We need a dedicated place to discuss the Wiki, our Fora, and all meta- PuppyUniverse infrastructure/organizational etc issues. (I mean, for those of us that are not (yet) in the in-crowd -- I assume you have your own internal communications.)
I suggest either starting a new Forum category for such, or designating an appropriate place, clearly labelled on the Forum main page.
WIKI, Forum, Meta PupVerse discussions?
Is it not doing the job?Puppy Power ?!?
Puppy Power ?!?
Why would I think that would be a proper place? I've never heard of it, and when I re-study the Forum main page, I see that heading there, andthe I see "Promote Puppy!" -- I just don't see how/why I would have ever imagined much of a connection... What I see reminds me of "Promote Firefox" -- all very noble, good, wonderful, etc I am sure -- but I just have no reason to expect it would be the proper place for serious discussion of any/all internal Puppy-related stuff other than Puppy itself...
So, you would have to replace "Promote Puppy" with something like "Discuss the operation of this Forum, the Wiki, and all organizational, institutional, meta-etc matters".
(Please don't take my tone above amiss. I've not trying to be mean, just trying to express the way things look from here.)
I'm not sure "Puppy Power" is a very fitting name for such a category -- but I think the subtitle matters a lot more, and people will adjust their idea of a category to whatever it ends up being actually used for...
Why would I think that would be a proper place? I've never heard of it, and when I re-study the Forum main page, I see that heading there, andthe I see "Promote Puppy!" -- I just don't see how/why I would have ever imagined much of a connection... What I see reminds me of "Promote Firefox" -- all very noble, good, wonderful, etc I am sure -- but I just have no reason to expect it would be the proper place for serious discussion of any/all internal Puppy-related stuff other than Puppy itself...
So, you would have to replace "Promote Puppy" with something like "Discuss the operation of this Forum, the Wiki, and all organizational, institutional, meta-etc matters".
(Please don't take my tone above amiss. I've not trying to be mean, just trying to express the way things look from here.)
I'm not sure "Puppy Power" is a very fitting name for such a category -- but I think the subtitle matters a lot more, and people will adjust their idea of a category to whatever it ends up being actually used for...
Forum categories
So, how best to structure the forum to accomplish its stated purpose? An obvious solution is to divide it into categories. Then, what is the least number of categories that accomplish the business of the forum, and what category names are most effective at suggesting the intended purpose of each category?
From the number of posts asking for help that appear in the HOWTO category of Puppy's forum even though its name seems fairly self-descriptive and its subtitle makes its purpose even clearer, I'd say category names alone are not entirely effective at maintaining the desired organization.
My (expedient) solution is to monitor the forum for posts that are clearly in the wrong category, and put them where I think they belong.
From the number of posts asking for help that appear in the HOWTO category of Puppy's forum even though its name seems fairly self-descriptive and its subtitle makes its purpose even clearer, I'd say category names alone are not entirely effective at maintaining the desired organization.
My (expedient) solution is to monitor the forum for posts that are clearly in the wrong category, and put them where I think they belong.Forum Titling
I see that on the Forum main page, each Forum has a Title and a Sub-Title.
But when you go to the Forum itself, there is only a Title!
Not only should the Sub-Title be repeated there, but there is room for a whole little summary paragraph, to tell us all what material belongs in that Forum -- and what does not!
But when you go to the Forum itself, there is only a Title!
Not only should the Sub-Title be repeated there, but there is room for a whole little summary paragraph, to tell us all what material belongs in that Forum -- and what does not!