New Forum Suggestions

[MediaHound]

If anyone has an idea for new forum suggestions, please either post here or let me know!
If you think our categories could be broken down better or if you would like to see some new category be created to help organize and encourage posts on a particular topic, let's hear your thoughts.
Thanks!

[Lagniappe]

I was thinking that a subforum on soil and soil additives (teas /composts / manures) would be a great idea because "newbies " always have questions to its regards and the learned tend to discuss performance .
a dwarf plant section should be interesting to folks in crappy zones who plan to overwinter bananas indoors or under the house . This could also have great appeal to those with limited space .
On the same note ,more or less, container growing and indoor growing are gaining popularity and allowing many to enjoy the hobby year round regardless of location .

[D_&_T]

we second Lagniappe suggestions for forums

Dan & Tara

[buzzwinder]

I will third, Lagniappe suggestions for forums, would be very benificial for us newbies, I read and read and think and think and usually end up with a pain in my thinker,though be it with a better understanding of what I was thinking about, ( if that makes any sense ) But many thanks to all for an abundance of info

[mskitty38583]

yeah.i agree with all yall.(i need all the help i can get!)you can only read sooo much. lol

[Whatever]

I was thinking maybe a marketplace / classifieds category with for sale and wanted forums. Maybe a "For sale, Swap, Offer" that would cover the "Fruit" forum also as doesn't seam to get much attention.

Basically just a category for all buying, selling, giving away or looking for.

Or maybe just quick reply

I have also noticed there is nothing to do with iTrader in ones profile. Maybe something like on a users "post profile" (phpbb talk) could be added?

Just my .02

[MediaHound]

Thanks for the suggestions! There's a classifieds script I can install, its by the makers of the photo gallery script actually. I will give it a look.

iTrader stats are already at the top of everybody's profile page.

Quick reply I'll enable.

[MediaHound]

OK "Quick Reply" is now enabled. For smileys and other options though, one must click the "Go Advanced" button.

[Whatever]

Originally Posted by MediaHound

Thanks for the suggestions! There's a classifieds script I can install, its by the makers of the photo gallery script actually. I will give it a look.

iTrader stats are already at the top of everybody's profile page.

Quick reply I'll enable.

Personally I'm not to fond of the classified "mod" but that's just me.

[MediaHound]

So what do you mean? Just merge fruit with the bananas for sale category, and also jumble in with that other types plants as well?

[Whatever]

Classifieds category
--Bananas for Sale or Trade
--Wanted

Something like that. And yeah fruit would merge with for sale or trade.

So anything to do with wanting to buy, buying, selling, offering or trading in one section.

[mskitty38583]

ok jarred.....

we need a forum where we can talk about anything.......like college football, how tiger woods is doing, the space shuttle atlantis going to mars, how many people need to put jeff gordon in the wall.....you know a forum about.....stuff.
and yes by the way: U.of F.-45 / F.S.U.-12 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its so pretty.


its blue and orange all the way! ( ITS A TEBOW BANANA)

[D_&_T]

Tara is asking about a thread for any type of recipes, as other is only for banana

[MediaHound]

Originally Posted by mskitty38583

ok jarred.....

we need a forum where we can talk about anything.......like college football, how tiger woods is doing, the space shuttle atlantis going to mars, how many people need to put jeff gordon in the wall.....you know a forum about.....stuff.
and yes by the way: U.of F.-45 / F.S.U.-12 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its so pretty.


its blue and orange all the way! ( ITS A TEBOW BANANA)

Tiki Hut
All other posts go here. Banana jokes, travel stories, anything else you would like to chat about.

[Randy4ut]

Jarred,
could the "other plants" be broken down into sub categories? examples being palms, ee's, hibiscus (hardy and tropical), gingers, brugs, heliconias, etc. It would just make it easier to locate info on a particular plant that someone may be looking for.
there is one more thing that I keep meaning to ask. After you make a post, reply, etc., it would be nice to be able to click a "back" to where you were at before posting button. I am not too 'puter literate, so I have to scroll back to top of page and click on a location where I want to get back to at the top of the page. Did I make myself clear as mud? If you don't understand, let me know and I will try to explain better...

[magicgreen]

I think that Lagniappe's ideas are great! But lets not get all carried away, it is about the bananas isnt it? So many times we do talk about our other plants and get valuable info on those other companion plants. But as far as talking abt football or the daily news, u can do that somewhere else. Just my opinion. This site is very nice like it is! Seeems to me....when sites are huge, they are so impersonal. Know what i mean? Bananas.Org feels like real people getting back to me on a PM, or like someone is actually listening to me , looking at my stuff, posting messages. I love it!!! And everyone else does too! Most of us log on everyday! Oh Lagniappe Z6 and other winter zones arent crappy. The cold kills germs and keeps alot of idiots off the streets. Giving us other people a break! Just my opinion, not mad at ya. Have a nice day. MG.

[MediaHound]

Pete and Randy have brought up good points about new forums, but basically we want it busting at the seams before we open up new subforums. They really need to warrant such a forum. If anything, I see soil and maybe container growing getting a forum before a hibiscus forum gets born. The major reason is because they will be more "on topic", like magicgreen says. Ron (the flying dutchman) and I
were discussing another forum for banana-relatives, but believe it or not we were talking about if we would need to do a seperate SITE for that! Not because we want a bunch of sites, but because we want Bananas.org to stay mostly on the topic of bananas and if we want to expand, maybe this isnt the place to do it.
Personally, I also enjoy the threads about other kinds of plants, but for now, having them bunched together in the "Other Plants" forum seems to suffice. The search box at the top of the page is your friend!
I can also enable the similar threads feature we used to have, where it uses some artificial intelligence to match the thread you are reading with other threads that have been posted, and offers a link at the bottom of the page if you wish to continue reading further. So you would search for hibiscus, for example, and then after you read the first thread about them, it could keep feeding you more threads to read, so long as you click a link to a similar thread.
On the other hand, we are certainly "by the people, for the people" so to speak, so if the response to create certain subforums gets overwhelming, we'll have no choice but to create them! Also, if we did create them and they weren't very active, we could always merge them back with the parent forum that they spun off from.
I like organization, but I also like a fast loading page, the more we have on the homepage, the slower the site gets for those with dial-up, etc. Thats one of the tradeoffs we must consider.. it's a fine balance and so we like to do these things slowly at this point!
Cheers for the great points and discussion.

[Bch Grl]

Jarred...
I LOVE "Similar Thread"!!! That is such a wonderful thing. I have found so many other posts and info that way!!!!

Margie

GO Gators!!!

[mskitty38583]

i was just throwing out some ideas....i love this site, 3-10 times a day im on here. jarred, maybe put a few suggestions up and let people vote on it like you did w/ the keep it or get rid of it thing, that way everyone has a say and its fair. that way the staff dosent get cross- eyed. lol lol lol. that was just another idea.. if i stepped on toes earlier, im sorry i didnt mean to.

[Randy4ut]

Jarred,
Good point and very well taken... I agree 100%... I do love this forum and the folks that are a part of it... I do not want to see it diluted or overwelmed... Appreciate your insights...
Randy