Hi guys - As those of you who have been around a long time already know, I don't like to make sweeping changes to the site without getting input from the community. I have recently been thinking about a reorganization of the forums in order to make them easier to use, find things, and welcome new users. With the coming reveal of a new Prius family member in January, we're again going to be adding new forums and new members to PriusChat. So, how would you reorganize the PriusChat forums? Should we move things around so it's similar to this: Prius Technical Discussion -Prius Alpha (V) -Generation III Prius -Generation II Prius -Generation I Prius Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting -Prius Alpha (V) -Generation III Prius -Generation II Prius -Generation I Prius Or we could use the system that is used in the Private Sales forum where a thread has to be prefixed with "For Sale" "Want to Buy" or "For Trade". We could use similar thread prefixes for "Prius V", "Gen3", etc. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!
Danny you really do a GREAT job here with your Prius chat. I like your first set up not the prefix's.
i kinda have to agree with paprius in that sometimes to many categories don t work well because the topics are still closely related. maybe the breakdowns is needed in the tech discussion, but i dont think there is enough differences in maintenance to have separate ones. the other thing is a better search option. that makes it tough, but maybe something like requiring 3 keywords on thread? now that could get messy as well since it would be the authors interpretation of what is important
Danny, First, thank-you far an excellent well run low drama forum. I would rather keep something like the present arrangement where each generation is grouped together rather than grouping by topic. If I am looking for some info on my GenIII it is convenient to be able to select the GenIII section with one click and search all GenIII forums. For example, posts frequently don't end up in the correct sub category so you can't rely on all technical posts being in technical in a search. I also don't think that depending on people to use subject lines in a consistent manner will work There might be some adjustment you could make to your forum order, but right off hand I don't see a way to make a definite improvement except adding a section for the new model.
I don't care for the prefix system. They tend to get messy and confused, especially as people use differing prefixes or simply forget to use one at all. I prefer major forum categories. The major categories can be by model or by area. In other words, it makes little difference to me if you have this: Gen II fuel mileage technical Gen III fuel mileage technical or this: Fuel mileage Gen II Gen III Technical Gen II Gen III Either works okay for me. Tom
Whatever you do it would be great if the Gen-1 forums were no longer located under the Gen-2 forums, it is too confusing that way for newcomers. Secondly, the PHEV modification area should be its own, and not under a specific Gen1,2, or 3 area. Most of us who are talking in that forum could have any Gen of prius but our conversations can easily overlap since we're usually talking about Enginer, Hymotion, Plug-in Supply, etc.
Yes, I agree with everyone that keeping individual forum categories but expanding to match the growing Prius Family...is probably the way to go. I've been to other automotive forums and applying structure within the framework of the site is better than expecting individual users to make correct choices as far as pre-fixs or even forum choices. No system is perfect. But my observation is Prius Chat is among one of the better structured forums I frequent as far as clarity and accessibility. Toyota isn't going to make this easy over the next few years when "Prius" goes from being one individual model vehicle, to being more of a "Line" of multiple vehicles. But I'm going to vote for the necessary expansion of the system, remaining as close to as it structured today. Or of course you could throw in color coding, roman numerals all tied into cycles of the moon and the Chinese New Year and the Zodiac. As in " I own Forum Blue IV, Full Moon Prius, Purchased in the year of the Horse, Capricorn and I was just wondering how often I should change my Oil?".
Thanks Danny. You do a great job with the forum! I believe that the grouping by generation has served the forum well and that this format could be expanded as new models are added to the Prius lineup. The search function provides the latitude to go deeper into that generation or across generations and as such meets the needs of the forum members wanting specific information about a "topic" vs a model. Again, please keep up the good work!!
As an owner of a Gen II I'd like to keep more current with that line. I don't think it's possible, but I'd like to see "unread posts" from just that section. There are so many conversations that go on honestly I get tired of sifting through them. For example, I haven't been to the forums in a few days and there are 2114 new posts. There's no way I could get through all of them, but I would like to see a grouping of just the "what's new in Gen II". I can do that in the sub-forum, but then you're navigating each category. I'm sure what ever you pick will be for the good of the group.
I vote for division based on generation of Prius. There should be stand alone groups for mutual interests, i.e. PHV mods and wheel/tire section.
