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Author Topic: Topic Split from Moderators Needed  (Read 723 times)

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Offline SC

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Topic Split from Moderators Needed
« on: July 11, 2021, 10:47:21 am »
The long answer – on re-structuring.

I have been thinking a lot recently about how to increase popularity / participation at the forum.  I know we discussed changes a while back.  But this thread brought up the merging of two.

My first thoughts were that Conservation definitely goes with Uncleaned – after all they are both really about cleaning a coin, whether from dirt, corrosion, BD, or wax.  They are very similar and could go together.

But personally I don’t feel Photography and Storage go with them.  Totally different subjects, plus if combined with uncleaned they risk alienating people who might think it is only about photographing or storing uncleaned coins.  They are wider topics and photography especially can be quite technical.

So that led me to thinking about what function each section serves.  And that lead me to a potential change to the structure.  The change I outline below would emphasize “collecting” as a broad area, with specific coin types under another section.

The rough outline would be:

Announcements & Helpfine as is.

Collecting – A new section to try to be more newbie/user friendly and up the participation rate.  It would include ACF, History & Archaeology Discussion, ID, Fakes, Photography & Storage, Members Galleries, COTD, Uncleaned.  So this is the section about collecting in and of itself.

Buying & Sellingfine as is.

Coins – Just the coins, so it would be like Numismatic & History Discussions minus ACF, History & Archaeology, COTD, Books and References, Photography Conservation & Storage, and Uncleaned.

Antiquitiesfine as is.

Resources – Numiswiki, Maps, Books, Reading for the Advanced.

Other Languages – fine as is.

As you can see the only real change is to put all the collecting-related in one part way up top and move the resources down to the bottom.

SC

PS.  If the Conservation is removed from the Photography and Storage – either as part of a big change or just a small change – I volunteer to go through that section and move the Conservation messages to the Uncleaned section.
SC
(Shawn Caza, Ottawa)

Offline Joe Sermarini

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Re: Topic Split from Moderators Needed
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2021, 04:59:09 pm »
Imitating Coin Talk and Facebook pages is not going to draw people here. Nobody is seeking out the same thing they already have. If they come here, it will because it is better, not the same.

I do not believe that combining categories is going to do anything at all to increase participation. The 100, New Posts, and New Replies already combine everything with a simple click. It seems to me combining the categories will only take something that is well organized and turn it into a jumble. I am not prepared to destroy the current organization in an experiment that I don't think will succeed. If I was confident it would work, I would do it. But I don't have any convincing reason to believe it will work.  I don't actually know that it is a problem.

There are a few people that used to be more active here that are now more active elsewhere. Without them, Coin Talk would have nothing to offer the ancient coin collector.  And we really miss them here. I am saddened that they do not appreciate what we have here. If they can tell us why they are more active on other sites now, that would give us important answers.  It is a mystery to me.

The major difference that I can see is the chatty nonsense on those sites (especially Facebook). And also the talk about every other site selling coins and prices. I gave up a long time ago on limiting most chat, but we are still a little more formal. This discussion is still about numismatics and history and not about shopping and bargain hunting. I am not interested in reading that crap or hosting it, no matter the cost to traffic.

We probably do need to add a like button.   
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Offline *Alex

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Re: Topic Split from Moderators Needed
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2021, 06:21:07 am »
 +++ ;D

Offline SC

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Re: Topic Split from Moderators Needed
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2021, 05:32:41 pm »
I think forum is seen by some as a bit elitist - well, that is probably not the right term as it concurs up snobs.  Better to say as less accessible to the masses.

Though we have more advanced discussions and less chat and show+tell, I don't think we are less accessible.

But my suggestion was aimed at making it a bit more user friendly for the casual user.

SC
SC
(Shawn Caza, Ottawa)

Offline Joe Sermarini

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Re: Topic Split from Moderators Needed
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2021, 06:11:00 pm »
I get the reason for the suggestion and you aren't the only one to suggest it, but it is a dramatic irreversible change with uncertain results.
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