Someone (I'll let them chime in, if they would like to) pm'd me and asked about creating a child board off of Off Topic Discussion for the posting of weird news stories. The concern was that many weird news story threads tend to bump active discussion threads down. I slept on it and it does look like a good idea, to keep all of those from dominating the Off Topic board. They do usually seem to be something to read, not something that becomes a discussion - though the latter does happen now and then.
What does everyone think?
I think it would be a good addition. I don't normally respond to the news stories but they tend to be a good read.
I personally don't like child boards. I tend to forget about them and overlook them altogether. Then again, I think I'm probably in a distinct minority in that I'd prefer just two boards: movies and off-topic. I do too much clicking back and forth to read everything. Yeah, I'm lazy, but I also prefer things to be anarchic rather than over-categorized.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on October 13, 2007, 03:21:28 PM
I personally don't like child boards. I tend to forget about them and overlook them altogether. Then again, I think I'm probably in a distinct minority in that I'd prefer just two boards: movies and off-topic. I do too much clicking back and forth to read everything. Yeah, I'm lazy, but I also prefer things to be anarchic rather than over-categorized.
Creating too many boards to divide up things does worry me. I will say that a great tool for checking new posts is the "Show unread posts since last visit" at the top of the board, inside the box that also contains your avatar picture.
Why yes...I think it's a great idea!
(I wonder who thought of it?) :wink:
Agreed, a child board would be good.
But on that: does anyone else think it's a worry that there are that many weird news topics out there that require the formulation of a new board?
Child Board is okay with me.
QuoteAnother idea would be to have everyone post their "Weird News Stories" in the Press Releases & News section.
I agree with Ash. I've posted news links on both boards, but have tried to only post stories related to entertainment to the Press Releases & News, and stories like "Bigfoot ate my Dingo!" to this one. But I do see the problem with so many of these links pushing legit thread off the front page. And since the Press Releases & News board generally moves much more slowly than this one, that does seem to be the logical place to post odd non-entertainment news.
Another solution would be to start a running "Post Your Weird News Links Here!" thread on the off topic board and strongly encourage folks to only post news stories there. Andrew and the other moderators could move any offending new topics to that thread, right? That would eliminate the need for a child board and keep the Press Releases & News board for entertainment news only.
Creating too many boards to divide up things does worry me. I will say that a great tool for checking new posts is the "Show unread posts since last visit" at the top of the board, inside the box that also contains your avatar picture.
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Oh wow, Andrew, thanks a lot for that tip. I never noticed that before. That option allows me to read everything without clicking to each separate board and turns me neutral on the issue of subdividing. Carve it up however you like!
Quote from: Raffine on October 14, 2007, 12:49:39 PM
Another solution would be to start a running "Post Your Weird News Links Here!" thread on the off topic board and strongly encourage folks to only post news stories there. Andrew and the other moderators could move any offending new topics to that thread, right? That would eliminate the need for a child board and keep the Press Releases & News board for entertainment news only.
Wow, that is quite a good idea. Making a thread like that ends up hurting the chances that people will reply, but (as said) not many of the weird stories create discussions. I think that we all just read them a lot of the time and continue on from there.
Speaking of weird news:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthScience/Marriage_sex_with_robots_soon/articleshow/2456397.cms (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthScience/Marriage_sex_with_robots_soon/articleshow/2456397.cms)
Andrew...
Are you going to create a sticky for the "Weird News Stories" or create a child board for them?
The news stories here seem to have become even more prevalent since you mentioned it.
In my opinion, the Off Topic section is a mess.
It's a disaster area.
Please clean it up! :thumbup:
Thank you... :smile:
I don't think that the Off Topic section is an unusable mess. Heck, in some ways that is what makes it off topic. The goal is to create a section that is functional for use for just posting weird news stories. Since I've been looking through them, it does look like about 30%-50% get replies, so a child board looks like a better solution.
EDIT TO ADD:
I should also mention that we get quite a few weird news stories (or just plain news). It might need to become a major board, vice just a child board off of "Off Topic."