Regarding the future of the "Question & Answer" forum

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JBS

ChalkBucket Founder
Staff member
Gold Membership
Coach
Proud Parent
The question: Does anyone see any problems with the following? --- please read below:

The History
Long ago, anyone could start a thread in the group forums, but only members of that group could respond to the thread. It was a way for one group to ask another group a question. This is the concept that the site was create upon...being able to see the differing views of different groups.

The above concept was (and still is) a great one, but it was hard for everyone to understand...especially for new members. For this reason, the user groups were completely locked down to just there user group and the "Question & Answer" forum was created. The "Question & Answer" forum was designed so that the various groups could still ask other groups a question (ie. Question for Gymnasts?....Question for Coaches....Question for All?...etc.)

The Problem
Since the invention of the "Question & Answer" forum, our other forums have become almost dead. Most of the content in the "Question & Answer" forum is not a question for a various group, but a "Question for All?". Many of the "Questions for All?" fit nicely into one of our other forums. Basically, all of the content on the site is ending up in one big pile.

The Solution
  1. Lock the "Question & Answer" forum so no new threads can be created.
    • Threads and posts will still be viewable
    • Existing threads will still be able to be replied to
    • No new threads will be able to be created
  2. Over time...move the threads from "Question & Answer" forum
    • If there is a better forum for a thread, it would be moved there
    • Once the threads have all been gone through...all the threads that are left would be moved to "The Chalk Bucket" forum
  3. Remove the "Question & Answer" forum as there will be nothing left in it
What about the original concept of the site....how will we ask another group a question?
The concept will not be lost as users are asked to join a user group and identify themselves (green names are coaches, yellow/orange names are parents, red names are gymnasts, black names are adult gymnasts). If a green person answers your question...you have the opinion of a coach...and so on.

Why will this be good?
Over time...it will un-clump the forum. There will be more new posts that are in the correct forum. It will be easier to find things on the site. It will be better for everyone.
 
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Sounds like you want to get rid of the question and answer forum so why not do this.

Have the sections to keep the order and organisation but allow anyone to reply if they have useful information to contribute, e.g. Someone posts in the parent forum, what should i do with dd? and a gymnast has had a similar experience they can still contribute and there is still valuable information.

But...I like it the way it is
 
Sounds like you want to get rid of the question and answer forum so why not do this.

Have the sections to keep the order and organisation but allow anyone to reply if they have useful information to contribute, e.g. Someone posts in the parent forum, what should i do with dd? and a gymnast has had a similar experience they can still contribute and there is still valuable information.

But...I like it the way it is

No...the "parent" forum is for parents of gymnasts...not gymnasts. The gymnast cannot contribute because they are not a parent. The concept of the group forums is not, and will never be in question...they function as they are designed to.

Many of our long time members understand the "parent" forum very well. They expect to be talking with parents when they post there.
 
Please understand that the site is divided into sections:
  1. Questions?
  2. General Chat
  3. Group Forums
  4. Gymnastics By Topic
  5. Gymnastics Competitions
  6. Community News & Help
The only section that is not full access to everyone is #3. It really seems to me that for some reason everyone wants access to only one forum in #3...the "parent" forum. If a parent has a question for everyone, they can easily post it in any of the other sections of the site.
 
The concept will not be lost ... If a green person answers your question...you have the opinion of a coach...and so on.

***

No...the "parent" forum is for parents of gymnasts...not gymnasts. The gymnast cannot contribute because they are not a parent. The concept of the group forums is not, and will never be in question...they function as they are designed to.


I'm confused... these statements seem contradictory to me. Am I missing something?

*edit* sorry the quotes didn't work...

*edit edit* ok, the post below explains it better, sorry :)
 
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IMHO, when I visit the site, I use the "Today's Posts" link to see the current conversations. I don't even notice what forum or group the threads are in and I rarely visit the main forum page anymore.
 
More History
For a short time the group forum threads did not show up when you clicked the "what's new?" button. Each of the group forums had there own specific "what's new?" button (for example...."what's new for gymnasts?"). That way, members that wanted to view a specific group forum that they are not a member of....had to click into it....they wouldn't read the entire thread only to find out that they couldn't post their opinion.

That is the way that I still want the site today, but the community spoke and won. The "what's new" button shows posts from all areas of the site. Here is simple way we could eliminate much confusion:
  1. What's New? --- Only shows forums that are full access to everyone.
  2. What's New Group Forums? --- Only shows the group forums.
Not sure if I could figure out how to do this, but it would really solve a lot of confusion.

If you look at the other post with the numbers:

  1. Questions?
  2. General Chat
  3. Group Forums
  4. Gymnastics By Topic
  5. Gymnastics Competitions
  6. Community News & Help

There are two divisions to the site:
  1. #1,#2,#4,#5,#6 = Full access to all
  2. #3 = Viewable to all...write access to group members only
Summary...once someone reads a thread, they want to reply to it. The "parent" forum has over 40,000 posts...many of the posts in "what's new?" are always from the "parent" forum. Many of our members do not realize that they do not have full access when they are reading a thread...they have effectively been "tricked" by the "what's new?" button. Two "what's new?" buttons would solve this problem.
 
IMHO, when I visit the site, I use the "Today's Posts" link to see the current conversations. I don't even notice what forum or group the threads are in and I rarely visit the main forum page anymore.

Exactly...but when a new member comes in...they go straight to the forum index. In theory then...I could just merge everything from the entire site into one forum. Then the site would just be one giant lump of gymnastics.

I am not a member that is interested in many of the forums. While I do use the "what's new?" button all the time...I also use the forum index as I am very interested in some forums and not at all in others. I am always interested when there is a new post in the "MAG" forum and much of the time it is pushed way down low on the "what's new?" page.
 
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History issues aside, why is it bad to have one forum section that is heavily active such that it is clumpy as you put it? I really like it the way it is. I check all of the forums of main interest to me, including but not limited to Q&A, Parents, the Chalk bucket, and sometimes browse the others of not so much interest to me. The only aspect of Q&A that in my opinion that might go is the ability to target the question to a group - why not just have it be questions and let anyone ask any general question that any general group can respond to. More times than not the answer to a question that might seemingly be directed to one particular group can be enhanced with view points of other groups.

If it is a matter of work division between moderators or other staff, it seems to me to be an awful lot of work to do to go through messages and determine which group to move them to.

Perhaps there is something I just don't get. And being more of a new poster here, the history of why things were before I guess is of less concern to me if it is seemingly meeting our current needs. Again, maybe I'm missing something.

Whatever you do, I'll still be here (unless it became an unfriendly hostile place where you get in trouble because you don't post something in the right place.)
 
My concern with getting rid of the Q&A forum is that you would start having duplicate posts in the different forums. Many people what the opinion of coaches, gymnasts, and parents alike. That would be 3 duplicate posts in the respective forums. Was this a problem before you created the Q&A?
 
History issues aside, why is it bad to have one forum section that is heavily active such that it is clumpy as you put it? I really like it the way it is. I check all of the forums of main interest to me, including but not limited to Q&A, Parents, the Chalk bucket, and sometimes browse the others of not so much interest to me. The only aspect of Q&A that in my opinion that might go is the ability to target the question to a group - why not just have it be questions and let anyone ask any general question that any general group can respond to. More times than not the answer to a question that might seemingly be directed to one particular group can be enhanced with view points of other groups.

Why should a question about a skill be in "Question & Answer" and not in the "Skills & Drills" forum?

The answer to the question cannot be enhanced by other groups if the OP is not looking for the opinion of other groups. This would be like doing research on tomatoes, but including results from potatoes. The results would be flawed.
 
sorry JBS it was just an idea, I like being able to talk to all groups of people on here

Don't be sorry...everyone likes to talk to everybody. Your idea is upheld on over 20 of the forums on the site.
 
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My concern with getting rid of the Q&A forum is that you would start having duplicate posts in the different forums. Many people what the opinion of coaches, gymnasts, and parents alike. That would be 3 duplicate posts in the respective forums. Was this a problem before you created the Q&A?

I wouldn't call it a problem. If the coaches want to discuss a thread from the parent forum, they have the right to do so.

If you want the opinion of all groups why couldn't you just post in any of the other forums?
 
Our original lumpy forum was "The Chalk Bucket" (the name of the site). Why do we need a "Question & Answer" forum and "The Chalk Bucket" forum? "The Chalk Bucket" forum is for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else. The "Question & Answer" forum is for questions....the only problem is that 75%+ of the posts on the site are questions.
 
I am too new here to fairly vote on this, however, I'd like to offer up another idea.

Perhaps when posting the Q + A forum, there can be a secondary screen before they go to posting.

Something like:

The Q and A forum is for ___________. If you are posting about _________, please check first to see if your post would be a better fit in one of the ________ (or _________) forums.

If you have already checked for a more appropriate forum and still need to post to the Q and A forum, please click continue.


I'm sure you could come up with something better. Also moving them sounds like an option, but would probably take up administration resources, so probably not the most viable option.
 
I am too new here to fairly vote on this, however, I'd like to offer up another idea.

Perhaps when posting the Q + A forum, there can be a secondary screen before they go to posting.

Something like:

The Q and A forum is for ___________. If you are posting about _________, please check first to see if your post would be a better fit in one of the ________ (or _________) forums.

If you have already checked for a more appropriate forum and still need to post to the Q and A forum, please click continue.


I'm sure you could come up with something better. Also moving them sounds like an option, but would probably take up administration resources, so probably not the most viable option.

I like this idea...but it is not possible with this software. The other problem is that most people ignore these types of messages.
 
As far as the admin resources in moving threads. All threads from the "Question & Answer" forum that better fit somewhere else will be moved regardless. Therefore...the more new threads in that forum...the more work.

Tons of the threads don't fit anywhere else...so they will just be dumped into "The Chalk Bucket" with one giant mass move.
 
I'm really confused...

What if I, as a member of the Parent Forum, wish to ask something of a coach or of a gymnast. I don't belong to either the coach or gymnast forum so I can't post there. And since coaches and gymnasts can't post in the Parent Forum, it doesn't make sense to post there.

So where would I post if not in Q&A?????
 
I'm really confused...

What if I, as a member of the Parent Forum, wish to ask something of a coach or of a gymnast. I don't belong to either the coach or gymnast forum so I can't post there. And since coaches and gymnasts can't post in the Parent Forum, it doesn't make sense to post there.

So where would I post if not in Q&A?????

All forums are for questions. Just post your question in the forum that matches the best. If the question is about gym management...then post in the "gym management" forum. If it doesn't match any forum...then "The Chalk Bucket"...the original catch all forum.
 

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