Sub group discussions
I have a question for the moderators.
There seems to be an increasing amount of traffic within the Chainlink's subgroups. Some of it obviously overlaps with threads on the main forum, but I understand the need to quarantine some stuff, especially Critical Mass discussions, lest it overwhelm everything else.
But we're seeing a fair amount of general interest (ie winter cycling, equipment choices, gearing, cool bike builds, etc.) chatter within these sub groups.
And so my question is (a) are these subgroup discussions searchable? and even if they are (b) is there some type of protocol for what should be embedded in a group and what shouldn't?
I refer customers to the Chainlink all the time and often they'll come back with the same response: there just seems to be a lot of talk about stolen bikes and what neighborhoods not to ride in... but then I'll show them some of the sub group discussions, and bingo. It's gotten to the point that I just tend to join every single new group, in order to search out good content.
But maybe there's another way that I'm not seeing?
There seems to be an increasing amount of traffic within the Chainlink's subgroups. Some of it obviously overlaps with threads on the main forum, but I understand the need to quarantine some stuff, especially Critical Mass discussions, lest it overwhelm everything else.
But we're seeing a fair amount of general interest (ie winter cycling, equipment choices, gearing, cool bike builds, etc.) chatter within these sub groups.
And so my question is (a) are these subgroup discussions searchable? and even if they are (b) is there some type of protocol for what should be embedded in a group and what shouldn't?
I refer customers to the Chainlink all the time and often they'll come back with the same response: there just seems to be a lot of talk about stolen bikes and what neighborhoods not to ride in... but then I'll show them some of the sub group discussions, and bingo. It's gotten to the point that I just tend to join every single new group, in order to search out good content.
But maybe there's another way that I'm not seeing?
Views: 38
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on
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I'm not a moderator. And perhaps there is a way to do what you suggest that we are not seeing, but I have my doubts.
I'm grateful that the Chainlink exists, but the forums are some of the worst software I've ever experienced. It seems like Ning is some attempt to be a social networking tool with the forum capacity tacked on as an after-thought.
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Permalink Reply by Leah on
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Thanks J for your question and bringing up this issue!
When the site was first started just over a year ago, there was limited forum activity - those of you who have been here for a while may remember when the forum was a pretty quiet place. As more and more people joined and the forum became busier and self-sustaining, we opened up groups for more focused discussion. As with the forum, activity in the groups was low during its infancy. But now that we've reached 2500+ people, there's enough activity in the groups to allow us to re-evaluate their role on the site - thus your post is coming at a great time.
To answer your first question, yes the subgroup discussions are searchable. If you type a phrase into the search bar at the top of the page, you'll get results that include text from both general forum and groups.
To answer your second question, there is no "official guideline" for what goes into a group vs. the main forum. It's up to the discretion of the original poster. Similarly, there are no discussions that are restricted to groups.
As The Chainlink grows it's important to make sure the site reflects the interests and needs of the community. To that end, I'll pose a question to the community - are you finding the group discussions valuable? Would you like more emphasis placed on the groups? There are a few things we can test out in terms of the site layout that would reflect a new emphasis.
Again, thanks for bringing up this topic! I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.
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Permalink Reply by J on
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Aha, I see -- it seems to search through everything, including event entries, forums, comments, etc. That makes sense.
I really don't have a good suggestion as to how to improve the forum functionality. I guess my main comment would be that because there are no true distinctions between main forum discussions and group discussions, new members in particular might be missing out because you have to now spend a lot of time digging through groups one at a time.
It's clunky but not unworkable given the global search, I guess.
Leah said:
To answer your first question, yes the subgroup discussions are searchable. If you type a phrase into the search bar at the top of the page, you'll get results that include text from both general forum and groups.
To answer your second question, there is no "official guideline" for what goes into a group vs. the main forum. It's up to the discretion of the original poster. Similarly, there are no discussions that are restricted to groups.
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Kristian beat me to the punch. I have essentially the same question -- not having to dig into and/or join each individual group would make them much more functional.
Kristian M Zoerhoff said:
Would it be possible to treat the subgroup fora as categories under the main forum, such that they'd appear on the main page?
Groups
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Chicagoland Beer Explora…
203 members
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Chicago Ride of Silence
118 members
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Critical Mass discussion
262 members
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Chicago Randonneurs
269 members
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Walk Bike Transit
63 members
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