The style of the forum

[Yaron Ru]

Is there a reason why the people running this page have elected to use this style of forum, as opposed to something like the now deleted official forum?

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this style per se, but I would imagine that the style of the other forum may prove more popular and user friendly, maybe?

Im just curious really as to why this was never updated to run line most other forums, as this seems to just be a limitless, sectionless list of threads. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a list of threads, it’s a very nice list of threads, but personally I would like something more like a standard forum format, whether or not that’s what others here would prefer or not I don’t know.

Topic

[Jonathan Capps]

While this forum is relatively busy by modern standards, I don’t think it’d sustain many different sections as it’d spread things too thin and make them harder to find. Forums that set themselves up like that very rarely have the traffic to back it up and end up having threads with duplicate purposes spread about the place.

[Flap Jack]

So many times I’ve visited a forum just out of a general interest in a topic, and all I want to do is have a look at the most recent discussions overall, but the only option is to check every thread category one by one, and I decide I can’t be bothered. This way is better.

You could argue that you can provide for both needs by having an ‘All’ option in addition to the multiple sections, but it’s still dubious whether it’s wanted enough to be worth the development effort and the potential extra clicks (given that G&T is a forum only secondarily). I’m not even sure what the sections for G&T would be. “Red Dwarf” and “Not Red Dwarf” probably. Plus “Archive”, unless someone wants to volunteer to manually categorise nearly 3,500 threads.

Ganymede & Titan is the only forum I actually post to, and that’s because… well, it’s because it’s blatantly the most active Red Dwarf forum and it’s both run by and frequented by lots of cool people. But also, because it’s simple and intuitive to use. Lots of forums have a bit more of an intimdidating, secret society vibe about them (though admittedly that is often due to the attitude of established users more than the web design).

Having said that, I wouldn’t say no to some sorting and/or filtering options on the forum page.

[GlenTokyo]

I like this style, the addition of the edit and link/image/etc insert tools so we don’t have to play imgsrc= roulette anymore has pretty much nailed it.

More robust search/sort/filtering as Flap Jack says would be the cherry on top but it’s perfectly serviceable as is if you have a rough idea of what you’re looking for time wise.

I use another forum that had the same layout as TOS one and it’s aright but I do find myself losing threads or forgetting where something was, it’s just bloated.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

This style of forum is cool, in that in just assumes all the users are just a bunch of people, and there’s some conversations happening. And the current and newest conversations are pushed to the top.

Flap Jack is right, having to filter through various different conversation topics just to see what people are talking about can get a bit tiresome. And for us, why separate Star Trek talk from Series VIII hate. And why separate all that from chat about the size of cast members knobs. It makes no sense.

When I used TOS, or other forums that are structured similarly, I tend to just find myself in the meat of the forum ya know, the bit that is about the topic you’re discussing. Who cares for “off topic” sections. Just create a thread and of they’re popular they’ll thrive and if not they’ll drop down the list and people will ignore it.

I also like the loose anarchy of G&T with the ever looming threat of Ian banning you for one too many Idea for an Episode posts. We’ll break him one day!

[Jonathan Capps]

I like the term “loose anarchy”.

And I hear you on the filtering / searching, you bunch of actual fucking ingrates.

[Ridley]

We all want a proper forum, we’ve just been talking about it behind Cappsy’s back.

Well, we would if we had a proper forum.

[Jonathan Capps]

Sometimes I don’t think I get the appreciation I really deserve for putting drop shadows on everyone’s avatars.

Anyway, you can search the forum now.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Fuck drop shadows, ya know what would get you some appreciation. Sorting this out.

View post on imgur.com

[Ian Symes]

Fixed it for you.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Ok I totally deserve that

[Ridley]

I hope this is where the defund-the-BBC, political-correctness-gone-mad posts go.

[Jonathan Capps]

Oh man, that one’s so good I think I want to keep it.

[RunawayTrain]

I always find it a bit sad coming across a forum set up in the traditional way that doesn’t have much activity (especially when it becomes clear it’s never had much activity!), and I personally rather like the unstructured nature here. The other two fora I frequent are in traditional form but they have thousands of users and at least a hundred active at any one time, covering a wide range within their main topic of interest so they really need it. Here very much does not – at most the useful categories would likely be Red Dwarf and Not Red Dwarf, with maybe a subcategory for cast/crew (non-Dwarf projects) and … I really don’t know. And that’s coming from someone who used to border on the obsessive when it came to categorising everything and anything!

[The thought of tags did cross my mind as a possible step towards categorising forum threads, but it may not be worth the effort and actually the search feature maybe makes that a redundant idea regardless.]

[si]

Yeah, The odd post on the TOS forum aside, I’ve not really looked at other forums bar this one for years. I did still look in on the old BTLi Forum occasionally until recently, but that’s more nostalgia, I think – that’s where I first met a lot of you guys, after all.
The setup of a nice group of chats, on a wide, varied, and downright weird topics, to join in whenever you want, and abuse new people in a traditional manner is all part of the fun of the G&T experience.

[si]

Posted that twice. That was silly of me.

[Flap Jack]

Wow, I wasn’t expecting a new search option to be added that quickly! Nice. <3

[Ridley]

Cappsy has stochastic capabilities.

[Dave]

I want a realistic, down-to-earth forum, that’s completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots.

[Pete Part Three]

And for us, why separate Star Trek talk from Series VIII hate

Absolutely. Every thread turns into someone moaning about Series VIII sooner or later anyway. Which is understandable, because Series VIII was really shit. God, I hate that series.

[peas_and_corn]

Every forum I’ve been a member of I end up hitting the ‘most recent threads’ button because of reasons stated above, and that pretty much makes them like how this forum is set up like anyway. This is especially for forums with way too many subforums like a Millennium forum I used to be active on which had over 25 subforums. Yeesh.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

a Millennium forum I used to be active on which had over 25 subforums. Yeesh.

There’s no way a Robbie Williams song requires that many sub-forums!

[Yaron Ru]

Loving Angels And Demons instead?

[Pete Part Three]

I enjoy the new search. You can pick a topic and then just scroll through the results as if it’s a new pan-dimensional thread spawned from a single nexus point. Which is nice.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Loving Angels And Demons instead?

Rock Dimension Jump

[GlenTokyo]

Loving Angels And Demons instead?

Rock Dimension Jump

Millennium (oxide in the local vicinity)

[International Debris]

The site isn’t busy enough for multiple sub-forums, and the board is also something that’s built into the structure of the main site, rather than a totally separate piece of software, so its simple and streamlined format works well.

I’ve been on plenty of phpBB-style forums over the years with sub-forums and they work well as long as there’s a good amount of traffic. Which is sadly less and less common these days, as Facebook is gradually eating up the average person’s online time. Because clearly defined threads full of enthusiastic discussion are far more cumbersome and less enjoyable than people asking the same question 20 times a day in the same group and threads being full of gif reactions and people tagging their friends.

[RealBigOleDummy]

I like the forum here just as it is tbh. Its easy to navigate. Its easy to find what I want. What more can you ask for? Well, lol, I see others asking for changes so I presume I’m easy to please ;D

[Jonathan Capps]

I like the forum here just as it is tbh. Its easy to navigate. Its easy to find what I want. What more can you ask for? Well, lol, I see others asking for changes so I presume I’m easy to please ;D

To be fair, bugging me to change things is the only way it actually happens. I just want everyone to shut up, ultimately.

[si]

I just want everyone to shut up, ultimately.

Because that’s going to happen.

[Ben Kirkham]

While this forum is relatively busy by modern standards, I don’t think it’d sustain many different sections as it’d spread things too thin and make them harder to find. Forums that set themselves up like that very rarely have the traffic to back it up and end up having threads with duplicate purposes spread about the place.

Yes, and forums like that are an insult to the eye and I want to leave them immediately. This is much more comfortable.

[Yaron Ru]

Personally I think just three division into general banter and Red Dwarf discussion would be good but I get why you like this style, thanks for the explanations and contributions.

[Author]

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