OT - Forum Suggestion

[SleepNazzi]

Is there any way to get the forum broken down into categories? For example:

1) Equipment:
a) Machine
b) Masks
c) Accessories
2) Sleep Studies
3) Off Topic

And so on. As a group we can come up with a list of categories that will make using this site easier and more beneficial to the user.

Thoughts?


NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

[bdp522]

This has been suggested before and shot down everytime. Most of us like the forum just as it is.

Brenda

[SleepNazzi]

It doesn't have to be that segmented, but one or two categories would make it easier. Not to mention us newbies wouldn't be asking the same questions over and over and over again. Like this one!

Not sure why you guys like it the way it is, it took me 20 minutes to find a post I read a week ago. The search engine is lacking as well.

Just my 2 cents.


NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

[WearyOne]

Sorry, but as Brenda said, it's been debated many, MANY times here and the majority like it the way it is. I can find pluses and minuses in both ways, and although I favor categories, it's really not a big deal to me either way. I've seen people post that they can't find something they're looking for, and very soon someone else finds it and posts the link.

And, uh, just a warning...some here are VERY passionate about leaving it this way!

[millich]

... it took me 20 minutes to find a post I read a week ago. The search engine is lacking as well.

That's easy to fix. Just PM RestedGal - that girl can direct you to anything on this board in a matter of seconds!

[Arizona-Willie]

You can also google the term / subject and it will often find it in the messages here as well as other places.

[DreamStalker]

no can do.

[SleepNazzi]

You can also google the term / subject and it will often find it in the messages here as well as other places.

Ya... google CPAP, AHI, Apnea, Mask, etc... Ya that will narrow down the search a bit. I guess an archaic message board is better than nothing... I hate to rely on one individual to link me a message. But, if that's what you guys want...

Who moved my cheese?


NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

[WearyOne]

You can also google the term / subject and it will often find it in the messages here as well as other places.

Ya... google CPAP, AHI, Apnea, Mask, etc... Ya that will narrow down the search a bit. I guess an archaic message board is better than nothing... I hate to rely on one individual to link me a message. But, if that's what you guys want...

Who moved my cheese?


NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

There's a way to do it on Google that I think just searches THIS website, but I can't remember how!! Anyone out there remember? I think RestedGal posted how to do it.

[jdm2857]

Enter you seach terms into Google followed by "site:cpaptalk.com". Don't include the quotes.

[SleepNazzi]

You can also google the term / subject and it will often find it in the messages here as well as other places.

Ya... google CPAP, AHI, Apnea, Mask, etc... Ya that will narrow down the search a bit. I guess an archaic message board is better than nothing... I hate to rely on one individual to link me a message. But, if that's what you guys want...

Who moved my cheese?


NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

There's a way to do it on Google that I think just searches THIS website, but I can't remember how!! Anyone out there remember? I think RestedGal posted how to do it.

Pam

Still, if it even searches this site, it will hit almost ever single message. They all have those terms in it. In order to accurately search this site you need to be almost 75% specific to the message you are looking for. I don't want to take away any ones pride and joy with this message board, I want to make it more usable to all. If you like the linear approach, most message systems have a link called New Messages since my last visit. That will put them in the exact same format you have now. But for someone using this site for the first time or that is used to more organized data, this place is very confusing. Like I said, I don't want to upset the applecart if you guys are happy with a Model-T, whom am I to try to sell you a Ferrari?

NO SLEEP FOR YOU.

[SleepNazzi]

Enter you seach terms into Google followed by "site:cpaptalk.com". Don't include the quotes.

Again, I know how to use the search engines and site searching... The problem comes down to it that this site is so specific to APNEA that almost all messages contain the terminology I'm searching for. My issue was finding a post about a mask. I did not know what the name of the mask was... Using google I put in: site:cpaptalk.com Nasal Mask and got over 10 pages of 15 posts per page. Ya that helped a great deal.

Had I been able to limit it to Equipment/Masks, I would have probably only gotten 6 pages back.

Thanks for all the suggestions, but I'll have to fight with this site almost as much as I fight with my APNEA.

NO SLEEP FOR YOU!

[WearyOne]

Just to throw out a couple things...

Sometimes a topic starts as one thing (machine problem, etc.), and evolves into something entirely different, even OT (imagine that!). Or a poster may have several questions that would technically belong in several different categories. If the board were divided into categories, they would have to make several different posts. Then, one of those posts would meander into the topic of one of the other posts in the other category.....

Things can be so interconnected that it was decided that THIS way was best for this board. Again, I usually prefer categories, but I can also see the logic it leaving it this way. It's not a Model-T versus Ferrari kinda thing, but just differences in how people like it. And most people here (long-timers as well as newer folks) like it this way.

Just something to think about.

[Pugsy]

I own a forum where I can customize sections for posts. I found that people being people, they will post in the first area that they spot. Sort of like what happened with the "Where Newbies should start". I saw tons of people posting there requesting help instead of starting their own thread. On my forum I have a special section for various computer problems. It doesn't really matter what I call them, 90% of the posts go into the "general" section instead of a specific section. For example, there is one section for Mac specific problems. No one post there with a Mac problem, it goes in the general section.

Even if there were various sub sections for various problems, I can pretty much bet it wouldn't matter. They would still be all over the place. Newbies to forums would be confused. They would still likely post in the "wrong" section.

This format is sufficient for me. I just glance to see if any posts that I follow or might interest me have new posts, then I go directly to the new post. The forum's search engine is like any search engine, the more specific you can be, the better it will be. I have used it to find posts that I read and remembered a bit but later found out I wanted to go back to them. Yeah, sometimes takes just a bit of reading but I get there and usually learn something along the way.

This is a very nice forum. It costs us nothing. We don't have annoying ads popping up in our face all the time. We don't have someone stepping in and telling us not to post commercial links or not to share information on how to hack into your machine. We don't have the profanity police editing our posts. I saw on another forum where the word "crap" had been change to #%#)*.... Boy would I get in trouble. We are pretty much left alone and treated like adults. If the overall format seems lacking to a few people, well... it is what it is. It is Johnny's sandbox and if we want to play in his sandbox then this is what we get.

Personally, I think it is fine the way it is. I have visited lots of forums. None are perfect in every aspect.

[SleepNazzi]

No number of minuses you can bring up will surpass the pluses of categorization. Every reference manual, fact book, organized thought, or data mine has categories. WHY? Because it is easier for the human brain to digest.

Suffice it to say, you all have your reasons you like it this way. If you ever wanted to use this site for a reference, there would be no way you could do so. It's a hunt and peck. Well, as soon as I'm done pecking, I will move on. Not that any of you will care.

NO SLEEP FOR YOU!