Hi all,
As many of you know I'm currently making some changes to ECF as we approach our 10 year anniversary.
The main one we're working on right now is principally aesthetic - putting into place a new theme that's modern and fresh.
But, I'm also aware that the forum needs more of a structural change....
ECF is many things. It's chronical of the last 10 years of vaping, it's a user guide to new vapers, there's reviews, commerce, all kinds of things, but above all it's the vaping mother community.
ECF has grown somewhat organically over the years. We've tried out lots of things at the request of the community. Some things have been retired, others, forums created, stickies put up, etc etc. For members who spend time here and learn how it's organised, it makes sense. But for people joining up, or just looking around, it's overwhelming.
One thing I've just done is to install a new search system which is very, very good (albeit, with some bugs that need ironing but). But we've never really done a full-on audit of how the site works - never gone through how the whole forum can be run and organized better.
The world of vaping has matured. Our primary role, as a community, has always been in trying to arm new vapers with the knowledge they need to make a successful transition from smoking to vaping. That has to remain our core, and we need to do it better.
Our forum home has 600 "nodes" (forums, forum categories etc). This makes sense for a library - an index for every topic. But for a forum it's too much. We need to reduce this by 2/3. In the process, we can revamp certain areas and make things much more relevant to where vaping is today.
Also, there's incredible knowledge that's buried deep within. I know we occasionally consolidate this in stickies, and that many members find the stickies useful. but stickies are actually a really bad way of organizing information. Indeed, in ECF 2.0, I'd like to see a maximum of one sticky per forum.
There are other things we can do to make great content accessible, and I have some ideas (but I'm still working on them). They'll need your help... but if you're up for this then so am I.
So, with that said, I'd like to open it up to you? I appreciate change is difficult for some, but we do need it from time to time. Nothing I'm proposing here should in any way change the character and dynamic of the forum. Rather, it's a big project I want to start to make it all better. For the next 10 years and beyond!
Please leave your thoughts below, and don't be afraid to think big!
As many of you know I'm currently making some changes to ECF as we approach our 10 year anniversary.
The main one we're working on right now is principally aesthetic - putting into place a new theme that's modern and fresh.
But, I'm also aware that the forum needs more of a structural change....
ECF is many things. It's chronical of the last 10 years of vaping, it's a user guide to new vapers, there's reviews, commerce, all kinds of things, but above all it's the vaping mother community.
ECF has grown somewhat organically over the years. We've tried out lots of things at the request of the community. Some things have been retired, others, forums created, stickies put up, etc etc. For members who spend time here and learn how it's organised, it makes sense. But for people joining up, or just looking around, it's overwhelming.
One thing I've just done is to install a new search system which is very, very good (albeit, with some bugs that need ironing but). But we've never really done a full-on audit of how the site works - never gone through how the whole forum can be run and organized better.
The world of vaping has matured. Our primary role, as a community, has always been in trying to arm new vapers with the knowledge they need to make a successful transition from smoking to vaping. That has to remain our core, and we need to do it better.
Our forum home has 600 "nodes" (forums, forum categories etc). This makes sense for a library - an index for every topic. But for a forum it's too much. We need to reduce this by 2/3. In the process, we can revamp certain areas and make things much more relevant to where vaping is today.
Also, there's incredible knowledge that's buried deep within. I know we occasionally consolidate this in stickies, and that many members find the stickies useful. but stickies are actually a really bad way of organizing information. Indeed, in ECF 2.0, I'd like to see a maximum of one sticky per forum.
There are other things we can do to make great content accessible, and I have some ideas (but I'm still working on them). They'll need your help... but if you're up for this then so am I.
So, with that said, I'd like to open it up to you? I appreciate change is difficult for some, but we do need it from time to time. Nothing I'm proposing here should in any way change the character and dynamic of the forum. Rather, it's a big project I want to start to make it all better. For the next 10 years and beyond!
Please leave your thoughts below, and don't be afraid to think big!
