Forum Changes at IceInSpace

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi all

Most of you may have noticed some changes in the forum structure here at IceInSpace over the past couple of days (especially this morning).

This forum re-structure is the first in a number of changes you're going to see here at IceInSpace in the coming months, as a result of the feedback and answers gathered during our IceInSpace Community Survey 2010.

The changes are designed to better focus discussions and topics, give more opportunities for beginners to get involved, and to improve the general layout of the forums and sub-forums.

The main changes are:

IceInSpace Section

• Split the old "Website News and Feedback" section into two new forums - IceInSpace Announcements (for site announcements and website news) and Website Feedback and FAQ (for website feedback and frequently asked questions)
• The "General Chat" forum has moved to the "General Astronomy" section.

Beginners Start Here

• New section specifically targeting beginners and to get beginners involved.
• Beginners Talk section is the renamed "Beginners Start Here" forum - it's a 'catch all' forum for general beginners chat - questions, "how do I" type questions, introductions etc.
• A new Beginners Equipment Discussions forum for questions about equipment, what to buy, best type of equipment, etc.
• A new Beginners Astrophotography forum for questions about how to get into astrophotography, type of equipment needed, a place for beginners to post their images and get feedback, constructive comments, etc.

General Astronomy

• The General Chat forum now lives here.
• New forum for Astronomy Books and Media - for all discussions about Astronomy in the media. Books, movies, magazines, TV shows, podcasts, star charts, atlases etc.
• Star Parties, Clubs and Community Events has been slightly renamed from the old "Star Parties, Clubs & Observing Sessions" forum. Same content, but with a focus on events that take place on Earth.
• A new Celestial and Astronomical Events forum has been added to discuss and talk about upcoming or past astronomical events, such as conjunctions, eclipses, occultations, transits, comets, etc. It differs from the forum above because these events happen in the sky!
• Observational and Visual Astronomy has been slightly renamed from the old "Observational Astronomy". Same content - focusing on visual observing, etc.
• Astronomy and Amateur Science has been slightly renamed from the old "Astronomy Science". Similar content, but with added focus to amateurs who contribute to Astronomy Science.

Equipment

• A new DIY Observatories forum has been added, specifically for all discussions about your home observatories.
• The Software and Computers forum has been slightly renamed from the old "Tips, Techniques, Software and Computers" to focus more on astronomy software and any computer related questions and discussions.
• The Astrophotography and Imaging Equipment and Discussions forum has been slightly renamed to encompass all discussions about astrophotography and imaging (astro and non-astro), including the equipment, processing, tips and techniques, etc.

IYA2009

• The IYA2009 forum has been removed. All threads from the IYA forum have been moved to the "Star Parties, Clubs and Community Events" forum.

And that's about it!

I've moved relevant threads from their old place to their new where applicable, but in many cases I concentrated just on the first few pages due to time. Over the next few days, I'll go through more older threads and move them to their new forums.

I'm happy to hear your feedback once you've had some time to digest it and get a feel for it.

Cheers and thanks.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Looks better Mike.

Now - how about a think about a cut-down "mobile" version, for those of us who really do browse using our phones ?

[DavidTrap (David)]

Much improved Mike,

Got a big shock when I logged on this morning - you must have been busy overnight.

David T

[mozzie (Peter)]

good stuff mike

[lacad01 (Adam)]

The re-org and additional sections are a good improvement

[erick (Eric)]

I only ever click "Subscribed Threads" and "New Posts" - so I didn't see a thing



OK, sometimes I have to go to the specific forum to creat a new thread/topic.

[Ric]

It looks great Mike, I like the changes.

Cheers

[Moon (James)]

Wow - a dedicated observatory forum!

Could a moderator create a sticky 'post a pic of your observatory' thread pls?

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by Moon

Could a moderator create a sticky 'post a pic of your observatory' thread pls?

Done

[TheDecepticon]

The changes look good! Thanks

[stephenb (Stephen)]

even more "beginner-friendly"

[kinetic (Steve)]

My only whine Mike would be that, as I said in my questionaire,
I think ATM / DIY forms a great part of the readership and traffic
that gravitate towards your site and that it should be maybe a
bit more prominent?

Now it's tucked in the Equipment section, maybe that's ok, if
people are trawling the internet for ATM facts and ideas they will
persevere and find their way anyway..all good.

Sorry for the downer, not intended that way, only an observation.
I think the Observatory section is a great idea btw!

Steve

[Jen]

Umm where did you say the chat room was again

[Barrykgerdes]

I looked at some topics that I had not looked at before before I realised the locations of the headings I normally look at had moved. I guess I will need to look a bit better till I get used to the new format.

Barry

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Originally Posted by erick

I only ever click "Subscribed Threads" and "New Posts" - so I didn't see a thing



OK, sometimes I have to go to the specific forum to creat a new thread/topic.

Thats two of us Eric,



Must go take a look see.....

Cheers

Chris

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Definitely an improvement Mike - well done!

Cheers, Marcus

[WadeH (Wade)]

Some very good changes mostly but my only comment now is in regards to "Beginners Astrophotography".
One of the things that I liked about the IIS site was that there were no class distinctions and we were all equal, good or bad, some of which in my case very bad.
Now with the split it be even more likely that beginner pics will be less likely to be seen by the greater community. Can I still post below in Images or must I post in Beginners?

However as said up top I like most of the changes as this site goes from strenght to strenght.

[astroron (Ron)]

I posted an article from ESO, but I really don't think it belongs in General Chat

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Originally Posted by WadeH

Some very good changes mostly but my only comment now is in regards to "Beginners Astrophotography".
One of the things that I liked about the IIS site was that there were no class distinctions and we were all equal, good or bad, some of which in my case very bad.
Now with the split it be even more likely that beginner pics will be less likely to be seen by the greater community. Can I still post below in Images or must I post in Beginners?

However as said up top I like most of the changes as this site goes from strenght to strenght.

Hi Wade

You can absolutely still post your images down in the images section - as can anyone.

Some of the feedback I received during the survey, and from talking to other beginners, was that they were too afraid to post their images in the general Images section, because they didn't feel they were good enough.

By having a Beginners Astrophotography section, the aim is that beginners will feel more comfortable posting images and asking for feedback/criticism/help before *they* feel comfortable posting in the general Images section.

Of course it's only early days - we'll wait and see how it gets taken up.

Originally Posted by kinetic

My only whine Mike would be that, as I said in my questionaire,
I think ATM / DIY forms a great part of the readership and traffic
that gravitate towards your site and that it should be maybe a
bit more prominent?

Now it's tucked in the Equipment section, maybe that's ok, if
people are trawling the internet for ATM facts and ideas they will
persevere and find their way anyway..all good.

Sorry for the downer, not intended that way, only an observation.
I think the Observatory section is a great idea btw!

Steve

I agree that ATM/DIY is a very popular sub-topic for a lot of amateur astronomy community.
However I'm not sure what else could be done, Steve? I'm certainly open to suggestions.

Originally Posted by astroron

I posted an article from ESO, but I really don't think it belongs in General Chat

It's a good point, Ron - and some further changes later may help with that. I'm considering splitting General Chat into 2 forums - "General Astronomy Chat" and "Social Chat".
General Astronomy Chat would be for all astronomy topics that don't fit in the other sub-forums, like articles from ESO, etc., and Social Chat would be for exactly that - non-astronomy topics.

What are your thoughts (and everyone else's) about that?

The only other thing I could think of is to have an "Astronomy and Space News" section where we can post and discuss topics about things that happen in the professional world of astronomy and space news.

[astroron (Ron)]

Thanks mike I think an "Astronomy and Space News" is a great idea and so is "Social Chat". would there be enough demand for both