Notice on the use of Beginners Forum

[marmots]

Why so many sub-sections that are not used? I tried some years ago & I may as well have posted on the back of an outhouse. The beginners section is a catch-all & has a sense of community.

pretty much

 

[KmH]

Move the Beginners Forum so it's not the first one on the list. That is why it is a catch-all forum section.

 

[JWellman]

Why so many sub-sections that are not used? I tried some years ago & I may as well have posted on the back of an outhouse. The beginners section is a catch-all & has a sense of community.

Hit the nail on the head with that one!

I'm guilty of not rummaging through the many sections of this forum. I have tried a few times but I always end up here. I've posted in a few other locations but I agree with Ron, why go to a section where there is little to no responses? There's way too many subforums on TPF.

 

[orb9220]

Yep I mean like it's harder and everything to Read the Subsections then Understand what there for and then figure out where my question belongs. And there are a lot more mouse clicks also and then there is the time factor as can't take my eyes of the road too long because of the crazy drivers & unsafe drivers around me Geeze! :er:

But kidding aside yep on the reminder. And agree some condensing of sub-section home is in order. The fewer the better.
.

 

[Big Mike]

I have to laugh at all the complaints about Facebook, every time they change something. I really don't think that a billion dollar company has 'killed itself' because they made a few minor changes.

 

[MissCream]

I have to laugh at all the complaints about Facebook, every time they change something. I really don't think that a billion dollar company has 'killed itself' because they made a few minor changes.

I know.... Here people, don't freak out when this happens....How To Enable Facebook Timeline Right This Second | TechCrunch

Off topic now isn't it?

Also, why doest the active topic place have the little green person beside it to tell you what thread you've posted in?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Hmmm...Facebook.

Why is it users believe Facebook is a product?
Facebook isn't a product.
YOU are the product.
You are delivered to advertisers.

Wait for the "Want" button to appear.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

I peruse New or Today's posts. I don't look at the Forums unless I am starting a new thread.

I like Facebook, and I love my new FB page and specifically what they did for photos. Biggie-sized them and I just love it. :greenpbl:

 

[Destin]

It isn't a case of "going with the flow" its a case of getting members (and not all of them new either) to post in the correct places on the site. No different than using any other forum structure and software. Locks only come out to repeat offenders since its unfair to expect mods to continue to move threads when the member has had more than enough reminders/time to know better.

As for the section, sure it gets a lot of views, but a large number of the regular site members already surf the site in "new posts" rather than section by section - so the post views isn't that much of a factor.

Alright here's my input. Ditch the nikon/canon/Sony sections. Simplify the damn site by having ONE equipment section. One beginners C&C/Technical questions section, one advanced version of the same thing. The subsections for film, and macro are understandable. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few other ones that are good too (business district, photo galleries, etc).

This site simply has WAY too many subsections. Organization is good, but the large amount of subsections divides your user base a bit too much, meaning that the person who can help with a question may very well not ever see it. So what happens? Well, we all know that the beginners forum gets the most traffic so we post there because it's the only chance of getting a reasonable amount of answers.

You want people to post in the correct sub-sections? Cut the site down to 10 or so subsections, with better (clearer) descriptions of what should go in them, and people will actually use them. Right now, it just takes too long to dig
Through the list and find a fitting subsection.

I've been using the site for over a year now, and it takes me a while to dig through the list and find a proper subsection. I can only imagine how a new member, still learning the layout of the site must feel.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

From the heading..."Brand new to photography?...Ask ALL your beginning photographic questions here."To me, and obviously nearly all new members, that means this section is ideal for "what camera to buy, lens questions, and beginning business questions, etc".

 

[Destin]

From the heading..."Brand new to photography?...Ask ALL your beginning photographic questions here."To me, and obviously nearly all new members, that means this section is ideal for "what camera to buy, lens questions, and beginning business questions, etc".

+1. Totally agree, and that was my impression for a LONG time when I joined this forum.

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

The biggest responsibility for this falls to the mods and the administrators.

1) Re-organize the site for less clutter and to be more streamlined ( any business that is not interested in efficiency will not prosper )

2) Have a mass movement of threads. The reason why noone listens is because for every 1 thread that is moved and reprimanded, there are 50 that aren't. So all the mods should get together on whatever day and time the site sees the most traffic ( in terms of posters ) and proceed to move as many threads as possible to the proper categories. You would want to have the categories re-organized first though as to avoid having to do this kind of thing multiple times.

The fact of the matter is that if you lock threads, or instruct someone to post to a forum that might get 1% of the views that the beginners forum gets, then they are NOT going to abide by that. Some may try it once, but then they are simply going to NOT post, because nobody likes to waste their time on a futile endeavor. This will only hurt the site. A Social site, much like the real world, can only be moderated so much. The masses dictate what they want, not the person providing the service. Any business that does not realize that, won't last very long. Supply does not create demand, demand creates supply.

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Oh, and also, Facebook sucks, go with Google+. I don't really care so much about their changes, just the fact that it took another company stepping on their toes for them to actually make the changes that people wanted. ( Prime example of an internet based social site not listening to its member base )

 

[bennielou]

Interesting discussion (yet again).

George, I didn't like the facebook change either, but this forum is different. It's pretty much been the same outlay for YEARS.

I don't think it's a mod thing either. Here's why:

I KNOW that some working photogs post in the Photography Newbie and General area because those are viewed more, and they think there will be more responses, or they are still unsure of their work, and figure they will fare better in those categories vs. the pro categories.

Same with the camera forums. They don't get as many reads, and peeps figure they are more likely to get an answer at the beginners forum.

Just a guess, but I see the same thing at every forum I've ever been on.

 

[Ballistics]

I'm yet to see what is the change that no one likes on facebook. However Google + might just do FB in