Why, you ask?
So the majority of Dopers who don’t live in Chicagoland can hide it.
Because SDC is close to the top of the list, it might dissuade others from joining the site, in the mistaken belief that it’s Chicago-centric.
Paulina Street Journal was last updated in January.
Straight Dope Chicago is certainly interesting, but should it be front and center, near the top of the forum list?
I’ll send this to Ed.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I swear I remember it being in side conversations at first and it was later moved to the main area.
I agree. There are other changes I’d like to see that would clean up the forum page, but I’m too lazy to find the post just now.
It was its own, multiforum “division” of the site, along with Main and Side Conversations, prototyping the potential for possible Atlanta, Tampa, Wahington, etc. metro area-centric expansions. Interest was not strong enough to sustain it, so it was collapsed into a single forum under “Main”.
While you’re talking to Ed, it’d also be nice to get a heads-up on what the future plans for Straight Dope Chicago are. As a (sadly) former Chicagoan, I’ve enjoyed reading it, but it hasn’t been updated in months. Is it still alive?
Thanks! Just an idea to clean things up a bit; nothing critical.
Just as a question off of this post, what determines the level of interest that requires changes like this? Usually new forum sections get added due to more of a desire to seperate out with a useful distinction, like with the Game and Election ones. Which I suppose is technically an indication of very strong interest.
Mostly I think people want to be able to see the entire forum index in one shot. A consolidated forum page makes for less scrolling. And some people prefer a neater look just on general principles. (It’s a good thing they can’t see my house from here.)
I spoke with Ed about this on the phone recently. My understanding is Straight Dope Chicago will return after Cecil finishes a couple other projects.
NM