Forum Sections & Sub Clasification

[Rob Thomson]

Right.

I am looking in to how the forum can be organised a bit better - in a way to help people know where to post.

The issues I see are as follows:

1. People dont know the differences between the firmwares, so post in the wrong places
2. Developer chat gets mixed into programing and end user issues.

So how can we solve this?


Anyone have any ideas?

Rob

[gohsthb]

1) Maybe a 'which firmware am I running?' section. Where if people don't know they can post there. Mods could then move it to the correct section.

2) This is just how the people are using the board. It is pretty conversational here, so we seem to start on one topic and sometimes quickly move on to beer or spirits.

-Gohst

[jhsa]

the problem is that sometimes a discussion on one thread affects what's being discussed on other thread..
Other thing, for example: instead of openning a topic to report a bug in er9x (this is just an example) wse could report it on the er9x development thread..
There are so many topics already that new people get a bit overwhelmed and post in the wrong place.. Even for the other users start getting a bit difficult to find info..

João

[jhsa]

1) It is pretty conversational here, so we seem to start on one topic and sometimes quickly move on to beer or spirits.

-Gohst

It will never be boring I love it cos I like a good laugh.

[Irish Steve]

Rob,

Moderating this place is likely to become as easy as herding cats, but in some respects, that may not be all bad.

Not sure it's going to be that easy to differentiate the products, in that a number of the developers are working on more than one product, and the discussions seem to switch between the products because of the cross fertilisation that's clearly happening.

The Developers are an easy going bunch that are probably as guilty of thread drift as the rest of the membership, and in some respects, that may well be their safety valve, so putting too much of a straight jacket on that might actually become counter productive.

I guess what I'm saying is that unless you're getting massive levels of complaint in the background that we don't know about, the tone of the forum is becoming established, and changing it might not actually acheive the result you are hoping for, and could even be damaging in the longer term. It's down to the signal to noise ratio that's happening at the moderation level, and that's going to be directly related to the number of moderators that you have, the larger that group becomes, and it will have to happen, the harder it becomes to keep it loose and relaxed, been there, done that, in several very large flight simulation fora, and it's not easy, some people can get very passionate about "their" hobby, and their position in it, and worldwide flame wars are not fun, and can badly impact the moderators and eventually the whole forum, so I understand where you're coming from, and it gets even harder if the hobby starts impacting the day job.

Part of the problem is that things are very fast moving at the moment, and uber dynamic, there's a lot of development work happening in a number of different areas, and at times, because the same core group are involved in more than one area, when a point gets made, it's triggering a related thought that might be better in another thread, but the reply sort of fits the original location. I'm not sure there's going to be an easy answer to that, until things settle down a little more, and the pace of development becomes a little less frantic, assuming that it does. It could well be that given the number of 9X sets out there, this forum will become even busier and more complex, if that's the case, you're going to need help, and possibly tranquilisers , it could get to be a pretty exciting ride.

[calla969]

I'm not sure how to better organize the threads, but I agree that we need to improve it. I often come across great information in a thread and can't find it later when I need it because it was an off topic discussion in a vaguely related thread. I have better luck finding recent posts using Tapatalk on my phone than going to the board on the computer because there is a page with recent posts covering the whole forum.

I also often have a question and don't know where to post it so the right people will see it. For example, I'm getting a device signature error using eepe with a USBASP, on a stock board that has er9x on it. I would imagine that I would either post in "programmers" or maybe "eepe", but I usually find myself resorting to a PM with a knowledgeable person. This isn't good for the community though because no one else can see the progress or results. I also try to avoid jumping on someone else's thread to avoid straying off topic for the reasons mentioned above.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Rob Thomson]

I am pretty sure that most people just use the. "View unread" option.

That way I just see everything

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Kilrah]

I so agree. Even when trying to tidy up things I find it hard to actually find a better place to move topics to!

I'd say something like:

• OPENRC News & Information
  • General Information & Rules
  • 9X Guides (wiki)
  • Forum Feedback
  • Scratchpad (maybe this one could go, the following section would become the landing pad)
• General help and information, post here if you don't know where to go (new, with 2 subforums made of the content of the current hardware->general help forum that with time also included software)
  • General help (software)
  • General help (hardware)
  • General help (FrSky Taranis radio)
• Open radio control firmwares - Development & model setup
  • General firmware-related questions (features, what should I use etc, currently the "other" forum lost at the end)
  • General model setup questions
  • openTx general
    • openTx model setup
  • er9x general
    • er9x model setup
  • ersky9x general
    • ersky9x model setup
  • gruvin9x general
    • gruvin9x model setup
  • th9x general
    • th9x model setup
  • gv9x general
    • gv9x model setup
  • radioclone general
    • radioclone model setup
• PC software
  • eePe
  • companion9x
• Stock firmware (new section, there's currently nothing for it really)
  • Stock firmware general questions
  • Stock firmware programming
• Hardware
  • FrSky Taranis radio
  • FlySky TH9X / Turnigy 9X / Eurgle 9X radio
    • Programmers
    • Equipment, skills and modding questions
    • General mods (combine current "Electronic mods" and "Hardware mods")
    • FRSky Telemetry Mods
    • DSM2/DSMX Mods
    • ArduPilot Mods
    • Custom boards (sky9x, gruvin9x)
    • Case mods
  • Turnigy 9XR radio
  • RF Modules
    • FrSky
• Other (as is)
  • The Pub
  • Other Electronic Projects
  • FPV Projects
  • Retro Radios
  • Test equipment reviews and sources
• Links, as is

[calla969]

I am pretty sure that most people just use the. "View unread" option.

That way I just see everything

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, I guess that's what Tapatalk does, I just haven't used that feature on the PC. I'm almost always looking at the forum on my phone. Thanks

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[jhsa]

Couldn't the templates go inside their own FW threads in custom firmwares?
Or even put the complete "Mixes, Templates & Programming (change confusing structure)
General programming questions" inside their own firmware thread?

[Kilrah]

Couldn't the templates go inside their own FW threads in custom firmwares?

The goal would be to try and keep the "Custom Firmwares - Development & General Information" section dedicated to development, and keep "user-level" radio setup questions in the "Radio setup, Mixes, Templates & Programming" section.

[jhsa]

normally all that is connected.. from a user point of view I believe it would be easier to keep it under it's own fw thread..

For example. If I need some info about mixes on er9x and need also to have a look at the templates..
Just go to "Custom Firmwares - Development & General Information > ER9X > Radio setup, Mixes, Templates & Programming > Templates, mixes, etc"

I think it would be more organised and not so overwhelming..

Joao

[Kilrah]

I don't think having to go 3 levels deep for a simple user question is convenient. I usually find 2 is nearly too much. If organised like I suggested, it's clear from the start where to go to if you have setup questions when you arrive on the home page. With your path, the user first finds the development section (not what he's looking for), and then needs to search before even finding that there is a radio setup subforum hidden inside...

2 separate topics IMO. If you want to discuss features, go in the development section. If you want to discuss "applied" usage without being overwhelmed by complicated development-related questions, go to the programming section (programming isn't a good term in this context actually, but it's so widsepread... this is why I added Radio setup in the title)

[jhsa]

Well, that was just my opinion.. As for myself, when I don't find the right place/topic, just go to the PUB. it's the best place in town anyway

[calla969]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the Wiki is great for a lot of stuff and I'm glad to see all of the updates.

Also, maybe we could add a classifieds section for buying and selling boards, parts, services, etc.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Rob Thomson]

Testing...

[Rob Thomson]

Testing...12

[Rob Thomson]

This morning myself and Kilrah have been working through a bit of re-structure of some of the forum sections.

Still work in progress - but the general organisation and layout is a bit better.

Mods... please take note of the new sections (http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic ... 177#p23177

and move posts or topics as you see fit to suit the structure.

Rob

[MikeB]

So now, "View unread posts" suddenly returns hundreds of them!

Mike.

[jhsa]

Go to main page, top right corner "mark forum read" or something similar

[Rob Thomson]

So now, "View unread posts" suddenly returns hundreds of them!

Mike.

Sadly the side effect of mass reorganisation

But it is better now.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[jhsa]

Where is "The Pub"??

[Flaps 30]

Where is "The Pub"??

Like many in the UK.,.. Probably shut due to poor trading condition and now converted into apartments.

[jhsa]

Yeah, the smoking ban didn't help either.. Having 20 people drinking outside in the winter and 5 or 6 inside doesn't help to keep the costumers..
At least the one I was going when I was in Kent had a stove outside..

People start meeting on each other's homes..

[Rob Thomson]

http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=48

Just a new name that people outside of the UK can understand



Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Rob Thomson]

http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=48

Just a new name that people outside of the UK can understand



Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[jhsa]

Did you just double posted?? I can't believe it..

And by the way, I'm from outside the UK but know very well what the pub is

[Rob Thomson]

Dodgy mobile link!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[G550Ted]

Yeah, the smoking ban didn't help either.. Having 20 people drinking outside in the winter and 5 or 6 inside doesn't help to keep the costumers..
At least the one I was going when I was in Kent had a stove outside..

People start meeting on each other's homes..

I was in Stanstead on June 30 several years ago when that was the last day one could smoke inside a pub/bar/whatever. My goodness what a crowd for the night. Big change in the social atmosphere in establishments since as you point out.

Rob - Anyone who doesn't know what a pub is may be too immature to use these FWs. I'll be at the corner table after the door to the 'Arc and Eagle' reopens.

Ted