Question on forum policies....

[ProbablyBaby]

I have a question, and I'm sure there is an answer for it, however it eludes me.

Why in the general discussion forum area are so many threads lumped together into one major long thread?
As an example:
I was in the middle of reading a crock pot thread, it was 13 pages long.
All of a sudden it was merged into the recipe thread which then created that thread into 40 pages. Now for a member that is trying to find crockpot recipes, doesn't this make it very difficult for the member to find those recipes, when they have to muddle thru 40 pages to find a few interesting ones? Do all your members here have time to read 40 pages like that?

This isn't a complaint, I am an administrator of another vbulletin forum (non reality tv related), and also any other vbulletin forum I have ever visited, has never lumped threads together so much as I see happening in this forum.

What is the benefit in doing this? Do you not find that it makes it harder for your readers to read such long tedious drawnout threads when maybe they only want to read about a certain specific topic?
Just curious, and thanks for your time.

[Amanda]

The threads were merged because it's the easiest way to keep threads that are very similar from completely overtaking the entire front page of the General Discussion forum. While the cooking threads are a great addition to the site, and people seem to be getting a lot out of them, having multiple threads on the same general topic was redundant. If GD were, say, a cooking forum, then it would make sense to have it broken down into seperate areas for crockpots and baking and any other category you can imagine. However, since that isn't the case, this is the most efficient way of allowing discussion of a topic without having that topic outshadow anything else people wish to discuss.

Each thread has a search tool. If someone is desperately looking for crockpot-specific recipes, they can enter crockpot into the search window and find it. It's plenty simple enough.

[ProbablyBaby]

Thank you for the timely response. I don't agree with it, but that's what makes each forum unique.
It seems to me that the essence of the general discussion forum is to keep the first page uncluttered, but yet filled with birthday annoucements; (come to think of it, why isn't there just one birthday thread then? :rolleyes ) My thought on the thread lumping is, each thread becomes so cluttered making the threads unbearably long. I'm just curious to know if I am the only one that has ever commented on this?

[hepcat]

The meat of our site falls into two categories: show recaps, and show discussion forums. Right now a lot of popular shows are running or ramping up, and consequently discussion in GD falls off. If you were to pop in when several shows are on hiatus, you would see more activity there.

We're quite proud of the caliber of our writers. We attract great posters who love to discuss reality television, too.

[John]

Our personal preference is to have 1 long thread versus 100 short threads of the same topic. We realize that it's not the same as other sites, but that's the way we've chosen to go. We feel that it makes for a more organized site. After all, the point of threads is to keep a single topic, or "thread" of conversation. To have 100 of them all discussing the same topic is much more annoying than having 1 large thread, especially with the search capabilities of this software.

[eny]

That is what sets this site apart . A dozen people can't start a vanity brain fart thread on what they think on the exact same subject. When I visit other sites it gives me a headache to see it set up that way, and to see the same responses in each thread. As Amanda says, very redundant.

The general discussion thread itself is a pretty dusty and unused corner of the site, as our members spend most of their time in the show forums. That's our site focus. Thats why the birthday threads keep piling up . there aren't any other ones. Besides Leo has been doing them practically since we opened and if ain't broke don't fix it.

[cali]

You don't have to go through each thread page by page everytime. If there are new posts since your last visit you can hit the arrow thing and go to the new ones, or pick a page to go to.

You can also change your personal settings. I believe the default is to have each page contain 25 posts. Mine is set for each page to show 100 posts.

lastly, I guess I'll be a little redundant here.... This is a Reality tv site, not a cooking site. That's really the only explanation I would need.

[wadahoot]

I'm curious why all but one of the threads on the American Idol board are locked already? A couple of posters said they missed seeing Mary on the first night and were wondering what the fuss was about. I found a video of Mary, and found everything locked down to replies.

[hepcat]

Wadahoot, a show's forum is locked down on the night it airs so that no spoilers are posted for West Coast viewers. It's what we do for all current shows. When a forum is locked down, the only posting allowed is in the show thread.

[jelle]

I think I was banned on the Bachelorette forum and I do not know why. I read all the instructions, and don't think I did anything that others weren't doing.

My frustration is that I could find no way to contact anyone to find out what the problem was.

This is a great search sight, for those who like doing that, but I have lost interest (and guess you probably don't really care one way or the other) in participating anymore.

I PMed eny on the bachelorette forum, as I didn't know what else to do. Maybe someone here can help.

jelle just lurking now