Regarding the new forum changes *** MERGED ***

[Concord]

Okay, I think this is a fair request. I'm going to pick on one user, an old friend.

About a week ago iceberg made a great post about the team. I mean it was really good. The problem was he made it right after the Philly loss and the board was hopping. By the next morning it was moved to another forum and it only had 12 hits. He was discouraged because he had written a very nice, well thought out post. I understand this. When someone puts that kind of effort into something you hate to see it ignored. So I moved it back to the Main forum and replied to it to move it back to the top.

Suddenly it got good hits and traffic. The reason was people had ranted the night before and got it out of their systems.

Okay, that is just taking into account a thread author. Let's say you go on vacation and miss 2 days worth of Cowboys news. Given the system that was in place before today how long would it take you to find out all the happenings of the previous 2 days? Not just one hot topic with 9 different threads on the subject, all the relevant stuff. Injury updates, articles, PC recaps, etc?

To do that finding, how many forums would you have to visit to find it all? We're trying to make it so that you can find it in just one place without having to dig everywhere. This makes it nice for anyone who will be away from the board for an extended amount of time.

Now let's address what are simply bad threads. Do you like wading through them to find the good stuff? I don't think anyone does. We're hoping (I'm talking fingers crossed, and going on hunger fasts) that by doing this people will actually care enough about getting their well thought out posts in that CDZ forum that they will think through their thoughts and really post great stuff. Is it asking too much? Maybe it is. I hope it isn't. Someone pointed out how some people feel the need to make new threads all the time. We had a poster about a few weeks ago who created 25 one line new threads with single line ideas in about 10 minutes. The entire 1st page was all of his one line irrelvant thoughts.

"Is Canty going to be a star?"

"Do you like the practice uniforms?"

"Is it going to rain next weekend in Atlanta?"

Just some examples of the content he posted. No thought put into the fact Atlanta is a domed stadium and rain did not matter. He just wanted attention.

How's that for examples?

This is the forum we want everyone to visit and to get their threads into. We want people finding articles, posting recaps, creating good discussions, etc. If the quality goes up and they get pushed off the first page it is still more convenient to find the real quality stuff isn't it? Just go to page 2 or 3. We'd love that.

Addressed, hopefully to your satisfaction. If not, please ask for clarification.

Obviously I have no choice but to give it a chance.Sure you do and we honestly do care. Someone suggested we don't want suggestions. Yes, we do. If this isn't working we will find a way to make it better. We believe this will work if people give it a fair chance which isn't happening with some of you yet. We are never in stasis here. We always try and improve this forum. We believe this will.

Give us a chance to prove it.

Thanks for the post, definitely explains some things.

 

[Hostile]

Thanks for the post, definitely explains some things.

Love the placekicker shot Buckeye Hater. That is aces in my book.

 

[Concord]

Love the placekicker shot Buckeye Hater. That is aces in my book.

...Thought you'd like that.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Right now I have a feeling. It's not going to change in the next few minutes, if that's what you're suggesting.

I see the purpose.

You guys want to move the quality threads to another forum, so they stick around a little longer.

Do you see the problem with this? The other forum doesn't get much traffic, so basically the quality threads go virtually unviewed.

And do you see the reason people don't visit other forums is due to that very same one zone mentality and doing this is an attempt to help break that one zone mentality.

Seriously do you see that?

Why don't people go to the other zones...because they are so entrenched into a one zone mentality. So this is an attempt to help break that mentality.

 

[theogt]

And do you see the reason people don't visit other forums is due to that very same one zone mentality and doing this is an attempt to help break that one zone mentality.

Seriously do you see that?

Why don't people go to the other zones...because they are so entrenched into a one zone mentality. So this is an attempt to help break that mentality.

I see that that is what you think is the reason. I don't think it's the reason, though. Time will tell.

 

[Juke99]

It's not my mentality. I don't care about being right or wrong. I care about quality content, and right now it seems like we're getting less.

Look at the threads that have been moved. Before they're moved they garner many more replies than after they're moved.

But what of the hundreds of members who come here only wanting to read and NOT post their opinions?

It is simply easier to find the hot information, the recaps, news articles when there is a forum particularly set aside for that. The site isnt only about dialogue.

I know when I'm pressed for time, I'll go to do some Mod stuff and spot something in the old "recap" or "article" zone that I hadn't seen because it was buried three pages deep in the main forum and then moved off to an archive forum.

and again, Please try to keep in mind, we're not only doing this for TODAY. Having ONE forum is simply not going to work when the site grows even more.

Ya know, it's why department stores have departments.

If you only had 22 people going into a store, it wouldn't much matter. But when you have thousands of people coming to the store, you have to break items out into separate areas or it'll become a mess.

 

[Frosty]

Time will tell. If it works out it does, and we think it will given time, if it does not than things will be changed.

It is not a matter of one person being right or the other wrong, and if that is your mentality in this situation you are missing the boat.

It is trying to make the board better in a long term situation as the site grows.

Just dont turn this site into the good OL boys Club.... The haves and have nots....You have a great site, good for all of us Cowboys FANs.....and that what make this site special...just dont screw up a good thing

 

[theogt]

But what of the hundreds of members who come here only wanting to read and NOT post their opinions?

Well keep a track of views. I'm sure they go down as well. I can't make this any more evident: when threads are moved to another zone, they get less views and less response. It makes threads short-lived and lower quality.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

It's not my mentality. I don't care about being right or wrong. I care about quality content, and right now it seems like we're getting less.

Look at the threads that have been moved. Before they're moved they garner many more replies than after they're moved.

Because of a ONE ZONE mentality that you seem to be unwilling to change because you feel it is inconvenient to click on a mouse button.

That is really what it boils down to.

 

[theogt]

Because of a ONE ZONE mentality that you seem to be unwilling to change because you feel it is inconvenient to click on a mouse button.

That is really what it boils down to.

It's human nature. I don't think you're going to change human nature. Go right ahead with the effort, though.

 

[Bleu Star]

Okay, I think this is a fair request. I'm going to pick on one user, an old friend.

About a week ago iceberg made a great post about the team. I mean it was really good. The problem was he made it right after the Philly loss and the board was hopping. By the next morning it was moved to another forum and it only had 12 hits. He was discouraged because he had written a very nice, well thought out post. I understand this. When someone puts that kind of effort into something you hate to see it ignored. So I moved it back to the Main forum and replied to it to move it back to the top.

Suddenly it got good hits and traffic. The reason was people had ranted the night before and got it out of their systems.

Okay, that is just taking into account a thread author. Let's say you go on vacation and miss 2 days worth of Cowboys news. Given the system that was in place before today how long would it take you to find out all the happenings of the previous 2 days? Not just one hot topic with 9 different threads on the subject, all the relevant stuff. Injury updates, articles, PC recaps, etc?

To do that finding, how many forums would you have to visit to find it all? We're trying to make it so that you can find it in just one place without having to dig everywhere. This makes it nice for anyone who will be away from the board for an extended amount of time.

Now let's address what are simply bad threads. Do you like wading through them to find the good stuff? I don't think anyone does. We're hoping (I'm talking fingers crossed, and going on hunger fasts) that by doing this people will actually care enough about getting their well thought out posts in that CDZ forum that they will think through their thoughts and really post great stuff. Is it asking too much? Maybe it is. I hope it isn't. Someone pointed out how some people feel the need to make new threads all the time. We had a poster about a few weeks ago who created 25 one line new threads with single line ideas in about 10 minutes. The entire 1st page was all of his one line irrelvant thoughts.

"Is Canty going to be a star?"

"Do you like the practice uniforms?"

"Is it going to rain next weekend in Atlanta?"

Just some examples of the content he posted. No thought put into the fact Atlanta is a domed stadium and rain did not matter. He just wanted attention.

How's that for examples?

This is the forum we want everyone to visit and to get their threads into. We want people finding articles, posting recaps, creating good discussions, etc. If the quality goes up and they get pushed off the first page it is still more convenient to find the real quality stuff isn't it? Just go to page 2 or 3. We'd love that.

Addressed, hopefully to your satisfaction. If not, please ask for clarification.

That pretty much spells out all I need to know. I like the new ideas and look forward to hitting both forums. I can hit the fan zone for the quick fast in a hurry posts and when I want to really stimulate my mind with the more involved topics I can hit up the daily zone.

Nice job mods.

 

[Juke99]

Well keep a track of views. I'm sure they go down as well. I can't make this any more evident: when threads are moved to another zone, they get less views and less response. It makes threads short-lived and lower quality.

You're assuming someone knows they were "moved"

If I am not on this site for hours on end, when I arrive and find a thread, even if its been moved, I don't know that.

I only know "Hey I want news. Ah, let me look in the news area"

Within your theory, we should only have one zone for the entire place, yes?

Media, recap, history, news, opinions, off topic. Just let everyone post into one forum? Yes?

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

It's human nature. I don't think you're going to change human nature. Go right ahead with the effort, though.

But it is worth trying.

I would hate the idea in the past if people just stayed with the status quo because they said things would just not work if it changed.

It would be a scary world if we never tried.

 

[theogt]

You're assuming someone knows they were "moved"

If I am not on this site for hours on end, when I arrive and find a thread, even if its been moved, I don't know that.

I only know "Hey I want news. Ah, let me look in the news area"

Within your theory, we should only have one zone for the entire place, yes?

Media, recap, history, news, opinions, off topic. Just let everyone post into one forum? Yes?

It doesn't matter one way or the other whether I assumed that or not.

The bottom line is that they get less views and less responses once they're moved.

If that changes over time, then ok. If not, then the change here was for the worse.

 

[theogt]

But it is worth trying.

I would hate the idea in the past if people just stayed with the status quo because they said things would just not work if it changed.

It would be a scary world if we never tried.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

If the system was broke before, I don't understand how it became the most popular Cowboys site on the internet.

 

[Juke99]

It doesn't matter one way or the other whether I assumed that or not.

The bottom line is that they get less views and less responses once they're moved.

If that changes over time, then ok. If not, then the change here was for the worse.

I'll ask again, then in your view, the entire place should only be one forum, right?

Recaps, news, off topic, draft, history, opinion, articles, all in one forum, yes?

 

[theogt]

I'll ask again, then in your view, the entire place should only be one forum, right?

Recaps, news, off topic, draft, history, opinion, articles, all in one forum, yes?

That would work better than moving good threads to another forum which isn't viewed as much as this one.

 

[Juke99]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

If the system was broke before, I don't understand how it became the most popular Cowboys site on the internet.

There are tons of examples where people left things as they were because they were successful and went down the tubes because they didn't change.

Remember the group "Boston" ??

They had a great sound. They sold a gazillion albums.

They kept to that sound for the next album. They sold a half a gazillion albums.

Uh, you get the idea.

They were gone after four albums.

 

[Juke99]

That would work better than moving good threads to another forum which isn't viewed as much as this one.

Ok well, we differ on this. I hardly think you'd be thrilled if we only had one forum here for every topic imaginable.

It's all about levels of information. And quick access to that information.

Anyway. We've all tried our best to explain to you.

If we didn't care, none of us would have spent as much time as we have.

 

[Hostile]

Just dont turn this site into the good OL boys Club.... The haves and have nots....You have a great site, good for all of us Cowboys FANs.....and that what make this site special...just dont screw up a good thing

We absolutely won't.

In fact, I am convinced that when the Seahawks game is upon us and you don't have to wade through all the nonsense you will see that this change is working and the quality is going up.