Forum Proposal: Ask FlyerTalk
 

(PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN OLD THREAD BUMPED FOR RECONSIDERATION. NEW DISCUSSION BEGINS AFTER POST 26)

We are faced with two competing goals on FlyerTalk today. One camp says topics should go to the most frequently used boards because that's the only place they'll be read, and another says topics should always go directly to the specific forum, as that's the only way information will be accessible to future seachers.

I propose that we create a forum to balance both these goals: Ask FlyerTalk. This forum would be prominently placed in the forum hierarchy and invite questions from members on any travel-related topic covered on our board. The difference would be that after 3 days, a moderator would ALWAYS move the thread to the proper forum for future searches and more in-depth responses from forum regulars in particular localities. Non-question, metadiscussion, or OMNI topics would be moved or closed immediately

With such a forum, members who do not frequent lesser-trafficed forums today would be able to see and repsond to questions about which they have information, and more people would be introduced to those forums as they follow topics to their proper home.

I think many of us have traveled to a lot of destinations and used a lot of different travel products but can't visit all of the forums. While I would never subscribe to a Singapore forum, for example, I have been there enough times to have valuable input on a posters questions about a number of topics. I would subscribe to Ask FlyerTalk and then would be able to answer questions I would have otherwise missed.

Excellent idea, IMO. You have to wonder how many questions are asked in the various airline forums, for example, that aren't specific to that airline and could be answered by many FT'ers. But, as you state, few of us visit every forum so somebody with a helpful answer may never be matched with the question.
This might be a particular useful forum for new posters who may not have a clue exactly where to address specific questions.

Robb, two questions:

1. As I think that many of these threads might well be Omni-type, do you think it is opening a back door to let people post in Omni who have not otherwise met the qualifications?

2. How much work is it for a moderator to look at a thread, determine where it should go, and then transfer it? It the thread got about 200 posts a week, how many moderators would be required to handle the work without putting an unfair strain on them?

For some reason, I thought the 100-post limit had been removed from OMNI, but if not, we could surely just have a policy of closing all OMNI related posts to the forum. I'm more concerned that you think many posts would be OMNI in the first place. Maybe I've done a poor job presenting it and we would need to make sure it's really clear that it is not for OMNI-things from the beginning.

As for the moderators, it really shouldn't be much work for 2 (maybe 3) moderators (and I would volunteer to be one of them, so I'm pretty confident of the reasonable workload). The hard work of being a moderator is dealing with off-topic posts or guiding wandering topics or interpersonal issues. There would be no more of that here than anywhere else, and, in fact, most likely less. A mod would just pull up the list all threads older than 3 days and click it, move it, and move on. No followup emails, no hurt feelings, no need to explain.

I haven't read about the 100 post limit being removed, but you might be right. If it has been removed I would agree with you that this should not attract too many non-Omni type posts. If it hasn't been removed, I think it may serve as a magnet for would-be Omni posters (especially of the troll variety).

Thanks for the information about the moderators' workload. If it only takes a few seconds for each thread, that is one thing. I was afraid it would take closer to about 3 minutes per thread. At 200 threads a week (just a guess out of the air) that would give the board's moderators 10 hours work each week between them.

Remember also that it would lessen the workload on moderators of standing forums. They would get fewer questions posted in the wrong place in the first place and less work on that side.

Many of our moderators put in 10 hours per week (or even more in the case of the OMNI mods when we were in high-political season!) of volunteer time, and I see no reason to expect even this level to be unduly burdensome.

robb - great idea perhaps this will "introduce" members to forums that they might not usually visit or even know exists - however, I have 2 other suggestions that may or may not be appropriate:

1) perhaps instead of assigning a couple of moderators for this "forum", maybe all mods should have mod authority and "move" threads that are appropriate to their own forums while leaving "unclaimed" threads for the 2-3 mods that are assigned to actually manage the forum.

2) instead of waiting 3 days, perhaps the threads could be moved as soon as someone "claims" the thread, of course leaving a redirect so that people (especially the OP) knows where it went to. This way the question perhaps would be answered in a more timely manner.

I think this is a fantastic idea ^ ^

I know I often have to balance competing interests - wanting traffic to see my questions and wanting them to be in the right forum (which may not see very much traffic). Newbies seem to have trouble too, as they aren't always aware of all of the subfora.

I could see this being a problem, however, if people decided to start posting EVERY question in the "AFT" forum. But that could be dealt with, if it became a problem.

As for the moderator work, I'd volunteer.

The suggestion is now being discussed in the TalkBoard.

I think this is very real danger. This already seems to happen with TravelBuzz and MilesBuzz a lot (ergo this discussion and the one on DiningBuzz, I assume).

Also consider an alternative front page which lists more forums (or groups) and less information about each forum, possibly including only the name and number of new posts. Thus, when someone new went to www. flyertalk.com, they could see all of the major forums or groups on the same screen. The current front page should be kept at a slightly different URL so that those who are familiar with it and like it's format can link to it.

I've got to believe that if someone not too familiar with the site went to a "revised" FT homepage with a question on San Francisco and saw a link to a specific forum on San Francisco, they would go to that forum to pose their question. And if someone from San Francisco went to a revised FT homepage and saw that there were new mesages in that forum, they would check them out if time permitted. And no moderator time required. I appreciate the effort the moderators put into this site and suggest that refinements in the site try to steer users (both those with questions and those who may be able to provide answers) to the most appropriate forum rather than adding to the moderators' loads.

The big advantage of the proposed forum, from my perspective, is that frequent travelers to or residents of San Francisco who don't subscribe to the San Francisco forum will see and answer the question. They might then follow it to the SFO forum and see other topics on which they could contribute. Eventually, I think we'd see more traffic in the smaller forums as a result.

Great idea
 

For what it's worth, I think this is a brilliant idea. On the (many, many, many) times I've stumbled into a thread by accident, I've often been fascinated by what I've learned. I for one would check this forum daily for my job (part of which is writing TalkMail), but I'm sure tons of other FTers would get a kick out of it, too. I hope it's not too much work for you guys, and THANKS for all the effort you're putting into its possible creation already.



^

I realize that the holidays have surely slowed things down, but is there any update on this?

I checked TownHall, but that seems to not be used anymore unless, of course, we're still waiting for that new UBB software to be installed. ;)

We are finalizing our discussion in the TalkBoard forum.

Thanks!

One possible solution could be to allow this proposed forum, if approved, to be the only forum that can be moderated by all moderators.

This way, no one moderator will be overburdened and the forum can be moderated 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

This is merely a suggestion.