Split the Board Again?

I've been thinking....it might be a good idea to create a new section of the board. Like, BelowTopSecret was split from ATS, perhaps there should be another split.

I just think that the more esoteric and "strange" topics in ATS, the ones that ATS used to be about, like Aliens/UFOs, Cryptozoology, Ancient Civs, the Paranormal, etc. are being overwhelmed by the Politics and Terrorism stuff. I mean, its almost too for the one board (ATS).

I'm kind of tired of coming to the site of late and being bombarded with TERROR, TERROR, BOMB, WAR, POLITICS, TERROR, KERRY BAD, BUSH BAD, TERROR. That's all I see in the ATSNN headlines and all I see in the Recent Threads list. What's up with that? Where's the old "fringe" stuff?

Very good point. I think it is a good idea also. ATS forum, BTS forum, and a GEF (Global Events Forum). Good, bad?

Mr. M

Ugh, not more seperation.

There just needs to be more encouragement to post about topics other than political and terror related.

But not much happens in the other topics...

True, true. However, FLINX does have a point. It would be beneficial to separate the topics, thus creating separate forums. This would decrease the amount of recent posts on each forum, and would be easier to keep up with the topics. , , Moderator?

Mr. M

I can see your point, but I know that if ATS was split then I probably wouldn't check out the board that contained the political forums etc, at all, and I would probably miss some threads that might have been of interest to me. I have no interest in politics , but some of the titles of some threads have caught my eye and I have ended up learning something new.

Both sides make valid points. However, I believe that the terror analysis section was created to create a place for the terrorism afficandos to haunt.

I miss paranoia about things we got famous for...like paranormal stuff and the NWO and things.

DE

Originally posted by StarChild
True, true. However, FLINX does have a point. It would be beneficial to separate the topics, thus creating separate forums. This would decrease the amount of recent posts on each forum, and would be easier to keep up with the topics.

,

, Moderator?

Mr. M

Based on this comment, what I'm understanding is that you are simply requesting that the news articles not show up in the FORUM list (i.e. not show up in the list of posts for say Paranormal), right?

This kind of makes sense to me. Then they would only show up in the "Recent Posts" list from their own ATSNN/TA forum, right?

What, do you guys want to be a log splitter when you grow up? Enough splitting!

I like the idea of another split. I think it is a great idea to seperate the politics posts and threads and the aliens, and such posts.

ATS is simply reflecting the important topic of our time, through the interests of its members. Long before we made any split, and very soon after 9/11 the "War on terrorism" forum was the most active forum on the board, and continues to be that way. During the Gulf War, discussion of the war and related political complexities were very hit topics in CompuServe discussion forums. And before that, Iran Contra was an overwhelming issue on BBS services. Where I think we're falling short is remaining focused on ATS's mission as we discuss these events. We need to spend a bit more time contemplating the conspiratorial influences on terrorism-related events, and remember to look beyond the headlines for a deeper understanding. This is where ATS has always shined, and will continue to shine. I think that events often occur in such a rapid-fire way, we often don't have the time to think of the deeper root issues at the core of the current world drama. But no, there's no need for a split. Now... the mud pit on the other hand... I'm thinking gasoline and a match!

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
But no, there's no need for a split.

Now... the mud pit on the other hand... I'm thinking gasoline and a match!

Damn right there's no need for a split !

YOU can't destroy the mudpit!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!! Some of the funniest insults ive ever seen have been in the mudpit.

And besides....

what would happen to Colonel if the only place he has to bash repugnants gets taken away?

I mean he would go crazy I think.

Originally posted by Valhall
Based on this comment, what I'm understanding is that you are simply requesting that the news articles not show up in the FORUM list (i.e. not show up in the list of posts for say Paranormal), right?

This kind of makes sense to me. Then they would only show up in the "Recent Posts" list from their own ATSNN/TA forum, right?

I like this idea. it's kind of wacky to have posts about Osama Bin Laden landing up in the paranormal forum.

I agree MC. And there have been a couple or so Board Forum posts where people have asked why a certain news thread was showing up in a particular forum list.

See, I don't use anything but the recent posts and the search engine...LOL. So, it had not dawned on me that people might be going directly to the specific forum list.

I can see how it would be 1. confusing, 2. aggravating to have these unrelated topics showing up in your specific forum post list.

Maybe SO would be willing to cut it down to where it is only ALERT! status news reports that get listed on all forum lists.

I think there is merit in making an ALERT! status news report show up everywhere, because it could be something YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO MISS - save your ass type stuff.

Originally posted by Thorfinn Skullsplitter
Ugh, not more seperation.

No more separation. Too much separation could possibly split the audience, and that's not good.

[STAY COOL)
-prophetmike

2 weekends back a lot of people were complaining that the majority of posts were of the religeous nature. Last weekend it switched to politics. It goes in circles. I personally like the politics, but when the rel. threads were prominant, I learned some things as well. NO need for a split.

I only use the recent post and search as well and I really like getting the "hot" topics from all forums listed there. Not sure a split is called for but maybe in time a new format could be created that better seperates the Items like the ability to sort by forum in the recent post section??

If you wanted to, you could return today's post as an array, and let some _javascript sort it (i.e., display only preferences). All the computation is on the client.

This way people would only see what forums they want to see. I'm thinking of implementing this for my message board, but you may find the idea useful now.

Another thing might be to allow people to set color for their forums. This way they could gray out all the stuff they don't like anyway and "train" their eye to only really look at the colored forums.

(code bloat) Tell you what... you go ahead and program that, then we'll see how large the code gets for a board our size, with up to (sometimes over) 300 simultaneous users. I'm guessing we opt for K.I.S.S.

Everything seems to work fine. I think the way the board is right now encourages folks to look at subjects they might not normaly be into. That can be a good thing.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.