# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**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, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/21 "2001-08-16T22:36:26Z")
No, but it keeps things from falling to page 2 after only 30 minutes, which I gather was one of the problems they were having. ---
**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 17, 2001, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/22 "2001-08-17T02:07:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > I count 3. You, that traitor guy, and the propietor of the restaurant from _Happy Days_. Here’s what Britannica came up with: Arnold, Matthew (Br. crit.) Bennett, Arnold (Br. au.) Arnold, Benedict (Am. gen.) Toynbee, Arnold (Br. econ.) Guttmann, Arnold (Hung. athlete) Böcklin, Arnold (Swiss paint.) Arnold, Thomas (Br. educ.) Arnold of Brescia (It. rel. reformer) Brecht, Arnold (Ger. pol. sci.) Geulincx, Arnold (Flem. philos.) Zweig, Arnold (Ger.-Jewish writ.) Newman, Arnold (Am. phot.) And as we can see, that doesn’t even include the famous swiss patriots Arnold von Melchtal and Arnold Winkelried. So I would say that this definitely warrants a separate forum. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/23 "2001-08-17T08:24:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, if SPOOFE was thinking of Mr. “I’ll be back” Schwarzenegger, he’s got some 'splainin to do! You kiddin’? I was thinkin’ o’ YOU, you big, Winkelried-ish lug! Although that may change if you don’t come to Dopetoberfest… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/24 "2001-08-17T08:26:52Z")
And, apparently, I passed 6000 posts without noticing… ah, well. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/25 "2001-08-17T09:15:35Z")
> [@](#): > > _From the most famous Arnold of them all:_ > > Guttmann, Arnold ( **Hung. athlete** ) God Lord! FWIW I like the idea of an advice column. In fact, we were discussing this at the Londope just the other week - most people seem to ask for advice in MPSIMS these days simply because nobody goes to IMHO except to add their name to a list. At the moment I don’t think advice neatly goes anywhere. Whatever IMHO was _meant_ to be, it isn’t really an “advice” forum these days. My belief (based on a poll of… ooh… about 4 people) is that many of us don’t even bother opening it. pan ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/26 "2001-08-17T11:23:25Z")
I’ve always found the GD and GQ designations mildly confusing. I keep calling GQ Great Questions. Although I’m probably the only one. Maybe another name for one of them? Perhaps we should have a special forum called “Solved Mysteries” where we could put, at least copies of threads of often asked problems and questions where the answer has pretty much been decided. The main point of this is that you’d be able to search this forum without having to plow through quite as many … fluff pieces as you’d find in other forums. You’d probably want to disallow new threads and have only closed threads in it. It could receive copies of the best threads on certain topics that get asked over and over from several forums. And since the mods would only send copies of threads there that are … special … any search in that forum would yield only threads with really good arguements, and not ones that have a question but no answer or only 4 responses that are making a joke, critisizing grammar or just being a jerk. I humbly offer it and hope it’s feasable. ---
**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 17, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/27 "2001-08-17T17:44:57Z")
Quoth **TheLoadedDog** : > [@](#): > > **The Lab** -Science, tech, and other “dry” questions So what would be an example of a “wet” question which would stay in GQ? Why not make a new forum for law, pop culture, and other “dry” questions, instead? **Jinxie** , the Gs in GQ and GD aren’t really the important parts of the names, anyway. As long as you remember that Q is Questions, and D is Debates, you should be OK. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/28 "2001-08-18T06:17:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > **Quoth TheLoadedDog** : > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\*The Lab -Science, tech, and other “dry” questions > > So what would be an example of a “wet” question which would stay in GQ? Why not make a new forum for law, pop culture, and other “dry” questions, instead? > \*\* I agree this would present some problems, and arbitrary distinctions would need to be made, but isn’t this already the case with IMHO and MPSIMS? There is quite a lot of crossover between those two. “Dry” may not have been an appropriate term to use, but I still maintain that “Can anybody help me with an obscure HTML tag?” is a thread which is in a different category to one about baby pigeons. Just my $0.02. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/29 "2001-08-18T06:25:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*The Arnold forum - discussion of the famous Arnolds of history. \*\* The only one I can think of was the “actor”, on _Green Acres_. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/30 "2001-08-18T09:33:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I agree this would present some problems, and arbitrary distinctions would need to be made, but isn’t this already the case with IMHO and MPSIMS? There is quite a lot of crossover between those two. Keep in mind that half the reason for creating IMHO was because MPSIMS was getting a huge crapload of traffic. The dualization of the Mundane was done so as to even things out a little. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/31 "2001-08-18T11:53:58Z")
The MPSIMS / IMHO split seems clear enough to me. If it’s a general statement it’s in MPSIMS, if it’s asking for opinions it’s in IMHO. I’m sure there are exceptions, but the rule still makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/32 "2001-08-18T12:56:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*The MPSIMS / IMHO split seems clear enough to me. If it’s a general statement it’s in MPSIMS, if it’s asking for opinions it’s in IMHO. I’m sure there are exceptions, but the rule still makes sense to me. \*\* That would be great, but no one’s using IMHO. On the first page of MPSIMS now (Saturday morning, 9am EDT), I see at least nine threads that should be in IMHO. All are either polls or surveys. I realise the mods are busy, but there used to be more diligence in rerouting threads to their proper forums, and I think that a tighter reign needs to be kept, especially in the busiest “catch-all” forum on the board. Just my two kronor. Whoops, maybe this should be in IMHO? 😕 ---
**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 18, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/33 "2001-08-18T13:05:57Z")
The mods can’t do it all, **Montfort**. If you see something that needs moving, e-mail them and suggest it. My experience has been that they’re pretty quick to put something in it’s proper place once they’ve been alerted to it. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/34 "2001-08-18T13:11:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > > \*\*The MPSIMS / IMHO split seems clear enough to me. If it’s a general statement it’s in MPSIMS, if it’s asking for opinions it’s in IMHO. I’m sure there are exceptions, but the rule still makes sense to me. \*\* > > That would be great, but no one’s using IMHO. On the first page of MPSIMS now (Saturday morning, 9am EDT), I see at least nine threads that should be in IMHO. All are either polls or surveys. > > I realise the mods are busy, but there used to be more diligence in rerouting threads to their proper forums, and I think that a tighter reign needs to be kept, especially in the busiest “catch-all” forum on the board. > > Just my two kronor. Whoops, maybe this should be in IMHO? 😕 \*\* No worries. I’m not saying that everything is working smoothly, but I don’t see how adding more forums would do anything other than give the mods more work to do and result in more “un-moved” threads. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/35 "2001-08-18T21:18:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\* > Keep in mind that half the reason for creating IMHO was because MPSIMS was getting a huge crapload of traffic. The dualization of the Mundane was done so as to even things out a little. \*\* Thanks. That was pointed out by a previous poster. And in hindsight, you’re both right. I just feel that even within the short time I’ve been here, GQ has become much broader than it used to be, so maybe it’s the next candidate for a split. **Chronos** seems to have taken exception to my singling out scientific questions for removal. I apologise if that was the way it sounded. It wan’t so much a case of “shunting those boring science questions out of the way somewhere”, as one of splitting GQ in such a way that science was given its own forum, and “traditional GQ” given its own. By “traditional GQ”, I tend to think of the type of questions asked being similar to those in Cecil’s columns, not “Hey, can you help? My A Drive is playing up”. IMHO was created to even out the lighthearted side of the SDMB by spreading it over two forums. Yet the “serious” side already has _three_ forums, with only one copping most of the workload. The talk of “evening things out” never seems to mention the Comments on Cecil’s Columns/Staff Reports forums. Let’s not kid ourselves: they are very little used. The same threads hang on the front page (with no new posts) for days or weeks. Surely they could be put to better use? One last point: a little bit of crossover between forums, or blurred edges isn’t the end of the world. I understand the IMHO/MPSIMS difference, but I don’t fret over it. If a second GQ type forum was created, I’m sure the same would apply. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/36 "2001-08-19T11:08:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by imthjckaz \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > > \*\*The Arnold forum - discussion of the famous Arnolds of history. \*\* > > The only one I can think of was the “actor”, on _Green Acres_. \*\* Let’s not forget Al Gore. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/37 "2001-08-22T22:55:22Z")
Hey, don’t kill IMHO! It’s my favorite forum! Some interesting suggestions in this thread so far. Personally I like the idea of having a “computer questions” forum, because it seems like there’s enough of those popping up in GQ to warrant their own forum, and they’re not really what I think of as “Straight Dope style” questions, although they are interesting and valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Pink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@Pink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pink)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358/38 "2001-08-23T03:26:07Z")
I was sort of wondering if you could make room for a new forum by combining a couple with low activity. The main problem is when the first page won’t hold a day’s postings. Then your post can disappear into the dreaded area “below the fold” (as they say in newspaper lingo) before you get back to it the next day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestions/76358.md?page=1)