Software Forum Guide & Forum Structure

Rognvald

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The main content of the Software Guide is now virtually completed for the present. As you can see it is not been an easy subject to deal with properly in one reasonably sized guide. What has been achieved so far is pretty general.

I have suggested to Sharky that we change the Software Forum structure by creating (say) 10 Sub Forums within it so that we can set up one sub forum for each of the 10 most commonly used software packages.

Each sub forum would be devoted to:

1) A permanent & editorially controlled guide on the specific software addressed by that sub forum (e.g. The TS2000i Guide). The guide could be developed from the contents of the threads on that software & also by anyone with a good knowledge of the software who is prepared to contribute something in a structured way towards these specialist guides. It could contain links to other specialist sites and user group posting etc. It would hopefully also contain graphics on the use of the software contributed by members.

2) Threads posted by members in the usual way specifically relating to the software addressed by that sub forum - say for example TS2000i or Updata TA or Sierra Chart or Sharescope.

In addition to this there would be within the Software Forum a General Software Forum where topics outside specific packages or on packages without a dedicated Sub Forum could be posted.

The proposal is that each existing threads relevant to particular software would be moved to an associated Sub Forum or remain in the General Software Forum.


The main benefit of the proposal seems to me to be that this structure would allow a more organised & disciplined approach. It would allow potential for detailed help to be given & received via the boards in a more structured & logical way.

Your views are requested please:-

On the proposal generally & also on whether such sub forums should be viewable from the main T2W forum home page or only accessible from the Software forum page. I think that the latter would be preferable.
 
Thanks Ron for outlining the proposal. We'll monitor the responses over a couple of days, and then make the necessary changes to the site.
 
I think making the sub forums visible once you've reached 'the software forum' makes sense, to avoid swamping the shop front... after all, many users won't be looking for software info, they don't really want a huge list of software related stuff on the end of their noses.
Don't go too far down the sub forum line of course - continually 'drilling down' through layer after layer of menu is annoying when you DO want to get somewhere for a quick check.
I think it'd be sensible to have a couple of minor folders for the also rans, maybe split TA/FA, as there are an awful lot of programs out there worth a paragraph or two, a useful addition would be a section on programs like databull etc ... I get an endless stream of people asking me how to grab free data, at the last count I think there were more 'yahoo downloaders' out there than you could shake a very long stick at... useful extras like these would answer many a prayer if covered briefly.
Dave
 
Data is the subject of the next Guide.

I would welcome any more suggestions on either guides :).
People who want a quick update on a particular thread/topic can always subscribe to it.

"an awful lot of programs out there worth a paragraph or two" - would you care to suggest a few?

Thanks for the response dave
 
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I've updated the way that sub-forum display on the forum home page - before you'd have to enter the main forum to get at the sub-forums. Now any subforum is listed in the main forum description, making it easier to get to. If anyone has any last minute suggestion or feedback on Rognvald's proposal please add your comments to this thread.
 
Hi,
being nosey I finally went to look at the software forum, figuring I'd go into a sort of front page, where all the different programs were listed (rather expecting a 'sticky' thread at the top where Rognvald would be posting words of wisdom) and I could then click a program name and see the relevant posts on it.
If that's available somewhere then my apologies, what I found appeared to be extremely disordered - am I doing it right?
I clicked "Discussion Boards", went to "The Tools" then "Software"... and it's completely disordered, with the top thread being about getting improved modem speeds! There are multiple threads for some programs, no sign of other programs, and a liberal sprinkling of threads that aren't software related at all...
Perhaps most surprising of all, and possibly explaining what I'm doing wrong, the only mention of "forums" seems to be under the review section - are the 'forums' actually "discussion boards", or are they hidden somewhere I can't find a link to?
I'm genuinely confused here - the software discussion board looks totally disorganised, so I'm assuming that I'm looking in the wrong place, but I can't find any link(s) showing me where I ought to be looking... help!
Dave
 
I dont think Rognvald's guide is currently up as it is undergoing modification/structure. When it appears it will appear as a sticky in the list of threads, and is highlighted in bold.

Most of the guides do contain active links, but please bear with us - its a new idea, and it can take some time to get things working exactly as we want them.

RR
 
That's okay - but I assumed it was up and running from what was being said up here...
Paul's posting info on how it is laid out etc which suggests there is something to enjoy the new layout of <g>
Jumping the gun a bit then!

Dave
 
The proposed sub-forums for the software forum are now up and running. Since this is the first time we've used sub-forum on T2W, I'd better explain what they are.

Essentially a sub-forum is not different to a normal forum, the only difference it is 'resides' within another forum. Much in the same way as a standard forum 'resides' within a category - ie. Indices Forum in the Instruments Category. To remind you that a forum has sub-forums what we do is list those sub-forums at the bottom of the description of the forum on the forum homepage here:

http://www.trade2win.co.uk/boards

If you look down at the "Software" Forum, you'll now see three links to the three newly created sub-forums, these are:

MetaStock:
http://www.trade2win.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?forumid=91

TradeStation:
http://www.trade2win.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?forumid=92

Sierra Chart:
http://www.trade2win.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?forumid=93

Also if you now view the software forum here:
http://www.trade2win.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=3

You'll see that the three sub-forums are listed at the top along with the columns of info you're used to seeing on the forum home page.

Finally I've moved across all relevant threads from across the forums into these new forums. If the sub-forum concept proves successful, then potentially we could extend to other forums such as Brokers, or Indices.

If you'd like to suggest a sub-forum then please email/pm your ideas.
 
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