Too Many Forum Categories

[ekraft84]

Would merging the "Help me master" and "General CCS Race discussion" sections help?

It may not even be considered a merge.  Couldn't "Help Me Master" fall into racing, non-racing, and technical/wrenching categories?  IMO, I think you could just remove it altogether.

CCS Rules and Regs could fall into that category as well.  Any question in that area could fall under Tech, Racing, or even the FAQ section (for frequently asking Rules and Reg questions) makes the rules and regs section kind of unnecessary.

In one regard, you want the General section to be a large, highly posted area of the forum.  As a user, if I want to post something and get a quick answer, I'd post it in General forum (speaking from prior experience on forums).  You overall will get a quicker response I think more users will surf 5-6 categories, than 12-15.  So you get more posts, quicker responses, etc. etc.  You still have enough of a breakdown in the niche of racing with the likes of the Tech and Classifieds area (etc. etc.) where it won't be too much.  And then you have the freedom to throw common stuff in the FAQ section.

[clink, clink]

[Jeff]

It may not even be considered a merge.  Couldn't "Help Me Master" fall into racing, non-racing, and technical/wrenching categories?  IMO, I think you could just remove it altogether.

There's a lot of knowledge there.  Removing it (deleting the contents) would not be beneficial.  Merging it with general racing would preserve the data but remove the category.  Does that make more sense?

CCS Rules and Regs could fall into that category as well.  Any question in that area could fall under Tech, Racing, or even the FAQ section (for frequently asking Rules and Reg questions).

Rules/Regs could similarily be merged in with Info & Announcements.  The only issue with it is that there has to be a place restricted to CCS officials for posting.  That's what the design of info/annc is.  Moving rules/regs there would violate that rule built, which could cause important information from CCS officials to be lost in the shuffle.

The wegman stuff is temporary (I believe).

I was also considering adding a forum for injured rider updates, but don't know that it would be beneficial.  I would like it as it would keep the stickies in the general topic down, but then again it's another category...

This really isn't as cut and dry as it seems...

[ekraft84]

If there's a lot of stuff in Help Me Master, then I agree, I would move it, as you wouldn't want to lose that (I thought that after I posted my last post).

What are Rules and Regs exactly?  Questions about CCS rules?  That's what I think when I look at the title and I think that would fall into the General Racing category.  If I wanted to know what class my Honda F3 falls into, that's simply a Racing question.  I don't think it needs to be further broken into: General Racing -> Rules and Regs.  Just combine the two.

I agree Announcements should only be for CCS officials/moderators to post to.  I would think the FAQ section would be the same (maybe you move a topic over from another section if it has good/commonly asked info in it).

I personally don't know if Injured Rider Updates would be beneficial.  It's a bit too much (not to mention it's a negative aspect to racing, and I'm not sure it would succeed being it's own category).  I again think that's part of General Racing.  A sticky would be good if the situation calls for it.  I agree you don't want to clog the General Racing section with stickies.  I think anything more than 3-4 stickies is too much, but depending on the situation, they don't stay up there that much.  And again, sometimes the sticky would fall into the Announcements section.

I suppose I just disagree a bit and think it is somewhat cut and dry.  Keeping it simple and centralized is the way to go (again, IMO).  If you find a lot of posts that fit their own niche (like Cornerworking for example), then break out and create one.  I just don't think the need is there with some of the categories.  Heck, you could even pitch an argument that General Racing and General "Non Racing" should just be "General" because a lot of threads start in one and end up in the other.  However with a high amount of posts that you would expect in that category, breaking them up isn't a bad idea.

[ekraft84]

bump ..

[Jeff]

I'll clean it up a bit in the next few weeks.  email me if you have comments.

What I'm not going to do though is cut the damned thing down to 1 category which seems almost where you're going with this. 

Info/Annc will be merged with FAQ.  General public cannot post to this forum

pics/vids can be merged into shooting the bull

Help me master can be merged into general ccs racing discussion

Rules/Regs stay.  It's an area to question rules or comment on new rules you want proposed.  It needs to stay separate so that the rules board can quickly see what people are discussing.

Wrenching stays

Non-CCS Racing motorcycle discussion...  I might merge this into shooting the bull...

Classifieds stay the same.

Would that be reasonable?

[251am]

bump ..

So, what was it you could not find, in the first place?

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Well look at the title of the section. Theres a little white arrow facing down. Click it and that whole section collapses into 1 bar. For example if you dont read classifieds, click it and it becomes one bar instead of 4.

All motorcycle boards are niche markets. Even our LOCAL site here has more subboards. Thats a whole lot more specific than this board.

As Jeff said he may be doing some cleanup on the layout in the next few weeks. Yes theres some things that could be improved upon. Wrenching could be made a child board of Help Me MAster. But then again tips and tricks of tracks could be also posted in CCS racing discussion also since it is racing related and leave help me master for actual mechanical issues. Rules and regs is simple enough. Alot of the questions in there are easily answered by reading the rule book. For example, the question if +1mm overbore is legal for superstock. Answer was in the rule book in black and white (section 5). Some questions are grey areas that could be legal in one region and deemed illegal in others. Those would be legitimate discussions about rules (ie on teh 'shade of yellow' garbage. Even though the book just states yellow and not a particular shade of yellow).

Thing is, you wont please everyone with a layout setup on a message board. Some people will complain that a particular board is too general and not more specific, some will complain that theres too many boards, some will want special sections, etc.... I moderate on a few boards (one has 44,000 members), admin my own local board and help out on others. Just have to make a system up for reading a particular forum.

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

This probably would be the best layout. Move whrenching into Help me master as a sub-board (aka child board). Move non-motorcycle into CCS racing discussions. Misc motorcycle board would be eliminated then. That would be 5 main boards down from 6 then. IMO this probably would be the best comprimise without going too crazy on reorginizing.

Announcements & Info 
Wegman CCS Forum Auctions
Closed Auction Items
Information & Announcements
FAQ
Calendar Events

Off The Wall 
Shooting the bull
Pics & Videos

CCS Racing Discussion  (Possible rename to General Discussions)
CCS Racing Discussion
Help me Master!
Wrenching
Non-Racing Motorcycle Discussion
CCS Rules and Regs

Cornerworkers & Safety Crew
Cornerworkers and Safety Crew

Classifieds 
Commercial Classifieds
For Sale - Private Party
Wanted

[251am]

 I don't think there's enough areas in here. Can we expand the Pics and Vids to having a section within it for movie and music reviews; Torque, Faster I & II, Tornado/Kentucky Kid, Velocity, Any Sunday trilogy. I don't mind reading.

  Could we also add another section within help me master that is specifically related to wrenching videos and other wrenching media as well; McAllister's suspension stuff and the tons of other vids and books out there to help the noobs adjust valves and set a TPS.   


   

[ekraft84]

I don't think there's enough areas in here. Can we expand the Pics and Vids to having a section within it for movie and music reviews; Torque, Faster I & II, Tornado/Kentucky Kid, Velocity, Any Sunday trilogy. I don't mind reading.

  Could we also add another section within help me master that is specifically related to wrenching videos and other wrenching media as well; McAllister's suspension stuff and the tons of other vids and books out there to help the noobs adjust valves and set a TPS.      

Ha.  Are you serious about that?  That's too granular.  Keep it simple.  Clear and easy navigation is what draws more traffic/activity.  That applies to not just forums, but the web as a whole.

[ekraft84]

I think what you have below is a good idea.

I'll clean it up a bit in the next few weeks.  email me if you have comments.

What I'm not going to do though is cut the damned thing down to 1 category which seems almost where you're going with this. 

Info/Annc will be merged with FAQ.  General public cannot post to this forum

pics/vids can be merged into shooting the bull

Help me master can be merged into general ccs racing discussion

Rules/Regs stay.  It's an area to question rules or comment on new rules you want proposed.  It needs to stay separate so that the rules board can quickly see what people are discussing.

Wrenching stays

Non-CCS Racing motorcycle discussion...  I might merge this into shooting the bull...

Classifieds stay the same.

Would that be reasonable?

[ekraft84]

bump.  :)