new member forum and 88000 treads

[dick39]

Hi,

First of all, I want to say how wonderfull this forum is.
Tons of information to find, it gonna take me years to go trough all the usefull information.

And that is where I have some troubles with.
Perhaps this is mentioned before, and I know it is a lot of work to keep a forum good organised, BUT .....

... I have a small problem with the "new members section".

Not that it is not a good thing to have a section like this, I know that spammers are everywhere and that it is a difficult job to keep them away.

The problem I have is not that new members have to post 5 messages in the "new member section".
The problem for me is that there are tons of information, usefull information, that blows away with the wind...

I try to explain myself.
I opened myself two topics, questions, and I have my 5 posts already.
If I had 5 posts, they would never appear in the new members section. And there are thousand of posts like this.
A quick look learned me that in the new members section are more then 88 000 treads, almost 4500 pages.
And there is a lot of usefull info to find.

As a user of this forum, and I see how popular this forum is, it is almost impossible to "follow" all the interesting postings, replies and conversations there.
It will take me months to scroll through all these pages and read the 'for me interesting' topics.
If there were in the right forum section, it was a way more easy to find the interesting posts.
Easy as that, simple as that... .

Now it is really a mess, and a job to find the posts that interest me... .


So, my question is the following, and I know it is a lot of work, but it makes the forum more "usable", for me anyway...

Why not automatic "move" the topics to the subforum where it belongs from the moment the topic starter has his 5 posts? Technical it is possible, and the thousands of posts made are more findable for everyone.

I do not want to play "mister wiseguy", and I understand that I am just new here, but it is just a recommandation, and it would make this forum even better then it already is.

From the sunny state of California ... euh, Belgium

 

[retired1]

No, it's not really technically possible, unless there was just one forum to move it to. As you post on ECF, you'll find there are well over 200 forums. Just where would those first 5 posts get automatically moved to?

 

[dick39]

No, it's not really technically possible, unless there was just one forum to move it to. As you post on ECF, you'll find there are well over 200 forums. Just where would those first 5 posts get automatically moved to?

I am not going to discuss the technical possibilities of this forum, and I repeat this is a great forum...
You replied to me, so it is at least possible to "move" the treads manuel, agree?
A lot of work, but now, the majority of those 88.000 posts are quick forgotten and who will search in that massive bulk subforum?
But anyway, i just asked, and thanks for your answer.

From rainy Belgium

 

[AttyPops]

Yeah, I've been here over three years look'n. Haven't found the answers yet. I think there's an exit here somewhere. They've threatened to boot me manually, but I've resisted thus far.

Was your California quip a reference to "Hotel California"?

Relax and settle in. You'll be at home in no time.

Google does index the New Member's forum so you can search with that too.

Not that it helped me any....

Welcome to the Hotel ECF..........

 

[Nermal]

Anyhow, if my first post is a question, and it is moved to a forum in which I couldn't post, I would lose the value of all follow on questions - if I could find my post at all.

 

[retired1]

Depends on where it was moved to. If it was moved to a forum that didn't count towards your total post count any posts made in it would be removed from your Post totals. You'd still be able to find it via the "My Posts" link under "What's New".

 

[spartanstew]

I opened myself two topics, questions, and I have my 5 posts already.

Not to pick on you ...., but to me that's a problem in and of itself. While I agree with the 5 post rule (and actually think it should be more), I don't believe new members should be able to start new threads until they've reached that same threshold (i.e. 5 posts).

As it is now, many new members begin by starting new threads (sometimes 5 of them), which just adds more threads and more clutter. Eliminating the ability to post new threads would result in new members searching more and reading more to begin with, which would decrease the number of threads and increase the knowledge of the new user at the same time.

 

[Mrs C]

Another way to look at it is with all the newbie posts are in one area, it makes it easier for their posts and questions to be found and answered fast. Being able to get help quickly when your frustrated, having a nic fit, and about ready to give up can make the difference. It may be a bit messy in the front hall but that's where the help desk is

 

[sonicdsl]

We keep the new member posts together in New Members for a reason: so everyone who is new can get the help they need as new members, and also so those that want to help new members have a central place to go in which to help the new members. It's also helpful in keeping spam contained in the area in the event a spammer finds their way in.

Okay, I guess that's 3 very good reasons.

If you can't find your topic of interest, create a thread, but search for it first using the search feature - or Google, if you prefer.