Forum Structure

[Idris]

I think it would be great if the first forum on the list wasn't "open letter to non-posters" but something that said "welcome to the forum - here's a friendly guide". We could even use this to post a weekly or fortnightly round-up of what's been going on (I think I may have just volunteered!) The aim would be to make people feel welcome and like they can contribute too.

As for tidying up the rest, perhaps we could (a) make sure that old titles make sense, so that searches are effective and (b) post links in the missing variations section to important relevant discussions elsewhere. I think (a) can only be done by moderators or the original poster, but (b) could be done by anyone. I don't think we need a major reorganisation - just a bit of housekeeping.

Glenn

All excellent suggestions!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

I seem to remember we had a rolling news feed on our previous forum's platform and that was very handy to see a glimpse of new posts, shame we can not implement it here, but I don't think there is any option for it on this platform.

Ghosthunter.

[fixer]

I seem to remember we had a rolling news feed on our previous forum's platform and that was very handy to see a glimpse of new posts, shame we can not implement it here, but I don't think there is any option for it on this platform.

Ghosthunter.

Like on planet diecast ??
Yes that is handy for infrequent users like me

[johnboy]

I remember something like that on Lefora, was it this? I think this used to update itself in realtime as new posts were added and did they disappear after you had read them?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Yes John, that was it. Found it very useful.

Ghosthunter.

[Idris]

Having thought long and hard about how to handle new discussions, I have come to the conclusion that the best solution is to continue to post them in the 'Lesney Matchbox regular wheels 1-75' section (as before), but to then add a link to the relevant thread in the 'Missing, Previously-Catalogued 1-75 RW Variations' area.
The overwhelming advantage of this approach is that each discussion remains self-contained, meaning that new posts can be added to it at any time in the future without the risk of the discussion becoming disjointed (as would be the case if a particular model ended up with two new variation discussions, one after the other, thereby making it awkward to continue contributing to the first of them).
What do others think?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Lets try it.

Ghosty.

[DrJeep]

Having thought long and hard about how to handle new discussions, I have come to the conclusion that the best solution is to continue to post them in the 'Lesney Matchbox regular wheels 1-75' section (as before), but to then add a link to the relevant thread in the 'Missing, Previously-Catalogued 1-75 RW Variations' area.
The overwhelming advantage of this approach is that each discussion remains self-contained, meaning that new posts can be added to it at any time in the future without the risk of the discussion becoming disjointed (as would be the case if a particular model ended up with two new variation discussions, one after the other, thereby making it awkward to continue contributing to the first of them).

I'm not sure. I really value having all the variation discussion together, though I completely agree that discussing two different variations on the same model can make for disjointed threads.

I think we're not too far off at the moment, especially now that you've locked the missing variations so that we can't add new topics. I think if someone knows they've found a new variation there's no problem in putting it in the missing variations thread, even if it's not technically a previously catalogued variation. If they're not sure, the RW 1-75 is the right place.

Having said all that, I don't feel very strongly either way so I'm happy to do whatever's decided!