Preview of new forum layout / design screenshots

I vote for "Discussing the Truth..." since that is less hair-raising to lurkers dropping in.

I second this motion.

Will the iphone version change with this? Not a big deal, just curious....

Yes, it will have a similar theme to it but with the less important info removed (like # of views).

I'm hoping to make it fully featured too meaning that you'll be able to post from the iPhone and better browsing support (e.g. jumping straight to a particular page).

The iPhone version will be lower priority initially though (but it will get done 'cause I'd use it myself )

BTW: What do people think of the current topic organisation?

It may make sense to re-look at how we have the folder arranged ... at the moment too much stuff gets posted in Friends IMO that should maybe go elsewhere. Is it that the subject folders aren't clear or visible enough? Should the system suggest where a topic should go after you've entered it maybe?

Maybe a link on the home page for 'Start New Topic' then have a drop down box to select the board (ie, Jehovah's Witness, Watchtower, Members etc) then a second drop down box to select the appropiate child board (Friends, Personal Experiences etc)... if that's possible...

It may make sense to re-look at how we have the folder arranged ... at the moment too much stuff gets posted in Friends IMO that should maybe go elsewhere. Is it that the subject folders aren't clear or visible enough? Should the system suggest where a topic should go after you've entered it maybe?

There are too many different folders.  Cull some of the topics and you'll have people putting more thought into where they put stuff.  No one wants to choose between a gazillion different subjects to post a topic.  For example, you might have

1. current jw issues
2. past jw issues
3. politics
4. humor
5. off topic
6. get togethers etc.

Could there be a folder just for newbies?

Sylvia

Well. As long as I can have real dates and times instead of "~ 17 hours ago", I'll be happy

looks good simon    thanks for all your hard work..!

could the forum software self-organise the posts?

why not have a time limit for submitting logo ideas and let the users vote on which one they like?

could the forum software self-organise the posts?

That's what I'm thinking of (at least have it pre-chose what it thinks is a sensible place for the post to go)

There are too many different folders.  Cull some of the topics and you'll have people putting more thought into where they put stuff.  No one wants to choose between a gazillion different subjects to post a topic

I agree that there are currently too many top level folders. Being able to have things more than one level deep will help too ... people should be able to look at medical in general or drill down into blood or transplant for instance. Of course hierarchical taxonomies are the vietnam of information organisation so I don't want to get into too much analysis. It's likely I'll add support for tagging as well to help organize the information.

One thing I definitely want to do is encourage good, well thought out content if possible so any reputation or karma system will aim to reward people who post highly rated content and use the feedback to promote the best stuff and bury the fluff to some extent. Perhaps really good topics will be promoted to home-page articles for instance? Just one idea ...

why not have a time limit for submitting logo ideas and let the users vote on which one they like?

I'd be happy for people to post logo ideas and get feedback on what people like but the logo needs to fit into the overall look and feel of the site.

Well. As long as I can have real dates and times instead of "~ 17 hours ago", I'll be happy

That will probably be a personal preference / option.

im so happy can't wait... will i be able to post a picture as an icon?

I wanted to make the logo have a person throwing Watchtower in the trash, but I thought that would be off-putting.

I do like the idea of having a more organized folder system, even an automated one.  That way, a person who just wants to come here and talk about social stuff w/o all the dubbie topics in the mix...can just look in that folder.

We have had 839104738291 threads on "just get over it, why are you posting here 97 years after you left".  For many of us the answer is social, and we don't necessarily want to discuss the jw stuff...a folder system that is automated would help w/that.

There needs to be a folder for discussing religious topics that are not witness specific. A newbie/introductions folder is a good idea since we get so many of them. Based on the descriptions I can't tell the difference between some of the folders we've got now. Like "Friends" and "Personal experiences and reunions." Or "Bible research and study articles" and "Beliefs doctrines and practices."

 

I vote for "Discussing the Truth..." since that is less hair-raising to lurkers dropping in.

I second this motion.

I third it! It's neutral-sounding. 

One idea I had a while back (which the new software will finally support) is to break the site into different sections such as:

• theology / beliefs
• friends / family
• politics / adult

People could then focus on what they are interested in and ignore the rest. It's likely that different areas would have different posting guidelines too. People could still have a single account and chose to see things in different sections or not as they wanted.

Maybe just having less general areas and better descriptions is all that's needed though ...

Just a thought, Simon. I have often come up with a topic that discussed religion/spirituality/churches etc, but that was not directly Jw-related. In that case there is no section that fully fits. So often I have posted such under 'Friends' for lack of a better choice.

Since this is a discussion forum that involves those leaving one religion - there might be a place for topics that involves some of the routes or ideas that others are considering. Many of the areas under Jehovah's Witnesses could also apply to other topics - like Bible topics - but there is no correct place to put them if someone wants to discuss Catholic interpretation or general ideas about the Bible itself.

These are just areas that I have personally noted over time.  

Jeff

Simon I think it is wonderful, I like the whole concept. Like all new ideas we will adjust. 

with many thanks

orangefatcat and his friends.

Simon,

Thanks for all of your hard work and efforts.

Sour Grapes

Cool..