FORUM CATEGORIES - (Just hear me out…)

[tattooyu]

I must express my opinion again regarding the long-debated, and much maligned, idea of categorizing the forums. Except this time, I think I have a much better and simpler idea.

THREE MAIN CATEGORIES ONLY

A) Apnea Information
B) Off Topic
C) CPAPTalk.com Website Issues

I think separating the on-topic from the off-topic posts would be helpful to newbies, at the very least. No need to sub-categorize the apnea posts.

Thoughts?

[NEW YORKER]

I agree with you , mainly because some people like to use this forum for their own personal use of chatting about stuff that has nothing to do with O.S.A.. Some issue that are off topic are useful while others are useless. Back in the day, when I found this forum, I found it to be a very useful tool in helping me with my therapy but some of the posts lately have turned me off and I think some newbies might feel the same way. But that is only my opinion, which I am entitled too.

[rested gal]

Quite a few people would like categories. Quite a few wouldn't.

It never hurts to ask. I like the forum as it is, but then I'm pretty used to it.
I can well understand how it is for people who have recently come here and are trying to find something specific.

This tip might help new arrivals:

A suggestion about doing searches (thanks to blarg and College Girl) -- if the Advanced Search button at top of the forum's main page doesn't find what a person is looking for, or comes up with a mish mash of things that aren't useful, another way to search this board is to do a Google search.

In the Google search box, type what you want to look for, written as in the examples below. Be sure to include the final words that are run together, including the colon ( site:cpaptalk.com )

oral mask site:cpaptalk.com

Cflex A-flex EPR difference site:cpaptalk.com

DME definition site:cpaptalk.com


There've been some good pro/con discussions about "categories":

viewtopic.php?p=456847#p456847
Mar 2010 - topic started by pokerjah
Forum Suggestion - Topic Sections

viewtopic.php?p=429353#p429353
Dec 2009 - topic started by GerryK
suggestions to Johnny for the board

viewtopic.php?p=394780#p394780
Aug 2009 - topic started by SleepNazzi
OT - Forum Suggestion

Any value in Creating New Forum Subjects?
Feb 2009 - topic started by Mtnviewer
viewtopic/t39122/viewtopic.php?p=342140#p342140

Board suggestions
Feb 2009 - topic started by 40 Winks
viewtopic.php?p=340618#p340618

Please Rethink The Big Pot Design
Sept 2008 - topic started by OldLincoln
viewtopic.php?p=296770#p296770

Do you think adding some forums to separate content would make this site more user friendly?
May 2007 - topic started by SleepFitness
viewtopic.php?p=169484#p169484

Any chance of sub-forums being added?
May 2006 - topic started by tom2112
viewtopic.php?p=80429#p80429

Topic started by forumadmin -- Should cpaptalk Be Divided Into Categories or Subsections?
Aug 2005
viewtopic/t4149/viewtopic.php?p=33395#p33395

[Amigo]

Quite a few people would like categories. Quite a few wouldn't.

It never hurts to ask. I like the forum as it is, but then I'm pretty used to it.
I can well understand how it is for people who have recently come here and are trying to find something specific.

...

I may not have your exalted number of posts, or anywhere near your expertise on the subject of sleep apnea and the contents of this forum, but I have been around here since 2005, and on CPAP since 2003.

Given that, I am also used to the forum the way it is, and am quite neutral about making changes. I will admit to appreciating those who flag their posts with an "OT," but can live with it for those who don't.

Your suggestions about using search are excellent as usual, especially the reference to Google.

Unfortunately, and especially for the new arrivals, the results are either overwhelming, or, more likely, the newly arrived don't really know what to search for.

Regardless of how the forum is organized, I think we will always be answering the same questions over and over, and the best we can do to ease the new person's angst is provide them with the links so that we don't go mad with the repetition.

[carbonman]

Thoughts?

I have too much to do today.......I don't have time to make popcorn.

Learning to use the forum the way it is can be a good gauge
for newbies...or any of us, to see cpap progress.
It's like an exercise for your brain.....
works your short and long term memory.

[Really]

If there is something about the forum which bothers you why not say what it is instead of suggesting the childish posts be hidden in sub categories. Really.

[Hawthorne]

We are having a number of very long OT threads right now that, in my opinion, should be separated out and really belong in "chat" probably. These threads were never even identified as OT. I never go to "chat" anymore because it is very often OT.

I have always been opposed to categories and still am not too fond of the idea BUT I really thing that many of the huge OT threads that have developed lately should be away from anything cpap or sleep apnea related. Some see them as a change/break from the cpap/sleep apnea threads but I don't think they belong in the main stream of the forum. That's not what the forum is about. Giving an OT category for them may get us back on track, in my opinion. People who like that kind of thread can then go to them and new people looking for cpap/sleep apnea help will get help more readily.

I don't see a need for your 3rd category Kenny but, after the last few months I guess, I sure would like to see those long OT threads in a separate category.

If we had not had those threads, I would still be opposed to categories but, given those threads, I am leaning in favour of 2 categories.

Edit - I didn't vote because you suggested 3 categories.

[Grumpy1]

I must express my opinion again regarding the long-debated, and much maligned, idea of categorizing the forums. Except this time, I think I have a much better and simpler idea.

THREE MAIN CATEGORIES ONLY

A) Apnea Information
B) Off Topic
C) CPAPTalk.com Website Issues

I think separating the on-topic from the off-topic posts would be helpful to newbies, at the very least. No need to sub-categorize the apnea posts.

Thoughts?

This is perfect. I would like to add a MORON section. Thanks. When can we expect to see these categories?

[ozij]

We are having a number of very long OT threads right now that, in my opinion, should be separated out and really belong in "chat" probably. These threads were never even identified as OT. I never go to "chat" anymore because it is very often OT.

I have always been opposed to categories and still am not too fond of the idea BUT I really thing that many of the huge OT threads that have developed lately should be away from anything cpap or sleep apnea related. Some see them as a change/break from the cpap/sleep apnea threads but I don't think they belong in the main stream of the forum. That's not what the forum is about. Giving an OT category for them may get us back on track, in my opinion. People who like that kind of thread can then go to them and new people looking for cpap/sleep apnea help will get help more readily.

I don't see a need for your 3rd category Kenny but, after the last few months I guess, I sure would like to see those long OT threads in a separate category.

If we had not had those threads, I would still be opposed to categories but, given those threads, I am leaning in favour of 2 categories.

Edit - I didn't vote because you suggested 3 categories.

Well said Hawthorne. I'm bothered by those long OT chit chat threads. They push valid on topic threads down. However, I'm not for condoning them by giving them a separate cateory. I can just imagine what we'll have here when member A decides that member B's thread is - or has become off topic and and member B thinks that is not so.... and member Grumpy101 decides to join the fray and pronounce a pox on both their moronic houses while member C comes up and says "hey, look at the X thread in the OT category"and Really says "Really" ad infintum.... I'm for less OT -- and no categories.
cpaptalk has a topic -- we should all do our best to stay on it. OT should be an exception -- and the thread's creator should be the final judge of whether to post it on the forum at all.

[WearyOne]

Although I voted yes, I really don't see the need for the third one. But then I thought you could have a topic that is sleep-related, but not necessarily apnea-related, which although semi-related, it's still technically OT. But it isn't as OT as sports, decorating my house, or the latest political thread. So you have OT and then Very OT! So maybe "CPAP, Apnea, and Sleep" for the first one? Just thinking out loud.

There are pluses and minuses to both ways. All other forums I participate in have categories, and they work well. But there are times you just don't know which category to put your thread in, maybe it crosses topics or you just missed seeing the right one, and then the admin ends up moving it to the "right" one anyway! Or a thread starts out in one direction and wanders off completely unrelated (of course we never do THAT here ). Even using the two-category approach has it's pluses and minuses, but it could separate out the obvious OT and help slow the progression of related threads so far down that you end up missing them.

Some non-sleep-related OT threads are very interesting and I like reading them and even start some myself. But others come here for one thing and one thing only: cpap and apnea information and help.

Pam

[cobra4x4]

I agree with having only 2 catagories

1. Sleep apnea and related info
2. Off Topic discussions

As has been mentioned its a real shame when progression of sleep related threads move so far down (even to the next page) that you end up missing them.

[Wulfman]

Isn't this thread actually "OFF TOPIC"?

Everybody already knows how I feel about this.

As far as the "chit-chat" threads, it seems to me that if there are subjects within the conversations that appeal to new users and it increases their interest in joining in the forum discussions, then it's worthwhile. That's part of what makes this forum "user-friendly" and any attempts to categorize topics is going to make it like the other (highly moderated) forums that have become "ghost towns".

I do like the suggestion of a "MORON" section, though......sub-categorized into several different sections of course.
(Maybe one of them being for suggestions for forum categories)


Den

[Hawthorne]

I do agree with the reasoning for no categories and LESS OT stuff, as has been the case until recently. It has become just way out of hand lately and, as Ozij says, pushes on topic stuff way down- often off the first page. Because that has happened, is the only reason I would vote for categories.

We do have a category. A few OT are interesting on occassion but not the threads that have dominated the forum of late.

Kenny, raising this again, given the current situation on the forum, is good, in my opinion. Some have objected to these OT threads, only to be condemned so this may let people have their say in a poll without the possibility of a put down.

[maggie22561]

I am a newbie. I have had no trouble navigating through the threads as they are right now. The posts titled OT I haven't read because they don't pertain to Sleep Apnea and it doesn't bother me that they are there. If I read a thread that is OT and not marked so that doesn't bother me either. I just click the back button and read something else.
I belong to other forums that are categorized and sometimes navigating the categories themselves is time consuming and confusing. Deciding the proper category to post in can be confusing.

I don't think this forum is broke so I don't think it needs repair.
Just my two cents worth.
Maggie

[Really]

A few OT are interesting on occassion but not the threads that have dominated the forum of late.

Then there are people who only post OT and very seldom contribute anything. Really.
Where would you like to put them? Really