Japan - Japan relegated to sub-sub-sub-forum now

Noticed a couple of days ago that the Japan forum is now one level deeper in the site:

Previously: Travel & Dining > Japan
Now: Travel & Dining > Asia > Japan

("Asia is the favorite destination of Flyertalkers ... ")

Texas and Cuba appear one level below Travel & Dining. But not Japan or China etc. Why is that, then? I must have missed the memo.

+1. What up with that?

Yeah, I noticed. No warning, either. It would have been nice to get a little notice.

+1 for bringing this to our attention.
-999 to the person who relegated this forum to the same level as Myanmar.

Yeah, I don't really know what the logic is behind this, but it's not just the Japan forum that is affected. In fact, it looks like more and more subforums are being created. Now, France, Germany, Italy, etc., have been moved under a single Europe forum.

Personally, I am not a fan of the extra click involved :td: I'm sure it sounds trivial, but not all places have the greatest internet connections... and this makes it more difficult to see if the forum you're really interested in has any new posts. I hope the change will be reversed. :)

it more difficult to see if the forum you're really interested in has any new posts. I hope the change will be reversed. :)
I expect internetbrands will be watching to see what this change does to traffic to the Japan forum. Surely it's not in IB's interest to make a popular community less discoverable, (unless it drives more engagement with a more profitable part of the site) ... ?

Aside from the analytics, though, I hope they also care about how members feel about the move. So what would be the best way to voice our opinion of this?

I just alerted Carol to this. It is not so much the click for me as it is a clear sign that FT is the US in more detail and then all those other places in general. It does not show a very international face at all.

I expect internetbrands will be watching to see what this change does to traffic to the Japan forum. Surely it's not in IB's interest to make a popular community less discoverable, (unless it drives more engagement with a more profitable part of the site) ... ?

Aside from the analytics, though, I hope they also care about how members feel about the move. So what would be the best way to voice our opinion of this?

Texas and Cuba appear one level below Travel & Dining. But not Japan or China etc. Why is that, then? I must have missed the memo.

Whoever decided "Cuba" did not belong inside "The Caribbean" needs a geography check too.

Whoever decided "Cuba" did not belong inside "The Caribbean" needs a geography check too.

:D Nice catch.

Looking at the post count, they should have USA as a sub-forum of North America (Along with Canada and Mexico) with all the different parts of the states being a sub sub forum.

Some of the states have very little posts in comparison to other popular forums like China, Japan etc.

IB is so USA centric:rolleyes:

I welcome your suggestions here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1297223-how-destination-forums-ordered-2.html#post18269718

The change was made in response to member request, mostly from international members. Discussion occurred over the last couple months. It was a change made to gently guide folks to the right forum. We have masses of misposted threads in the Asia forum which properly belong in one of the country forums. It's a better member experience when newcomers can easily find the best forum to search and/or post their question.

Any change has unintended consequences. We've also had someone concerned about the UK forum moving down. I use My FlyerTalk and subscribe to both the Japan and UK forums. Thus, for me, I never have the experience of having to go deeper to see what interesting topics you are discussing.

I welcome your participation in the thread above. If we can find structure around which folks coalesce, I'll be happy to make further change.

Please put Japan back where it was.... or better yet have a separate forum for destinations, with next category by continent.

I have posted my plan to reorder the regional forums here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1297223-how-destination-forums-ordered-2.html#post18337040

The intent is twofold:


Recognize the reality that FlyerTalk has become an international board and move away from US at its core
Identify a more natural organization that will allow folks to easily find information of relevance to them


Your thoughts are welcomed in that thread.

Thanks, Carol.

...have a separate forum for destinations, with next category by continent.

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

IB is afraid of radiation. ;)

I still don't understand why the America - USA gets its own heading, rather than being a sub header, with sub-sub headers under 'Americas'. Ah well. If the division is going to be by continent, shouldn't the Americas instead be divided into North America and South America? Or was there too much disagreement as to where Central America would go? I welcome the change, if it is applied consistently.