New forum layout.

The time of change is upon us. Again.
SRP has seen a lot of growth over the last year. As our membership grows, so does the forum structure. Over time, we have added the 'finer things' forum, the ladies corner, the forge, the DE forum, the reviews, the wiki forum, the clubs, the meetings, the videos, ... and I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff still.

SRP has grown organically to accomodate these changes, with each thing being added where it made most sense at that particular time. While this worked for each individual change, as a whole, the forum structure has become rather messy. I'm sure many will use the word 'homey' and 'cosy'. And this is true, but it is still fairly chaotic and with each new thing that gets added, it becomes less and less obvious where these new things should go.

Because of this, we set forth to reorganize the forum structure in a way that makes more sense, and that allows for future growth. We have started the initiative in the mod forums, where lots of time and effort was spent working out different proposals again and again. Then we went to the mentors, to get their feedback and adjusting our proposals accordingly. This whole process took months.

Finally, we ended up with the structure that is outlined below (see screenshot). We believe that this structure is a good balance that maintains the friendliness, cosyness and spirit that SRP has always been, as well as being a solid foundation for allowing future growth in a way that is logical.

Of course, some of the structure will be unfamiliar, and it will take some time adjust to it. I'm certain that there will be some tweaks here and there when we are using it. That's ok. And if there are problems that we didn't anticipate, we'll figure out how to solve them.

Please take the time to look at the new layout in the screenshot, to familiarize yourself with the new layout before we take it live. If you have feedback you want to share with us, feel free to post about it here.

http://anwealde.com/razors/Layout_C.JPG

Looking good and very clear.

Great work guys ! I'm looking forward to it. :rock:

I think it looks great, all positive changes in my opinion.

One idea, though I don't know how large it would be... I have seen a lot of talk about scuttles lately, both ones on the market and those being made by first times and in arts and crafts. Might scuttles deserve a place in the Equipment section?

I like the changes though, for sure.

Drew

I am new here, and so cannot reflect on how this change impacts the familiar and cozy feel of the forums... But as a new person, the structure laid out above seems impressively intuitive and extremely easy to navigate when looking for any variety of topics to browse.

Nice work!

I like splitting up the Forum into more subjects. If someone isn't interested in, say, strops, it makes it easier to avoid those threads. I'm sure many will like this approach.

On the other hand, I never go to the Forum page on SRP. I want to review every message posted no matter what forum the message is in. So, for those like me who want to put their mouth up to one big hose, when you split the forums up into smaller more specific threads you are moving the paradigm away from our preferred reading mode.

But, fortunately there is an elegant solution: news feeds. I subscribe to SRP forums using the Google news reader, http://www.google.com/reader. (There are many other good news feed software choices.) After doing so, every message posted in any forum pops up for my review no matter which forum it originates from.

I fully support your splitting up the forums into more discrete subjects. But, for those like me, my suggestion is that you prominently advertise, educate and inform about news feed use.

Looks great to me! Very clear and easy to see where threads should be posted and gives additional clarity when searching as well..!

Good stuff!

Looks great guys. Nice job, very descriptive, and seems to add a better sense of direction on related topics or help, ect. Looking forward to this positve change.:nj

It looks good! :rock:

I like where the Reviews are posted!

Much easier, job well done. Cant wait to give it a try...

I like it. It's not perfect, but it looks like a good improvement

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Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I like it. It's not perfect, but it looks like a good improvement

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When is lift off ? Or will I wake up one morning and be surprised ? :)

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

will I wake up one morning and be surprised ?

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But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the moderators, but da bomb only. But as the days of the yahoo group were, so shall also the coming of the new forum layout be. For as in the days that were before the yahoo group they were honing and shaving, lathering and being covered in lather, until the day that da bomb entered into the dot com. And knew not until the forums came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the new forum layout be.

Very shortly. We want to let it gestate in here for awhile. See if anyone has any recommendations or thoughts. The more eyes the better.

As soon as we feel that's complete, we'll run with it!

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Originally Posted by hoglahoo

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the moderators, but da bomb only. But as the days of the yahoo group were, so shall also the coming of the new forum layout be. For as in the days that were before the yahoo group they were honing and shaving, lathering and being covered in lather, until the day that da bomb entered into the dot com. And knew not until the forums came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the new forum layout be.

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That was great Lee ..... So it's like Lynn Abrams is God, Dave Wessell is Jesus Christ and when I die I'm going to Ohio. :roflmao

Looks great! I'm assuming get togethers will be under gen. razor related conversation? Oh well, I'll figure it out as we go. Keep up the great work.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

When is lift off ? Or will I wake up one morning and be surprised ? :)

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Yes, when you go to straightrazorplace.com you will only see one big 'New Posts' button. This layout is for the uninitiated only.

Looks very good.

I did not see the Archive section that used to be under SRP Site Discussion and Information. Will the Archives still be available?

I'm easy. I'll go with just about anything. Any chance of fixing the advertising strip on the right that overlaps the ext?

Yes, looks good. I think, it'll easy to use the forum.
But need to add one more international forum.:)

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Originally Posted by manah

But need to add one more international forum.:)

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I was wondering if it would be useful to have the descriptions of the international forums in the vernacular. I think google would appreciate it :)

So the Advance Honing will be in Hones section with the specific stones, plates and such?

What would happen to the threads we subscribed to in separate folder? I personally have 50 some folders each dedicated to a section. Rather than having big mess of 1000+ threads into Subscription.

Also when will the Archive reviews be available as far as being able to subscribe to them? It's no big deal, just curious. If anything I can just bookmark them.

Thanks

I've been remiss. I like it guys!! Good job!!

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Originally Posted by SiRed8

So the Advance Honing will be in Hones section with the specific stones, plates and such?

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no, under honing.

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Originally Posted by SiRed8

Also when will the Archive reviews be available as far as being able to subscribe to them? It's no big deal, just curious. If anything I can just bookmark them.

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the idea is that these get converted into the current review format. how/when/if is the harder question as there are usually higher priority things.

I like the new layout, Nice work Guys :)

I like it, can't wait to use the new layout.

One thing I might suggest...

Under "Maintenance, repair and restoration" could we add one for brushes? I've seen some threads related to brush repair (replacing knots), making new handles, cleaning brushes and "The hair is falling out, what do I do?".

Just an idea.

Can you make it so each of the subject headings includes a hi def image of a totally hot babe in a bikini?
Am I asking for too much here??

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Originally Posted by billyjeff2

Can you make it so each of the subject headings includes a hi def image of a totally hot babe in a bikini?
Am I asking for too much here??

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BillyJeff, If you can get me a Mappin lancet point razor in reasonable condition, I'll even photoshop your image in the picture with the hot babe in there :D

Great job guys. IMO it looks much better this way with many subdivisions rather than clubbing information together. Obviously, this makes the forum page longer but at the same time it is easy to keep the information organized.

I've got a small suggestion but it is not for the actual forums page (I think the picture you posted looks great).

When you go to the main page and you see the list of new/updated posts (this is where I spend a lot of time). You have to click on the link, then after the page loads you have to to to the last page of the thread. Granted it is only an issue for me at work since I the internet connection is very slow here.

I was thinking it would be nice if the list of posts on the main page had the option to open the last page immediately instead of the first if you wanted to. possibly a link to the last page somewhere under the main link.

just a thought

The Baron,

Try clicking on the little blue arrow that points to the right. When you hover over it, it should read "Go to last post"

It will take you directly to the last page of the thread

The screenshot below shows results from a "new posts" search, but it's the same on the main page as well

Attachment 34724

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Originally Posted by hoglahoo

The Baron,

Try clicking on the little blue arrow that points to the right. When you hover over it, it should read "Go to last post"

It will take you directly to the last page of the thread

The screenshot below shows results from a "new posts" search, but it's the same on the main page as well

Attachment 34724

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ok, so I'm a little slow this week, thank you.

Bruno,

My old half-empty-glass whine used to be, "while all progress is change, not all change is progress." These changes appear as if they will be quite usable and almost intuitive, even though I remain quite ambivalent to the International parts.

My shibboleth is now, "change is good."

:beer2:

What about progressive change? Progressive change is both change and progress, simultaneously! I think your motto should be "While all progress is change, not all change is progress. Unless it is progressive change, in which case it is both progress and change, although as a general rule we are unable to say, while the progressive change is occurring, which of progress or change is the dominating factor. However, we can say with hindsight just how much change and/or progress was made, provided we have a suitably consistent measure for each of these concepts."

That's quite pithy, I think. :D

I like the new forum layout. Minds immeasurably superior to mine worked it out, and I think it looks like a winner!

James.