'Where To' Threads Feedback

Mr Simpson

Hi Everyone,

We've had the Where to threads for a little while now. We'd like to get some feedback from people on what they think of them, how we could improve them, and any other feedback you'd like to give.

Personally, I think for the most part, they're working well.

Regarding some feedback we've gotten already. If you're interested in a certain aspect of a thread, but don't want to read the whole thread. You can search for keywords within a thread (on the right hand side above the thread OP.

So lets get the ball rolling.

EyeSight

I think they're fine for the most part.

One small niggle i had was when i started a thread asking for recommendations on a good Spa in the city center, which got moved to the "where to buy" thread and ignored. I would generaly assume the where to buy thread would be for physical products rather than something like this, and i can see why it would be ignored in that thread.
Maybe recommendations for services could be excluded from these threads? Are there really so many of them that they need to be condenced into one thread? They usually have multiple answers due to differing opinions

ProudDUB

I am not a big fan of lumping so much of the activity in the city into all of these one size fits all "Where to XYZ in Dublin" threads. I think that there are a lot of people on here who may have very in depth knowledge of a specific part of the city. But the thread title is just too vague for them to want to open it up, on the off chance that someone may ask a question about the area that they know about. So their knowledge is not shared. I think that's a shame.

They are great if a poster is asking a general question that is not specific to a particular part of the city. Where to get the best deals on mattresses/Christmas trees/orthopedic shoes etc etc Or where to stay in Dublin for a romantic weekend away. That kind of thing. But if someone has a question about a specific part of the city, I think that they should be allowed to create a post of its own.

ibarelycare

If it's ok, I'll just post some of what I already sent to you a few weeks ago via PM


I think only having one thread for each category is taking away from the forum. I don't post a whole lot, but I browse on a nearly daily basis. I click into threads which titles are of interest to me. If I see that someone is looking where to buy art supplies, I'll click into it because I'll be able to offer help. Similarly, if someone asks for recommendations of where to eat in Dublin 9, I'd click into that because that's where I live. However there's no way I'm going to go trawling through pages of a thread to see what people are asking for, on the off chance that I might be able to help them. And I reckon other people feel the same. That means posts are going to get lost in that thread, as people aren't going to take the time to go through the thread and help others out.

I really think the "Where to Live" ones are a very good idea, but the Buy, Eat and Drink ones just retract from the forum hugely for me. A big part of the forum for me was coming in and reading about places to eat, drink, or buy (even things that I'll never buy in my life, but it's always good to know! but I feel that I can't really do that now because I'll have to go through loads of posts that don't interest me in the hopes of finding some that do.

ProudDUB

Agree 100% with ibarelycare. If some one starts a thread and asks about doing/buying/eating in a part of Dublin that I know a lot about, I'll click on it & offer assistance if I can. But there is no way I am going to just randomly browse the Where to...threads on the off chance that there may be someone there who will benefit from my pearls of wisdom. That works both ways too when I am the one who may be in need of advice/help.

Larianne

As others have said, I'd read more than post in the forum. But if a thread title pops up with something I think I can help with or what interests me, I'll have a look at it.

I haven't looked at any of the Where To.. threads. Too much effort if I'm honest.

I think threads like Where's all the jobs and the Where to live threads are good but I don't like how a lot of things are getting lumped into single mega threads.

The Hill Billy

Hi folks.

Thanks for your feedback so far - please keep it coming.

Bearing in mind that the one of the main reasons for these threads was to contain some of the vague requests for information that were cluttering up the forum - eg, "Where can me & my mates for for beers on Wednesday?" or "Recommend a restaurant for a first date." These requests are a waste of time & electrons.

What I'm thinking of - based on your feedback so far, & also my perception of the threads over the past few weeks - is the following...

Where to Live...
Leave it as it is for the moment.

Where to Buy/Get...
Abandon this thread as generally the requests are specific enough for other posters to respond with the required info.

Where to Eat... & Where to Drink...
If someone starts a thread looking for recommendations & provides worthwhile information about what they are looking for - ie, as per the guidelines in the first post of each "Where to..." thread - the thread gets to run on its own.
However, vague request threads get merged with the "Where to..." threads.

Any thoughts?

tHB

liffeylite

ibarelycare wrote: »

If it's ok, I'll just post some of what I already sent to you a few weeks ago via PM


I think only having one thread for each category is taking away from the forum. I don't post a whole lot, but I browse on a nearly daily basis. I click into threads which titles are of interest to me. If I see that someone is looking where to buy art supplies, I'll click into it because I'll be able to offer help. Similarly, if someone asks for recommendations of where to eat in Dublin 9, I'd click into that because that's where I live. However there's no way I'm going to go trawling through pages of a thread to see what people are asking for, on the off chance that I might be able to help them. And I reckon other people feel the same. That means posts are going to get lost in that thread, as people aren't going to take the time to go through the thread and help others out.


100% agree.

I have sent a PM to a mod saying the exact same thing.

the titles are far too vague and uninteresting and they cover such a broad scope of issues that too actually find something within them that is of interest involves a huge search.
Also, because there are threads within one large thread, no one single thread is allowed to develop smoothly.

my fundamental point would be that if you pulled each thread out of this category and allowed them to run on their own, each thread would get more replies and be of more value as people with a knowledge of that particular subject could easily identify it and comment. i.e. if I have a great knowledge of acoustic nights in the city centre, if someone asks this question directly I can hep them out. another user can do the same as the thread tite is obvious. however, if this thread is merged with a mega thread about people looking for cheap pints, or piano bars and someone else chatting about techno clubs, I am not going to bother reading through to actually find the piece I am interested in, or indeed hep other users out with my knowledge.
net result is people will stop using the threads and I personally have begun to do this already.
Boards is a great website, I wouldn't like to see it restricted in this way as I am convinced it will lose users. good example is there are more posts in a thread about donuts than there are in the "where to eat thread"...
if you separated all the mini threads in the "where to eat" thread, I am sure this wouldn't be the case. the donut one attracts readers because it is specific! simple as.
that's just my opinion though and I don't mean to criticise your intentions to improve the site!
I really think the "Where to Live" ones are a very good idea, but the Buy, Eat and Drink ones just retract from the forum hugely for me. A big part of the forum for me was coming in and reading about places to eat, drink, or buy (even things that I'll never buy in my life, but it's always good to know! but I feel that I can't really do that now because I'll have to go through loads of posts that don't interest me in the hopes of finding some that do.

A Disgrace

To be honest I've stopped checking this forum since the changes - I understand the reasoning, but I really don't want to read through a giant 'where to live' thread just to find somewhere that I can offer an opinion on. Changes can be good, or they can be bad. Cluas did something similar about 7 years ago and went from being the only forum in town for music, to nothing.

However, I can't really suggest anything to make it better. I just liked it the way it was. Then again, I didn't have to moderate it!

arybvtcw0eolkf

A Disgrace wrote: »

To be honest I've stopped checking this forum since the changes - I understand the reasoning, but I really don't want to read through a giant 'where to live' thread just to find somewhere that I can offer an opinion on. Changes can be good, or they can be bad. Cluas did something similar about 7 years ago and went from being the only forum in town for music, to nothing.

However, I can't really suggest anything to make it better. I just liked it the way it was. Then again, I didn't have to moderate it!

I'm with this poster, apart from understanding the reasoning.

I rarely visit the forum anymore for the same reasons.

Locked/closed threads (and there has been a lot in recent months) and mega/merged threads give the forum a heavy moderated feel imo.

But best of luck to you all the same.

Lovely Bloke

I don't even click into the "mega" threads, I don't like them, they get unwieldy and information gets lost.

Also, the forum looks horrible with so many closed and moved threads.

I don't understand the rationale behind it at all, seems like rules for rules sake.

That's my €0.02

Actually, my thinking is exactly the same as liffeylite's post above.

If I see "Where to eat/live/drink in Artane/Coolock/Donnycarney" - I'll open the thread and post extensively, as I have done in the past, as I know the area well, love the area and can give an honest appraisal of the place, better than the usual "usual caveats apply, be careful in a city, omg it's on de nortside don't even go there" type stuff.

But now I won't bother opening a thread, trawling through it just in case.

Can only reiterate what others above have said; I tend to ignore mega-threads and don't go through the effort of checking the Where To threads; whereas when the threads were on the forum in plain sight, would chime in if I had something to offer, in an area I know well.

Hootanany

I think it was great before these mega threads,you could answer a thread that you had knowlegde about.

ProudDUB

On the Where to Threads, I'd be perfectly ok with getting rid of them all, including the Where To Live one. I feel the same way about that one as I do the eating and shopping ones. I'm not going to bother reading it, on the off chance that there will be someone in there asking questions about parts of Dublin that I know what it is like to live in. But if I see someone asking a specific question about living in a specific part of Dublin, I will read it. And I don't think I'd be the only one.

Hootanany

Well are they going or staying.

The Hill Billy

We'll leave the thread up for another couple of days, but I think the outcome if pretty clear.

We tried something with the best of intentions, it didn't work, you live & learn, you move on.

tHB

The Hill Billy

Right folks - we've returned to normal. The "Where to..." threads are gone.

I've moved every request for info & the related responses in each "Where to..." into individual threads.

tHB