HOW2 section expansion and visibility

[humbucker]

Hi admin/mods,

I was going to save this for the usability/accesibiltiy report but as it seems to be quite a current issue I thought I'd mention it now anyway. Regarding the HOW2 section; from the index page there is currently an 'archive' link to HOW2. Click that and then you're presented with a sub menu of HOW2 items. This effectively hides all the HOW2 guides away and puts an unecessary menu between the website user and the content they're trying to get to, if they even see it at all. As the HOW2's are already categorised in their own menu can we move them to the front of the website where they will gain increased visibility; so the HOW2 section is a top level menu in it's own right like the other sections of the website; after all, this is potentially the biggest draw to the website and if hidden away it makes finding content and info that little bit more difficult.

So in place of Archive > HOW2 on the index page you would have HOW 2 > followed by the main topics, all visibile at this top level. The stickies, relating to disclaimer etc would be visible within each of the lower categories ie. ENGINE as they apply to all. This would make the whole section as user friendly as the rest of the website content, much of which could be regarded as less important that these valuable guides. This would also follow the model used elsewhere ie. GENERAL TECHNICAL where the sub level sections are visible at a top level.

[Colorado]

Sound good

[Envoy CDX]

Sorry, I've just gotten up and not following fully - Can you diagram it please?

Thanks.

[Squig]

got it

Board index -> The Archive -> etc
board index -> How2 -> Engine

that what you mean?

I was considering something to and want to present it to the forum as a whole... I was thinking about setting up subcategories for the various engines i.e 1.48v-2.0 8v, 2.0 16v (redtop and eco) and turbo, and 2.5 V6 subforums....
Primarily as after a previous thread I had a nosey at VXON's How2's and thought "what a mess"... Would additional sub-categories be useful making for an easier search or would it annoy people?
I am aware atm we have little cause for this, but as the site grows I'll for one will be writing other versions of the v6 tuning guide for the various engine types and sizes, as well as other engine dependent How2s to compliment the existing ones.

[humbucker]

yeah, so that the main how2 cateories are all visible on the front page, like the support bit. then archive could be geared more towards things like the btcc thread, or more generic cavalier topics, history, variations on engine etc. common questions like when was the facelift introduced, that kind of thing, not necessarily 'forums' more just useful information etc.

i hear you re the engine division area. could prove very useful if there are a lot of how2's, however, there is the danger that this is the 'how2' equivalent of regional groups, and while you might end up with a lot of v6 how2s you might not end up with any x20xev threads for example, purely by chance more than anything else. or 1 how2 on engine x and 20 on engine y, depends on who's working on what at what time.

you have a search facility on the website already so i don't think there's anything between the user and them finding the information they're after, and it encourages a heavier circulation of users in one area, rather than spread across 5 or 6. you could always precede the title of the thread/how2 with the engine code, so "C25XE cam cover gasket replacement" or something so that at a glance you can see what how2 relates to what engine? would also be useful in search results. and i guess putting them all in once place is useful if some how2's cater for more than one car, e.g. c20xe and c20let.

lots of options i guess, exciting when you think about it!

[Gaz]

As im lacking in internet at the moment while ive had the chance, ive had a swap round as the idea seemed good and everyone agreed on it.

Lets see how it goes but it looks good to me.

[humbucker]

hello boss, glad to see you back online!

i think i'm missing something, i can't see it at all now?

[Envoy CDX]

Still having trouble seeing it?

[humbucker]

yeah is it set to admin only? can't see it at all on the index page.

[Gaz]

sorted? i forgot 1 setting

[Envoy CDX]

sorted? i forgot 1 setting

Happens to us all don't it

[humbucker]

arrrr thar she blows

[Cavalier342]

I love the new main forum page Opening it up definitely makes it more clear and user-friendly. Very good idea, and very well done to the team Keep up the brilliant work, its really paying off

[Envoy CDX]

arrrr thar she blows

Who does, and where?

[Mort]

I'm liking the changes to the How To section. Is there going to be an extra thread in that section so that newbies like myself can request How To's?

[Envoy CDX]

I'm liking the changes to the How To section. Is there going to be an extra thread in that section so that newbies like myself can request How To's?

How2: Requests has been setup within the Comment & Suggestions area. Please be sensible with any requests you forward.

Thanks.

[Mort]

How2: Requests has been setup within the Comment & Suggestions area. Please be sensible with any requests you forward.

Thanks.

Thanks for that. It may be just me, but it seems a little out of the way there, wouldn't it make more sense for it to be with the other How To's, rather than buried somewhere else in the site?

[Envoy CDX]

How2: Requests has been setup within the Comment & Suggestions area. Please be sensible with any requests you forward.

Thanks.

Thanks for that. It may be just me, but it seems a little out of the way there, wouldn't it make more sense for it to be with the other How To's, rather than buried somewhere else in the site?

To be honest, I think it would clutter the How2's up - maybe in the discussions section?

[Mort]

To be honest, I think it would clutter the How2's up - maybe in the discussions section?

I think that it needs to be clearly visible to people browsing the How2's so that if they can't find the ones that they want. I don't know that people will nessesarily browse the discussions section. besides, wouldn't putting it in the discussions section clutter that up?

I was thinking it might be useful if it was arranged something like this?

How To -->
...
Electrical -->
Maintenance -->
Requests -->

If it is felt that putting it in the discussions section is still preferable could I suggest renaming it to "How2 Discussions and Requests" and creating a sticky post suggesting that people follow a naming convention of something like "Request: Request title here" for their request topics so that they can be easily identified.

While an admin is in that section, is it possible for some of the discussion topic titles to be updated to follow the naming standard a bit more closely (i.e. start with "Discussion: ", some of them start with "How 2 -" even though they are not.


These are just my personal suggestions, so if someone else has a better idea feel free to ignore them...

[humbucker]

how2 requests should be in the how2 section, but not given the same priority in terms of structure of content as the how2 themselves, so my suggestion would be to place it as a stickie in the how2 discussion area

[Envoy CDX]

Ammended Discussions / Requests section

We'll see how well this works for the now, see if it benefits the members, largely dependant on the requests being sensible and something other members are wanting / able to do.

[humbucker]

"can someone tell me how to fit torpedoes to the front of my 1989 gls hatchback?" etc

[Envoy CDX]

"can someone tell me how to fit torpedoes to the front of my 1989 gls hatchback?" etc

Easy, wind me up a bit and I'll retrofit them with the push of a button

[Mort]

I like it. I have tried making a request (hopefully it is done right?).

One more thing though (I'll stop causing trouble one day I promise), the sub-heading for the requests states "It is also possible to request how2's also." Is the grammar in this sentence not a little too Borat?

[Envoy CDX]

I like it. I have tried making a request (hopefully it is done right?).

One more thing though (I'll stop causing trouble one day I promise), the sub-heading for the requests states "It is also possible to request how2's also." Is the grammar in this sentence not a little too Borat?

4hrs sleep in 2 days come on, cut me a little slack
I'll amend in the morning or something.