Opinions on new vs. old

[ColleenShaver]

I felt I should give these forums a bit of time before decided whether or not I like them.. here's just what I think to rack up in the likes/dislikes statistics box.

I pretty much vote for going back to the old forums any day. The only thing that I'm a fan of on these boards over the old is the "View New Posts" button so that I can see what was post from last time without having to search through the tons and tons of forums for what I want to read.

However, at least with only a couple forums before, you could go right to the thread you were participating in/reading and see what messages are new. it wasn't much of a hassle, and you could read what you wanted and see when posts kind of trailed off and stay focused on the part of it you wanted (we all know that virtually every topic is multi-faceted and it's bound to have discussions on the many different parts)

I understand it's the off season, but I've seen a major loss of content on the forums lately. Not to say we're not all guilty of writing the one-liner or useless posts every once in a while.. but the board seems overrun with them.

So if these forums are here to say, I can only ask that we ditch the chit-chat sections.. host it on another server/page something so that when we come and click on "view new posts" it's not like reading someone elses IM conversation with their friends.

I appreciate the social aspect of FIRST and have met many new friends through the program.. but I save my convos for emails/IMs.. I used to look at Delphi as a great resource and sharing tool for new and old teams but can't really view it in the same light anymore and would be hesitant to send a newbie to the forum to find information.

That's just what I think after fiddling with the forums for a little bit. Maybe in the coming season it will get back on track, but something tells me this is just the way it'll stay.

Good efforts though- Delphi's constant efforts to improve the FIRST community are well-respected and appreciated.. by me especially

-colleen

[Mike Soukup]

I've finally gotten used to the linear structure of the threads instead of the branched layout. I agree with you that threads are hard to follow because there are usually multiple topics in one thread and sometimes they get way off topic. I brought this up before and nothing really came of it. Since threads will inherently flow and may diverge from the original topic, there need to be a way to easily split a new thought into a new thread. Hopefully that would solve one of the issues you brought up.

I also agree with you that the board is too much like a chat room or public IM conversation. A few weeks back I sent Brandon a message saying what a great service and resource the CD forums are for the FIRST community, but if they lose their focus as a place to share useful information they will lose their usefulness. I also hope that when the season starts, the on topic posts will come back and the chit-chat will die down.

Thanks again for the work Brandon & the rest of CD.

Mike

[Brandon Martus]

Originally posted by Mike Soukup
there need to be a way to easily split a new thought into a new thread. Hopefully that would solve one of the issues you brought up.

Mike

you'll notice there is a 'new thread' button right next to 'reply'. if you're gonna post an off-topic post, just hit that button, instead of reply...