Breaking the Message Board into Categories?

Is it possible that every thread could show on the "main" board, while threads could also be categorized by the person who starts said thread? That way, if I want to look at training threads, I'll go there, but those threads will also be available for everyone to see as soon as they sign on? That would be my suggestion.

Regarding registered names on a new board;

How would this affect our office here where I know there are other posters using the same IP server. I allow them to occasionally read and post, and don't always agree with them, but if one got banned would all of us be banned? Maybe this is a simple question for a computer geek but for someone like me, I don't know.

Tony wrote:

Is it possible that every thread could show on the "main" board, while threads could also be categorized by the person who starts said thread? That way, if I want to look at training threads, I'll go there, but those threads will also be available for everyone to see as soon as they sign on? That would be my suggestion.

Way to steal my thunder.

Wejo,

Leave it the way it is. Thanks for asking.

Carnivore 69 wrote:

Breaking it up would, indeed, kill it. You should definitely leave the main board intact.

However, you could color-code the threads according to topic. The thread-starter would have a choice of maybe 6-8 sub-topics (Elite, Injuries, Music, whatever) to choose from. The board would still function exactly as before, except for different colors. Or you could keep the colors the same and have little avatars signify the sub-topics.

If you actually split it up so that an extra click is required, the board is done.

Wejo i know you play poker. Compare pocketfives.com to twoplustwo. Twoplustwo has about 30 boards. Pocketfives has 1.

Believe it or not twoplustwo is twice as big. (the 20 year old internet kids with short attention spans would tell you otherwise) But I do find myself going to pocketfives if I have a minute to kill because of the randomness. Pocketfives is going to break its board up into categories as well. But breaking it up won't kill it. The board is popular now as 1 board but will likely be even more popular with categories.

So I say try and keep 1 board with most of the posts but also have smaller boards that get some of the posts. A lot of people might want to discuss DIII running but I don't. That type of thing really doesn't interest most people on the main board. So those posts go straight to the small board.

I've never seen a board done like this but think it could be programmed.

How about this 5 category break out:

1) Bashing whatever American just ran well

2) Unbridaled love affair with whatever American just ran well

3) Bashing the opposing political party

4) Bashing the other religions or religion in general

5) Spelling and Grammar corner

And maybe if you feel a real need there could be a 6th category: 6) Running. But I doubt it'll get many posts.

I like it the way it is.

SERIOUS RUNNING and Everything Else

As others have said, you should leave it the way it is... it's part of it's identity now.

That being the case, I think you should go for a good moderator who has a sense of humor and is consistent. For example, there is nothing worse than a bad troll. A troll that pisses some people off = Letsrun. A troll that sucks = Letsrun embarrassment. An embarrassment should be banned for months. This would greatly help out the board.

Wejo, you will kill the message board if you change it. Don't screw up a good thing.

The moderators will really have a field day deciding how they want the board to be.

Are you telling me you will be able to decipher where each thread should be classified?

Lets say, someone from the UK is in college and he has a problem with his girlfriend and his car while trying to train.

Where would that be classified? The UK, college running, running, non running or misc and who would decide where it goes, or if it should be deleted?

Yes, break it up, please. That way I will be less likely to get sucked into it. This place is a black hole. Yet I keep coming back.

wejo wrote:

I've thought about this but it would still be possible to have 1 main board and topic boards that you can go look at if you are only interested in training or injury prevention, etc.

in theory you could still have the 1 main board with everything. I think a few categories could be excluded from it but i do enjoy the nonrunning posts for sure.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that the main forum could essentially stay as it is now, so the default forum would be exactly the same as it is now. Then you could do something like put an index right below the logo that would have all the subdivisions (HS, College, Professional, British, Sprints, Throws, Jumps, Distance, Politics, Entertainment, Other, however you decide to break it up). Clicking on "College" would then FILTER OUT all the non-college threads, so that you'd only view the threads flagged as "College", but they'd still be the exact same threads you could find on the main page, just without the politics and high school threads and whatnot.

You could then modify the suggestion by one of the above posters about color-coding and allow the option to select a category (or multiple, if it's about professional sprinting for example) when creating a thread that would determine what sub-categories the thread shows up in. Only allow this from registered posters so that trolls can't create "What's your favorite dessert?" threads and flag them as HS/throws/politics/entertainment. Threads by unregistered users will just go into the "other" sub-category. Andif you have a problem with someone consistantly mis-flagging something, ban 'em!

I think that's more or less what you were talking about, and I would be all for that option. I think it's the best of both worlds. Sometimes I just want to get on here and read threads about the collegiate scene but have to go back several pages to find any good ones. I would be all for this if it's possible. Doesn't change the main forum at all, but also gives the options of breaking things down a bit.

how about we seperate it into good threads and bad threads.

case closed. NEXT QUESTION!

wejo,

basic is good, so just two categories would be fine: running and non-running.

I started another thread on registration on the boards:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2071820

I have seen a categorized message board that works very well. It has an "active" page where anything that has been posted that day or any thread that has been added to that day will be placed. After the thread has been inactive for a day, it will be placed into whatever category the original poster had designated.

It makes searching much easier, but also leaves a main board for people to browse.

how about following a similar format to nzrun.com??

They can post their pictures and other things along with their name

also a system where it is not so anonymous would increase the legitimacy of posts

I know on nzrun.com prety much everyone who posts there knows who everyone is

Wejo,

Do you really think people here will adhere to the categories and post in the appropriate one? I doubt it. If anything they will post in the incorrect categories on purpose. So now, you're left with two cluttered off-topic boards, or a moderator maintenance nightmare.

Personally, I think running & non-running would be a good idea if people followed the rules...

chuck d wrote:

running and non-running. i agree that having too many categories would lead to less eyes but i don't think having these two would do so. i don't want to click through a bunch of links to get a full view of what people are talking about on a given day but i would not mind two links that would allow me to avoid the non-running stuff that gets posted.

I could not agree with chuck more. I was actually thinking about this the other day when i read they 'why has letsrun gone downhill' thread. I think that seperating running related and non-running related threads would be a great way to keep the longtime viewers while offering the growing number of trolls a chance to have their fun as well. If someone posts a non-running related thread in the "running" section, then ban his ass. I think this would solve many of the things currently wrong with letsrun.