PL's getting kinda busy... Would like input how how to restructure the board layout.

[Admin]

As stated in the subject, PL needs a bit of an overhaul in the way of forums/sub-forums.

When making suggestions do keep in mind that it is possible to sub-divide forums into oblivion. http://www.laserfreak.net/forum/index.php comes to mind. Its not a bad setup, but it also has the effect of being hard to navigate and segregating the community into specialized groups with little to no interaction between them. CPF rings a bell... How many people in the flashlight sections really visited the laser area and vice-versa?

I am all for a little specialization, but one of the things about PL that I really like is that no matter what gets posted and where there are always a ton of eyeballs and experience a couple clicks away.

[allthatwhichis]

I think it is all spread out nice and evenly. The only thing I can think of is may move the Display and Scanning sub-forum out of photon emitters, probably to it own forum and split it for software and hardware... but that may not be a great idea and a lot of these are proprietary and should be discussed together...

[buffo]

I like the fact that you added the programming sub-forum; there were several people that were interested in that, and it seemed like a good idea.

Apart from that though, the rest of the board seems to work really well. If you *had* to add more sections, the only two that come to mind would be a "newcomer" area (I hate to use the term newbie; too many negative connotations), and perhaps a Do It Yourself area. (Though that may be redundant, since lots of DIY'ers already post in the Laser Displays section...)

I agree that too much fragmentation is a bad thing.

Adam

[The_Doctor]

Might be worth moving this thread:
http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ead.php?t=3157
to the new coding subforum.

I agree about the too-many-fora thing, but if it can be changed to allow some merging that might help, though it could be a very tedious work of transition.

Having a new sub-forum parallel to the coding one, but for electronics might help, it would have given Shobley a better choice of placing this thread:
http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ead.php?t=3169

I considered the idea of an optics sub-forum but the moment someone wants to talk about AOM's things get silly. Optics and electronics have so much in common that it propably helps to deliberately keep those combined. Too much specialisation is not a good thing.

Two sub-fora that might well be merged easily to good effect are 'Light Sources, Other than Laser' and 'Modifications', perhaps renamed something like 'General low-level tech'. I'm basing this idea partly on the small size of both sections, and partly because they do have that in common, and no such section already exists.

[dream beamz]

yeh, i wouldnt mess with it too much. I have seen many forums go under because they decided to add more sub forums. Then to try to clean up the mess they felt the urge to merge. Bad idea, when your big fan base is trying to find info they need to find and cant then they get rather pissed. Just my 2 cents. Dont take it offensively

[The_Doctor]

I agree with that too, but it depends on the reasoning. I stand by my suggestion above for the reasons I give. Both of those rarely see much business.

The coding sub-forum is important because the distinction between virtual and corporeal is too big to ignore.

Arbitrary subdivision pisses people off, but careful and intelligent pruning could have the reverse effect.

[mikkojay]

I second the vote for a coding forum, whether or not any existing threads are relocated.
My ex-favorite site CNCZone has an OK approch, but they are never perfect.
It would be nice to see a separate forum called software with subforums something like so:

SOFTWARE
-Pangolin
-Mamba Black
-LDS
-and so on
-Other
-Programming
-Utilities/Shareware

Thanks, Mike

[Zoof]

Thanks for adding the programming or 'Magic' forum

I agree with all the above and with Mike that it would be nice to have separate fora for help and experience on the common software we use (Mamba, LDS, Pango etc.) This will enable newcomers to effectively browse through the topics related to the software the use.

What I really like about PL is that it has a nice compact feel about it. Threads have the tendency to organize themselves so need for going overboard on structure. Before you you know it everyone will be off topic

Next to the programming forum there can be a 'hardware development' forum for posting about the do's and don't involved in building a projector as well as circuits.

[Lampy]

I like mikkojay's suggestion of a place to post software-specific questions.

Is it possible to add a "New Posts" button to the bottom of the page so you don't have to scroll back up to the top to press it after you've done reading a post? I know I can just press home or page up key on my keyboard but I supose I'm a bit lazy!

Cheers.

[clandestiny]

kinda busy you say, hmmmm-
there are a few small - but good ideas for a couple of sub topics-

However, I second dreambeams- dont mess with perfection-

we dont need no stinking restructure!