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Phone Sections: Sub-forums vs Prefixes vs Nothing


Subforums vs. Prefixes vs. Neither (Please Read below First!)

  1. (1) Leave the "Accessories", "Tips and Tricks", and "Support and Troubleshooting" sub-forums as is.

    108 vote(s)
    50.2%
  2. (2) Remove all sub-forums but "All Things Root", require sortable prefixes in both.

    67 vote(s)
    31.2%
  3. (3) Remove the 3 sub-forums, leaving "All Things Root", do not add prefixes.

    20 vote(s)
    9.3%
  4. Doesn't matter to me.

    20 vote(s)
    9.3%

Last Updated:

  1. Phases

    Phases Community Manager Administrator

    I will try to make this short. Please read the whole thing before voting - we value your input but we want you to be absolutely sure before casting your vote.

    Please select the CLOSEST option to what you want, providing input in a reply if needed. If you notice someone else replying with something that totally matches your thought as well, give them "Thanks" by clicking the appropriate "Thanks" icon.

    (1) Having "Accessories", "Tips and Tricks", and "Support and Troubleshooting" sub-forums, like we have now in many sections

    The benefit to this set up is obvious. Organization. It also gives your threads time to be seen before they are back on page four. However it results in many users' threads being moved and adding to annoyance, as our staff finds threads that should be in sub-forums but aren't.

    (2) Removing "Accessories", "Tips and Tricks", and "Support and Troubleshooting" sub-forums, and requiring sortable prefixes instead.

    See the following example:

    Fountaine Pajot - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

    See the prefixes to the left of every thread? You can use the dropdown at the top of the forum to select which a prefix you want to single out and view. This is nice.

    This would allow threads to stay where they are created and also allow people to sort (ok, not really sort.. but you get it) when they want to see only certain types of threads. This is much easier on staff and less annoying to users (as far as threads being moved around). The drawback is the added step of having to pick a prefix when creating threads. This would be required. I personally do not think that extra 2 clicks is a big deal, but this is why we're asking for input. Some prefixes may be:

    General
    Support
    Tips
    Accessories

    The "All Things Root" sub-forums would stay, and have their own set of prefixes:

    General
    Root
    ROMs
    Themes
    Hacks
    ..etc.

    (3) Removing "Accessories", "Tips and Tricks", and "Support and Troubleshooting" sub-forums, and NO prefixes:

    This also makes for easier management on our staff, and doesn't include the extra step during thread creation of selecting a prefix, but gives zero organization. When you make a thread in one of our more popular forums - by the end of the day it's down on page four if it hasn't been replied to.

    This can be a problem for people wanting an answer then watching their thread go off to page one shmillion.But like the prefixes option - it makes browsing ALL threads in a phone forum easier as you're not having to go forum to forum. You just click next page over and over.

    Please provide your input.

    This poll is to gauge the preference of our user base. We may adjust accordingly, or may not. It depends on how overwhelming the winning opinion is, as either change would be quite the project. We have stickies and links all over the place that would have to be modified.

    So, please think well on it, look at the forum linked above, and consider the pros and cons of each before voting and/or responding.

    I'm looking forward to hearing all your opinions.
     

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  2. eyebeam

    eyebeam Well-Known Member

    It's a tough call for me. In a slower section such as the Sprint Hero has now become, I think the multiple sub-forums are unnecessary and make seeing posts and getting/giving advice more difficult. But, in the busier areas, I can definitely see how this actually helps keep more posts visible. I guess I'll vote for giving the prefixes a try. I think this would work best for all but the most active sections.
     
  3. cynkrzy

    cynkrzy Active Member

    I like things just fine the way they are :) But I'm new
     
  4. blkbeltkid17

    blkbeltkid17 Well-Known Member Contributor

    i like things the why they are ... why fix something that already works ???
     
    ScorpDX likes this.
  5. Moonfire

    Moonfire Well-Known Member

    I like things the way they are, personally. (Granted, I'm compulsive and tend to be against change in general.) Some of the less popular ones could get just one section, perhaps, but having none of them would be chaos.

    Is the current issue that mods are constantly moving threads around? Maybe recruiting more mods would be an option as well, or even a sub-mod that just has power to move threads.
     
  6. Xyro

    Xyro 4 8 15 16 23 42 Moderator

    I like number two. Especially the fact that people are forced to pick an option - it might encourage more people, especially brand new members, to think about it before posting.

    And even if people pick the wrong ones, at least we can 'move' the thread without actually changing it's location or leaving a load of ugly redirects behind. We won't have to worry about members not being able to find the post either, which is something people have complained about in the past.

    Anything that helps us cut down on threads that need moving is a good thing IMO. We have around 70 people capable of moving threads and it's still impossible to keep every post in the right section.

    It's quite a big change from what we use now, but as a staff member I don't see any negatives, only positives.

    That's one of the roles of the guides :)
     
  7. Phases

    Phases Community Manager Administrator

    I'm a fan of option 2, personally.

    :)

    Keep the feedback coming!
     
    Jayo619 and INOV8TN like this.
  8. Moonfire

    Moonfire Well-Known Member

    Oh, I see - shows how much of a newbie I still am, lol.

    Tbh, still a bit apprehensive about the filter option, but had no idea we had that many mods (and still having issues keeping up). It's certainly more preferable to option three, though.

    Maybe a trial period and people can vote again afterwords? Might be too much work to do that, though.
     
  9. Xyro

    Xyro 4 8 15 16 23 42 Moderator

    I included all of the admins/mods/guides in that count; there are only about 25 mods.

    A trial period could work, so long as it's easy to switch between the two methods. We don't want to have to reorganise everything twice :p
     
  10. Kelmar

    Kelmar Done by choice VIP Member

    I think option 2 or 3 would be the best. Let's give option 2 a shot and if worse comes to worse, go back to 3.

    While the current setup is nice and allows for fantastic organization, it may be TOO organized (if that makes sense). That being said, I worry that option 2 may be create too much organization as well. How many root noobs are going to understand which option to choose as an example.
     
    INOV8TN likes this.
  11. twospirits

    twospirits AF's janitor Moderator

    Option 3 is not an option. It will bring us back to the very same chaos we tried to eliminate in the first place (which resulted in creating sub-forums) to keep things organized.

    Option 2 may be doable since it forces the thread maker to select an option/category. But this does nothing if the member selects the wrong section.

    Also by selecting a category from the drop down list does the thread get placed into the correct sub-forum or does it stay in the current forum. If it stays in the current forum, we then go back to one of the original complaints that threads fall off the first page never to be seen since everything is in one place.

    Either way (either option) in my opinion will not reduce the load of work for the staff, it may lessen one thing, but maintaining its replacement may be more work.

    Personally I like the current option we have and # 2 if we didn't have the current setup.

    TS
     
    OfTheDamned, UncleMike and Martimus like this.
  12. Xyro

    Xyro 4 8 15 16 23 42 Moderator

    The way I understood it, there wouldn't be any sub forums any more. In stead you'd have the option to view all labels or one specific label (just like in gmail). So you can still separate out accessory only threads, for example, even though they're in the same section as non-accessory threads.
     
  13. reinbeau

    reinbeau Klaatu barada nikto VIP Member

    I really like the subforums. XDA has them, as well as the tags. Personally if the tags are going to be used I hope the subforums stay. It just makes more sense that way.
     
  14. Phases

    Phases Community Manager Administrator

    Be sure to check out the forum I linked for an example of option 2. It doesn't really add to organization off the bat, would leave threads like normal - but then allows for someone to go through and find all they want in certain categories if they want.
     
  15. davidnmegan6907

    davidnmegan6907 Well-Known Member

    I think that keeping it the same sounds the best. I don't know about other users but I spend about 75% of my time in here, which has been a whole lot, on my mobile. I think the way it is now seems to look easier to navigate. I hope that some other mobile users think this through before voting. Thanks for giving me a soap box to stand on so I can voice my .02
     
  16. twospirits

    twospirits AF's janitor Moderator

    ^ thats true, didn't even think about the mobile aspect of it. Would the Phandroid app do option # 2?

    TS
     
  17. woop

    woop novacane (OFWGKTA) VIP Member

    IMO, I think the best way to handle it is to delete the Tips and Tricks and the Support and Troubleshoot forum. The Tips and Tricks one is a bit too ambiguous in terms of whether something should go there or just stay in the main thread. In the same token, it also then suffers a drop in traffic because there really isn't that many tips and tricks to be discovered after a phone has been out for quite some time. The notion to delete the support forum is pretty obvious. I'd say about 80% of the threads that get moved out of the main forum are support type questions. Merge this INTO the main forum (since users don't even bother posting in the support forum anyways, might as well just make it easier for them and combine the two so there aren't redirects everywhere), and leave the Root forum (I think this is VITAL in keeping the flow of the forum as well as the stability of usage and members) as well as the Accessory forum (threads that are related to accessories can EASILY be identified whereas support/trick type threads can fall under several categories (ie. if a support question is answered, should it go to tricks? should it stay? should it be moved back now that theres a solution? should it never have been moved at all?).

    If that above isn't what is available, then I'd either go with stay the same or prefixes (although as someone said, the vertical scroll on the busier forums is gonna be insane - and even worse on mobile platforms.) The suggested method I proposed above would seem to be the middle ground of keeping alot of what's working right now, but address the main gripe of users (as I said before, almost all threads moved are support-related)

    Edit: Phases, do you think it would be a good idea to copy this thread into the Lounge forum as well as Android Lounge forum so that people who never scroll all the way down here can also voice their opinion (those would probably be a larger majority compared to people who check this suggestions/feedback one)?
     
  18. twospirits

    twospirits AF's janitor Moderator

    I stand corrected. I changed my vote to Option # 2 (after playing around with that other site and seeing how it works). Sorting feature works nice.

    If what woop says above is whats done, then I see this working.

    TS out
     
  19. OMJ

    OMJ Bazinga VIP Member

    Im liking option #2
     
  20. Roze

    Roze Hiding behind a mystery VIP Member

    I like the way it's organized as is, I think it works in SOME forums and doesn't really in others. I feel that members don't use the subforums in many instances is because the subforums are created MONTHS upon MONTHS after when the phone forum was created. Habits have formed so now members dislike this 'new idea of subforums'. Phases, I've brought this up before, but if we're going with #1, can you get Rob to allow you to create the subforums when you create the phone forum?

    I've voted for #2 because to me it's a compromise between currently what we have issues with some members in quite a number of phone forums. Also, it'll reduce the staff's workload by a lot! It gives us the organization and allows members to be view everything in one area so they don't need to click on everything. I'm assuming that the member can't create a thread without selecting what area it's in?

    I would love though I don't think most will agree...to merge #1 and #2 :D
    That is keep the subforums, and if a member create a [root] thread, it goes to the root subforum. :) This will be a very enhanced #1 option. This will definitely reduce the number of threads being move by us.

    I agree with TS (forgot to quote him) Option 3 is NOT AN OPTION! I remember when we didn't have subforums...oh yeah...there are still phone forums that don't have subforums. It was a PITA to navigate through. I don't want to read about rooting or what case and I have to thread through a number of threads bypassing what I don't want to read to find threads I DO want.
     
  21. Frisco

    Frisco =Luceat Lux Vestra= VIP Member

    I have (mild) disagreement about the Tips and Tricks sub-forums. I feel that they are quite useful and can be maintained with the addition of a "no questions here please" sticky in each one.

    As long as the OP is a true discovered tip for that device, it belongs there. If is is a tip sought after, it needs to be moved to the Support sub-forum (that's how I've been handling them).

    Support and Troubleshooting seems easy, as posts about "where can I get this or that app" just belong in the generic device area. But "this app borked my video player" goes to Support and Troubleshooting.
     
  22. Roze

    Roze Hiding behind a mystery VIP Member

    Same here with me that's how I've been dealing with those two subforums.
    That actually should go to the Application Forum :p
     
  23. Frisco

    Frisco =Luceat Lux Vestra= VIP Member

    Well, I'd be hesitant to move a device specific app query out of that device's forum, though. But many others go there, of course. ;)

    I wonder how this is going to turn out. It'll directly impact the staff's tasks around the phone forums.
     
  24. woop

    woop novacane (OFWGKTA) VIP Member

    Thats fine until a phone has been out for a year. Then there really isn't many more tips that can be discovered, and essentially that subforum turns into a graveyard with no activity (even though it may or may not have good, helpful tips for new users - it would be a moot point as people will see the last post is like from 3 months ago and won't even bother checking there)

    Again, I still stand by my suggestion as what seems to be a compromise between moving forward by addressing what has been a concern of members with the moving of threads (which I also will say is not completely on mods/guides as members need to take responsibility for their own actions of not taking the time to correctly place their threads in the correct subforum), but also keeping the structure of what we have now. I can guarantee a large drop in activity if the root forum was just mashed into the main forum as there would be alot more chaos (regardless of whether there are prefixes or not), and members would probably prefer to just visit XDA if that was the case. I think with the organization we have, we offer what XDA does not - root discussion but other angles of discussion as well; in a organized manner. The issue here is members (lets be honest, this seems to be the elephant in the room) are want their support type threads to be seen, as obviously they want a solution in the fastest manner possible without much work on themselves. How can they accomplish that? By making a thread in the main forum where the largest traffic activity is. Totally understandable. I would want my problem fixed fast if I had any issue with my phone. But the thing is, because we have a support subforum for that, they don't like the fact that their thread is going to a less visited forum while they have to wait for their problem to be fixed.

    Just take a look at the redirects in any busy forum. Support, support, support. Take a look at the threads complaining about moved threads - those OP's made SUPPORT threads that got moved, then complained no one sees their thread in that particular support subforum.

    We don't have to completely reorganized the whole place over what seems to be the most glaring issue. The Motorola Droid forum seemed to flow extremely well when it had just Accessories, Root, Tips/Tricks (this may or may not be useful), and no Support forum.
     
  25. woop

    woop novacane (OFWGKTA) VIP Member

    I agree!:)
     

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