This is the place to discuss what forums / categories we should have, how they should be organized, and what they should be called. There can be stand-alone categories and parent categories with sub-categories. Parent categories can be non-posting if that is desired, and that is how About Unstuck is currently configured:
About Unstuck
← regular users can’t start threads here
Help & FAQs
← anybody can start a thread here
Feedback
← anybody can start a thread here
Community Governance
← anybody can start a thread here
Subcategory topics can optionally be displayed in boxes at the top of parent category pages, like this. Topic lists below that will show all subcategory threads in the parent category. Subcategory topic lists only show threads from that subcategory, like this.
We can of course name categories whatever we want. My personal preference would be to not duplicate 2+2 forum names and structure, but try to make things uniquely ours instead. “Other Topics” and OOT in particular are very specific to 2+2 and I’d rather not use them if possible. But that’s just, like, my opinion.
I think the current set-up is pretty good with Politics, Other Topics, and ATF forums. There’s a danger with further subdividing Other Topics that threads will get less views/posts e.g. I’m not sure there’s enough traffic to sustain a H&F forum, but there’s enough in the current Other Topics to host H&F logs. If traffic increases, further sub-forums can always be created.
I want to say that Sports and H&F are already at the point where they can sustain themselves, but I think it’s sort of the opposite scenario where OT itself would be empty if those two categories were moved out.
And I still prefer a different name for that forum.
I don’t think a sports specific forum looks sustainable right now. If you just take the other topics section existing right now on exiledpolitics, only five threads (Golf, Fantasy Football, Sumo, NBA, Other Sports) have any activity in the past week.
If/Until we do have a situation where there are too many threads on [insert topic here] to the point where it’s damaging to the rest of Other Topics, then it can be splintered off.
I was thinking off the usual threads in Politics Obviously + A True Crime thread that can lead to some decent discussions and peeps seem to like the True Crime shows that we can post and talk about.
Sports Obv and OOT topics… And if peeps are going to gamble here I say we make sure if debts are not paid or explained then that poster should be Marked in some way not banned but forum members made aware of previous non payments
Since we seem to be in general agreement about limiting the number of forums, has anyone thought about zikzak’s point that “Other Topics” and OOT are 2+2 specific and should be avoided if possible?
A simple enough change would be calling the non-politics forum “Off Topic” and we could have a subforum there called “Off Off Topic”.
I think it’s silly to avoid “Other Topics”, as this site seems explicitly designed to be Politics and Other Topics. I think OOT is more 2+2 specific and uncessary. If we have an Off Topic umbrella forum, why would we even need an Off Off Topic forum?
I think maybe we could already have a “Humanities” sub in other topics, to be further subdivided later if there’s enough eyeballs, but we’ve already had a few history discussions break out in the main forum that we could put there, then add the book stuff, philosophy stuff, a proper grammar nit thread
Yeah, I suppose if you go cute route, every sub will have to be cutely named too. Sundry is just a great word though, underused. Like I didn’t even know “all and sundry” was a thing that means ‘every person’.
Heartily agree. If you want forums on more topics than these, then start threads in the closest matching forum (probably OT), get responses and more threads, and then you’ll get the new forum based on the demands of people who don’t care about your pet topic wanting your favorite content out. That’s when you know you have critical mass to start a new forum. That was the strategy of virtually every successful forum at our old digs.
Discourse doesn’t have pages, we have to just use the scroll bar to get around. We’ll see how that goes once the Trumpbot fires off another 1,000 tweets.
