand the forum or not.

I already do that. You can operate the forum via eevforum.com. But the URL's don't show up, and the forum has all the settings pointing to eevblog.com/forum

https://www.eevblog.com/forum could still point to the forum as well so people don't get lost. At least for a while.

That's the idea.
I'd do a permanent wildcard redirect from eevblog.com/forum/****** to eevforum.com/****** so in theory all google indexed and other links to posts etc should still work. And google would eventually figure it out.

The change would presumably reset everyones login cookie, and the attachment images will take a while to transfer, but that's about the change people will see.

Dave.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Looking further into the future, how about eevblog_and_son.com   

If the Altium thing is expanding to PCB tools in general, then integrating with the existing forum would seem more sensible than a completely seperate one.

A possible issue is ending up with a ridiculous number of categories, but I've seen some forums where there are sub-forums which the user can 'fold' to hide those they aren't interested in - not sure what software this was.

My suggestion would be an EDA tools section, with subforums for each one.
Maybe also a test equipment section with subs for scopes, dmms, signal generators and 'other'.
 
BTW if anyone's specifically interested in low-end pick & place/SM assembly topics, here's a quick plug for my forum on the subject, which I set up as there was close to zero info on old/cheap P&P machines online. :  http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/forum/

[EEVblog]

A possible issue is ending up with a ridiculous number of categories, but I've seen some forums where there are sub-forums which the user can 'fold' to hide those they aren't interested in - not sure what software this was.

Yes, this forum can do that, you can see it in action on altiumforum.com now.
It seems to stick when you leave and come back too.

Dave.

[firewalker]

Dave could you transfer our credential to the new database or should we register?

Alexander.

[Uncle Vernon]

Depends entirely on what you are trying to achieve. The DJ mantra of I'll do/review what I want to when I want to is probably best matched to things the way they are now. And that's not a complaint, what is being provided currently is holding the interest of a lot of people.  That said, there also appears to be a lot of potential for a much wider scope.

You could probably achieve the forum Element14 wish they had, and do an infinitely better job for a fraction of what they have spent already. I'd suggest the demand is there for something bigger, the question is will making an income generating expanded site be something you want to do?

There is demand for things like your earlier kits, but demand does not necessarily match what you wish to do or the financial goals you wish to achieve.

[Mechatrommer]

i dont understand why you cant let go your heartfeeling from altium. they fired you?
well about the move, i hate changes, i hate move! but i'll leave to the master to decide whats best. i voted "dont care"

[Rufus]

I've just been trying to set up www.altiumforum.com

Why? I know Altium live is pretty horrid (and element14 equally horrid for eagle users) but do you really think you will get significant participation in a 3rd party forum for these design packages?

www.altiumdesigners.com and www.proteluser.com tried and never got off the ground, is the protel email list still running?

A package agnostic forum which discusses general PCB/circuit design, the kind of off topic questions that crop up on official forums might get enough participation to be worthwhile.

[Ferroto]

Or you could make a sub domain http://forum.eevblog.com/ most hosting companies will allow you to create sub domains for free.

Most people are used to calling the blog the eevblog and there is a sort of brand recognition there that could be lost by a name change. Also it would be nice to keep everything on one site for ease of access.

[armandas]

2nd thing:
That leads me to the eevforum.com domain.
Technically the forum currently resides at eevblog.com/forum, but I'm thinking if I expand the forum with extra categories it really should have it's own domain. You could argue it's already too big and has outgrown it's original intended link to the EEVblog?

Should I just make the move to EEVforum.com now and be done with it?

Thanks
Dave.

There is no good reason to move. The main URL is eevblog.com/forum and that's what google links to. Why go through all the trouble and move the forum to a domain with pagerank of 0? And if you ask me, having a domain (eevforum.com) mirror another site (this forum) does not do any good either. I'd just have a permanent redirect (HTTP 301) to the main site.

[Kuolas]

Why not a wide spectrum forum and instead of being specific?

(whit a better design and graphics  )

[Zero999]

I thinkc you should just create a PCB section which should be further subdivided into CAD software, homebrew manufacture and professional PCB houses.

[dfnr2]

I think it's a great idea.  Most of the PCB vendor forums are sucky:

- Altium has much useful info in their old forum, and in Live, but you have to be a subscriber, and Altium live is awkward.
- Eagle has newgroups, which is something of an outdated format, although there is a conduit to a forum format.  There's also an Eagle yahoo group.  Yahoo groups are better than nothing, but not great.
- Pulsonix has a yahoo group, which seems used and maintained by users, but it's yahoo, which is not great. 
- EDAboard has a PCB section, but it's pretty general, and the signal to noise ratio there is very low.
- The free packages (kicad, geda) have, I believe, mailing lists but no great central forums.

As a user of Altium, I'd love to see an altium forum here.  As an ex-user of Eagle, and a follower of eagle and pulsonix, It would be nice to keep tabs on what capabilities are developing in other software.  It would also be nice to peek in on those using the free packages as well.

When I'm in a PCB phase, I frequent the Altium forums, but otherwise, my attendance drops off.  However, I've been browsing this board more and more.  I imagine it's the same for others.  I'd certainly check in on an altium forum, once I'm here.

Dave

[ndictu]

I would move the forum to its own domain, redirect this one for people with bookmarks.

About the altium thing, maybe you could make some reorganization? Like this
EEVblog section, as it already is

• General chat
• Blog specific
• News
• The AmpHour Radio Show
• Contests

Electronics section, to separate the pure electronics stuff, maybe for new visitors that don't watch eevblog

• Beginners
• Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
• Product Reviews, Photos, and Discussion
• Microcontrollers

EDA / software section, similar to what you have now on altiumforum.com

• General schematics stuff
• General PCB stuff
• Manufacturing
• Libraries
• Altium
• Eagle
• KiCad
• ...

Maybe heve entire sections for each software but I think that would be too much fragmentation to have like 5 subsections for every software package. There could be just one of each, where the generic stuff will be discussed and then one subsection per software to deal with application specific issues.

[EEVblog]

You could probably achieve the forum Element14 wish they had, and do an infinitely better job for a fraction of what they have spent already. I'd suggest the demand is there for something bigger, the question is will making an income generating expanded site be something you want to do?

There is demand for things like your earlier kits, but demand does not necessarily match what you wish to do or the financial goals you wish to achieve.

This has nothing to do with income or anything else.
I just want to create a forum that's useful to the community.
All I'm talking about ti adding extra forum categories.

Dave

[EEVblog]

i dont understand why you cant let go your heartfeeling from altium. they fired you?

Err, it has nothing to do with being retrenched from Altium.
I'm HELPING them and the Altium community by trying to set up a forum.
I've been using Altium for 20+ years, it's close to my heart.

Dave.

[EEVblog]

Or you could make a sub domain http://forum.eevblog.com/ most hosting companies will allow you to create sub domains for free.

Yes, but that's really no different to having eevblog.com/forum
I already have the domain eevforum.com

Dave.

[EEVblog]

I would move the forum to its own domain, redirect this one for people with bookmarks.

About the altium thing, maybe you could make some reorganization? Like this
EEVblog section, as it already is

• General chat
• Blog specific
• News
• The AmpHour Radio Show
• Contests

Electronics section, to separate the pure electronics stuff, maybe for new visitors that don't watch eevblog

• Beginners
• Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
• Product Reviews, Photos, and Discussion
• Microcontrollers

EDA / software section, similar to what you have now on altiumforum.com

• General schematics stuff
• General PCB stuff
• Manufacturing
• Libraries
• Altium
• Eagle
• KiCad
• ...

Maybe heve entire sections for each software but I think that would be too much fragmentation to have like 5 subsections for every software package. There could be just one of each, where the generic stuff will be discussed and then one subsection per software to deal with application specific issues.

Yup, that's exactly like how I was going to arrange it!

Dave.

[Uncle Vernon]

This has nothing to do with income or anything else.

My references to income were not intended as a criticism or complaint in any way! Donations both one off and regular have been recent topics of discussion.

I just want to create a forum that's useful to the community.

You've already done this Dave! The growing visitor base and healthy proportion of regular participants being positive proof.

All I'm talking about ti adding extra forum categories.

If that's all the changes being considered I cannot see how all the dicking about with domain names offers any real benefit. Some linking and badging cannot hurt but why tamper too much with what is already a well known and linked brand (URL)? A well indexed one-stop shop has to be more advantageous than any fragmentation. SEO wont necessarily be achieve through a plethora of URLs.

[EEVblog]

OK, I've changed added categories on the forum to add a PCB specific section, and have separated out the blog and electronics sections.
This is should allow for good future exapansion for more categories as the need arises.
If you have any good ideas for categories then please let me know.
The categories are collapsible, just hit the minus sign.

Feedback?

Thanks
Dave.

[baljemmett]

Feedback?

All looks pretty sensible, although you've got a typo in DesignSpark:

Anything Specific to the DesingSpark PCB package

(Also, to be picky, there's a stray capital there and in the Eagle board description!)

For my two penn'orth on the domain name, I think having it under eevblog.com is perhaps a stronger 'brand' than eevforum.com -- the V in the latter always struck me as a bit weird!

[EEVblog]

Ok, I'll leave the server move alone. Things will stay put.
I don't have the time to do it anyway! 

Dave.

[elCap]

Looks good. Please add Cadence/OrCad.
Then I was thinking about a simulation category.. but I don't know.. might be good.

Feedback?

Thanks
Dave.

Good! What's good about this blog&forum is the connection between them. A new video blog always injects activity to the forum (and vice versa I guess). If separated by domain name there is a risk that eevforum.com will be just another forum I think. But I would like to see a link on the www.eevblog.com/forum, going back to www.eevblog.com. Some nice logo or something to click. Or use the same header as on the main page (although I think it's height is a little too high)

Ok, I'll leave the server move alone. Things will stay put.
I don't have the time to do it anyway! 

Dave.

And I would like to see some more stuff on the eevblog.com page. For instance your old projects, current project, and other things you have laying around. Because I see your stuff pop up here and there on the web, so why not have them all at the eevblog page? And maybe a place for uploading open source projects (as a pdf or zip file) made by eevblog members. Just a thought.
Anyhow, eevblog is a good place to hang around, always something fun and interesting!

[EEVblog]

And I would like to see some more stuff on the eevblog.com page. For instance your old projects, current project, and other things you have laying around. Because I see your stuff pop up here and there on the web, so why not have them all at the eevblog page? And maybe a place for uploading open source projects (as a pdf or zip file) made by eevblog members. Just a thought.

Yeah, the problem is just time to do that.
I want to convert all my old projects pages and other stuff to Wordpress pages so they fit into the blog well.
I did have a Wiki that people could contribute too, but the idea fell flat and the spammers killed it.

Dave.