+++ STRUCTURAL CHANGES +++

[Brother Tyler]

The amount of activity/popularity isn't the sole determinant of the category organization, though. Another determinant is logical organization by game. Our reorganization adjusts to this:

 

GENERAL HOBBY/SITE (most active/popular stuff)

• Frater Domus
• Forge
• Adeptus Astartes
• Forces of the Imperium
• Realm of Chaos
• Xenos

The faction-based categories above also have a large overlap with both the Warhammer 40,000 (game) category and Horus Heresy (game/setting) category below, but they are general in nature.

 

WARHAMMER 40,000 [game]

• Strategium

The Liber Victorum and Homegrown Rules forums aren't restricted to the WH40K game, both allowing for discussion of other games. However, all of the other forums in this category are, in practice, exclusive to the WH40K game.

 

OTHER GAMES SET IN THE WARHAMMER 40,000 UNIVERSE

• The Horus Heresy [setting/game from FW]
• Other Games

GENERAL HOBBY/SITE (less active/popular stuff)

• Lore
• Special Projects
• Ordo Administratum

So pushing the Strategium above the Horus Heresy keeps all of the "pure" WH40K game stuff together. We've separated game play stuff from lore stuff via the categories, so while the Liber Victorum and Homegrown Rules aren't in the "pure WH40K" group, they have to do with rules and gameplay, not lore, so they stay in the Strategium.

 

If we were to get rid of the Horus Heresy's army lists, rules, and tactics section, there would be a very strong argument for putting the Strategium below the Horus Heresy and Other Games categories. As it is, that argument is less strong when all of the other factors are considered.

 

The reorganization isn't perfect, and we know that we'll never be able to satisfy everybody. The trick is to find what works best for the majority. As I said before, though, further changes will be coming. We're trying to keep the number of changes down so that the organization of the site doesn't become a guessing game every time you log on.

[Dagoth Ur]

Ok so you and your 6 mates post a lot ... tehee ;-P

Throwing awfully big stones in that small glass house of yours

 

As for the changes, I think they work relatively well once you use the new layout a couple of times and start reprogramming your muscle memory - but I kinda struggle to see the point, I guess? Speaking as someone who primarily visits the forum via my smartphone, this has not really decreased the amount of scrolling for me - which is not surprising considering that the main page itself isn't all that long. Takes a fraction of a second to get somewhere one way or another.

Edited October 9, 2020 by The Observer

[Noserenda]

Still opening the Painting forum every time i come looking for rumours :D One day ill learn! 

One suggestion i had was un-nesting the "other games" so i can see the latest post from the main screen, i dont know about everyone but these days but im a lot more interested in those, but not interested enough to manually dip into half a dozen forums one after the other to check them out, so im sure i miss interesting topics in the games im interested in but not obsessively following right now :D

I mean i figure they are at least as relevant as any individual (non marine obviously) army forum? 

 

[apologist]

Much smoother, much clearer, much more useful. Ta!

[Bat33.1]

Would it be useful to have an FAQ/Errata forum on it's own? They come out so often now it feels like every faction forum is dominated by them and they often interact across multiple factions.

 

I'm not sure myself but just putting it out as a discussion point

 

I like the new layout but my muscle memory has me scrolling down as soon as I land on the forum page 

[Brother Tyler]

We already have an Official Rules forum. FAQ and errata are just a subset of official rules, after all. I'm not saying that all discussion about FAQ/errata should take place therein, mind you. Issues that are specific to a (sub-)faction are appropriately discussed in the (sub-)faction forum; and Amicus Aedes seems to be a pretty popular place to discuss things, often because the OR forum is focused more on providing clarification for questions hobbyists might have whereas Amicus Aedes is a good place to discuss the implications of FAQ/errata.

[Brother Tyler]

It has been almost two months since we implemented these changes and everyone has had time to get used to them.

 

We have some further changes in mind, some of which might take place soon and others which might take place when we do the software upgrade/server migration.

 

What I'm looking for right now is feedback on the changes and how well you've adjusted to them. There might be small areas that we can fine tune, or there might be bigger ideas that we might incorporate for later. I'm not guaranteeing that we'll incorporate every suggestion, but I'm pretty sure that the mod/admin team doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas.

[chapter master 454]

Well in relation to the new arrangement of the forum, it is good. The main challenge is overcoming muscle memory and remembering amicus and N&R is at the top now but overall I do say it is an improvement. 

[apologist]

An observation, rather than a complaint:

The nested subfora remain a pickle to get to on mobile. Unless you know where something is, there's no indication there's a subforum within another.

 

I think the worst offender are ones like the army list subfora; or play-by-post roleplaying. Using the latter as an example, it's a subforum within roleplaying; itself within other games; itself apparently within another subforum also called 'other games'. I suspect that its hard-to-find nature contributes to the slow traffic; which is a bit of a vicious circle. I wonder whether some of the sub-sub-fora could be folded back into the level above, or combined based on traffic?

 

On a related note, fora which have multiple subfora – like the 'Space Marine' forum – seem to suffer from less discussion within the forum itself; I wonder if it's simply because readers are directed to the pinned subfora rather than the topics? Is there a way to have the subfora lists to one side, rather than above the topics within the forum?

 

Alternatively, perhaps there could be a rolling 'featured subforum' or something that temporarily gives the slower subfora a bit more visibility? I'm picturing something like the 'recent topics' sidebar.

Edited December 3, 2020 by apologist

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Split Amicus into three subforums titled as follows:

 

The Good

The Bad

Ugly

 

This way if you don’t wanna read vitriol and diabtribes aimed at geedub is a log easier to avoid.

[Joe]

As far as forum structure goes it's alright at the moment - the only change I'd possibly consider is to boot the Strategium to the very bottom of the pile. 

 

On other matters, it'd be nice to get an update on the issues raised in the Moderating in News and Rumours thread earlier in the year. Brother Tyler mentioned that the discussion was nearly done at the end of May, and since then we still seem to be re-treading the same ground over and over with certain members of the community.

 

I may have missed a feedback post here or there.

[Brother Tyler]

On other matters, it'd be nice to get an update on the issues raised in the Moderating in News and Rumours thread earlier in the year. Brother Tyler mentioned that the discussion was nearly done at the end of May, and since then we still seem to be re-treading the same ground over and over with certain members of the community.

 

I may have missed a feedback post here or there.

This was the update. Frankly, it's exhausting trying to stay on top of things in NRBA.

 

As for the sub-forums issue, our plan with the software update/server migration is to create a mobile skin that more closely approximates the full skin in terms of giving main page visibility/linking to the sub-forums. The skin will show two levels, so sub-forums that are deeper (like the RPG PBP) will still require you to drill down at least once before you have visibility.

[Joe]

Fair play - I wasn't certain if that was the whole update in relation to the Moderating in News and Rumours thread, as the one topic that didn't seem to be addressed was the same group of users consistently derailing topics with irrelevant conversation or being persistently negative to the detriment of the community. It's become a bit more prevalent again recently, particularly with certain users pushing the "haha, look, they are finally doing x, y or z" threads.

[Chaos Lord Tom]

Many thanks for the changes and your time and efforts to provide us with this forum.

 

There is something that irks me on mobile is when you navigate back from a for instead of going back to the front page you reach a intermediate page displaying only the forums from the category in which you were browsing. Hope it makes sense !

Edited December 3, 2020 by Chaos Lord Tom

[Special Officer Doofy]

I only use mobile, and the new layout is more convenient. Only took a few days to adjust for me. I like it.

[Sete]

C'mon add SW, DA, BA, DW and GK with their long lost brothers.

Join us, its cozy and we have cookies heresy free.

[Spagunk]

C'mon add SW, DA, BA, DW and GK with their long lost brothers.

Join us, its cozy and we have cookies heresy free.

[Bryan Blaire]

I think at this point, with all the nine gene-lines/First Foundings being equivalent Supplements, those should be the new sub-forums under Adeptus Astartes, with general Marine discussion happening there. Then you could easily group Successors to those First Foundings for discussion. It wouldn't really alter the structure that much and put the board more in line with the Codex-Supplement structure for Astartes.