Proposed forum layout

[ProDarwin]

I don't expect anyone to agree, but:

General (Saturn related)
Welcome Ctr
Help Desk
Affiliates

Interior/Exterior
Na Engine
Turbo Engine
Tuning/Fuel Managment
Transmission/Driveline
Chassis, Suspension, Braking

Drag Racing
Autox & Road

Classifieds
Member Services (This needs to be discussed)
Group buy
Ebay & CL

Off Topic (No subforums, no other OT forums)

STC General
STC SE
STC NE
STC Mid A
STC Mid W
STC SW
STC NW
STC Canada


Admin Chat
Reported Posts
Trash

Make WGO General. No need for two OT sections. Saturn related only. Or Saturn/Forum related only.

Do we really need ROTM? This could really just be a thread in General once a month with a poll to see who gets their car on the banner. I doubt 3 forums are really necessary for this.

Kill street stories... it makes the forum far less professional. Also encourages dangerous activity and could potentially be viewed as a liability. Many large forums are eliminating any street racing sections now, I think it would be best for us to follow suit.

Member builds – moved to blog format
Video Vault – moved to how to/blog format?

OT – One OT. No need for subforums. So many of them have almost no posts in them. You can tell they are pretty useless. A single ot is the way to go. (We need to discuss OT rules though)

I don't know who runs STC or where it came from... but there are like 30 sections or some crazy shit. Aren't that many people on here, so no need to break it down by state. Break it down by region and leave it at that.

[Kob]

Your saying to get rid of Performance, Interior, Suspension, etc as well?

[Kob]

Also, I 100% agree there needs to be a restructure, there are entirely too many forums. I also believe there needs to be an STC restructure. I see no need to have a state by state STC separation. A separation by region would be ideal. That is another topic though.

[ProDarwin]

Your saying to get rid of Performance, Interior, Suspension, etc as well?

Doh. They aren't on the new forum yet, so I forgot to include them. Fixed.

[SC2Sick]

I don't see the tech section mentioned. That for me is my biggest use on this board. Diagnose codes and symptoms and solutions.

Also NA engine/Turbo Engine could cause a bit of overlap because information on certain tips/tricks of a turbo build could translate to an NA engine as well. Perhaps engine/performance could be combined and just leave forced induction (Turbo/SC/NO2) as a separate forum or subforum of that.

[ProDarwin]

I don't see the tech section mentioned. That for me is my biggest use on this board. Diagnose codes and symptoms and solutions.

Also NA engine/Turbo Engine could cause a bit of overlap because information on certain tips/tricks of a turbo build could translate to an NA engine as well. Perhaps engine/performance could be combined and just leave forced induction (Turbo/SC/NO2) as a separate forum or subforum of that.

Yeah that could work. The reason I didn't mention tech is that it usually falls into another section. I.E. some "tech" questions involve control arms or suspension parts and really belong in the suspension forum. Some tech questions are engine related and potentially performance related also, so IMO belong in the proper engine forum.

How about:

Interior/Exterior
Engine
Transmission/Driveline
Chassis, Suspension, Braking
Forced Induction
Tuning/Fuel Managment

?

[SC2Sick]

That makes sense to me.

So if I have a code (insert code here) where would I put it? Engine?
What are you thoughts on having a general code diagnosis forum and when the actual nature of the code is discovered requiring the member to report the post so that a mod can move it into the correct section.

Example: I go to autozone and they just give me the codes and I assume engine but it turns out to be a transmission code.. so it starts in engine but it's really a transmission related code..

Pretty sure VB can be set to purge individual forums based on a number of days so say the thread doesn't get reported/moved within 5 days it gets purged so that "code diagnosis" forum would constantly stay in a near empty state

Just to clarify, I'm not being a cynic I just think if properly utilized that could be quite useful.

[Kob]

I don't think engine codes are a big enough issue to warrant their own section. I also don't see the need for a general tech section either. If you have a code, it's most certainly always engine related so should be in the engine section. We already have a code sticky don't we, anyone with a code should be welcome to add a new post to the end of there and await help.

[ProDarwin]

I'm not sure a general forum would be necessary. I'd probably just put code related stuff in engine and if it turns out to be auto transmission, move it. What % of people run autos and get codes from them? 1%?

Or we could do this:

Body
Powertrain
Chassis
Forced Induction
Tuning/Fuel Managment

Probably not enough transmission threads to justify a forum anyway. All codes would fall into powertrain. Seems pretty straightforward.

Edit: To expand on Adams idea, just put a code thread in Powertrain. Post in there if you have a code. If it turns out to be a more complicated matter and needs its own thread, great. Otherwise the code stuff is nicely contained and easily searcheable.

[Kob]

I don't like that, your first breakdown was much better,

Interior/Exterior
Engine
Transmission/Driveline
Chassis, Suspension, Braking
Forced Induction
Tuning/Fuel Managment

[ProDarwin]

Well, I only consolidated engine/trans because after thinking about it... how many transmission/clutch/diff topics are there really? Aside from the periodic "Which clutch should I buy?" thread, not much going on there.

[SC2Sick]

I'm actually inclined to agree with Travis on this one. Most things that go on for that are in the group buy section anyways it seems.

[Kob]

Are we going to eliminate the Noobie section? Maybe we can have that be our Noob & FAQ section all in one?

[SC2Sick]

Not a bad plan..

Actually we do have the option to have say the first 10-25 posts from new members moderated now.. that would be nice for noobs just here to troll.

[ProDarwin]

I was talking to Marc regarding that. It would be easier to limit them to one section for the first 10 posts or so. Moderating every post is a pain.

I once belonged to a forum where your were locked to the noob section, and your first post was required to be an "about you"/your car/etc post with some required info. If you didn't do that demonstrating you have decent grammar/could follow instructions you weren't approved to post elsewhere.