TalkBoard Topics - How are Destination forums ordered?

Just wondering, but how are the Travel&Dining: Destination forums ordered? (I'm assuming this is Talkboard-decided). The sequence doesn't seem to be alphabetical, nor geographic.

For example, United States forums show in this order:
Hawaii
Alaska
California
Florida
New England
Mid-Atlantic
South
Midwest
Texas
West

IB or I do it. It certainly looks random. Let me play with it a bit, and then you check and see if it makes better sense. I think I'll start with the east coast and work west.

IB or I do it. It certainly looks random. Let me play with it a bit, and then you check and see if it makes better sense. I think I'll start with the east coast and work west.

Either that or in alphabetical order would make sense.

Looking forward to seeing the results of Carol's change. It has seemed a bit mish-mashed to me in the past.

For some history, details, information and ideas pertaining to this topic, please refer to the following discussion:

Travel Destination Forums: can they please be reordered (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/577990-travel-destination-forums-can-they-please-reordered.html)

Once I get used to Hawaii being at the bottom of the list instead of the top (I use the Forum Jump menu at the bottom of the pages), this works.

Once I get used to Hawaii being at the bottom of the list instead of the top (I use the Forum Jump menu at the bottom of the pages), this works.

I have to say that it's taken me a bit of time to get used to the new order, but it makes sense. :)

I never could figure out why The Middle East forum is listed last in the World category. It is not last alphabetically (M) and geographically the region belongs in Asia.

Just wondering, but how are the Travel&Dining: Destination forums ordered? (I'm assuming this is Talkboard-decided). The sequence doesn't seem to be alphabetical, nor geographic.

I've often wondered as well about 'The World' subfora. France and Germany have their own forum but there is also Europe; shouldn't we be subfora of Europe? I think that people are sometimes confused and post on Europe as a sort of catchall as a result.

I've often wondered as well about 'The World' subfora. France and Germany have their own forum but there is also Europe; shouldn't we be subfora of Europe? I think that people are sometimes confused and post on Europe as a sort of catchall as a result.

Makes sense to me. Maybe the Community Director can take a look at "The World" listings next.

Cheers.

I've often wondered as well about 'The World' subfora. France and Germany have their own forum but there is also Europe; shouldn't we be subfora of Europe? I think that people are sometimes confused and post on Europe as a sort of catchall as a result.

I agree - and it's also true in Asia where many of the destinations should be subforums of Asia. But I haven't done it as there was a huge fuss by someone on TB some years back who hated having subforums. I don't even remember his reasons any more, but I am loathe to do it without member support. For me, yes, it makes good sense.

I fully support changing to a subforum layout, similar to the American ones. I always read the 'Europe' forum to mean 'other Europe' ie not Germany, France, Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland, etc, and 'Asia' as 'other Asia'.

Does it require a TB motion to approve and to make the change? (Recognising that it also requires quite a bit of work from you, sorry!) :)

I agree - and it's also true in Asia where many of the destinations should be subforums of Asia. But I haven't done it as there was a huge fuss by someone on TB some years back who hated having subforums. I don't even remember his reasons any more, but I am loathe to do it without member support. For me, yes, it makes good sense.

New York City and Washington DC are subforums of the Mid-Atlantic forum, yet still show on the main Travel&Dining: Destination >> United States page. Why would subforums be that different from a regular forum? I'd say that if it makes sense, go for it.

I fully support changing to a subforum layout, similar to the American ones. I always read the 'Europe' forum to mean 'other Europe' ie not Germany, France, Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland, etc, and 'Asia' as 'other Asia'.

Does it require a TB motion to approve and to make the change? (Recognising that it also requires quite a bit of work from you, sorry!) :)

First paragraph is the way I read it as well, and would support the sub-forum layout, as a regular TB member.

I can't speak for other TB members, but I think this is something the Community Director can do (realizing it's extra work for her & it should be fit in when she has time) since the sub-forums & main forums already exist - it's just doing a bit of re-arranging of them, and doesn't require a full TB motion/voting.

Cheers.

I agree - and it's also true in Asia where many of the destinations should be subforums of Asia. But I haven't done it as there was a huge fuss by someone on TB some years back who hated having subforums. I don't even remember his reasons any more, but I am loathe to do it without member support. For me, yes, it makes good sense.

To me as well. I haven't brought it up for the same reasons you mention, but if you decide to go for it, you have my full support. ;)

I would certainly support your efforts at re-ordering the forums. Perhaps ordering them under parent geographic areas ordering them in an alphabetic order Continent-Country-City ? Or does this fubar the parent/child relationship of the software?

I never could figure out why The Middle East forum is listed last in the World category. It is not last alphabetically (M) and geographically the region belongs in Asia.
It used to be listed in Asia, but then some Americans didn't think it was in Asia, so it got moved out to a place people don't think to look. This decision rather perplexed the Europeans, but according to the world of FT, the ME is not in Asia. :confused:

It used to be listed in Asia, but then some Americans didn't think it was in Asia...

Americans are notorious for being geographically challenged. :p

I fully support changing to a subforum layout, similar to the American ones. I always read the 'Europe' forum to mean 'other Europe' ie not Germany, France, Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland, etc, and 'Asia' as 'other Asia'.

but then please include the european rail travel forum into this ... :)

It used to be listed in Asia, but then some Americans didn't think it was in Asia, so it got moved out to a place people don't think to look. This decision rather perplexed the Europeans, but according to the world of FT, the ME is not in Asia. :confused:

And why is Turkey, applicant to the EU, and Azerbaijan, host of the EuroVision Song Contest 2012, in the Middle East according to FT'ers? :confused:

Thanks for all your thoughts. I set up 3 subforums today:

Asia (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia-460/)

South America (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south-america-483/)

Europe (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe-702/)

I hope that this meets some of the concerns above. I also hope that it gently guides members to the proper regional forum. We get a lot of misposted threads, particularly in the Asia forum when the post would get better attention in Thailand or Japan (for example).

Feedback continues to be welcome.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I set up 3 subforums today:

Asia (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia-460/)

South America (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south-america-483/)

Europe (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe-702/)

I hope that this meets some of the concerns above. I also hope that it gently guides members to the proper regional forum. We get a lot of misposted threads, particularly in the Asia forum when the post would get better attention in Thailand or Japan (for example).

Feedback continues to be welcome.

^^ This is looking MUCH more organized and is how I have always envisioned it should be! :)

I was annoyed to log in today and find that The U.K. and Ireland Travel & Dining forum is now buried as a sub-forum under Europe. This makes it more difficult to find, and takes longer to access as I have to click through an additional layer of forums.

If it's a general FT policy to do this, to keep the forum lists shorter, then I understand ... I can see there are pros and cons to both approaches.

However, why does the United States still gets to keep separate top-level forums for it's various regions? Is this an example of bias against Europe on Flyertalk?

To put this another way, we now have:

Travel&Dining: Destination >> United States

vs:

Travel&Dining: Destination >> The World > Europe

This means that the various sub-forums under Europe are buried in an additional layer of clicks. Why shouldn't Europe be at the same level as the United States?

See this existing thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1297223-how-destination-forums-ordered.html

Particularly post#21 (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18261155-post21.html) from yesterday:

I set up 3 subforums today:

Asia (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia-460/)

South America (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south-america-483/)

Europe (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe-702/)

I hope that this meets some of the concerns above. I also hope that it gently guides members to the proper regional forum. We get a lot of misposted threads, particularly in the Asia forum when the post would get better attention in Thailand or Japan (for example).

Feedback continues to be welcome.

It's not the order of the forums that bothers me, its the fact that the various forums under Europe are now buried so deeply that they are hard to find.

"Europe" should be at the same level as "United States", not under "The World".

Are you using MyFlyerTalk? You can "subscribe" to any forums you look at frequently (e.g. UK/Ireland) and it only takes one click to get there - if you aren't (yet), you might want to take a look. Here's more info - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/2708893-post3.html

Edit to add: I'm not sure how it takes one further click to get to UK/Ireland than it did before. When I click on "Travel&Dining: Destination >> The World", I get a full listing of all forums and sub-forums and can click to UK/Ireland from there. Is that not the case with yours?

Edit to add: I'm not sure how it takes one further click to get to UK/Ireland than it did before. When I click on "Travel&Dining: Destination >> The World", I get a full listing of all forums and sub-forums and can click to UK/Ireland from there. Is that not the case with yours?

Previously, the forums that are now hidden under "Europe" were directly accessible from the main "Travel & Dining" link. Now, you have to click through on "Europe" or "The World" before those forums are revealed.

The various "United States" sub-forums are still directly accessible, as are the forums which are directly under "The World".

I think "Europe" should be moved so that it has the same level of visibility as "United States".

Now, you have to click through on "Europe" or "The World" before those forums are revealed.

The various "United States" sub-forums are still directly accessible, as are the forums which are directly under "The World".
That's the direct effect from the 3 subfora our Community Director created the day before. See my post#2 (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18268750-post2.html).

Same thing happened to Asia Forum that I frequent. I didn't get to see the other "sub"fora (China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand...etc) when I arrived at Asia Forum. But now those subfora are at the top of Asia Forum.

It's not the order of the forums that bothers me, its the fact that the various forums under Europe are now buried so deeply that they are hard to find.

"Europe" should be at the same level as "United States", not under "The World".
How fora are ordered has everything to do with the forum structure, the issue you just raised. It was weird to see the following when I click on the new link to "Europe Forum":

There are no posts in this forum.

I don't know what's wrong with the setup for Europe Forum. At least when I visit Asia Forum now, every thread is still listed under the newly "squeezed" in subfora (at the top).

ETA:
I agree with you that Europe should be at least at the same level as United States. Geographically or "continentally" speaking, "United States" is smaller than "North America." Should "United States" get higher ranked forum position just because IB is a US-based company? Some standardization of fora categories based on world geography will be a much more welcome revision, IMHO.

FWIW, I do think this is all related and should be part of the existing thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1297223-how-destination-forums-ordered.html

Previously, the forums that are now hidden under "Europe" were directly accessible from the main "Travel & Dining" link. Now, you have to click through on "Europe" or "The World" before those forums are revealed.

The various "United States" sub-forums are still directly accessible, as are the forums which are directly under "The World".

I think "Europe" should be moved so that it has the same level of visibility as "United States".

While I don't disagree with you, I think all of the different broad categories could have a vocal member campaigning for the same thing (except maybe Antarctica :p). Since FT and its parent company Internet Brands are based in the US, my guess is that's the reason the US gets "special treatment" (which IMO isn't special treatment). I don't have specific figures to back it up, but my hunch is that intra-US travel is more popular for US citizens than international travel.

Either using MyFlyerTalk as posted previously or clicking directly on "The World" on the forums homepage (instead of clicking on "Travel and Dining") would solve your problem.

As members have "AMPed and there seems to be some agreement the issues are related, and no disruption has been caused to the stream of discussion, the "U.K. and Ireland: Now a sub-forum under Europe?" thread has been merged here for member and Community Director topic continuity. /Moderator

I'm happy to consider giving the continents of the world the same status as the USA. I want folks to have the best member experience possible, and if we can do that thru gentle software tweaks, will do so.

I would appreciate whoever is interested, looking at all the top tier categories under "rest of world" and suggesting how to structure them. For example, there's Cuba and Caribbean that should not be given the same status as Europe and Asia, but then where would they go? I'd be inclined to give Canada and Mexico top tier status, as most of North America is the US which has its own separate section.

Thoughts, please.

As an aside, I'm about to rename the Scandinavia forum "the Nordic countries". The description spoke of the Nordic countries. People were posting their questions about Finland there. A member yesterday was rbping all of them, suggesting they be moved to the Europe forum. That's one solution; yet I think that most are apt to think of the northern countries together. By renaming the Scandinavia forum, it will reflect what actually resides there.

I can't say I'm happy about the apparent discrepancy between say Orlando which is accorded equal status as Germany or the UK & Eire. Really?

As to this being a US owned board blah blah blah... we cannot attract in non-US members if we continue with the mantra that the US is more important. Why would any non-Americans want to spend time on a board where their own country of residence is accorded such little importance?

Why not do away with the artificial distinction between the US and the rest of the world, create a set of forums by continent (and please reunite the ME with Asia,where it belongs, in the current list it's even more tagalong than normal), and then subforum into their constituent parts? So top level forum would be North America, with subforums for US regions, Canada and Mexico... then Europe - with their associated sub forums/constituent parts... etc.

Why would any non-Americans want to spend time on a board where their own country of residence is accorded such little importance?

The fact is, as far as "destinations" is concerned, it doesn't really matter where the poster is from, what is important is where he is going to.

I rarely go to the Middle East Forum, for example, because I don't travel to any country in the area with the exception of Israel and, living in that country, I really don't need to get information about it.

I have posted on the Orlando Forum (when I first started planning my trip there) and the Las Vegas Forum before going there.

The fact is, as far as "destinations" is concerned, it doesn't really matter where the poster is from, what is important is where he is going to.

I rarely go to the Middle East Forum, for example, because I don't travel to any country in the area with the exception of Israel and, living in that country, I really don't need to get information about it.

I don't post much in the Germany forum for similar reasons (plus it gets really boring answering the same questions about castles in Bavaria over and over, when there are already a number of excellent threads available on the subject). It may not be the intent, as some fora have ambassadors who do a really good job of giving advice about 'their' country/region, but I simply don't. I suppose that I feel marginally guilty about not giving back to the community that way, but I can do so in other ways.

As to this being a US owned board blah blah blah... we cannot attract in non-US members if we continue with the mantra that the US is more important. Why would any non-Americans want to spend time on a board where their own country of residence is accorded such little importance?

Why not do away with the artificial distinction between the US and the rest of the world, create a set of forums by continent (and please reunite the ME with Asia,where it belongs, in the current list it's even more tagalong than normal), and then subforum into their constituent parts? So top level forum would be North America, with subforums for US regions, Canada and Mexico... then Europe - with their associated sub forums/constituent parts... etc.

Agree on all your points. I was told earlier this year however that this website is primarily for Americans and thus terminology should be presented in a format most suited to American readers. I don't agree and I think many others feeel the same, and I don't know if that really is the intent or the life of this site anymore. Even when it was first created, there were many non-American posters, posting about non-American destinations.

As to the Middle East, I am still extremely puzzled about that one. So it would appear are readers. Questions about Turkey, Azerbaijan, and others are tossed in there more likely due to ignorance about geography and history, but it is debatable if they belong there. They are then difficult to find for those of us looking under other fora for information. (I stumble on those threads via a google search more often than by looking at what I consider the appropriate forum heading)

Thank you however for the efforts which have been made to date, as well as the opportunity to give input. I know that I would use the destination fora more frequently if I could find things more easily.

and please reunite the ME with Asia,where it belongs

I would strongly disagree. Egypt is part of the Middle East, yet it is in Africa, not Asia. I believe we should keep a Middle East forum separate from Asia and separate from Africa.

I know that the destination fora subheadings are meant to be descriptive, but perhaps then the Middle East needs to be more defined?

The Middle East
Listen as FlyerTalkers give advice on where to visit ancient civilizations that rose and fell, cruise the Nile, explore the rose-red city of Petra and shop among Dubai’s skyscrapers. And don’t be surprised if one offers advice on where to take tea in Iran. This is the land of deserts, seas and ancient ruins and the advice is very handy.

Agree on all your points. I was told earlier this year however that this website is primarily for Americans and thus terminology should be presented in a format most suited to American readers.

I shudder when I read that, as that is not the case. 35-40% of our moderators are from outside the US. Talkboard has increased its worldwide focus the past 18 months by searching for gaps in coverage of international carriers. I have not observed US-centric focus amongst either group.

Let's give everyone a blank piece of paper. Tell me how you would organize the regional forums. What would be top tier, and what would you move under each?

I shudder when I read that, as that is not the case. 35-40% of our moderators are from outside the US. Talkboard has increased its worldwide focus the past 18 months by searching for gaps in coverage of international carriers. I have not observed US-centric focus amongst either group.

Let's give everyone a blank piece of paper. Tell me how you would organize the regional forums. What would be top tier, and what would you move under each?

Thanks. I shuddered as well, then I 'got over it' ;)

As to organisation, that is an interesting one. It's like the world map; depending on where you are in the world, it is laid out differently ie North America is not always in the centre.

However, I would do something such as

'The Americas'
- Canada
- US (with sub fora for the most popular areas, and I agree that Orlando may not be one of them...)
- Mexico
- and so on moving southwards and eastwards to include the various current fora

'Europe'
- UK and Ireland
- France
- Germany
- the Nordic countries
- and so on moving again southwards and eastwards including those pesky countries such as Turkey and the rest of the muddied area on the right hand side of the map which are often classified as Europe, or Asia, or the Middle East, but are really considered Europe

'Africa'
- now it gets messy! Do some of the countries listed as 'Middle East' get listed here?

'Asia'
- India
- China
- etc again moving southwards and eastwards

'Australia' (can't forget them!!)

'Antartica'

Ultimately however, whatever you end up with, someone will be offended, or lost. If the goal is to make things easier to locate, as well as provided some order and logic, then I think that using the continents as a starting point may make sense (although I did group the Americas together)

(Maybe what we really need is a visual map so that posters know where to look. :) )

Using Baku as an example: Awhile back I wanted up to date, recent information. I found little on FT. Now I find little except in the LH forum about a snow delay, and then a rather odd thread in a hotel forum with posts from people who had never been there and were rather uncomplimentary. In the end, I did a google search and found Baku or Azerbaijan mentioned in a few places on FT but I don't believe where I expected to find it on FT ie in the destination forum for that city/country. Ultimately I went elsewhere for information.

I would strongly disagree. Egypt is part of the Middle East, yet it is in Africa, not Asia. I believe we should keep a Middle East forum separate from Asia and separate from Africa.

More in favor of a "Middle East and North Africa" section if not having the Middle East as a section under Asia.

Africa (Sub-Saharan)
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
North America (excluding Latin America and Caribbean)
Latin America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa
South Asia

Africa (Sub-Saharan)
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
North America (excluding Latin America and Caribbean)
Latin America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa
South Asia

I would pretty much agree with this; I could perhaps change "South Asia" to "South Asia (Indian sub-continent)", separate the Pacific from East Asia, but overall, I like it.

Destinations forums should be in alpha order. Then again, I'm OCD with that kind of stuff. :D

At the very top, there should be three regions, namely

The Americas

EMEA

APAC


Every nation or land can find a home under one of these top-level categories and this is how most people in the corporate world organize it as well.

We currently have two major headings for our regional forums:


USA
World


When FlyerTalk was formed, it was predominantly an American board. Putting the USA alone and pushing all other countries into "world" reflected that. That's not the case today. We are genuinely an international board. A significant volume of readership comes from outside the US. Members have made valid points here and elsewhere about respecting our international diversity. It is my goal to do that by going more to a regional structure in alphabetical order.

Everything below is an existing forum; it simply is a reordering in hopes of making them easier to find. I welcome feedback on this structure:


Africa
Antartica
Americas
----Canada
----Caribbean
----Central America
----Cuba
----Mexico
----South America
--------Argentina
--------Brazil
America - USA
----Current forums in current order
Asia
----China
----Hong Kong
----India
----Japan
----Singapore
----Thailand
Europe (closed to posting at this level)
----Europe
----European Rail Travel
----France
----Germany
----Italy
----Nordic Countries
----Russia
----U.K. and Ireland
Middle East
Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands)


My desire is that we naturally guide people to where they can find information or post their question. If you feel there are gaps in country coverage, please start a new thread and make your case to Talkboard.

Looking upstream at prior posts, I have clarified two points today:


Turkey threads are to go in the Europe forum. The region description has been edited appropriately. I know that Turkey's land mass is overwhelmingly in Asia, but its political ties are in Europe. Turkey is a candidate country to the European Community (http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/index_en.htm).
Egypt threads are to go in the Middle East forum. The region description has been edited appropriately. I looked at a number of sources before reaching this decision.


Still open: I know there has been discussion of Macau being added to the Hong Kong forum. I don't know that there was ever closure on this.

A genuine thanks for providing the updates and for taking feedback.

I do like the new proposed ordering. And thanks in advance for the efforts it will require to make the changes. :)

I shudder when I read that, as that is not the case. 35-40% of our moderators are from outside the US. Talkboard has increased its worldwide focus the past 18 months by searching for gaps in coverage of international carriers. I have not observed US-centric focus amongst either group.


I can't tell you how happy I am to read this from you (I'm not from the USA)

If I recall correctly the comment that Exbayern is referring to was made by a moderator who is not resident in the US, which made it even more galling for me.

It's clearly a touchy subject, given that some months later I knew exactly which message was being referred to.

We currently have two major headings for our regional forums:


USA
World


When FlyerTalk was formed, it was predominantly an American board. Putting the USA alone and pushing all other countries into "world" reflected that. That's not the case today. We are genuinely an international board. A significant volume of readership comes from outside the US. Members have made valid points here and elsewhere about respecting our international diversity. It is my goal to do that by going more to a regional structure in alphabetical order.

Everything below is an existing forum; it simply is a reordering in hopes of making them easier to find. I welcome feedback on this structure:


Looks good to me! ^

Thanks. I shuddered as well, then I 'got over it' ;)

As to organisation, that is an interesting one. It's like the world map; depending on where you are in the world, it is laid out differently ie North America is not always in the centre.

However, I would do something such as ...

...'Australia' (can't forget them!!)

'Antartica'



You certainly can't forget us, and thank you for not doing so! But this is problematical, Australia is both a continent and a country, and my neighbours in the Pacific might feel a little miffed by having "Australia" as the main heading. I think that "Oceania" might be more appropriate, with sub-forums such as "Australia", "New Zealand", "South Pacific Islands" (only examples). Both Au and NZ are grown-up enough to have their own sub-forums, they are very different places.

Antarctica is problematical. The best that most of us will ever have of seeing it is from the window of a plane chartered specifically , so I imagine it might be a calm and peaceful corner of FT. I'd be happy to put my hand up to moderate such a forum, although the three posts that it might attract annually (in a busy year) may well be very controversial :)

It does make sense to group Macau with Hong Kong as most people who frequent FT and visit Macau will also spend some time in HKG at least for transit.

Africa
Antartica
Americas
----Canada
----Caribbean
----Central America
----Cuba
----Mexico
----South America
--------Argentina
--------Brazil
America - USA
----Current forums in current order
Asia
----China
----Hong Kong
----India
----Japan
----Singapore
----Thailand
Europe (closed to posting at this level)
----Europe
----European Rail Travel
----France
----Germany
----Italy
----Nordic Countries
----Russia
----U.K. and Ireland
Middle East
Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands)


I've just set up a new section of FlyerTalk called Destinations. I've implemented the scheme above. Please let me know about any errors. And feel free to message me should you feel that descriptions could be improved. I'd appreciate the help.

It does make sense to group Macau with Hong Kong as most people who frequent FT and visit Macau will also spend some time in HKG at least for transit.

Done.

I think that we need to have headers even when there is only a single forum inside. Like Africa needs a section header like Americas has. Otherwise the forums get lost in scanning the list. Look at the end of the US section where it hits Antarctica. Looks odd.

Also, destinations needs to be a heading like Special Interest Travel.

And maybe add Destinations to the Jump to Forums: at the top as otherwise there is no way to get there from any of those links.

How the heck do we get to Destinations ?

I ended up going through search ...

What happened to the destination forums. They are no longer listed under the Travel and Dining section?

What happened to the destination forums. They are no longer listed under the Travel and Dining section?

They are hiding them

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/destinations-704/

;)

They are hiding them

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/destinations-704/

;)

Thanks. Thought I was going crazy for a minute :p

For any mods / admins that may stumble across here, you may want to put out an announcement or a link from their original location....

Destination forums are now in the forum jump list.

A global announcement is up.

You certainly can't forget us, and thank you for not doing so! But this is problematical, Australia is both a continent and a country, and my neighbours in the Pacific might feel a little miffed by having "Australia" as the main heading.

:eek: :eek:

I certainly didn't mean to lump everyone else under 'Australia'. That would be as bad as putting 'Canada' under 'the US'.

In my ramblings I apparently didn't ramble long enough to include Oceania. No oversight was intended, and apologies to any Kiwis or others I may have offended.

(New destinations do look good!)

They are hiding them

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/destinations-704/

;)

Ive looked all over the site w/o this link I just cant fin dit where is it hiding so that I can look at it w/o having to go via this link everytime????

tia

Try either the forum index or the jump list at the bottom of each page.

Ive looked all over the site w/o this link I just cant fin dit where is it hiding so that I can look at it w/o having to go via this link everytime????

tia

If you use forum jump, you will find Destinations between Travel & Dining and Community. If you use My FlyerTalk, you can subscribe to specific forums.

Now that I've added it to those you can find with forum jump (which I did roughly two hours ago), I'm a bit perplexed as to why it should be problematic to find.

If you use forum jump, you will find Destinations between Travel & Dining and Community. If you use My FlyerTalk, you can subscribe to specific forums.

Now that I've added it to those you can find with forum jump (which I did roughly two hours ago), I'm a bit perplexed as to why it should be problematic to find.

it still doesnt appear on the line of Jump to Forums at least when I go to FT that is,I still only see 4 choices and the 'My FlyerTalk' and no way to click onto Destinations

once it appears Im sure it will a much added benefit ^

it still doesnt appear on the line of Jump to Forums at least when I go to FT that is,I still only see 4 choices and the 'My FlyerTalk' and no way to click onto Destinations

once it appears Im sure it will a much added benefit ^

I think they're talking about the "Forum Jump" selection at the bottom of the page ... above the ...

"All times are GMT -4. The time now is 3:30 pm." (or similar)

I hope there will be a shortcut to "Destinations" under "Forums" as well as under "Jump to Forums" at the top of the page. Not being able to navigate to a major section of the forum without scrolling down to the bottom of the page does not seem like a good website design. ;)

I hope there will be a shortcut to "Destinations" under "Forums" as well as under "Jump to Forums" at the top of the page. Not being able to navigate to a major section of the forum without scrolling down to the bottom of the page does not seem like a good website design. ;)
Just to bring a little clarity to the situation, you're talking about the Forums drop-down menu in the navigation bar at the top of every page on FlyerTalk?

The new forum is accessible via the main forum index at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php as well as in the Forum Jump menu (as described above). I'm not sure where else one would go to look for forums, so if the Forums drop-down menu in the nav bar can be addressed, that would take care of it.

I finally figured out what people mean and have asked IB to update it. It's the line across the top:

Jump to Forums:

Miles & Points
Travel & Dining
Community
OMNI

Well I don't like the new set-up at all...I can't find what I'm looking for now. :td:

That could of course be a mixture of old age, laziness and being so used to the old layout right enough.

I finally figured out what people mean and have asked IB to update it. It's the line across the top:

Jump to Forums:

Miles & Points
Travel & Dining
Community
OMNI

Oops, missed that one myself, too!

So just to be clear, there are five ways to access the various forums on FT:

-The Forums menu in the nav bar across the very top of the screen
-The Jump To Forums bar you just referenced
-From the main forum index page
-From the Forum Jump popup menu near the bottom-right corner of the screen
-From MyFlyerTalk (if one has subscribed to a forum there)

Any others I've missed? :eek:

The "Jump to Forums" Travel & Dining was the way I used to access the Argentina and UK forums.

Oops, missed that one myself, too!

So just to be clear, there are five ways to access the various forums on FT:

-The Forums menu in the nav bar across the very top of the screen
-The Jump To Forums bar you just referenced
-From the main forum index page
-From the Forum Jump popup menu near the bottom-right corner of the screen
-From MyFlyerTalk (if one has subscribed to a forum there)

Any others I've missed? :eek:
The first two methods were what I was referring to earlier. Apologies for not explaining more clearly.

:eek: :eek:

I certainly didn't mean to lump everyone else under 'Australia'. That would be as bad as putting 'Canada' under 'the US'.

In my ramblings I apparently didn't ramble long enough to include Oceania. No oversight was intended, and apologies to any Kiwis or others I may have offended.

(New destinations do look good!)

No offense was taken exbayern. In fact, I'm surprised that someone from Perth hasn't chimed in to take me to task as they may well think that Australia would better sit under Asia than Oceania.

Congratulations Carol on your work doing this. May I make one suggestion? There's an errant apostrophe in there, it should be "koalas" not "koala’s". I wouldn't be churlish enough to mention it if it was in a post, but it would look good to change it in the description. And ten out of ten for not calling them "koala bears"!

There's an errant apostrophe in there, it should be "koalas" not "koala’s".

Thank you. I genuinely appreciate when I get help like this. It looks like amateur hour when typos sneak thru and go unchallenged.

Thank you. I genuinely appreciate when I get help like this. It looks like amateur hour when typos sneak thru and go unchallenged.

It can be awkward to correct someone, thanks for understanding my reason for doing it.

Destination forums are now in the forum jump list.

A global announcement is up.

Errr... it's not showing for me.

I finally figured out what people mean and have asked IB to update it. It's the line across the top:

Jump to Forums:

Miles & Points
Travel & Dining
Community
OMNI

Is IB still working on this? The new Destinations Section is still NOT included in any of the 4 above tabs. It used to be part of Travel & Dining Section.

Since Carol mentioned Destinations is a new section, should it be a brand new Jump Tab at the top? Apart from MyFlyerTalk, I would think 5 new Jump Tabs at the top would make it much easier to browse FT since our Destinations section is growing longer and longer seeing how this current TB's going with new country-specific fora (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1321501-proposal-destination-peru-forum.html). ;)

Errr... it's not showing for me.

I've always used the "Forum Jump" on the bottom right-hand side of the screen to navigate between forums and had no trouble seeing the destination forums with the reallignment.

I've just set up a new section of FlyerTalk called Destinations. I've implemented the scheme above. Please let me know about any errors. And feel free to message me should you feel that descriptions could be improved. I'd appreciate the help.A link in T&D would be nice, instead of having to scroll to and select from the drop-down.

A link in T&D would be nice, instead of having to scroll to and select from the drop-down.

IB is working on it.

IB is working on it.

That's good to hear, SanDiego1K. Destinations seems lost at its current location.

Bobette

The new flat layout in "Destinations" looks great. Thank you to those responsible for fixing this!

I'm looking forward to seeing a Destinations tab added to the "Jump to Forums" bar.

IB is working on it.
Carol, may I ask for some clarification about this?

Is IB working on making the Destinations Forum/Section part of T&D, as Wally Bird suggested?

A link in T&D would be nice, instead of having to scroll to and select from the drop-down.

Or is IB working on making Destinations Section the 5th link in Jump to Forums at the top besides "Miles & Points", "Travel & Dining", "Community" & "OMNI"?

As I suggested up thread in post#76 (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18364544-post76.html), I personally think a new 5th link at the top will do more justice for the new Destinations Section. Not to mention an easier to find, more pleasantly browsing experience and possibly more traffic to the new "makeover part" of FT. :)

Or is IB working on making Destinations Section the 5th link in Jump to Forums at the top besides "Miles & Points", "Travel & Dining", "Community" & "OMNI"?



This one I believe.

Or is IB working on making Destinations Section the 5th link in Jump to Forums at the top besides "Miles & Points", "Travel & Dining", "Community" & "OMNI"?

This one I believe.

THAT will make me a very happy camper. :) Just need the confirmation from Carol. ;)

yosithezet is right. Our tech guy at IB is working on adding the new destination section to:

Jump to Forums:
Miles & Points
Travel & Dining
Community
OMNI

I read too fast earlier when I agreed that a link would be added to T&D.

If Internet Brands needs room to add a Destinations (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/destinations-704/) forum link to the Jump to Forums bar, they could move the MyFlyerTalk logo and link up a few pixels to the right side of the airport graphic.

By the way — if it has not already been mentioned or requested — a new Destinations (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/destinations-704/) forum link should also be added to the Forums menu between Travel & Dining and Community in the dark blue bar at the top.

IB is working on it.

Good. Let me know if they will put the Destinations on the Jump bar. IF they will consider it done and then you informed everyone else.

Not sure how to bring this to attention or everyone, but the travel destinations forums are now effectively invisible unless you know exactly how to navigate through several clicks to get to them. I don't know if this change was in response to all the parochial interests trying to get special forums for localities, but one of the fun parts of FT for me was actually seeing some of the threads in the destinations forums when looking through Travel and Dining. Now, there is no real browsing through the main forums and getting to see the destinations - one has to make a concerted effort, then try to remember exactly which clicks to make to get to them.


I'm very much against this change in format. Change simply for the sake of change is rarely an improvement.

IB hopes to have the programming done on Monday to add Destinations to both the "Jump to Forums" across the top of each page and the Pulldown Menu for "Forums" at the very top of each page.

IB hopes to have the programming done on Monday to add Destinations to both the "Jump to Forums" across the top of each page and the Pulldown Menu for "Forums" at the very top of each page.I asked the folks at IB about why Destinations was now hidden from new members. The only response I got was one yesterday, Monday April 16, which was a link to the Destinations. So how does this help new members that Destinations has no mention on Flyertalk's home page? Does IB not want new members to participate in Destination forums?

There was no mention in that email I received last night that Destinations will be a 5th forum easily accessible from the home page. Is this just a rumor?

IB hopes to have the programming done on Monday to add Destinations to both the "Jump to Forums" across the top of each page and the Pulldown Menu for "Forums" at the very top of each page.
While the new Peru Forum is up and running, any update on the change of plan since Monday had long gone and none of the above programming has happened yet?

While the new Peru Forum is up and running, any update on the change of plan since Monday had long gone and none of the above programming has happened yet?

Well it's Tuesday morning west coast time. I'm not sure I'd qualify Monday as long gone :D

Presumably there will be an update soon. I doubt IB wants destinations to be 'hidden' as the norm.

Cheers.

The header will probably have to be redesigned to fit the new forum, as it's not wide enough to list it now. That will probably require some work from the web design/graphics people. My guess is that it will take a bit longer than originally thought.

The header will probably have to be redesigned to fit the new forum, as it's not wide enough to list it now. That will probably require some work from the web design/graphics people. My guess is that it will take a bit longer than originally thought. Well it does appear at this time on the primary landing front page, but does appear on the secondary pages after that....

Well it does appear at this time on the primary landing front page, but does appear on the secondary pages after that....So are we seeing the final product? Newbies better know to look for destinations at the FT homepage only? So if they're in other forums, they aren't supposed to know about Destinations as being a forum like Miles & Points, Travel & Dining, Community and OMNI?

Folks, can we please have some patience? No, we haven't got the final product yet.

Folks, can we please have some patience? No, we haven't got the final product yet. If they need space why not get rid of the Omni link, can newbies and those not logged in see it anyway?

If they need space why not get rid of the Omni link, can newbies and those not logged in see it anyway?

yes.

If they need space why not get rid of the Omni link, can newbies and those not logged in see it anyway?
I like the idea! ^

If they need space why not get rid of the Omni link, can newbies and those not logged in see it anyway?

Why stop at just the link? :D

Why stop at just the link? :D

Revenue. OMNI = money-maker. Of course FT could star marketing credit cards to rev-up revenue like the FTers-turned-bloggers. :D

OMNI = money-maker.

A section blocked to google bots? Not likely. It's here solely because members want a water cooler.

Let's return to the topic of Destination forums.

A section blocked to google bots? Not likely. It's here solely because members want a water cooler.

Let's return to the topic of Destination forums. So getting back to the destination forums, if the intent is to make the destination forums more visible, having quick links to each parent section easily seen to all (those logged in or not) would be a good idea. That is why I noted that the OMNI tag is available on each landing page (although not accessible to those not logged in and not having met the posting criteria ?). And yes I understand it is a work in progress....:)

Destinations looks great now. Nice job!

Bobette

Destinations looks great now. Nice job!

Bobette

Thanks, Bobette. I appreciate the comment.

Now showing up for me on all landing pages ! Thanks ^ !