The FastDay Forum

[Moogie]

There is also a phpBB modification which allows mods to merge topics. So you can stitch all the similar topics together into an uber thread. I think more subforums just add to the confusion personally.

That's actually a standard phpbb feature, staff already have the ability to merge threads sometimes I think poeple can't be bothered to look for specific info in a really long thread though.

I'll get up to my desk now and see if there are any other useful search addons or related topic things.

Before I log out I "mark all forums read", then when I come back I just click on "view new posts". It eliminates anything I've read with no replies.

[Moogie]

Okies, here's what I'm looking to install over the weekend when I can drag myself away from the recipe system development

Subject Checker:
http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi ... &t=1056865
Informs users of similar topics before they post theirs - may help them to find an answer which has already been posted?

Topic Preview:
http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/topic_preview/
This will show a quick preview of the topic contents when you mouseover the topic name (not sure if it will work on the recent topics list on the main page or on the similar topics list), allowing you to more quickly see what a topic is about without having to click on it.


I've also increased the number of topics on the homepage to 10 - though personally I find this a bit long.

Like some other I go straight to the new posts when I come on, thensometimes get sidetracked onto other topics.
I'm finding it user friendly and I've not used lots of forums before.
We'd all definitely be lost without it so Thank You so much for all the hard work Moogie.

[Moogie]

I can't take all the credit, I'd be lost without my fellow staffers!

First page looks good!

It is fantastic that the Board is getting so many new members- a great success! But yes it does get a little overwhelming at times with the volume.
Personally - and I have been a mod on another completely unrelated Board- I am a fan of very clear guidelines where things go and the mods moving posts to the appropriate threads when necessary. It creates a situation where people consider before they post, less jumble for the mods long term, and also makes it easier for us all to find what we need. But maybe I am a bit OCD!

[Moogie]

Indeed, my other forum is far more organised & clear cut.

I think the problem we have here is that a lot of the topics can sort of cross over into different categories, it can be difficult to decide which is just about diet, which is health related, which is fitness etc when they all overlap in some ways.

I'm more than happy to split the boards out a bit, or even have sub-forums within some, it's just a case of actually planning what forums are most needed! I'm going out today but if anyone else wants to have a pop at planning some new forums/sub-forums I'm happy to consider it!

I agree with previous posters about the problem! I find it quite sad the way that really good and interesting information gets quickly buried and then too often forgotten - once it is off the front page of active topics.

However I also agree with previous posters that just adding more forums won't really address this. Most of us don't really use the separate forum pages. To be honest I would find it more helpful to be able to exclude topics from certain forums just to reduce the clutter on my active topics front page (recipes could go for me, sorry to all you wonderful chefs!)

We already have the Most Viewed and Most Replied lists at the bottom (with unfortunately quite a lot of overlap between them which makes the lists less helpful), and we have the 'Thanks Toplist' but all of these lists, although they point to great topics, are pretty much unchanging. I wonder about some sort of 'best of the rest' list that selects randomly from a bundle of highly-rated topics (rate by views? by posts? by total thanks? maybe by a mixture of all 3?), excluding those that are currently active (i.e. on first page of active topics). The idea being that this is a place to look to find interesting topics that you might have missed from before. The list might get 'fixed' once a day and shaken up overnight.

the thanks toplist is very stale - perhaps thanks toplist for this month would be better

[carorees]

Not sure about sub forums versus stand alone but my thoughts are:

An exercise forum would be useful.

The frequently asked questions is getting very full. Should we create sub-forums for side-effects, how to 5:2, weightloss plateaus, non-weightloss benefits? Or, forget an FAQ forum and just have the above as stand-alones (as people will surely post their questions in the relevant places without it needing to be flagged as a place for questions)?

Looking at the popularity of the 36 hour fast thread perhaps a forum for water-fasting/zero calorie fasting would be useful?

Within the nerdy section a lot of info is getting buried so it might be worth splitting it into nerdy questions and then revive the science watch concept into a sub-forum for posting new studies.

Last I have been tidying up a bit now and then, moving a few threads and merging some, and wondered if I should be telling posters that I've moved their threads...I have assumed they'll find it but perhaps that's rude of me?!

Need to make sure that when we move topics we untick the 'leave shadow thread' box as this makes the forum untidy too. Maybe Moogie can untick this by default?

It really is a problem with a successful forum.

The idea re splitting into sub forums is handy if you're wanting to look up something particular and want 'variety' as opposed to something specific ie look in the 'Recipes' sub forum for inspiration regarding a non specific recipe. If you want a specific recipe the search facility is Ok ie 'omelette'.

On the other hand it 'spreads' new posts out, but this is easily sorted, with the couple of Forums I subscribe to I log on and click on the 'new posts' link, which shows new posts since my last visit, works for me.

[carorees]

Need to make sure that when we move topics we untick the 'leave shadow thread' box as this makes the forum untidy too. Maybe Moogie can untick this by default?

Yes I've been unticking which is what made me wonder if the OP might 'lose' their topic because I'd moved it without telling them!

The idea re splitting into sub forums is handy if you're wanting to look up something particular and want 'variety' as opposed to something specific ie look in the 'Recipes' sub forum for inspiration regarding a non specific recipe

Not sure if you've realised Old Nog but things are already split here into separate forums. So you can already look on the recipe forum to see any posts about recipes. You find the forums by clicking on Home near the top (under the pizza), then under the list of 'Recent Active Topics' and under the list of 'News, Announcements & Important Info' you will see '5:2 Fasting Diet Discussion Forums'.

If you haven't noticed that before I don't blame you.

This is also the (only?) way to start a new topic - you have to go to an individual forum listing and click 'New Topic' under the forum heading.