# New forum suggestions **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 15, 2001, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358 "2001-08-15T08:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/1 "2001-08-15T08:25:38Z")
I remember there being a discussion way back about what new forums to add, if any. Not sure if this is still an issue, but anyway, my suggestions. Specific Questions I.e., question which have a single, specific answer or explanation (what was the name of this, how does this work, etc.). General Questions would be reserved for open-ended questions and anything requiring discussion. Politics This definitely deserves a forum of its own. It’s strange to see current world events discussed along “long-running questions of history”. One would be plenty; there’s no need for separate categories (international, national, etc.). Advice And a branchoff from IMHO. I see a lot of threads started by posters needing some help, often for minor things. They should be sorted from the more general discussions. Let me know if any of these are a good idea or if I should “quit whining and be grateful for what I have”, as a wise man once said to me… ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/2 "2001-08-15T10:11:55Z")
Your suggestions are welcome, we always want to know what you think might improve things. No promise we’ll see it the same way or take you up on your advice. But you never know, sometimes the next great idea comes directly from our Teeming Millions. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/3 "2001-08-15T10:56:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Specific Questions > I.e., question which have a single, specific answer or explanation (what was the name of this, how does this work, etc.). Eh, still seems like this category would be too small to justify its own forum. > [@](#): > > Politics > This definitely deserves a forum of its own. I second that motion. Now let’s take it to a vote on the senate floor. The sheer amount of political discussion that goes on - in GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and the Pit - is staggering at times. However, most of the threads would be _moved to_ there, rather than _started_ there. > [@](#): > > Advice > And a branchoff from IMHO. I see a lot of threads started by posters needing some help, often for minor things. Yeah, a good number of “Help me with this!” threads, but not enough fruitful ones to warrant their own forum. Additionally, a lot of the “Help me!” threads are subdivisions of existing forums… “Help me program my VCR!” is a lot different from “Help me with my love life!” ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/4 "2001-08-15T14:22:53Z")
What would GD be if you removed all the politics? You could just rename it to Religion then. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/5 "2001-08-15T14:38:09Z")
Truthfully, I’d like to see GQ split into two forums; one for specific questions that are not particularly “Cecil” questions, and one for actual questions that make you think. For example, there are a lot of questions in GQ that are asking for help with a computer problem, and there are often questions that can be answered if the OP would go to google. These types of questions tend to bump the more interesting questions off the first page fairly quickly. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/6 "2001-08-15T15:02:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*What would GD be if you removed all the politics? You could just rename it to Religion then. \*\* Then there would be debates over wether the two forums should be separate or together 😉 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/7 "2001-08-15T15:18:39Z")
Or just make a forum called: OFFTOPIC Perhaps there people can post things that are NOT questions. Has anyone seen any posts here that aren’t questions? ah! ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/8 "2001-08-15T15:40:44Z")
Instead of a Politics forum, I’d like to see a **Current Events** forum. When something happens in the news, they’re are often several concurrent threads running in different forums. They would be easier to follow if there was a single place they could all go. (A lot of the political threads would fall into this category, which is why I don’t think there needs to be a Politics forum if Current Events existed). I also think the two “Comments…” forums could be combined into a single forum. There isn’t enough traffic to justify keeping them separate. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/9 "2001-08-15T15:43:26Z")
I’d like to throw in my vote for the “Advice” forum. I understand that Advice is essentially a Humble Opinion. But it seems that IMHO has become a forum of lists rather than actually talking about things. jarbaby ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_D\_oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@Jane\_D\_oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_D_oh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/10 "2001-08-15T15:45:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jet Jaguar \* > \*\*Instead of a Politics forum, I’d like to see a **Current Events** forum. When something happens in the news, they’re are often several concurrent threads running in different forums… \*\* I agree. I think that would maybe make things easier to navigate. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/11 "2001-08-15T16:08:36Z")
It would seem that GQ needs to be divided into types of questions, somehow. Unfortunately, any finer grained division will bring with it an increase in misplaced postings, and cross-posted questions (whether people are supposed to do it or not). If GQ is divided, the division should be one that is REALLY clear cut. I have an entirely different thought: Much as I hate to suggest extra work for manhattan, Chronos and JillGat, how about a readonly “answered questions” forum that they can move threads to, which will keep dead stuff from crowding out the active threads in GQ? Other moderators can move stuff from other forums, too, if it seems like an “answered question”. This would become the forum to search before posting a new question, and if “pruning” comes up as a topic again, we have a ready made category which should be saved as a reference to avoid repeated questions. Or maybe the forum isn’t even “readonly” - let people continue to discuss the fine points and ancillary topics to death after the actual question has been handled, if so minded. I don’t know if you can allow people to reply in a forum without being allowed to post new threads in it, but it would be the appropriate mode for what I have in mind. Also, I think moderators could start actually removing a few threads without hurting feelings. There’s a fair amount of stuff that even the OP will admit doesn’t have to be saved. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/12 "2001-08-15T18:05:42Z")
The Arnold forum - discussion of the famous Arnolds of history. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/13 "2001-08-15T18:28:39Z")
I’ll just weigh in on my territory, here. A forum for “Questions with one answer” or “Answered questions” really wouldn’t work too well, because with many questions, the questioner wouldn’t know if there’s one answer. There’s also things with one answer, but many ways to answer. For instance, we just had a thread in GQ asking for explanations of the Theory of Relativity. Everyone who answered was explaining the same theory (or rather, theories), but in different ways, which may be more or less useful to the person asking the question. As for moving threads once they have the Right Answer in them, we mods aren’t any more likely than anyone else to know what the Right Answer is, outside of our specialties. If we have a legal question, say, and I see a very well-written answer in the firs reply, from one of our known board lawyers, should I declare the question answered? What if another of our lawyers comes in and says that the first answer is wrong? Or even if it’s right, suppose someone else asks about a similar, but subtly different situation? We can see some great discussions even after a question is “answered”. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/14 "2001-08-16T10:50:50Z")
> [@](#): > > The Arnold forum - discussion of the famous Arnolds of history. I can only think of ONE Arnold that’s worth my time. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/15 "2001-08-16T10:55:15Z")
Whatchoo talking’ about, SPOOFE? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/16 "2001-08-16T18:01:46Z")
Well, if SPOOFE was thinking of Mr. “I’ll be back” Schwarzenegger, he’s got some 'splainin to do! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/17 "2001-08-16T18:39:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*The Arnold forum - discussion of the famous Arnolds of history. \*\* I count 3. You, that traitor guy, and the propietor of the restaurant from _Happy Days_. That should justify a forum? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/18 "2001-08-16T19:04:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DKW \* > \*\*I remember there being a discussion way back about what new forums to add, if any. \*\* There was a thread about four months ago. Buggered if I can find it now though. I think my ideal SDMB would be: **ATMB** **GQ** incorporating comments on Cecil / Staff reports **The Lab** -Science, tech, and other “dry” questions **POLITICS** -Political GQ-type questions and GD **IMHO / MPSIMS** combined **The Pit** ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/19 "2001-08-16T19:24:21Z")
TheLoadedDog, Let me remind/inform you that originally IMHO was a part of MPSIMS. It was separated off because MPSIMS was too large/busy, they had to find some way to separate some of the content. That seemed to be the easiest split to define - debates over not important topics, polls, opinion surveys as one forum and all the other odds and ends remains MPSIMS. If you know a better split, suggest it, but those two are separated because of sheer volume of posts. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/20 "2001-08-16T19:41:15Z")
**Irishman** , I think this particular newbie had heard that, but forgotten it. You may well be right about the number of posts being unmanageable. Kinda raises a question though: does a change in the number of forums affect board speed or ease of administration? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358.md?page=2)