"OFFICIAL" Post your idea of how you would like to see Grassroots Central broken up.

[jct74]

I like the idea of a separate forum for news coverage and media appearances, that would be a significant improvement. It would also eliminate the ambiguity of whether to post media appearances in General Politics or Grassroots Central, which there is some disagreement over, and then leads to duplicate threads.

I don't know about a forum for speculations and predictions though, I don't really think it's that necessary. I wouldn't create a new forum unless there is a great need for it.

Also, I don't really understand the point people are making about extra forums making it more difficult and time consuming to navigate the forums. If you use New Posts it eliminates that problem. Is there any way we can raise mass awareness for the New Posts button? Like an announcement at the top of the page for a few days? Or make the New Posts button at the top of the page neon green and flashing, LOL.

 

[deadfish]

Against the split, but new user so take it as you will.

Is there a problem of a few users creating too many new threads? Or is it just too much traffic overall?

Tweaking forum titles might help, maybe changing "Media Spin" to just "Media" or "Articles/Videos" or something might help.

 

[afwjam]

I tried to simplify it some more.

Welcome - Learn about the forum and how to use it
Grassroots - Discussion and coordination, fundraising
News and media - Sharing and discussion, including polls and debates.
Campaign suggestions

Put the opposing candidates and media spin down with the general politics stuff.
This keeps the main part of the forum, positive and easy.

 

[Len Larson]

I don't think we need more forums. Well maybe one just for tubes and audio streams. I see lots of forums with very little traffic.

What we really need is better discipline in posting to the correct forum. Is it possible to set it up so the thread originator can move it themselves?
That way we can self-organize. Post in Grassroots Central to collect some viewers and then move it to a better location for in-depth discussion?

And using the New Posts feature should be pushed.

 

[afwjam]

Having a slimmed down and simplified main forum would work better for a first impression. Here is what I see on my average laptop screen when I click on the forum.

 

[CableNewsJunkie]

Currently, the only subforum that Grassroots Central has is "Networks & Technology".

If we're going to have more subforums, I would recommend having the actual states (in the chronological order in which their primary/caucus takes place) as subforums.

Move (or have links to) the "Iowa Caucus" and "New Hampshire Primary" (currently under Event Planning) in Grassroots Central; just use their states' two-letter abbreviations: "IA" & "NH"

Also have links to "SC" "FL" and "NV"

After that, organize it by month until they get closer, then you can split it up by state abbreviation.

So the subforums might then look like:

Networks & Technology, IA, NH, SC, FL, NV, February, March, April-June

http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-republican-primary-schedule/

 

[McDermit]

If you're splitting it, do it so there's still a way for people to browse the entire general grassroots/subforums with everything lumped together.

I check maybe 4 sections on a semiregular basis (not daily) but grassroots i keep open throughout the day... if you split it up and don't have a way to view it as one, it won't be worth keeping tabs on throughout the day, nor will everyone keep up on all 3+ subfrums the way they do here.

There are already too many subforums to keep tabs on. Couldn't you maybe make a subforum where activist threads get crossposted? Or a way of tagging them as "activism" threads (like the way the opposing candidates section is tagged) and we could choose a dropdown filter to view just the activism or news posts if that's how we choose to bowse?

I really don't like the idea of breaking it up completely. Look at other large forums across the internet... most have one section that is hugely popular, with tons of subforums that se far less activity. Members still manage to keep the good/important threads bumped.

 

[dblee]

This is the only section of the forum that I check, really, so I'd prefer it to stay as it is.

There are probably far more lurkers like myself than actual posters, and most of us probably don't have the time to look through multiple sections every day.

He's right, the broad nature of the topics in this forum lets me see things I otherwise would miss.

 

[TexasJake]

I understand the desire to organize, but I'm not a fan of breaking it up. All forums I've ever been to have the same issue, when there are too many subs everyone will just pick one and stick with it - natural order I think.

 

[McDermit]

Currently, the only subforum that Grassroots Central has is "Networks & Technology".

If we're going to have more subforums, I would recommend having the actual states (in the chronological order in which their primary/caucus takes place) as subforums.

Move (or have links to) the "Iowa Caucus" and "New Hampshire Primary" (currently under Event Planning) in Grassroots Central; just use their states' two-letter abbreviations: "IA" & "NH"

Also have links to "SC" "FL" and "NV"

After that, organize it by month until they get closer, then you can split it up by state abbreviation.

So the subforums might then look like:

Networks & Technology, IA, NH, SC, FL, NV, February, March, April-June

http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-republican-primary-schedule/

This is way too broken up to remain useful. There's a reason people flock to grassroots central and not the already broken down subcategories. We have NH and Iowa Caucus and Primary Debate threads... Who actually reads them on a regular basis? The important threads go in grassroots central.

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

 

[afwjam]

Splitting grassroots central in two:
Grassroots discussion Promotion and fundraising.(eliminate the other fundraising forum)
News and media including debates and polls.

This make good sense.

 

[wstrucke]

I'm against splitting the forum further. Most people don't want to go to separate subforums.

Please please please please do not do this. I do not have time to check a bunch of sub-forums on here and "grassroots central" is exactly what it is. It's working -- just leave it be.

 

[CableNewsJunkie]

This is way too broken up to remain useful. There's a reason people flock to grassroots central and not the already broken down subcategories. We have NH and Iowa Caucus and Primary Debate threads... Who actually reads them on a regular basis? The important threads go in grassroots central.

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

No, no, what I'm saying is simply LINK to what we already have from within the Grassroots Central forum - it would make those other sections more visible. I agree with you, those sections are currently overlooked - so why not have an easy way to give them more attention.

 

[Matthew Zak]

I wish that there were subforums in grassroots central that were in columns so that we could keep many different kinds of conversations going. I never stray from this forum and I'm annoyed when good topics are moved, never to be seen again.

 

[Canderson]

This seems like a good idea, and forgive me if someone already posted this, but its a long thread and i didn't want to read it all, but...

could mods possibly be a little more stringent in moving posts? Grassroots Central just seems like an "all off the below" option, so I rarely go to other sections of the forum. If someone posts something in Grassroots Central about putting a sign up in New Jersey it seems to me that it would be best moved to the NJ section and cleared from Grassroots Central. Almost everything I see in Grassroots Central is specific enough that it could be better placed under another section.

thanks for taking input.

 

[Tod]

You can do this here. Just click on the "Display" button on the toolbar at the top and select "Threaded Mode"

Thanks, I actually experimented with that, but it isn't the same as my favorite forum's version, so I'm living with the default arrangement here.

Will probably make more use of the "New Posts" feature.

 

[agorist ninja]

I wouldn't change a thing.

The one stop shop for all things daily in Dr. Paul's universe (along with the Daily Paul, of course) is what I love about this forum.

Just keep removing the whiny threads and it'll be fine.

 

[iamse7en]

The forums are already divided and subdivided that it's difficult to scan through them all. I like the chaos that is grassroots central. It's almost a one-stop shop for news, speculation, hilarity, and downright ridiculousness. I love it.

My two cents.

 

[iamse7en]

The one stop shop for all things daily in Dr. Paul's universe

Ha! Exactly what I described it as!

 

[JoshLowry]

That's alotta input.

I read it all. Thanks all!