My Webmaster-Talk Review (Yep, even more suggestions from me)

**jamestl2** · 07:16 PM

OK, I think I have a few more ideas / inquiries to help improve WT

:

Should something be done about the link exchange forum? It seems like its filled with bots and spammers (some members over there even have zero posts)
If we were to add a browser forum, where would it go? (coding talk, computer forum, etc.)
Why is the Directories Forum part of the Search Engine category?
Why isn’t the Graphics Contests forum in the Webmaster talk marketplace category?
How about a CMS Coding talk forum?
Do the Database and Website and Server Administration forums really belong under coding talk? (They seem to me like they would be better suited beneath the Hosting and Domain category)
I think we should add more space to our custom user titles, 25 characters is so restricting
Why is it when I view who’s online that there’s no “jump to post” icon? (it use to come up next to our subscribed threads)
Do some members “Hide their online status”? (Specifically, I’ve never seen Vangogh and DaveMo actually online, even between making posts)

One final thought:
I think General Discussions needs better organization. There seems to be a lot of long, fun threads (like “last one to post wins” and “Longest forum thread ever”), then serious discussions like religion and politics.

How about for Community Talk, we have a hierarchy like this:
*General Discussions
*Fun & Story Talk
*Miscellaneous Web Talk
*(Maybe Politics and Religion Talk here, I’m not a big fan of having it on a webmaster forum, but not really much can be done about it)
*New Member Introductions
*Computer Talk
-Technology News

**TimSchroeder** · 12-20-2007, 08:09 PM

Great suggestions and we appreciate the feedback. We will be making some big changes shortly and we will likely implement many of your suggestions.

Thanks!

**fastreplies** · 12-21-2007, 10:34 PM

I wouldn't break General Discussions. The beauty of that forum is variety of topics that made it unique. People come to read some joke and all the sadden find themselves in the middle of political of theological discussion. Separate them and some may never visit Political Forum because in general they have no interest in that subject.

Moving *New Member Introductions to *General Discussions as sub-forum is excellent idea. *Miscellaneous Web Talk is sound to me the same as *General Discussions

I would create *Search Engines and Directories Forum and move existing related to this subject sub-forums to that Forum.

My 2c.

fastreplies

**jamestl2** · 12-22-2007, 02:12 AM

Thanks for the responses everyone

@Fastreplies - I'm not so sure about moving new member talk, there's already plenty of general discussions taking place, plus we wouldn't really "breaking up" general discussions.

I've revised my stances a little bit, and added some more possible forums. Here is what I think the ideal hierarchy would look like, what does everyone else think?:

Coding Talk

HTML Forum
CSS Forum
PHP Forum
CMS Forum
ASP Forum
JavaScript Forum
Coding Forum
- .NET Programming Forum
- Web Browser Forum

Website Review and Suggestions Talk

General Website Reviews
Business Website Reviews
Blog Reviews
Submit to my Directory

Website Design and Graphics Talk

Website Design Forum
Blogging Forum
- Blog Themes
Ecommerce and General Business Forum
Graphics Forum
- Adobe Photoshop
- Jasc Paint Shop Pro
- Photography

Web Administration Talk

Web Hosting Forum
Domain Name Forum
The Database Forum
Server Administration Forum
Computer Forum
- Technology News

Search Engine and Directory Talk

The Google Forum
- Google Adwords Forum
- Google Adsense Forum
The Other Search Engines
- Yahoo Forum
- MSN/Live Search Forum
Web Directories

Internet and Search Engine Marketing Talk

SEO Talk Forum
SMO Talk Forum
Miscellaneous Internet Marketing Discussion
- Affiliate Programs Forum
Relevant Link Exchange Forum

The Webmaster-Talk Marketplace

Websites For Sale
Templates For Sale
Website Content for Sale
Domain Names for Sale
Web Hosting Offers and Requests
Buy and Sell Advertising Space
Freelance Jobs / Help Wanted
- Freelance Web Design Jobs
- Freelance Programming Jobs
- Freelance Writing Jobs
- Marketing or SEO Services Wanted
Graphic Design Contests
Others Ads, Offers, & Services

Community Talk

General Discussions
- Fun and Story Talk
- (Possibly Politics and Religion Talk)
- Miscellaneous Web Talk
New Member Introductions

Webmaster-Talk Forum News and Suggestions

News and Announcements
Suggestions and Feedback
- Report PM or Email Spam
- Confidential Talk

**jamestl2** · 12-29-2007, 05:57 PM

Nobody likes my proposed forum hierarchy?
That makes me sad

**ADAM Web Design** · 12-29-2007, 07:43 PM

Actually, there's one thing I'd move and one thing I really don't like, just because of the problems it would create.

The thing I'd move: Web Browser Forum, over to CSS (where most web browser issues occur).

The thing I don't like: SMO Talk. All this would lead to are a bunch of useless posts about "Digg my Site and I'll Digg Yours" or "how to get the bestmost traffics from the social bookmark site, plz suggest me, yours, smo_marketing_guru". That's a forum that invites trouble into the house and gives it a recliner.

**jamestl2** · 05:14 AM

Thanks Adam, I feel better now

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

The thing I'd move: Web Browser Forum, over to CSS (where most web browser issues occur).

I suppose that most of the browser issues do involves CSS. I originally put it as a subforum under the misc. "Coding Forum" to help give that forum some growth, but I do see your point and agree that it probably should go there too

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

The thing I don't like: SMO Talk. All this would lead to are a bunch of useless posts about "Digg my Site and I'll Digg Yours" or "how to get the bestmost traffics from the social bookmark site, plz suggest me, yours, smo_marketing_guru". That's a forum that invites trouble into the house and gives it a recliner.

I do see how it could evolve into a "Relevant Link Exchange Forum" clone though, but the admins and mods could keep those types of posts or offers out of the forum. Maybe there just wouldn't be enough threads to make this idea a complete forum on its own (w/o the useless threads, as you mentioned), as misc internet marketing also already attracts lots of spam posts.

(Maybe I was just trying to give the marketing category a little more substance with SMO talk, as the link exchange forum probably doesn't belong much there either, hmmm, now that I think about it, maybe the link exchange forum should be moved to the marketplace)

Do you think there should be any more boards created, addressing specific webmaster issues not being covered, anything big we may be missing, etc.? (As you may tell, I like categorizing and organizing information)

**LadynRed** · 12-30-2007, 01:07 PM

Personally I don't see the point nor the need for a separate Browser forum at all. The bulk of the issues people have with cross-browser compatibility comes from ONE browser - IE. What would be the actual point of splitting this out ?

**jamestl2** · 12-30-2007, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadynRed

What would be the actual point of splitting this out ?

Well, it seemed like many people thought this forum was a good idea:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/sugges...w-section.html

So I added it as another possibility.

**LadynRed** · 12-31-2007, 12:43 PM

I forgot about that thread, but now I'd even disagree with what *I* said there. Most people here don't KNOW that the issues they're having comes from a specific browser bug, they just know that 'it doesn't work' or 'its screwed up'.

**ADAM Web Design** · 12-31-2007, 01:25 PM

I don't know about that one, although the more I think about it the more I think that "browser issues" shouldn't be there, albeit for a different reason. A large percentage of the issues that result from a specific browser often stem from invalid/bad code more than they do a browser issue. It's not often you see a browser-specific issue that cnnot be solved by coding something a different way.

**DaveMo~** · 12-31-2007, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Nobody likes my proposed forum hierarchy?

Some of it I like, some is okay.

We once had the General Discussion broke up into 3 forums which was inspirational, fun, and just general. So, we knew where to look for jokes, or inspiration, or whatever. Like Tim said, we'll be looking into those more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Do some members “Hide their online status”? (Specifically, I’ve never seen Vangogh and DaveMo actually online, even between making posts)

Yes, some do that. I have done it so I wouldn't get interrupted in what I was doing. And sometimes I just forgot to undo it.

Dave

**jamestl2** · 01-01-2008, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveMo~

Some of it I like, some is okay. We once had the General Discussion broke up into 3 forums which was inspirational, fun, and just general. So, we knew where to look for jokes, or inspiration, or whatever. Like Tim said, we'll be looking into those more.

Thanks, Sounds interesting; why did you change / remove the old subforums?

OK, I was going to edit the parts out and update the proposed organization, but for some reason the "Edit" button is no longer there, so here:

Coding Talk

HTML Forum
CSS Forum
PHP Forum
CMS Forum
ASP Forum
JavaScript Forum
Coding Forum
- .NET Programming Forum

Website Review and Suggestions Talk

General Website Reviews
Business Website Reviews
Blog Reviews
Submit to my Directory

Website Design and Graphics Talk

Website Design Forum
Blogging Forum
- Blog Themes
Ecommerce and General Business Forum
Graphics Forum
- Adobe Photoshop
- Jasc Paint Shop Pro
- Photography

Web Administration Talk

Web Hosting Forum
Domain Name Forum
The Database Forum
Server Administration Forum
Computer Forum
- Technology News

Search Engine and Directory Talk

The Google Forum
- Google Adwords Forum
- Google Adsense Forum
The Other Search Engines
- Yahoo Forum
- MSN/Live Search Forum
Web Directories

Internet and Search Engine Marketing Talk

SEO Talk Forum
Miscellaneous Internet Marketing Discussion
- Affiliate Programs Forum

The Webmaster-Talk Marketplace

Websites For Sale
Templates For Sale
Website Content for Sale
Domain Names for Sale
Web Hosting Offers and Requests
Buy and Sell Advertising Space
Relevant Link Exchange Forum
Freelance Jobs / Help Wanted
- Freelance Web Design Jobs
- Freelance Programming Jobs
- Freelance Writing Jobs
- Marketing or SEO Services Wanted
Graphic Design Contests
Others Ads, Offers, & Services

Community Talk

General Discussions
- Fun and Story Talk
- (Possibly Politics and Religion Talk)
- Miscellaneous Web Talk
New Member Introductions

Webmaster-Talk Forum News and Suggestions

News and Announcements
Suggestions and Feedback
- Report PM or Email Spam
- Confidential Talk

And if anyone wants to change the hierarchy to make it look better, suggest new forums, etc., feel free to edit this post

(This only applies to admins and mods though, obviously, as they are the only ones who can), or else just suggest some here and I'll change it (if the "Edit" button is still available, that is).

**DaveMo~** · 01-05-2008, 01:06 AM

Why did we change the old sub-forums? Hmm, I think it was because they were getting intertwined anyway and we merged them. But, my memory may be failing me on that one....what were we talking about?

We recently changed the amount of time that members have to edit their posts. The only change is that you can now edit your post within 24 hours of submitting it.

Dave

**jamestl2** · 01-05-2008, 01:14 AM

So do you think these proposed general forums sound like a good idea?

Also, Tim kind of already gave me "EDIT" control over this thread:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/genera...ierarchy.html/

And we're discussing the hierarchy over there.

**DaveMo~** · 01-05-2008, 01:38 AM

I like most of the suggestions.

I like the addition of a CMS forum. I wasn't sure that its best location is in the Coding Talk forum, but I don't find a better fit elsewhere.

IMO, Website Design and Graphics Talk should be above Website Review and Suggestions Talk. Once the design and graphics are understood, then would be the time for a website review. Too many want a review before they understand design and graphics.

Also, I have reservations of branching out too much into the computer field since we have a sister forum at The New Tech.

And I think I'd like to have back the different forums under Community Talk: Fun & Story, Inspirational, Misc. Web.....maybe a political, religious, and whatever else might get some an infraction. That last comment was sarcasm. Some topics just seem to bring out the worse in some people. We have had civilized discussions about politics and religion in the past, plus other controversial issues. The bad thing is that when it brings out the worse in people then it brings out the infractions. I have reservations about that forum since it could get someone banned that may be excellent when it comes to other topics about WEBMASTERING, and that's what this forum is all about.

That's just me!

Dave

**jamestl2** · 01-05-2008, 01:48 AM

Alright, made the changes over in that thread, how do they look?

Also, another reason I thought of a CMS Forum under coding talk would be a good idea because the PHP forum has over 8,100 threads already.