It’s one of those forums like the Barn House which hardly anyone cares about or clicks on. Why don’t they move “Straight Dope Chicago” into “Side Conversations”? It is kind of a nuisance when it’s in the main part of the board.
Huh. I actually agree with this. And marketplace too. They both only have 5.5k and 2k posts respectively, and rarely see much activity. They deserve to be kicked down. By comparison, the next lowest forum(Game Room) has 92k posts.
This seems like a pretty good idea.
I’ll fourth that, if only because there are too many forums in the main section already.
I’d put Marketplace there, too, if I were given any choice. Separate the true “conversation” forums from the side-interest ones.
I think you meant “Elections”, not “Game Room”. (Your number is right, though.)
The SDC forum was started around the same time that Straight Dope Chicago launched, if I remember correctly. As a former Chicagoan, I was pretty excited about the new website and the forum — while it wasn’t of interest to everyone, it was to me, and it was a nice way to tip the hat to the Dope’s Chicago roots. However, it seems these days as though the Chicago-focused department of the Straight Dope is moribund; Ed Zotti’s last SDC article was posted over a year ago. In a perfect word, I’d love to see both the website and the forum revitalized, but that doesn’t seem likely at this juncture.
As a non Chicagoan and even non American doper I agree that Straight Dope Chicago and Marketplace should be moved to Side Conversations.
They’re also much more recent forums than the other ones so less history, less count. All the other areas have like a ten year head start. 
Since the Reader and so in turn The Straight Dope is based in Chicago, a forum centered around Chicago activities and interests seemed like a good idea at the time. We honestly thought there would be lots more traffic.
They’re all fine where they are.
Not a moderator response, but my best attempt to explain the thought process…
Side Conversations was created as a way to [del]shoehorn[/del] include Ed Zotti’s non Straight Dope project into the SD page, for visibility purposes. Straight Dope Chicago is an actual Straight Dope project from a second Straight Dope column. Similarly, Marketplace is an actual Straight Dope forum.
I don’t see how it’s a nuisance to be on the main part of the board. It’s a list.
Right you are. Thanks for spotting that.
I agree about the head start, but c’mon. There is practically no traffic is there?
Have the mods at least discussed this?
I agree that’s probably how “Side conversations” came about. Now that it’s there though, we may as well relegate the low traffic parts of the forum there. And while it may not be a “nuisance”, shorter lists are better than longer ones, no? Seems like a smart move.
So the contents of a list is by definition not a nuisance?
It actually is a very slight nuisance (note that I did admit it is “very slight”). The “Forum jump” dropdown menu at the bottom of the list of message threads in a forum needs to be scrolled to see all the important fora (i.e. **not **SD Chicago, Marketplace, and Barn House). It wouldn’t need to be if the three kept each other company in Side Conversations.
I think that if the staff wants the Barn House to actually get more active, they should more diligently move threads that discuss house repair to the Barn House from other forums. I don’t know if they are already doing this, but I think that that’s one way the Barn House can actually become of use to the SDMB.
The SDMB is run like a corporate behemoth. Sure, there are lots of simple, little, easy fixes that could make the board a better place to [del]work[/del]post. But unless there’s a business need (and you’ve filled out the appropriate request forms in triplicate), it’s not going to happen. That’s the way things always have been. And that’s the way they always will be, until a new CEO is installed by the board of directors.
But if you move all of those exciting home improvement threads that have been cluttering up the rest of the Dope, won’t our other forums whither and die?
Why? Why does “Side Conversations” need to mean anything more than “I’m Ed Zotti and I want this here”?
But you’re not shortening the list, just rearranging it. I suppose it is some slight nuisance to have to scroll the forum list page to find the forum you want. A trivial amount of nuisance to someone using the internet.
What browser are you using? My IE7 (work computer, I don’t have admin rights) displays the entire list without scrolling. Yes, even the Barn House.
I don’t think anyone actually wants the Barn House to be more active or of use to the SDMB.
Well, then why not close it? There’s really no point in having the Barn House if that’s the case.
By the way, I don’t really care about the Barn House either, but I think it’s pointless to have it on this board if home improvement threads are not being moved there and there is no effort to actually make that forum more active.
What you think doesn’t matter. Reference my post above.
Tangentially: The occasional column “Paulina Street Journal”, likewise, hasn’t been seen for quite some time. Unless I’ve somehow not noticed it lately. Is this column also defunct?
ETA: People with complaints about the thread list arrangement, with respect to scrolling issues or drop-down menu size, might be people who are using small-screen devices. Maybe they are reading The Dope on a Compaq?
Or an iPhone. 
I agree with the suggestion, although I don’t feel strongly about it. I currently have to swipe down to see MPSIMS and the BBQ Pit, which in the scale of first-world problems is hardly a huge inconvenience. But it’s a tiny one, and that’s what this thread is about.
You do know that Barn House is based on Ed Zotti’s own book he published. It’s not going anywhere. It was moved there after folks were upset when the forum appeared in order to promote his book. He compromised and made it off the main page.