Forum:The future of the Central forum - looking for YOUR thoughts

Hi all. We've been talking recently about how to continue growing the Community Central wiki and to improve what needs improving here. One of the things we were talking about was the Community Central forum. For example, we currently just have one forum&mdash;at the aforementioned link&mdash;but we're open to the idea of splitting it into sub-forums for different sorts of topics.

Rather than rambling on about what ideas I have or what ideas other helpers and staff might have, what I'm looking for&mdash;and what Wikia is looking for&mdash;is your thoughts on the forum (not Central as a whole, perhaps that'll be a topic for another time). Do you find the forum effective? If you don't, why? Are you satisfied with how they are now, or do you have ideas for how to improve the forum?

Basic questions like that are part of what we're looking for, but I'm deliberately leaving this question of how best to move into the future with the forum as open-ended as possible, because I don't want to try and direct you in one specific way. If you have suggestions that may seem like they've come out of left field, by all means we'd like those too. Sometimes the unexpected replies are the best replies.

We look forward to hearing what you have to say! - Brandon Rhea (talk) 04:29, September 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * I would like a way to "tag" or categorize threads into multiple topics and/or categories. If one clicks on a tag or category, then one is taken to a separate forum index that lists only threads with that tag. In reverse chronological order same as here (at the central forum). In other words according to reply dates and times.


 * All new threads started anywhere would still show up in the central forum. Any reply to a thread in the tag forum would cause the thread to also show up at the top of the central forum. So the central forum would basically remain the same, and be the place to scan all thread titles quickly.


 * Tags or categories act as sorting mechanisms. Much better than just searches. People can categorize much better than search engines. --Timeshifter 18:11, September 25, 2010 (UTC)

What types of tags are you thinking of? Things like Templates, Features, etc? - Brandon Rhea (talk) 01:03, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * I think he means categories. I like that idea too. ☆ The   Solar   Dragon  ☆ 07:19, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I got that part. I was specifically asking what kinds of tags/categories he was thinking of, like the subject matter (hence Templates, Features, etc.) and what not. - Brandon Rhea (talk) 07:37, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh, sorry. I misread that. I would think something like css, Answers, Templates (maybe infoboxes as a sub-category), JavaScript and some more. ☆ The   Solar   Dragon  ☆ 08:00, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * Whatever people want in the way of tags (including the ones mentioned already) is fine by me. From general topics to very specific areas. Site search and site navigation would be tags of interest to me. See, for example:
 * http://cannabis.wikia.com/wiki/MediaWiki:Monaco-sidebar
 * Some sites use subforums, as at Mozillazine, but then people get lost in a maze of forums. I like the Central forum way here. Tags would allow some focus over time on specific things, but without losing the easy scanning of the Central Forum. See Mozillazine forum index:
 * http://forums.mozillazine.org --Timeshifter 13:03, September 26, 2010 (UTC)

Content Guidance
I think clearer guidelines for exactly what content belongs (and doesn't belong) on the Central wiki as a whole would help build a community here if that is what is desired. Also, stickying helpful replies in the forums (or making a FAQ) would help with the most asked questions. -- 01:11, September 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * Community Central is meant to be a "help" type of site; any other content regularly gets deleted; this forum used to have a Watercooler, but doesn't any more. I've concluded that building a community here is not what Wikia aims to do with this site. The best way to clarify this would be to move the content to help.wikia. -- ◄mendel► 10:39, September 26, 2010 (UTC)

I think that's definitely a good idea, Pcj, and it's something I'm going to look into. - Brandon Rhea (talk) 03:50, September 28, 2010 (UTC)

help.wikia
I had a look at Wikia help recently, and found it one of the most confusing places, I had no clue which button the topic I most wanted would be in. As this is a site referenced by people on the forum regularly, and also probably the first place a user goes for help, I'd ask for the main page of help to be rethought -- Random Time  11:20, September 26, 2010 (UTC)