Site Stats & Sub-Category Request

[PeterT]

I'm guessing our moderators probably have better tools at their disposal, but I took a crack at crudely evaluating site activity, just extracted from a dump of our forum stats into Excel. If this is not correct, I take responsibility for homebrewing in isolation. But it feels about right. I grabbed the category & threads/message count from main page summary like so:



Results a/o Jan-2024



Where I'm going with this beyond general info which might be interesting to some (and don't take this as criticism or preachy about what the forum is or isn't) - I would like the ability to 'ignore' specific sub-categories so they don't show up on the main (chronological) feed. I'm not sure that is possible presently but would be a nice-to-have IMO.

 

[Susquatch]

Good stuff Peter. There are no tools to ignore sub-forums and I'm not even sure it's possible.

However, instead of using the main chronological feed, you can use the forum section list to look for new posts instead. It is a busier slice of the forum activity but they are still chronological and still show read status. It might be closer to what you want.

The biggest problem with looking at the forum stats like you did is that thread location is chosen by the OP. They are not often good choices. I fix them from time to time but I'm always wary of offending someone when I do.

Another issue is thread drift. I'm sure you know all about that. Even a new member introduction can drift off into other subjects that everyone loves to discuss. You might miss out on those.

The other issue is the personal threads like @David_R8's where they put everything in one place.

I'm also sure you know that you can follow a member or block them.

All that said, it's good to look at forum activity from time to time. It's another one of those things that helps us know who we are. So thank you for that and for your thoughts.

 

[Tecnico]

The other issue is the personal threads like @David_R8's where they put everything in one

I resemble this remark and I’ve been pondering a suggestion to address the issue. I’m not sure if it might complicate more than it simplifies but here goes:

I like the idea of grouping my project posts in one place but if we were allowed to create (or have a mod create for us) a personal projects sub-forum under the Active Projects heading we could then break our posts into individual projects and perhaps make them easier for others to search. I like that it would make it one thread, one project - with drift of course!

The “owning” individual would be the only one permitted to start a thread in the sub-forum.

This approach would complicate things, adding work for the mods and increasing the sub-forum count so I’m not sure if the complication is worth the effort but there’s my 2 cents worth for today.

D

 

[DavidR8]

I resemble this remark and I’ve been pondering a suggestion to address the issue. I’m not sure if it might complicate more than it simplifies but here goes:

I like the idea of grouping my project posts in one place but if we were allowed to create (or have a mod create for us) a personal projects sub-forum under the Active Projects heading we could then break our posts into individual projects and perhaps make them easier for others to search. I like that it would make it one thread, one project - with drift of course!

The “owning” individual would be the only one permitted to start a thread in the sub-forum.

This approach would complicate things, adding work for the mods and increasing the sub-forum count so I’m not sure if the complication is worth the effort but there’s my 2 cents worth for today.

D

On Hobby Machinist we have a “What did you do in your shop today” sticky thread.
I started my shop shenanigans thread because we don’t have such a thing here.
If I start a dedicated project that I think is going to be more than a couple of posts then I start a dedicated thread.

 

[DavidR8]

The other issue is the personal threads like @David_R8's where they put everything in one place.

What’s the issue exactly?

 

[PeterT]

Just so that I'm clear on my own personal motivation. I have no issues with defined bucket categories or 99% of posts. But I'm just not really in the market for 'stuff' on a continual basis. But for others that category may be of high interest to them. So I thought a solution might be ability to temporarily toggle off a sub-category to reduce what shows up in my feed. Then at some point, toggle it on again if I'm looking for something or whatever. I didn't think we had this capability so thought I'd check. Its just a nice to have, not a need to have.

 

[Susquatch]

Just so that I'm clear on my own personal motivation. I have no issues with defined bucket categories or 99% of posts. But I'm just not really in the market for 'stuff' on a continual basis.

That is exactly how I interpreted your request.

As far as I know, there is no way to do that within the forum software.

I was only suggesting other ways to get what you want, but pointed out that threads like @David_R8's would not work under such a scheme.

What’s the issue exactly?

No issue David. See above.

 

[Tom O]

What’s the issue exactly?

The only thing I find is trying to find something in there, Let’s see it was about 3 months ago so around here maybe. Although it’s probably me I should try using the search for keywords But that would be smart! lol