Forum Structure

Hi,

Below is my suggestions on how to shorten index.php

Habbox

- Forum Rules
- Announcements
----- Dev Announcements (Make this a sub-forum as its only really posted in once a week. Last time it was posted in was 19 Sept so ...)
- Community Events and Competitions
----- Competitions
- Say Hello :) or Goodbye :(

Help & Feedback

- Congratulations and Thank yous
- Feedback
----- Complaints (Sub-forum - do you really want complaints on the main page? Not ideal and not required)
- Become a Habbox Donor

Habbo

- Habbo News & Rumous
- Cool Rooms
- Habbo in General
- Bobba - Scams - and Bugs Errors and Glitches
- Trading
----- Anything about Trading and Furni (turn into a sub-forum)
----- Report Rare Vlues (turn into a sub-forum)

Graphics (no changes)

- Habbo Alts
- Other Graphics
- Graphics Discussions, Help and Requests

Games (no changes)

- Runescape
- Forum Games
- Console and COmputer Gaming
- Online Games

Entertainment

- Music
- TV & Film
----- Anime and other Entertainment (make into a sub-forum or merge).
- Jokes and Humour

Technology & The Web (no changes)

General (No Changes)

VIP Forums

Get rid of VIP+ Forums

It's nice, but the only niggle i have is that the Community Notice Board & Competitions are both very active sections and thus combining them would make it too busy, it should be left how it is now

I don't agree with Anime & other entertainment going under TV & Film as it's home to books and that just seems a bit messed up to me. However, I agree with the changes regarding trading.

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Originally Posted by Cosmic

I don't agree with Anime & other entertainment going under TV & Film as it's home to books and that just seems a bit messed up to me. However, I agree with the changes regarding trading.

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Same with this, I'm not sure about the development announcements though but I can see how it would work.

For obvious reasons, I'm not a fan of sticking competitions as a subforum. It's an easy hook to get people to register and so should be as visible as possible. Sticking events in there just looks messy for both competitions and events (imagine a new competition getting posted, and an eo having their events not advertised visibly because of members entering competitions).

The community notice board is just fine. Don't fix what isn't broken.

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Originally Posted by Inseriousity.

For obvious reasons, I'm not a fan of sticking competitions as a subforum. It's an easy hook to get people to register and so should be as visible as possible. Sticking events in there just looks messy for both competitions and events (imagine a new competition getting posted, and an eo having their events not advertised visibly because of members entering competitions).

The community notice board is just fine. Don't fix what isn't broken.

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Oh I failed to notice the competitions bit! I think that should stay for obvious reasons.

Competitions is a tricky one, you need to advertise them so members can take advantage so leaving it as a main forum is the best option unless you find another means to advertise which won't annoy the crap out of everyone :P

Anime is another tricky one, as it covers a wide spectrum of things and is very popular on the forum.

I disagree with the changes to the Habbox/Help and Feedback and habbo forums. What you've suggested for the trading forums was done by Oli and then reversed within a few hours. If it happens again then I will not be happy. This thread will or should explain why: http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=663015

Moving the complaints section may not be ideal for upper management who like to see the latest complaints easily from the index either.

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Originally Posted by Mr-Trainor

Moving the complaints section may not be ideal for upper management who like to see the latest complaints easily from the index either.

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In some circumstances, it's better to please the majority not the minority. If most agree it's got no use to be on the main index then it should be removed, regardless of what the management say.

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Originally Posted by GommeInc

In some circumstances, it's better to please the majority not the minority. If most agree it's got no use to be on the main index then it should be removed, regardless of what the management say.

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However, with it not being on the index it can mean it takes longer for those complaining to see when they have a reply, unless of course they have subscribed to the thread. However I agree that it's not the majority and I personally don't mind the complaints section being under feedback :). I'm sure management can subscribe to the complaints forum anyway, like I have to the ask rvrs forum :P.

who the hell uses the index anyway, i havent used it in years. new posts/typing the name into address bar ftw

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Originally Posted by Mr-Trainor

However, with it not being on the index it can mean it takes longer for those complaining to see when they have a reply, unless of course they have subscribed to the thread. However I agree that it's not the majority and I personally don't mind the complaints section being under feedback :). I'm sure management can subscribe to the complaints forum anyway, like I have to the ask rvrs forum :P.

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You could also make a sneaky redirect forum or a forum that mimics the Complaints forum as a way to sovle it. Subscribing would be useful too, it's not like there are hundreds a day so that could work :)

I thought people weren't keen on shortening the index even more? Some of those are a bit too much in my opinion, for instance Competitions as a subforum is more than likely to decrease competitions entries.

The Questions Forum is also important, sometimes people want a response from Staff, it doesn't matter if ten forum members could answer it, we've seen in the past that if several members answer the question it can get confusing for the member asking the question, with one member of staff replying with the definitive answer the member we can be sure the member is getting a decent response within quick time of posting their query (yes I know it'd be quicker if anyone could answer but questions in those forums aren't left forever).

Removal of the actual buying/selling trading forums would also be a problem (if that's what you are suggesting), as the trading forums have always been a new member magnet because it's easy to sell your items to a wide audience here, yes activity has decreased since the market place but they still get used. So for now, the trading forums shall stay.

Not a fan of the anime and other entertainment forum going elsewhere, as it's fine where it is really and shows off our vast range of topic areas on our index.

In reference to complaints being on the index, this was a move to channel more complaints via that forum rather than PM. Naturally if a complaint is sent via PM unless there are cc's included it's hard to keep track of, say if I was PM'd a complaint and replied, forgetting to CC Matt he wouldn't know what I'm up to - fair enough this is my fault but that can't even happen in the Complaints Forum - this seems to have worked, as far as I'm aware there have been more complaints via the complaints forum than PM over the last few months.

One I am in two minds with is the Development Announcements forum, this has it's uses being on the index as generally the updates can be very important, such as rule changes - and we'd like most members to read these, if there's one thread visible on the index for a considerable amount of time it is more likely that it'll get read.

In red bold.

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Originally Posted by Saurav

Hi,

Below is my suggestions on how to shorten index.php

Habbox

- Forum Rules
- Announcements
----- Dev Announcements (Make this a sub-forum as its only really posted in once a week. Last time it was posted in was 19 Sept so ...)
- Community Events and Competitions
----- Competitions
- Say Hello :) or Goodbye :(

Disagree with this. Competitions needs to be in the public eye - we want many people entering for competitions, not less people. Also I do not like the idea of moving the development section in with general announcements. I don't really care about x changing name to x, and x resigning then joining again in the space of a week. I like to know about the updates to the forum, so personally I wouldn't want this changed.

Help & Feedback

- Congratulations and Thank yous
- Feedback
----- Complaints (Sub-forum - do you really want complaints on the main page? Not ideal and not required)
- Become a Habbox Donor

I am absolutely fine with this - management always go on about making a positive atmosphere - so why have such a 'moany' forum shown? I guess this could be a sub forum in feedback - as complaining is pretty much feedback about something.

Habbo

- Habbo News & Rumous
- Cool Rooms
- Habbo in General
- Bobba - Scams - and Bugs Errors and Glitches
- Trading
----- Anything about Trading and Furni (turn into a sub-forum)
----- Report Rare Vlues (turn into a sub-forum)

No no no no no. When this was changed last time it was changed back within hours, as I personally quite like the anything blah forum, but don't play habbo. On the other hand, activity has decreased massively, so perhaps a merge wouldn't be so bad? However I DEFINITELY to do not think the RRV forum should be made in to a sub-forum - Hx want people to post in this forum, so you want it to be obvious.

Graphics (no changes)

- Habbo Alts
- Other Graphics
- Graphics Discussions, Help and Requests

Games (no changes)

- Runescape
- Forum Games
- Console and COmputer Gaming
- Online Games

Runescape should go in to Online game. Activity has massively decreased in this forum, and runescape is an online game.

Entertainment

- Music
- TV & Film
----- Anime and other Entertainment (make into a sub-forum or merge).
- Jokes and Humour

Not too bothered by this, although Anime isn't really related to TV and film, so not sure if it would make sense merging it with this. I guess you could rename it to 'Anime, Books and Other Entertainment' - it might boost activity a little bit, as I don't think Anime really fits in to any of those. Although isn't Anime a graphic? If so, surely it could be put in the graphics section?

Technology & The Web (no changes)

General (No Changes)

VIP Forums

Get rid of VIP+ Forums

Yep agreed - obviously you would have to ask the 2/3 members there are, but really they would be taking the piss to not agree!

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Originally Posted by Milestone

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I don't think Anime and Other Entertainment needs to have an 'and books' in it cos that's pretty much 'other entainment' anyway and people do seem to go there to post about books so I think that's fine but I agree with everything else you said

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Originally Posted by Inseriousity.

I don't think Anime and Other Entertainment needs to have an 'and books' in it cos that's pretty much 'other entainment' anyway and people do seem to go there to post about books so I think that's fine but I agree with everything else you said

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Was just an idea :)

Apart from books and anime what actually gets posted in there?

I don't go in that section as anime bores me, and most stuff is covered by other forums.

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Originally Posted by NaughtyNemo

who the hell uses the index anyway, i havent used it in years. new posts/typing the name into address bar ftw

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I use the index and I use it on all forums I go on, I've never used the new posts feature. So I can't be the only one?

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Originally Posted by xxMATTGxx

I use the index and I use it on all forums I go on, I've never used the new posts feature. So I can't be the only one?

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You're not.

I always use the index - the new posts bit gets cluttered with a lot of stuff I am not interested in, and since it's 'new posts' you don't get things from over night.

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Originally Posted by Milestone

You're not.

I always use the index - the new posts bit gets cluttered with a lot of stuff I am not interested in, and since it's 'new posts' you don't get things from over night.

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You wanna try having access to every forum - that makes new posts cluttered, I tell ya :P The index is a very important part of HabboxForum, I always used to use new posts but now I have to use the index as it would be impossible to browse properly only using new posts.

When it was shorter (i.e. i didnt have 30 staff forums) I used new posts though so I do see the arguments, but as Matt said he's used index through all his time and im sure there are other people who have too.

It's been shortened a lot I just wonder if it needs much more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saurav

Hi,

Below is my suggestions on how to shorten index.php

Habbox

- Forum Rules
- Announcements
----- Dev Announcements (Make this a sub-forum as its only really posted in once a week. Last time it was posted in was 19 Sept so ...)
- Community Events and Competitions
----- Competitions
- Say Hello :) or Goodbye :(

Although I'd normally agree that moving Dev to Announcements events in the last few days has shown that people don't always read the contents anyway, so hiding it further would kick up further fuss and I think it's important to differentiate between staff changes and content / technical changes. I quite like the Hello Goodbye forums higher up, although being unable to move the other forums without a lot of fuss or reducing the influence of other departments it would look too bulky.

Help & Feedback

- Congratulations and Thank yous
- Feedback
----- Complaints (Sub-forum - do you really want complaints on the main page? Not ideal and not required)
- Become a Habbox Donor

Become a habbox donator is an odd forum from my perspective - is it needed? Surely people can find friends and that to gift them donator if they really need or it some people even just post in spam. People seem to post complaints in feedback so perhaps having it at the top would encourage them to put it there.


Habbo

- Habbo News & Rumous
- Cool Rooms
- Habbo in General
- Bobba - Scams - and Bugs Errors and Glitches
- Trading
----- Anything about Trading and Furni (turn into a sub-forum)
----- Report Rare Vlues (turn into a sub-forum)

Been addressed by other users, was done before and was met with a lot of resistance. Don't see the harm in it either

Graphics (no changes)

- Habbo Alts
- Other Graphics
- Graphics Discussions, Help and Requests

Games (no changes)

- Runescape
- Forum Games
- Console and COmputer Gaming
- Online Games

Runescape will be moving into the online games this sunday unless theres a sudden splurge of constant activity to warrant it staying.

Entertainment

- Music
- TV & Film
----- Anime and other Entertainment (make into a sub-forum or merge).
- Jokes and Humour

Technology & The Web (no changes)

General (No Changes)

VIP Forums

Get rid of VIP+ Forums

Hardly anything goes on in there so removing it will probably be worth while - can VIPs see it or is it only VIP+. As an admin and having not been VIP for years, I don't really know for sure.

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Feedback in bold and italics. I don't think the index needs to be drastically shrunk any further, not without damaging discussions.

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Originally Posted by xxMATTGxx

I use the index and I use it on all forums I go on, I've never used the new posts feature. So I can't be the only one?

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You're not my love ;) I seem to walk into that area and get frightened by the amount of uninteresting stuff :(

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

You wanna try having access to every forum - that makes new posts cluttered, I tell ya :P The index is a very important part of HabboxForum, I always used to use new posts but now I have to use the index as it would be impossible to browse properly only using new posts.

When it was shorter (i.e. i didnt have 30 staff forums) I used new posts though so I do see the arguments, but as Matt said he's used index through all his time and im sure there are other people who have too.

It's been shortened a lot I just wonder if it needs much more.

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To be fair though I don't really care how many forums AGM's can see - it doesn't interest me. Are all the staff forums really needed?

@Jamesy
As a VIP I can not see these VIP+ forums.

I think it shouldn't be possible for non-vips to see the vip category any more now that there are no more vip "owned" forums.

The staff forums are all needed yes but I have views about certain aspects of the use of staff forums which by all means decreases posting in the main forums - but that's a completely different topic than the structure of the index.

What I was saying by saying we have a lot of forums is we need opinions of all you people who use the index as it is - as we can't really look at it ourselves as that's not how we use it on a daily basis, so pretty much what im saying is we need your extensive feedback on the index before doing anything to it - when I left the Forum Manager role I was pretty sure the index was an ideal length - some agree, I know Forum Management seem to agree - but again, we need your feedback mainly.

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

The staff forums are all needed yes but I have views about certain aspects of the use of staff forums which by all means decreases posting in the main forums - but that's a completely different topic than the structure of the index.

What I was saying by saying we have a lot of forums is we need opinions of all you people who use the index as it is - as we can't really look at it ourselves as that's not how we use it on a daily basis, so pretty much what im saying is we need your extensive feedback on the index before doing anything to it - when I left the Forum Manager role I was pretty sure the index was an ideal length - some agree, I know Forum Management seem to agree - but again, we need your feedback mainly.

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Personally I feel the index has no problems in terms of length.

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Originally Posted by Chippiewill

I think it shouldn't be possible for non-vips to see the vip category any more now that there are no more vip "owned" forums.

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Yeah I'm not quite sure why that never got sorted to be honest, I could swear I did it as Forum Manager when I made several changes to that category but it obviously didn't work.

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

Yeah I'm not quite sure why that never got sorted to be honest, I could swear I did it as Forum Manager when I made several changes to that category but it obviously didn't work.

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suprise suprise :D.

@Luke - cheers for clearing that up.

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

Yeah I'm not quite sure why that never got sorted to be honest, I could swear I did it as Forum Manager when I made several changes to that category but it obviously didn't work.

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Forum access permissions are such a chore to work out :/

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Originally Posted by Jamesy

suprise suprise :D.

@Luke - cheers for clearing that up.

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Yeah yeah alright, I presume you're gonna get this done now eh? :P

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

The staff forums are all needed yes but I have views about certain aspects of the use of staff forums which by all means decreases posting in the main forums - but that's a completely different topic than the structure of the index.

What I was saying by saying we have a lot of forums is we need opinions of all you people who use the index as it is - as we can't really look at it ourselves as that's not how we use it on a daily basis, so pretty much what im saying is we need your extensive feedback on the index before doing anything to it - when I left the Forum Manager role I was pretty sure the index was an ideal length - some agree, I know Forum Management seem to agree - but again, we need your feedback mainly.

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Such as the RV spam thread? There are not 30 different departments at Hx - even including one for every AGM and one for the department managers lol

The staff 'discuss anything' forum is not needed either. Instead of posting in their, staff should be promoting activity for members.

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Originally Posted by Milestone

Such as the RV spam thread? There are not 30 different departments at Hx - even including one for every AGM and one for the department managers lol

The staff 'discuss anything' forum is not needed either. Instead of posting in their, staff should be promoting activity for members.

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30 staff forums may have been an exaggeration but there's sure a good few. Amount of staff forums isnt a problem anyway as they aren't public.

Fully agree about spam threads and talk about anything mind, although I probably would get shot if I took away the spam threads.

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

30 staff forums may have been an exaggeration but there's sure a good few. Amount of staff forums isnt a problem anyway as they aren't public.

Fully agree about spam threads and talk about anything mind, although I probably would get shot if I took away the spam threads.

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Forum speed - the amount does matter :P

I mean I know the staff forums can be fun, but all the discussions - apart from the odd ******** about forum members - could be done on the main forum. Perhaps staff should be reminded about this?

Departments would argue that their spam threads are essential for departmental bonding, which can be a valid argument.

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Originally Posted by Mr-Trainor

Personally I feel the index has no problems in terms of length.

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Agreed :)
Oh I might get told off with my one word answer so I suppose I'll elaborate. I think the forum length is fine and there aren't too many forums but it's the just-right amount. Goldilocks would like our forum :P

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

Departments would argue that their spam threads are essential for departmental bonding, which can be a valid argument.

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that's generally just an excuse, the spam forum could be taken away from hxl (for example) and not particularly have any effect apart from that a few choice dj's would have nowhere to post when bored and perhaps would use the actual public forum.

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

Departments would argue that their spam threads are essential for departmental bonding, which can be a valid argument.

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It can indeed be a valid argument - but the RV spam thread had like 40,000 posts when I left AGES ago - I know the first fair few pages were old rare value reports - but at one stage we were posting 50 times a day - that could boost forum activity loads.

Some departments used to have staff bonding where staff won prizes once a fortnight/week - this was always great. A little 'falling furniture' always went well. But too many staff rarely post on the forum.

Perhaps a new feedback thread is needed for this topic, afterall this one is for the index :P

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Originally Posted by Hecktix

Perhaps a new feedback thread is needed for this topic, afterall this one is for the index :P

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Quite right, I have posted a new topic - it just started due to you bringing up staff forums.

IT'S ALWAYS YOUR FAULT ISN'T IT

;)