too many options?

Hi everyone,
just my personal feelings that the forum has too many forums There is a room for digital media, for PC', and for MAC- surely all that could go into one heading. Then we have the DAM, Workflow,CM and retouching rooms, surely that could be compacted also? There is also a forum for every consievable aspect of photography from portrature, Wedding and event, glamour, sport, landscape, wildilfe, street, macro, self portraits and even pets! So many of those overlap each other that one could proably put them into 2 or three categories. It would just make the place look cleaner IMHO and with the traffic that is around there really isn't a need for so many rooms.

But maybe this has been discussed, and maybe you don't care what I think

What do you think?

The layout of OPF has been a matter for discussion from the very beginning, as near as I can make out from browsing posts made before I became a member here on August 18, 2006.

I was looking for the thread where it was discussed at greatest length, but haven't found it yet. However, the bottom line conclusion there seemed to be that it was working pretty well even with so many sub-fora.

And Asher has since changed it some more, to try to address people's expressions of their needs, since then. Have a look at this thread:

http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10974#post10974

For one thing, "Pet's Corner" and "Entry Digital Photography" helped Asher figure out what to do with some of my posts, so as not to interrupt serious discussions of the artistic and/or technical aspects of photography.

He manages to let me participate and not just look on with admiration of others beautiful work, in this way.

There are not a lot of us posting, actually, out of the thousand-plus members.

Do you really find keeping up with the traffic which interests you confusing?

Or is your critique from a philosophical stance and not because you are actually having problems reading or posting with the present layout?

I have really enjoyed my conversations with you, Daniel, in Entry Digital Photography and this morning in Macro. So, talking about this with you may turn out to be rewarding for me--and I hope for others, also.

Mary

Hi Daniel,

The way I normally read new/updated threads in the forums is by clicking on either the "new posts" button or by choosing the "today's posts" under the quick links. I also subscribe to interesting threads even if I do not post there myself. That way, I don't even pay attention to the forum where something is posted at.

OTOH, I understand and symphatise with where you're coming from. Ideally, I too would prefer having less forums but things being as they are right now, I really can't say that it bothers me (only intellectually, perhaps) .

Cheers,

Cem

It was also discussed a bit under http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1118 and elsewhere. I had hoped for something to have evolved completely different. The more sections there are, the easier it is to get 'off topic'. Basically two topics would do for me - 1) stuff I'm interested in, 2) the rest. ;-) As most of it is of interest I do as Cem and others do, 'new posts', and 'today's posts'. Not much churn here, thank goodness, so the signal to noise ratio is pretty high.

Best wishes,

Ray

Ray West said:

It was also discussed a bit under http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1118 and elsewhere. I had hoped for something to have evolved completely different. The more sections there are, the easier it is to get 'off topic'. Basically two topics would do for me - 1) stuff I'm interested in, 2) the rest. ;-) As most of it is of interest I do as Cem and others do, 'new posts', and 'today's posts'. Not much churn here, thank goodness, so the signal to noise ratio is pretty high.

Best wishes,

Ray

Click to expand...

New posts for me also. I can always go back and scan through or find other forums, but this way I can come in, read the new, post if I feel I can add something and move on. The only time I have to make a decision, is if I start a thread.

Diane

Daniel,

Nicolas is visiting here in Los Angeles from Bordeaux and we certainly will discuss this. We always have had the philosophy that the divisions are only for utility and we have made and will make changes as we grow.

There is reason for what we do. For example it’s important to have a separate forum for Nikon so I can see we give attention to the major advances made in Nikon cameras and that Nikon doesn’t get shortchanged.

Also, there needs to be a place were it is safe for people from film or others entering the world of digital can answer the questions that form barriers to their work.

We have and will continue to make regular changes to reflect needs. Some of them are very important. If we don't have a place that say Olympus or Pentax, there’s systems may not get represented at all. Yet we have not specified Kodak or Casio. But there is still a place.

Landscape, as an area of photography requires different techniques than portrait or action sports. So while we would like to have fewer fora, we also need to serve those, for example, who want to focus on say insects and flowers (the Macro forum).

Feel free to send me a PM with any suggestions. I read everything and value ideas.

In order to tolerate beginners who might keep going back to basic questions, they are, as I said protected. To protect freedom of speech and avoid censorship, we have a place for people to bluntly deal with subjects that some might find offensive. Why on a photographic forum?

Photographs can serve to arouse strong emotions. These may be socio-political and/"sensotic" such that it is likely that people of some cultures and persuasions might be offended or uncomfortable.

To save freedom and allow comfort, people can do as they wish with this in OPF and nobody cam complain to us for deleting or leaving any opinions.

So in reality, there are diverse purposes for each forum.

Still, every so often we find we can do better and I join several forums!

This we'll try to do.

Asher

Thanks everyone. I guess what I am seeing is that the latest topic in each forum will stay the same for quite some time, having the appearance of not too much going on. But in reality there are so many rooms that in comparison to posting members it becomes very spread out.

I just think that it would look a little cleaner and would encourage more posting, due to more activity in each room.

But the way it is works, no doubt about that. I just feel it could be better?

Thanks
Daniel