What about consolidating some of the forums?

Hey guys, this is just a post to whom it may concern, take it for what it's worth --

As a relatively new member of the board, I've noticed that there are a lot of different forums. Having participated on some other very successful, high-traffic message boards, one aspect that has helped their popularity is that they usually have just a few separate forums that helps to route traffic towards their area of interest but aren't so compartmentalized that posters have to switch in between a lot of forums to keep up on their favorite discussions.

Is there a chance that the forums could be streamlined a bit? It seems like a lot of categories could be combined and allow for more exposure to some different topics, thereby increasing participation.

Just a thought. Feel free to disregard!

I rather like it the way it is.. it helps (some of the time :D ) to keep discussions relatively focused.

The present arrangement has been evolutionary to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of communities and interests. In most disciplines there are lumpers and splitters. Usually I tend to the lumper side of the ledger, but here I am inclined to the splitter side. Something akin to how do you organize an intel agency - lots of different views. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmm99

The present arrangement has been evolutionary to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of communities and interests. In most disciplines there are lumpers and splitters. Usually I tend to the lumper side of the ledger, but here I am inclined to the splitter side. Something akin to how do you organize an intel agency - lots of different views. :D

---

Splitters!

One reason we went with a more "split" format was to allow for discussion of a number of areas and subjects. It's not all Iraq and Afghanistan, and the structure allows us to stay broad. Small wars are very diverse things, with many layers and aspects that tend to more clearly touch areas outside armed conflict.

That said, we do look at the forums from time to time and evaluate the layout. Nothing's set in stone, but so far it seems to be working well enough (at least from my viewpoint).

good one - what else can one say. :D

A few times I have merged threads, not categories and regularly a thread starts off on a subject, then meanders in a new direction. This happens especially when familiar subjects appear, notably Pakistan and the Arab-Israeli dispute.

davidbfpo