In light of recent changes...

[Mike]

It has been decided that the forum node structure needed to be a bit more obvious, as a technological breakthrough has currently taken place which we have been seeking out for a long time. This may allow us to re-incorporate former sites windows7forums.com and windows8forums.com using similar technology, but within their own domains and sets of rules. With that being said, this is still being researched. We came to realize that having a large amount of Windows 8 and Windows 7 messages all in the same forums was becoming quite confusing for any reasonable person to manage.

It should be easier to find the information that you are looking for, for now, using the current forum categories (nodes), and to post to them without having the need to use thread prefixes. This continues our policy of adapting the site in response to user feedback when we see that a feature may not be working as we had intended or anticipated. We will continue to make changes to the website until the majority of our visitors are satisfied with its capabilities.

If this is your first time using the site, the best way to get your content noticed is to make use of a detailed title and specify specific information in your message with clarity. Messages like "Please help!" only add confusion, and make it more difficult for anyone to find your message over the Internet. I hope to be able to go into more details on this new functionality as soon as it has been tested and confirmed working.

Thank you for your time and patience when using the website.

 

[davehc]

Good decision. You have my support 100%

 

[Ralph Bromley]

Kind of figured there would be issues with overflow, not tooting my own horn or anything though but I did consider some logistical issues with the node format.

 

[seekermeister]

Wasn't a problem for me, I just ignored the one marked for W8. The one good part of this is that I won't have the forum balking, because I forgot to add the prefix to a post.

 

[Mike]

Wasn't a problem for me, I just ignored the one marked for W8. The one good part of this is that I won't have the forum balking, because I forgot to add the prefix to a post.

This was the primary problem, especially for new users. What could possibly be more annoying as your entire system is facing a meltdown, and then you're getting bugged to enter some prefix, and perhaps you're not really sure what it is even talking about. I am looking at ways to make this site more accessible to the public and easier to use. We are starting to try to use structured HTML markup to make it possible for people to gain attribution for their messages. All of these things are not geared towards promoting ourselves; much more I would say this is a method of promoting our members if they so choose.

While we have unified the site into one platform, we are looking at a serious way, now, to bring back windows8forums.com and windows7forums.com using the same database. These sites would obviously have to look different (perhaps similar or the same as they looked before), but powered by our new forum technology. This means people looking for a dedicated Windows 8 support site will not have to feel like they have entered a hodge podge of complex information and a long scroll down screen of endless information.

The problem with the old format of thread prefixes was that it required a bit too much, and ultimately, it would limit choices as to what is written. If these thread prefixes worked so well, why not just have one forum where everyone simply spills every possible problem into that one category? This would become so confusing, over time, that no one would be able to use it, no matter how well we adjusted the filtering.

Ultimately forum categories are around for good reason, and the technology we are looking at now would allow you to have a unified post count, and member profile, on what is essentially one database, operating across multiple domains. This site would simply be the gateway to get there, with additional materials. Of course, it is probably not very logical to reveal all our plans, but I'd rather let our members know what is being contemplated than to keep it some big secret.

When people want to look up information on Google, they should be able to find it listed under a Windows 7 category using meta data or a domain name. It should not be linked to the actual title of the message. So a lot of thought is going into this, as well as contemplation. We are on a bumpy road of first steps, that has required some drastic changes to take place. I believe I am doing the best that I can for our visitors, and potential new visitors, as well as our members. Our team has shown unwavering support to the website, and so have many long time members. We will continue making changes until we are satisfied that these changes are the right ones for our members and viewers.