Confusing areas

[bikepacker]

I am saddened to see that no one seems to have thought out the new board. The categories have too many cross overs and could have been better defined.

Surely if MTB's can have there own category then Touring and Expedition should have there's?

[Yorkshireman]

I am saddened to see that no one seems to have thought out the new board. The categories have too many cross overs and could have been better defined.

Surely if MTB's can have there own category then Touring and Expedition should have there's?

Is it intended that we should use the People, Events & Rides section for that ?

[admin]

Actually quite a bit of thought has gone into the new boards, even if it's not immediately obvious.

The categories are largely the same as on the old board, so that the old messages could be imported – there's quite a bit of useful information on the old board that we didn't want to lose.

With the new Forum software it’s much easier to add new categories, move topics and messages, etc. so the structure of the Forum is not fixed in stone.

There are many different ways to sub-divide the subjects that people might want to post. Please feel free to suggest ideas for re-arranging the boards, although in general we won't want to change things too often as that could well make things more confusing.

(Mountain Bikes have their own board so that they can make it muddy without upsetting the rest of us )

[bikepacker]

I am saddened to see that no one seems to have thought out the new board. The categories have too many cross overs and could have been better defined.

Surely if MTB's can have there own category then Touring and Expedition should have there's?

Is it intended that we should use the People, Events & Rides section for that ?

They could fit into at least 3 sections. That's the point. No clarity.


As the club was founded on touring it stands to reason it should feature prominently.

[admin]

What would your preferred board titles be, bikepacker?

[bikepacker]

As I stated previously what I would wish is better clarification of sections. Also not to try and shove Touring under the carpet, which seems to be happening within the CTC (irrespective of what is HQ says). So in the categories I would put touring in a section of it’s own. Also questions and discussions regarding cycling and bikes should be combined.

Something like this:

Cycling related subjects

Know how (all cycling related subjects)

General CTC related discussions

Campaigning and Public Policy

Touring and Expedition

Rides and Events

Commuting

National Cycle Training

Mountain Biking

Sales and Wants


None Cycling related.
Leave the same but without ‘Test’.

And what is the point of the ‘Test’ section? After the first week no one will use it.

[Yorkshireman]

I see your point (after spending a bit more time `browsing`) backpacker re a separate Touring & Expedition section, as there does seem to be a number of posts that I would have thought to be classed as `touring/expedition` in different areas.

[admin]

And what is the point of the ‘Test’ section? After the first week no one will use it.

The first week of what? People are joining the forum all the time (we hope )

The test board allows anyone to try out posting, adding photos, etc. without creating "junk" messages on the main boards. The test board also auto-prunes, so the test messages are automatically deleted after a while.

[admin]

Thanks for the board title ideas, we'll have a think about them.

With 3627+ threads we probably won't find time to move existing posts into the new boards if we did re-arrange them but at least it might make it a little more obvious where best to post things.

[ed_o_brain]

On Topic
Newcommers
Cycling Knowledge
Touring and Expedition
Commuting
Mountain Biking & Cyclocross
Fixies, Folders, Recumbents, Tandems and other HPVs
Rides & Events
Racing
Campaign & Public Policy
The Office (discussions about these forums and any CTC related issues not appropriate to "Campaign and Public Policy"


Off Topic
Off Topic Knowledge (find out how to programme the VCR?)
The Tea Shop (for discussion of non-serious topics)
The Study (for discussion of serious topics including real ale, politics etc.)



I'm not sure whether or not a section for newcommers (both to cycling and these forums) is appropriate. On one hand I think it would be nice to have somewhere people are not frightened to ask/find out about the basics without being confused by technical conversations about gearing and grade of aluminium is best!

Requests for help using the forum, forum announcements and test posts should be made in the office. If the office gets a lot of traffic, it could be split into two sections, one forum specific and the other CTC specific.

The idea is that this range of boards hits a balance between having too many boards, of which some inevitably receive low levels of traffic and worthwhile topics therefore subsequently get ignored but also between making all types of cyclist (and HPV rider) welcome.

[sore thumb]

First, i must say that I do like the new forum. If all go's well i am sure CTC could become one of the most used cycling forums.

However a few changes need to be made to the forum sections.

I would generally go along with what ed o brain has suggested for the forum sections, but i must say that for sure that Commuting, Touring/Expedition and Fixes all need there own forum sections.

keep up the good work, and make those forum changes.

[Marc]

Designer/Moderator

Before being haranged into making any changes by those who seem to have lost sight of the unquestionable right to an 'opinion', let me add they don't represent me yet.

If any changes need to be made why not ask for a short bedding in phase during which all users are asked to suggest improvements and when sufficient time and input has passed we all agree the way forward.

To quote "What saddens me is those who demonstrate little thought before denegrating others hard work". Do they have any webdesign insight for instance, so as to be appreciative of the hours go into the new site?

Keep it up lads, please accept my gratitude and my personal thanks following my query over the search facility, perhaps if others followed suit posting actual issues, not thier own vested interests they'd feel fulfilled occasionally.

May I wish a Happy New Year to all Forum folk, be they front or back end and for goodness sake move forward together, yes challenge the envelope, but don't add quips which are not factual and due to them being so personally based really miss the mark on usefullness without your own agenda being explained.


Marc

[bikepacker]

Whilst I appriciate Marc's point and acknowledge the efforts of the administrators, I do think these matters should have been discussed BEFORE the new board was activated. This could have be accomplished by not being in such a hurry to close down the old board but run it for an extra week to get the views of members. Many new postings to the old board were in the wrong catagory, and the same will happen here.

It is something we should expect, as the CTC is not reknown for it's forward planning or thinking.

[admin]

I do think these matters should have been discussed BEFORE the new board was activated. This could have be accomplished by not being in such a hurry to close down the old board but run it for an extra week to get the views of members.

It makes no difference whether the discussion was held on the old board, or on this new one. In fact the new one should make the discussion easier, and we might even have some polls on the subject. Anyway, the old board has been closed, and we have moved to a new one, so there's nothing we can do now (the old board wasn't closed because the categories were wrong... )

On a positive note, if a post is obviously in the wrong category, we now have the facility to move it to a better one.

Often the "right" category is difficult to judge, what ever categories we choose. For example, should a post about long-distance touring on a Windcheetah go in the proposed HPV board or the proposed Touring/Expedition board?

Don't forget that the Search function works much better now, so it matters less where things are posted.

[ed_o_brain]

To quote "What saddens me is those who demonstrate little thought before denegrating others hard work". Do they have any webdesign insight for instance, so as to be appreciative of the hours go into the new site?

Keep it up lads, please accept my gratitude and my personal thanks following my query over the search facility, perhaps if others followed suit posting actual issues, not thier own vested interests they'd feel fulfilled occasionally.

May I wish a Happy New Year to all Forum folk, be they front or back end and for goodness sake move forward together, yes challenge the envelope, but don't add quips which are not factual and due to them being so personally based really miss the mark on usefullness without your own agenda being explained.

I don't know whether my reply here is strictly necessary, but I'm concerned I may have given Marc the wrong impression with my previous posts in this thread

My suggestion was a suggestion. Simply that. This forum is essentially a public place and I have no desire to force my view upon anyone.

Making a suggestion or constructive criticism does not degenerate anyones hard work. Nor does it infer any lack of gratitude for the work that has been done.

I was trying to come up with a list of boards that recognises the diversity of CTC membership, making everyone feel that there are boards here appropriate to them and by the same token not diluting the forum with so many boards that it becomes unwieldy to navigate some boards receiving so little traffic they inevitably become closed shops with small numbers of people posting. I've a strong belief in all types of cyclists showing solidarity with each other and I realise how instrumental the structure of a forum can be in uniting different groups and also how devisive it can be.

I credit admin and the moderators as being able to review all the suggestions and respond to them appropriately, discerning a 'right concensus' from any personal agendas people may have.

I am a web developer so I appreciate all the work involved in implementing web sites. I have expressed what an improvement these boards are and my appreciation of them in other threads.

I don't have any hidden agenda. My personal agenda in this context consists simply of a vision all types of cycling becomming a mainstream activities across the UK and the CTC thriving as a representation of that, and out of that becomes a desire for these forums to be successful.

Marc, sorry if I have taken what you have said a tad too seriously. I just want to keep moving forward on the right foot, not putting my size 7s in it!