A new structure for the forum

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Charles Twist
Founder
Posts: 721
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:33 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00
Location: Cleveland
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A new structure for the forum

Post by Charles Twist » Tue Nov 29, 2011 2:24 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Dear All,

Following the request for an improvement to the forum, we have devised the following structure which will appear on your screens on Monday 5th of December 2011. We'll be putting it up between 10am and 12 noon GMT, so you may experience some weird on-goings in that period.

What we are NOT going to do, is delete anything. We'll be renaming a good few forums to adapt them to the new circumstances and mostly it's about re-structuring. So it might take a couple attempts for you to find your favourite bit again. If you get lost, just drop us a line on this thread.

We've looked at what a number of members have said this forum is about: socialising. So we're splitting off general chat from technical chat in the hope to nurture real-world interaction. We're also including a section for people to source spares, parts and skills for repairs and DIY projects. And if you don't like what you see, there'll be a section for your feedback. We're open to new ideas even if it takes time for us to respond.

The biggest change will take place in the forum called General Discussion. We've looked at what you have posted. We are going to create new categories in to which existing threads will be moved. We hope you will like the new lay-out and use the different categories to start new threads. Since the process of moving is going to take a long time (weeks? months?), we'll be moving "General Discussion" wholesale at first and then gradually we'll transfer the threads to their new homes.

So this is what it will look like:
  1. The Tea Room
    1. Title: New members; Description: as it was before
    2. Title: Meeting up; Description: Get-togethers and meetings organised by members (what was Workshops)
    3. Title: Locations; Description: as it was before
    4. Title: Events and news; Description: A place to let everybody know about the latest news, upcoming events and your projects (what was Projects)
    5. Title: Critique; Description: as it was before
    6. Title: General Discussion; Description: A place to talk about photography, the meaning of life and anything that doesn't quite fit elsewhere (as it was before but see note above)
  2. The Garden Shed
    1. Title: Taking pictures; Description: A place to talk about cameras, lenses, tripods etc and how to use them - New Category
    2. Title: Wet processing; Description: All the techniques and equipment needed to develop film, create glass plates or print following traditional & alternative methods (what was Wet Plate & Alternative Processes)
    3. Title: Digital workflow; Description: All talk about software, scanners, printers, digital backs etc - New Category
    4. Title: Maintenance & DIY; Description: Find out about suppliers and repairers in the UK and abroad (what was Services)
  3. Classifieds; Description: as it was before
  4. Links
    1. Title: UKLFPG website; Description: as it was before
    2. Title: Members' websites & links; Description: Tell us about your website or share links to other websites - New Category
  5. The UK Large Format Photography Forum
    1. Title: Using the site; Description: Messages from the Administrators and instructions on how to use the forum (what was Announcements)
    2. Title: Feedback; Description: Your suggestions on how to improve the site - New Category
For clarity, the numbered item refer to the categories (like Administrative, Discussion and Links at the moment) and the letters refer to the forums (eg General Discussion, Locations, New members, etc). The only exception is the Classifieds forum, which will appear as a category called Forums with only one forum in it.

All the different sections will be visible from the main forum page (http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/forum) as it is at the moment, so it'll be easy to find the relevant section.

Over the coming weeks, we're also going to work on the non-forum part to haul that in to the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

Regards,
Charles

Charles Twist
Founder
Posts: 721
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:33 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00
Location: Cleveland
Contact:

Re: A new structure for the forum

Post by Charles Twist » Mon Dec 05, 2011 3:22 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

The new structure seems to be working fine. If you find things you don't like or can't use, just drop us a line in the feedback part.

Annoying discovery moment: it looks like a newly moved post comes up as a new post - ie unread. I don't see anyway around that, so apologies for any distress this is causing.

Regards,
Charles

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