The Mother Board

[Vito Andolini]

I happen to like all of the hardware forums the way they are, but that's just me. However it may be easier for some people if it was condensed. Maybe put memory and storage together. And maybe video and sound together. It's just an idea.

[Toby B.]

I like the idea of having individual forums like you have them now. There just needs to be some clarity as to exactly what should be found in the new areas as well as the revamped old areas.

If the new sections (i.e. motherboards, etc.) are for discussions only and not tech support then we need to specify that. And that brings up another point - If tech support is supposed to stay in the Tech Support forum and recommendations are supposed to remain in the Recommendations forum then what would be the need for the "Discussions" category?

I think the addition of the new sections like the Virus/Security forum is a great one and will be quite active before too long...

Thats all for now.
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[Vito Andolini]

[nascarfool.com]

It looks good but I'm having touble adjusting to the new locations. Won't take long to get adjusted.
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[EmilyB]

MoboCop. I know Ive said this before, but the only problem I see is the separation of "Discussion" and "Support". I think this issue is best solved with sub-categories, which you mentioned should be possible in the next PHPBB version.

As a rough guess my intended vision would be something like:

Forum (as is)
|
---Announcements
|
---Motherboards.org Folding Team
|
---Problems/Errors
|
---Test Forum
|
Hardware
|
---BIOS
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Case/Power Supply
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Chipsets
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---CPUs
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Hard Drives
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Memory
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Monitors
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Motherboards
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Networking
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Sound Cards
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Video Cards
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
Software
|
---Operating Systems
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Virus/Spyware/Security
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Programming
|
---Games
|
Other Support
|
---Recommendations
|
---Motherboard Identification
|
---Cooling/Temperature (I really believe this needs support as well as discussion)
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Overclocking
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Custom Modification (I never liked the use of "The Mod Squad" because it conflicts with "Moderator group" i.e. they share the same name)
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
---Gone in 60ns
|------Support
|------Discussion
|
General (Non-Tech) Discussions (as is)
|
---The Water Cooler
|
---Buy, Barter, Sell
|
---The Hundred Year War
|
Motherboards.org Web Site (as is)
|
---Articles & Reviews
|
---Article and Info Requests
|
---Site Feature Requests
|
---Errors/Problems

At the moment we have one single "Tech Support" and several "discussions" and its far too easy for these to get confused, especially since we are offering "discussions" forums for specific areas e.g. "CPUs" and so people who have a CPU problem will just lazily use this forum and not bother with the current "Tech Support"

[Ghen]

eek, too many supports!
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[EmilyB]

[EmilyB]

One more question if I may, do we need a MOBOT forum?

[dgeffs]

Hmmm, I must say I don't particularly like the new format. Too much separation and too many rules about what goes where only serve to complicate things and make stuff harder to find. Let's see, do I post in tech support or discussion and what the hell is the difference and why does anyone care? The previous organization, while not flawless, was much easier to use and understand. This format is going to drive the moderators nuts moving things that are in the "wrong" place. It means I have to check a dozen more sections than before and I think you will see an increase in multiple postings because people, especially newbies, can't get a handle on what goes where (even with explanations which no one reads anyway).

I frequent another forum (AVSforum) which has things separated into too many categories and it is just a pain. Too much "organization" doesn't necessarily make things better. I'm not a MOD so I don't know what issues they face nor why they decided this was necessary but I think the old organization was far better. When in a hurry I could log on and check tech support and recommendations and get most of what I needed. It was much easier to figure out where to put stuff without having to give it too much thought. I'm lazy - I want to spend my thoughts thinking about answers and not debating over where a post belongs.

In my experience these changes will weaken the forum and I hate to see that since this is absolutley one of the best forums around. I'm clearly in the minority here since most people seem to like the change so I guess we will see what happens. Fortunately we have intelligent moderators which I'm sure will make adjustments if needed.

Dale

[greytrains]

I there a reason that we have two errors/problems forums?
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