the new splintered htf has to go! (1 Viewer)

[Jim_C]

Re-post.

I'm still giving the new format a chance but....

I respectfully submit that this subdivision mania is going to hurt HTF. I believe that some subdivisions are a good idea but man, I just looked under the TV section and now there's manufacturers sub-sections. I am not going to browse through all of those and I suspect that a lot of others won't either. I have no problem going through direct view, RPTV or FPTV but manufacturers subsections is just too much. If manufacturers sections end up in the receiver section then I'm going to be extremely disappointed.

This forum is going to become just like my network at work. Things are put in some sub-sub section and no one knows where to look for it.

I've been a proponent of this change but it might be going too far.

Again, respectfully submitted. I appreciate HTF and those that run it.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Yeah, one more vote against the by-manufacturer section.

 

[Miles_W]

I have to agree, I am not that enamoured with the new changes, It is a little to granular for my tastes...
I think going even deeper into manufacturers while not without merit, makes navigation an issue, It is now harder to get around, some topics I would browse out of curiosity,, now I may never find... ah well this is progress I guess...

 

[Guy Kuo]

Massive splitting down to manufacturers is the reason that Home Theater Spot gets my visit the least often of the major HT sites. It's simply too tedious to wait through the overhead of navigating and loading ad & background graphics to visit all the nooks while looking for items of interest. As a result, I simply don't go into the nooks very often. The yield is too low for my limited time.

On the other hand the broad way this forum was organized allowed a very fast sweep for items of interest and as a result HTF probably had one of my highest visit rates. With the new split, AVS forum is now my most frequent perused site.

 

[Dan Lindley]

Hi,

my views:

1. Give the new hardware parsing a try.

2. But how do we know how to evaluate it? Can the admins tally if the number of posts/views goes up or down due to the changes?

3. For me, I know my views will go down. I won't bother trying to click on each sub-sub item. This means I disagree with the post that said that newbies will be least affected. Au contraire, these changes make it much harder to assess the overall situation of debates, one piece of equipment vs. another, etc., on HTF.

4. Maybe some other way of parsing hardware will be best. Not so fine grained. Or maybe a way to view super-categories (as I think Luke suggested).

Good luck. Experimentation is good. Just figure out a way to judge/evaluate how it is going. And to overcome the shortcomings that already seem visible (if the benefits do not clearly outweigh them, of course).

Best, Dan

 

[Martin Fontaine]

Count me in for Manufacturers sections for TVs is overkill.

What I think will be a good idea, is under the movie section, create sub-sections for MAJOR movies (Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars 2 and the like) instead of having 1 Official Thread with 10000 posts. Once the interest in the movie has died down, just move them back into the main forum. For the rest, maybe put all the Official Review Threads and all the Officieal Discussion Threads in one seperate subsection.

Maybe the music forum could be broken down too, but it is not as active as Hard, Soft or Movies so it may not be needed.

 

[Parker Clack]

Sorry guys. I agree that putting the manufacturers on the same page in Hardware was overkill. I was trying to put them under the RPTV but it wouldn't work that way. So...back to the previous version of just RPTV, FPTV, etc.

Parker

 

[Jim_C]

>>Sorry guys. I agree that putting the manufacturers on the same page in Hardware was overkill. I was trying to put them under the RPTV but it wouldn't work that way. So...back to the previous version of just RPTV, FPTV, etc.

 

[Jeff]

Sorry if I'm repeating, I haven't read all the posts yet. What would I post in the Hardware group? There are sub categories for everything under the sun.
Sorry to bitch but I really don't like this. I love this forum but audioreview did this and with their TV's and other categories and I stopped reading posts there. It's just too time consuming and I feel that my posts aren't being read by as many people now. (I don't read as many anymore).
Jeff

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

The only thing I don't like about the subcategories, is that in the drop down list for the forum, there are soooooo many selections possible. It is hard to see where something is quickly, which defeats the point of having a drop down menu for convience.
Parker.....would it be possible to put the major categories of the foum in the drop down menu in bold type and have the sub-categories in regular type? That might make the drop down menu easier to read and thus.....easier and quicker to use.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I have to add my opinion. I do not like the new subdivisions. I just went to the TV area and over five days there are just 4-5 posts in many categories.

I would rather keep two things from the old model:

1) Simpler navigation. Too many choices now.

2) More posts per page load.

Thanks,

Lee

 

[Steve Owen]

Here's another possibility for splititng up hardware that would be a compromise...
How about this type of breakout...
Hardware
- Signal sources (DVD players, VCRs, Laserdisc players, PVRs)
- Processing (receivers, amps, pre-amps, processors, etc.)
- Speakers
- Subwoofers
- Other hardware (wires/cables, remotes, tweaks, accessories, and anything else that doesn't fit into the other categories)
Just a thought...
-Steve

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think there is enough posting activity in the Hardware forum to warrant subdividing. However, was the activity in the Television forum so great that it needed to be subdivided into RPTV, FPTV, Direct view, etc.? Some of these subforums are only getting a few posts a day.

 

[DaveF]

After a week's use of the new forum format, I've become stronlgy ambivalent I don't dislike it. Not sure I love it. But it doesn't make my life anymore difficult.

 

[Reginald Trent]

Parker, your trying things for improvement is commenable. However, I think there are entirely too many subsections in the hardware forum. I think Steve Owen's suggestion is a good compromise if this division must stay. I also don't think the relatively small number of post in TV and Projectors Area warrants breaking it down into subsections.

Finally, The name Personal Data Recorder Forum is incorrect for that forum. Replay, Tivo and other similar recording devices were named by the industry as Personal Video Recorders. The current name had me thinking that forum was for handheld organizers like Palm, HP Jornada etc, etc.

Thanks for listening and keep up the good work.

 

[Mark Jany]

Don't like - for general interest/scanning it's a drawback, maybe a plus if looking for specific equipment.



Could you keep a general/current category with most recent posts but ALSO put into the subcategories? That way the general reader could view hot topics (esp if sorted by views or posts) and the specific info seeker could find what he wants. In other words a post about say a receiver question would be in the general area while its hot, also in receiver area, but would remain current in receiver area much longer since less traffic.



The general posting area (under hardware or TV for example) now seems to defeat the purpose since many are posting specific stuff there still and not in the subcategory. IMHO better to either do as above or ditch it altogether and force people to subcategories, one of which could be a grab-bag/general but should be on same page depth as other subcategories.



Just my opinion, I could be wrong.



Mark

 

[george kaplan]

Regarding the hardware section, I think the biggest problem is that there even exists a 'main' section. Lots and lots of people are still posting there even though their post belongs in subwoofers or dvds etc. Frankly, if you give people the option of posting in the main section or going down another level to the 'right' forum, lots of them will continue to post in the main.

I like the idea of the subdivisions, but I don't think they'll work unless you eliminate the main section. Just have the subdivisions (with an additional 'other' forum) and then it'll work as advertised.

I'm really only interested in reading about dvd players. Before it was a pain to wade through all those posts to find the few that were relevant.

But now, I have to go to the dvd section (which I like) and then still go to the main and wade through a still large number of messages, cause lots of dvd player posts are still there.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

My fear of the new format is coming true, I'm already spending far less time here. Its just too much trouble to hit 10 forums to see if there's a discussion I'm interested in. Now the subwoofers has pushed me over the edge.

If we got to have subsections perhaps the following:

Components (separates, receivers, players, PVR, Satelite, etc.)

Wires and Tweaks

Speakers

Are the TV discussions so rampant they need that many forums? I haven't been there in ages.

In regards to those that want to remove the main hardware section, I'd like to point out the current format does not cover all the hardware. We're missing LD players, VCRs, and audio components.

The reason I'm against the new format is twofold. First, I'm not planning to upgrade anything for the near future, but who knows what may come along. I need to keep an eye out for new formats and components of interest. Second, I have a wide variety of components already. I like to keep up with discussions on all those to offer advice where I can, and learn what I can. This new format basically means that I'll have to be looking for something specific to come here, and I'll probably miss out a lot in the meantime.

 

[Doug Pyle]

I was going to suggest exactly what Keith Mickunas did. I mostly browse Hardware to get ideas for future purchases. Not upgrading soon, but like to hear what's new.

Now, there are too many subcategories. I could see justification for 3 as Keith grouped them. This could help reduce the problem of disappearing posts without separating related issues. For example, I will someday upgrade my receiver. But, I may do it with a better receiver, or with separates, depending on what's out there (and probably my mood or needs at the time!). I don't see those as mutually exclusive, and I'd weigh the pros/cons of either approach. Harder to do that when they're in different categories.

Anyway, I appreciate your work improving the look and function of HTF.

Finally, I don't post so often to Hardware (I usually just read it), so I'd give greater weight to the regular Hardware posters' views than to mine.

 

[Henry Gale]

Voting on this subject has started.
I'm fairly disinterested, but, there are a couple of people I'd like to weigh in on the subject. What do Jay Mitchosky and Steven Simon think about it?
Jim