Technical Forum; Split it?

Small boat forums subdivide into engines, electrical, and boat itself... why not the same in a big boat forum?

not sure i see the point, although i only use the "new posts" page so forum categories don't really matter. that said, i see that there are only a handful of updated threads in the tech forum everyday so I dont' think it's worth splittling at this point.

I think if you split it into too many subsections, a person might miss an interesting subject he may not have been looking for in particular. Besides can't that person utilize the 'search tool' within the technical section to narrow his/her search??

I would vote 'no' at this time.

I vote split it. But only if you can do it without creating a lot of subcategories.

Just basic ones like, engines gensets & gears, electrical, electronics, interior, exterior, misc.

Something along those lines perhaps.

I have to agree with Brian. I think if it gets split too far, it will become too convoluted, and more info will be lost than found.

It is easy enough to read thread titles or use search to find info that may be in tech, or in the respective builder forum.

I have to say "Undecided" not be cause you're the admin / you figure it out, but because I know the admin / technical side of vB, and know that it's a bit of a task to take a larger forum, and split it. Not that creating the new forums are tough, but taking the existing content and moving it to the newly created forums is a mundane and rather time consuming task.

That being said, I'd ask what greater value would the new format offer users that the search engine doesn't currently provide? While I'm a huge fan of simplicity, I'm an even larger fan of organization and specifically, organized content.

So would the new forums provide the users with a better experience in a) posting new material, and / or b) finding existing material (threads) and so on?

That is perhaps the million dollar question. Let alone your hourly wage to do it!

I like Capt. Bill11's idea of engines gensets & gears, electrical, electronics, interior, exterior, misc. but I'd honestly considering even paring that down even further to:
One forum being specific to all things mechanical: "Engines / Gensets / Transmissions"
One forum being centric to all things electronic: "Electrical and Electronics"
One forum dealing with all things "Interior / Exterior & Misc."

With that, you have some level of granularity, but not an mess of additional sub-forums to manage. Notwithstanding the time to move all the existing content.

Again, however, is the initial effort worth the long term value to existing and new members, as well the content in which is holds?

Just kind of "thinking aloud". Don't know if it helps, but it's input from a regular visitor.

Or . . . . simply create a controlled (no new threads except by mods) forum made up of the "classic" threads from the public Techy forum. Similar to "pinning" threads, except they end up in their own forum, do not clutter the public forum.

KISS Kelly

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

I know Carl is ‘worth it’ and will happily chip in for some appropriate lubrication to ease him through the process. But is all that hard work and a more complex forum worth it?

I vote to leave it alone until a genuine need for change is identified.

Don't see the need. You have a very good SEARCH feature that's get's you to any subject (even if it was just a small part of another subject). And of course the New Posts. If you start breaking it up you may do nothing but create a lot of work for yourself and open a Pandora's box. If someone wants say Marine Gears, will you have subcatagories for transmissions, I/O upper units, I/O lower units, davits, stearing systems, hoists, sailboat deck hardware, windless, etc. Pandora's box. I go along with 'If it an't broke...'. Thanks for being willing and offering to do a whole bunch of extra work, but you work hard enough for us.

I agree with this......split into maybe 3 sub sections or 4......I too think it would be too hard to find stuff if there were 12 sections.....or so......
1. engines/gears/generators (or simply all of the machinery including a/c etc.)
2. Electronics and electrical
3. Interior/exterior/hull items, and plumbing......

Ditto PropBet and Capt J - keep it simple

easy split

can't you simply create sub-sections and request users that from now on, they post in sub categories?

No need for you to put hours in re-classifying old posts.

Hi, Carl.
Yes, it would be good to split the Technical Section into Sub-Forums.
Arnie

Thanks for a great resource, Carl (and Happy Birthday). I appreciate your desire to keep YF relevant and useful so newbs like me can tap the collective wisdom of YF members.

I agree with PropBet here. This seems simple and easy to navigate. I'd never wade through ALL existing posts in the technical forum but might look through categories that were smaller and more focused looking for interesting topics that I had never considered that have been discussed before I joined YF. These won't rise to the surface of 'Today's Posts', which I check almost daily and have found many posts to be quite interesting that I wouldn't have otherwise considered reading about. Making it easier to navigate would result in the same thing.

You've got a great thing going here. You've got great stats. One of the keys to keeping people clicking through the pages is to make them easy to navigate. And who knows what topics will get revisited by new members (like me) if they are easy to find without using search.

I voted split it up but not too many sub forums. Follow the old KISS. But the problem I foresee is having to decide where to put a thread if it crosses into two or more categories.

Put a big flashing sign on the search button instead of splitting

I vote don't split it. The more you split it the more likely you'll have a problem that doesn't fit into one of the categories. Or at least doesn't fit until the problem is solved. Then you end up with multiple threads or having to move the thread around.

ie engines won't start after shutting down.

On one of my other forums they split the discussions in the re-vamp into so many different directions and sub-divisions there is even a section on watches.

Bloody watches on a site called Pistonheads. com. That sucks.

I like the randomness of the tech posts.

If you can add something to the thread, good.

If you know little or nothing about the topic, you learn.