Need Several Robotics Forums
erco
Posts: 20,256
Adding just the one Robotics forum back doesn't seem like enough. Certainly after all the hard work presented, the Artist, Fibbonacci Spiral, Figure 8, Tower of Hanoi, and Hexapod bots each need their own forums. I'm sure I missed some others.
Comments
It can't be that difficult to add a new forum category. I wonder why hasn't it be reinstated already.
Did you see the announcement?
http://forums.parallax.com/discussion/161405/new-parallax-forums-issue-report-list
Certain subcategories have been intentionally left out, some users would like to see them reinstated
If suggestions conflict with intentional internal decisions, then no action will be taken and the issue may either be removed from the list or moved to solved.
Meanwhile, the obsolete SX chip basically has its own category (Microcontrollers) and is the first product listed on the Home page after "Announcements". How is that even relevant?
-Phil
And here is where tagging really gets interesting. One can post in the general discussion category and then apply one or more tags to the post, each related to what used to be separate forums. For example the post could have tags for Robotics, Propeller and IDE for a question on programming a Prop BOE with SimpleIDE. Anyone searching on one of those three tags will find you post rather than looking in three separate forums.
We are testing the tagging script to ensure that we have not missed any edge cases.
Does that mean any sections are coming back? It sounds like no.
Hmm. so users have to know and remember about tags, every time they post, as a workaround for simply fixing the problem properly ?
1) Parallax, why did you purposely leave out robotics and multirotor?
2) Has a single person indicated that this was a positive change?
2) Now that you have direct feedback from your loyal customers, what is preventing you from simply adding them back?
When Coke changed their formula 30 years ago for the worse, they very wisely changed back.
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/history/the-real-story-of-new-coke
It will never work of course because posters have to do extra work to make it work. They have to apply meaningful categories and get then right. Which they won't. Or at least not to the extent to make the thing worth while.
Posts already contain all the tags required to find them, the text if the post itself. With that and google site search we are in. Which is why it is so important not to break links.
I would fix that now broken old style quoted block above, if I had the faintest clue how to. Any one got the hang of that yet?
I've been relying on my browser. Did you get IE6 installed?
I think you need blockquote /blockquote inside HTML brackets < >
If you click "Quote" and then click "Show Source" (far right icon) you can then see the html tags used for quotes.
By adding these same quote tags to your earlier quote you can get it to appear with the appropriate quote box around it.
One can post in the general discussion category and then apply one or more tags to the post, each related to what used to be separate forums.
<blockquote>
I've been relying on my browser.
</blockquote>
Relying on what browser feature exactly?
<blockquote>
Did you get IE6 installed?
</blockquote>
Ha, ha. No.
The problem is not that there are fewer categories but that there is some misunderstanding of the new tagging feature. Tagging replaces the need to have a large array of forums. Tags do need to be used in order for them to be effective. It is my hope that the community will give tags a chance before condemning it.
The problem is not that there are fewer categories but that there is some misunderstanding of the new tagging feature. Tagging replaces the need to have a large array of forums. Tags do need to be used in order for them to be effective. It is my hope that the community will give tags a chance before condemning it.
If you cannot see that relying on users to manually tag every post is a problem, then I have to agree, there is indeed some misunderstanding of the new tagging feature.
Much smarter, is to simply not require tedious manual user housekeeping action on every post.
<blockquote>
I've been relying on my browser.
</blockquote>
Relying on what browser feature exactly?
<blockquote>
Did you get IE6 installed?
</blockquote>
Ha, ha. No.
Interesting, the editor has used literals of <, > to show the < > and avoids using them as quote operators.
Seems you need to insert those under Show Source for them to apply.
<blockquote>
I've been relying on my browser.
</blockquote>
Relying on what browser feature exactly?
<blockquote>
Did you get IE6 installed?
</blockquote>
Ha, ha. No.
Not a feature, more compatible.
Seems you need to insert those under Show Source for them to apply.
1) You said you want to use tags to reduce the array of categories, yet tags creates a MUCH larger array, and it's jumbled. Why trade a neat organization with a sloppy one?
2) Your sidebar of descriptions are controllable BY YOU. Parallax sets the message and the brand. The purpose of having your own forum is to maintain this control. You give it up with tags.
3) By design, tag clouds appear on the main discussion index pages only. I would not recommend adding them to all pages for the reasons noted above. So, visitors from a search engine, who land on a discussion page, may never realize there are other topics to explore.
4) As others have noted, relying on users to tag their messages is naive at best. Even in forums where tagging is well established it generally comes down to moderators and admins going through and adding them manually. I was under the impression Parallax wanted to minimize the burden of moderation on its staff so they could be free to do other things.
5) This is most important: VIEWED FROM THE OUTSIDE, the lack of top-level categories for several major Parallax product lines makes it appear Parallax is abandoning those lines. This is especially true as you've gone against your own advice and have broken out Microcontrollers into three additional sub groups. So naturally people will infer things you may not want them to infer.
I'm NOT saying Parallax is doing any such thing, just remarking that you need to look at this from the outside as well. Perception is just as important as reality.
One more test...main quote
<blockquote>
nested quote
/blockquote>
You have to end the quote with a </div> if you want to type below it without breaking the post box.