More Organization

Started by Alliance, August 23, 2011, 07:49:22 PM

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Alliance

I really am tired of the lack of organization that this site appears to have. You have way to many columns and you can easily clean it up very easily.

I am very use to RP sites that separate out OOC and IC forums.

Like say for example this.

Red symbolizes the main IC forum.

OOC symbolizes the subforum under the main forum.

----

How this would apply to E instead of having what we have now, we'll use the Light section as an example.

At current we have separate forums-

Light: Human Small Groups

Light: Human Solo

Light: Exotic Solo

Light: Exotic Small Groups

Light: Exotic Big Groups

I think this is just unnecessary. Can't we have subforums so like this:

Light: Solos
Subforum: OOC

Light: Groups
Subforum: OOC

Because either way the groups will be big or small according to the GM. And we don't really need to separate out exotic and human. That is all established in the OOC. And they are all Light.


I just think we have unnecessary clutter right now. And doing it this way cleans it up better.




Oniya

First off, solo threads rarely have an OOC thread - that's typically done with PMs, IMs, or emails (or on rare occasions, it's handled in-thread with typographical distinctions). 

Secondly, some of the separations are done for the benefit of people browsing the RPs.  Aside from the various levels of kink (which are hopefully understandable in their separation), the distinction between human and exotic (which includes hermaphrodites and furries) has been known to raise strong feelings.  A number of people who come to Elliquiy are pleasantly surprised that furries aren't ridiculed here, like they are on other RP forums.

Big Groups are separated from Small Groups, due to the fact that it's harder to manage a Group game that has reached 'critical mass', and often consists of half a dozen or more threads.  The limited number of threads in the Big Groups portion of any section minimizes the chance that a stray thread will get 'lost', and the individual subforums for the well-established games further contain them.
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Alliance

That doesn't make a point of why we can't have this organization.

I am autistic and have been diagnosed autistic. I need the organization.

IC is separated from OOC.

It's very hard for me to find an IC when it's swarming in others OOC and ICs. It makes more sense to separate them out and put things together. You do not need to separate Big Groups from Small Groups.

The GM already indicates what kind of group the RPs are about. I need the organization. I cannot function when it's this cluttered.

Beguile's Mistress

Have you checked to see if our Bookmarks would help you find a way to organize threads to help you find them easily?  The link is in the menu bar above the thread.


Alliance

I'll try that. I just don't like clutter is all. And it drives me bananas.

Oreo

Another option I use, is my browser Bookmarks. I made use of the folders and have my active RPs in one folder with their IC and OOC labeled with small case letters too keep them in order. It takes care or my need to categorize.

a IC The Day of Doom
a OOC The Day of Doom

b IC The Next One
b OOC The Next One


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and touches my dreams. - Harry Chapin

Vandren

Quote from: Alliance on August 23, 2011, 07:49:22 PM
I really am tired of the lack of organization that this site appears to have. You have way to many columns and you can easily clean it up very easily.

I am very use to RP sites that separate out OOC and IC forums.

Like say for example this.

Red symbolizes the main IC forum.

OOC symbolizes the subforum under the main forum.


Personally, I think the example posted is more of a mess because it is too general, and becomes more frustrating.  Elliquiy is one of the better and more clearly organized PbP sites out there, for my money, and I've played on a bunch of them over the last 14 years. 

Perhaps one of the issues is how Small Games are handled.  But, it should be noted that GMs do not get to determine "small" v. "big" here, the post counts of their games determine "small" v. "big" (e.g. a game doesn't become "big" until its IC threads reach a combined X number of posts).  This came about, in part, because every game got its own sub-forum at first, then a bunch died after 100 posts, which caused behind the scenes program issues.
"Life is growth.  If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead." -Morihei Ueshiba, O-Sensei

Alliance

Quote from: Vandren on August 24, 2011, 12:09:42 PM
Personally, I think the example posted is more of a mess because it is too general, and becomes more frustrating.  Elliquiy is one of the better and more clearly organized PbP sites out there, for my money, and I've played on a bunch of them over the last 14 years. 

Perhaps one of the issues is how Small Games are handled.  But, it should be noted that GMs do not get to determine "small" v. "big" here, the post counts of their games determine "small" v. "big" (e.g. a game doesn't become "big" until its IC threads reach a combined X number of posts).  This came about, in part, because every game got its own sub-forum at first, then a bunch died after 100 posts, which caused behind the scenes program issues.

You do not need all of those columns.

Jeez.

When you have a file cabinet do you separate out as:

Big Essay

Little Essays

Foreign Essays

Whatever Essays

No you put them in ONE GENERAL FOLDER called Essay. This is a file cabinet and this is cluttered. And this is to many columns end of story.

Haibane

Are you struggling to get comfortable when browsing the forums in order to read other people's RPs or are you finding the forum too cluttered for your own games?

For your own games you could bookmark the threads then you only need look in one place - your bookmarks tab.

Anjasa

Unfortunately this is a large site, with thousands of members. There's no way to organize such a big site and make everyone happy.

Beguile's Mistress

Thank you, Haibane.  The Bookmark option has already been suggested.

Alliance, thank you for your comments. 

You asked for help and you've been given two options to work around your need for organization that I hope will satisfy you.

Our site is designed to provide the optimum performance for the MOST people and has worked well since the beginning.  As a community we all try to work together and help each other, showing respect for fellow members and Elliquiy.






Autumn Sativus

In addition to using the Bookmarks, you can also use the little negative symbol on the right side of each "Header" (dark blue) to minimize the subforums that you have to look at. I do this, as well as minimizing out any other sections I'm not active in and it helps to make the forum look more neat and clean.

Example:
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


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Vandren

#12
Quote from: Alliance on August 24, 2011, 01:57:36 PM
When you have a file cabinet do you separate out as:
Big Essay
Little Essays
Foreign Essays
Whatever Essays

No you put them in ONE GENERAL FOLDER called Essay. This is a file cabinet and this is cluttered. And this is to many columns end of story.

Don't take this the wrong way, but: 1) Yes, my file cabinet is divided into multiple "essay" folders; then again, I'm an English professor so I have a ton of essays in my file cabinet and dividing them into categories makes them easier to find.  If I had one "General Essay" folder, it would be two feet thick and I'd never find anything in it.  the fact that I'm married to a librarian also plays into the division both in my file cabinet and on my bookshelves.  2) This is a poor analogy; E. is not a file cabinet, nor is it anything like one.  If anything, it is akin to a restaurant menu.

I'm not trying to mock or otherwise denigrate the point.  I'm just noting that different forms of organization make sense to different people and for various purposes.  In this case, Elliquiy's current organization method has worked best for the greatest number of people (and, as I recall, this is the second or third organizational method the site has used), but may not work for everyone.  The small percentage for whom it does not work as well, frankly, need to adapt to the system, rather than vice versa.
"Life is growth.  If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead." -Morihei Ueshiba, O-Sensei

Vekseid

Quote from: Vandren on August 24, 2011, 12:09:42 PM
Personally, I think the example posted is more of a mess because it is too general, and becomes more frustrating.  Elliquiy is one of the better and more clearly organized PbP sites out there, for my money, and I've played on a bunch of them over the last 14 years. 

Perhaps one of the issues is how Small Games are handled.  But, it should be noted that GMs do not get to determine "small" v. "big" here, the post counts of their games determine "small" v. "big" (e.g. a game doesn't become "big" until its IC threads reach a combined X number of posts).  This came about, in part, because every game got its own sub-forum at first, then a bunch died after 100 posts, which caused behind the scenes program issues.

It also caused simple usability issues.

The fewer clicks people have to make, the more active they are. I usually take activity to be a general measure of usability. Making people click between forums for OOC/IC would reduce activity, overall, just as games with subforums were made more active by removing said subforums.

Nessy

I think some people are misunderstanding a need request as a want. Someone with this kind of diagnosis.... it's a need. I sympathize.

I hope bookmark organization makes it onto the table, hopefully differently organized than the PM system. If it's your games, maybe your partner(s) can help come up with a solution too.
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