Author Topic: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?  (Read 10716 times)

Offline Motorhobo

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I'm wondering whether everybody reads posts that appear in the Child Boards of the respective Workshop category (Engine, Frame etc). I think you're supposed to post stuff to the respective Child Board first rather than posting directly to the Workshop main board, but if people aren't reading those posts, I'd rather post to the Workshop and get more exposure.

I always click the 'Show unread posts since last visit' link but sometimes I get the feeling some of the Child posts are getting left out.
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 198k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 82,000 mi (19k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B' - RIP

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline TimTyler

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2016, 11:29:56 AM »
My browser bookmark is set to "Show unread posts since last visit". Rarely do I browse the forum any other way. The addition of the child boards earlier this year might be good for organization but I think it's a step down in UX.

Offline Motorhobo

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2016, 11:41:33 AM »
I have to agree with you there. It would be good if all posts went to the main Workshop board as a collector list and were then sorted out afterwards but that is a huge amount of work and I don't think the mods can be expected to do that regularly.

I use that link too but sometimes there's nothing, while if I display the Workshop page, a New badge is displayed by some posts. So I'm thinking the software isn't displaying all new posts under the 'Show unread posts' link.

But -- it is what it is and it gets the job done -- but I will probably post to the main Workshop board from now on.
 
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 198k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 82,000 mi (19k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B' - RIP

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline Filmcamera

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2016, 11:47:07 AM »
I use the 'show unread posts since last visit' link and as far as I can see it shows up everything
  • San Jose, Costa Rica
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Offline Motorhobo

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2016, 08:53:14 AM »
My browser bookmark is set to "Show unread posts since last visit". Rarely do I browse the forum any other way. The addition of the child boards earlier this year might be good for organization but I think it's a step down in UX.
Looks like someone took your comment seriously -- correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the Child Boards went away. Did they go away forever? I'd feel bad if I contributed to the destruction of a feature everyone will clamor for the return of sometime down the road.
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 198k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 82,000 mi (19k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B' - RIP

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline Brad-Man

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2016, 10:09:59 AM »
I personally liked the subcategorization.  It made it easier to browse for info...

And Laitch - I agree that there has been too much spoon-feeding.

One of the boards that I have been a member of is VERY adamant about people searching before posing questions.

I have always done due diligence before posting a question but that is because the process gets me thinking - and learning.

I don't think a little original effort is too much to expect from anyone.
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'75 RD350 w/Modified 400 engine, Chambers & MZB iggy

Offline Filmcamera

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2016, 10:14:12 AM »
I agree, the sub categories are useful, I hope they come back.  Apart from anything they allow you to get a good idea of the kind of issues you are likely to face.  As a new brick owner and not very experienced mechanic browsing the subs categories has been very helpful.
  • San Jose, Costa Rica
  • 1991 K100RS 16v ABS1, 2022 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
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Offline TimTyler

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2016, 04:21:22 PM »
I'm not suggesting the child categories are not useful, but they were not part of my workflow. They also made it cumbersome for me to scroll through a list of recent posts outside of the "view new posts" list. To catch-up on recent conversations I used to just scroll down the Workshop posts but with the categories those posts become buried in sub-forums and take more clicks to see.

I think most new visitors arrive here from Google search results, and Google doesn't care about categories.

In lieu of actual sub-forums it might be easier and less work for everybody to have predefined search actions that would of course be dynamic and would not require maintenance. For example there might be a post titled "Transmission / Gearbox Posts" that contains links like:

General Transmission Posts
Gear Oils

Then we could send lazy bastards to these Posts O' Links.

I haven't given this too much thought...

Offline Motorhobo

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2016, 04:56:54 PM »
What would be cool is if the poster could choose the topic from a drop-down list without the post flowing immediately into the subcategory. Then, after 60 days or whatever, the post would automatically archive itself in the respective child topic.

That would probably require a more intelligent front-end than this software provides and some back-end scripting. The thing is, I agree with Tim about scrolling through the most recent posts, but I also agree with those who think browsing categories makes for good pleasure reading.

Cake and eat it too I guess -- not possible to have both.
1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 198k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 82,000 mi (19k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B' - RIP

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline rbm

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2016, 05:33:24 PM »
+1 for all the info that TimTyler has posted to this thread.  I use the "Show unread posts since last visit" to browse the forum almost exclusively.  What I found difficult with the subforms was locating a recently answered thread that had disappeared from my Unread view (because I had read it).  There is a nice widget on the K100-forum that shows all posts in reverse chronological order.  I wish for a similar widget on this site.
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Offline K1300S

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2016, 09:25:59 PM »
I use the 'show unread posts since last visit' link and as far as I can see it shows up everything

ditto.
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http://www.motobrick.com/index.php/topic,7810.0.html

Offline Laitch

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2016, 10:49:51 PM »
I used the Workshop categories to get an understanding of my bike long before I bought it, or posted here. When the Child Boards were initiated it was obvious to me that they were a bridge too far for many posters to engage with or develop, but the main categories remained useful for me because I could browse through their posts' titles and get an idea of their general content before getting underway to study what interested me.

The category system won't work, of course, if posters are too distracted, self-involved, panicky or needy to determine which category to use. That's clear to me now. I like the K100 Forum's set up but it's clear that some posters there also don't grasp the help it is for others if they post their question in its suitable category. Some might temporarily not even have the intellectual capacity to understand which category is suitable because their intellects have been swamped by their need to be rescued.

Ongoing improvements in browser architecture allow people who are perceptive, imaginative and fairly literate to launch successful Google searches which often will bring them to many posts relevant to their topics not only on MOTOBRICK.COM but also on other sites; however, having access to a categorized archive of topical posts has helped me study posts about specific components efficiently for the purpose of getting ahead of problems and broadening my K-bike understanding in general.

No problem though. It's all in here somewhere.
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
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Offline jjs1234

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2016, 02:52:29 AM »
I would like it if the feature returned.


Why fix what isnt broke.


Its also alot, ALOT easier to search in a subforum that one huge one.


I suspect I will be using the search... less :dunno2: :deal:
  • Northern California
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Check out my build! Complete tear-down!
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Offline Motorhobo

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2016, 07:57:31 AM »
I would like it if the feature returned.


Why fix what isnt broke.


Its also alot, ALOT easier to search in a subforum that one huge one.


I suspect I will be using the search... less :dunno2: :deal:

How does that make sense? A search is a search, regardless of which folder is active when the search term is entered into the Search box. I always search the entire forum for terms, not just a Child forum because I want to see cross-posts, new posts and misfiled posts as well as the contents of a Child topic.

It wasn't broke before the Child structure was implemented either -- so that logic doesn't really apply.






1994/1995 K75 ABS Frankenbike: original engine 136k miles, frame from Gary Weaver (RIP), 173k miles -- Current Odometer: 198k miles
1994 K75 since 2013, 82,000 mi (19k mine) w/California Sidecar Friendship II Sidecar & Black Lab 'Miss B' - RIP

Past: 1974 Honda 550/4 (first bike), 1994 K75 (sold), 1995 K75 ABS (parts bike), Sidecar Dog & Best Bud 'Bo' - RIP

Offline Laitch

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #14 on: July 27, 2016, 08:54:28 AM »
A search is a search, regardless of which folder is active when the search term is entered into the Search box. I always search the entire forum for terms,
I get more specific search hits in this site by searching from Google than from using this site's search function. Regardless, relentless rephrasing of what I'm after always delivers useful information using either mode eventually.
  • Along the Ridley in Vermont.
  • 1995 K75 89,000 miles

Offline jjs1234

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Re: Child boards -- does everybody read posts that appear there first?
« Reply #15 on: July 27, 2016, 02:03:30 PM »
How does that make sense? A search is a search, regardless of which folder is active when the search term is entered into the Search box. I always search the entire forum for terms, not just a Child forum because I want to see cross-posts, new posts and misfiled posts as well as the contents of a Child topic.

It wasn't broke before the Child structure was implemented either -- so that logic doesn't really apply.
I was not specific enough.

Maybe I'm just lazy but their will be more results to search though now that they are not sorted by category.

If I know what my general issues are I can go to the specific child forum and then search there without getting posts in other forums.

M2c



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  • Northern California
  • 1984 K100
Check out my build! Complete tear-down!
Mr. Creative

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