This sounds like an excellent idea. My first few days navigating FT were a bit overwhelming, to be honest. Perhaps before making any concrete decisions, FTers could be shown a mock-up of what the vboard could look like in alternative configurations? That would likely assist in making an informed decision about whether a change would be worthwhile.

I'm going to take screenshots of the Miles & Points page as it looks now, so someday I can regale the newbies with tales of how we used to have to slog uphill through the snow, both ways, just to access our preferred forums. Of course, that's assuming their telegraph key is working and they click the screenshot link on their 2400 Baud modem.

For sure! With airlines with fuzzy geographics (Turkish- Europe or Mideast; EpgyptAir- Africa or Mideast)

I support the idea but am not sure how the final product would look like as it may look too cluttered.Maybe create headings in bubbles and then have whatever is suggested?

I would like to see better functionality in the organization of the forums. I would also like to see some of the really long threads archived with older posts eliminated from cluttering current content and some way of streamlining into an easier way in which to browse specific threads. At the end of the day I don't know how the moderators keep up with the traffic now as it is. As long as the search function works you could always go to an older post for any specific information.

Streamlining or rearranging the forum structure might take some time.
Can any TB member give an indication of whether they will raise this motion or second its proposal?

- are you waiting to see a proposed structure being demonstrated;
- is a proposal in the works already, just awaiting a seconder on the basis of the proposal; or
- are all TB people hoping to find a consensus model and then pass it unanimously?

I ask because there are several TB proposals which would be superseded by this, if it becomes a vote.

This is a non-issue when compared to a non-functional search feature, but thats another story, hopefully history very soon.

Just as a heads-up and without divulging any private information, I've heard via a "remote backchannel" that IB may already be working in concert with FT on a few changes similar to what has been suggested here.

I haven't seen the changes yet so if and when they are announced, I hope we can fire up this discussion yet again.

It depends on what is being proposed here.

Certainly, FT's home page ( www.flyertalk.com ) does really, really, really need a revamp, and perhaps the IndiaMike home page is a good model for that. ^

But a lot of us navigate FT without ever going through the FT home page (or hardly ever)! (I generally use My FlyerTalk or the pull-down menu in the lower right for navigating.)

Sounds like you need to learn how to use FT! It isn't that hard to navigate actually. Perhaps it's difficult for newbies, but you aren't a newbie....

We all were newbies once....

Dave

And your point is....?

(Perhaps you responded to my post without also reading the post I was responding to? One should ALWAYS take someone's remarks in the context of what they were responding to!)

I did exactly that - you acknowledged that navigation of FT *might* be difficult for newbies, whilst dismissing that it is easy for those of us who are experienced FT members.

But as I said, we were all newbies once, so anything that make things easier for newbies should be encouraged.

Dave

Does anyone on TB ,IB or behind the scenes been advised when FlyerTalk Reviews will be 'streamlined' off both the main FlyerTalk Home page and the navigation drop-down list?

I ask because such a section heading could be confusing (especially if it is now deleted).

I was commenting on how visually daunting all the forum clutter can be as a newbie. Rows upon rows of forums, sub-forums, defunct program forums, etc. do not (IMO) create the most inviting "join us and contribute" atmosphere for newbies. The information overload from displaying a gazillion forums at once can be a bit daunting if you are not used to it. That was why I voiced support for forum streamlining (assuming that a preview/visual mock-up acceptable to the majority of FTers were available beforehand).

I have no issues navigating FT today, as I know where to find all the forums I am interested in. I was merely commenting on how the present presentation of information may not be the most user-friendly configuration. It would be difficult to say what might constitute a preferable configuration without some visual mock-ups to evaluate.

Is there an expiration date on this topic? It seems it may die and we will retain the current structure until a new one is mandated.

Oh, well...

Archiving all of the discontinued forums (after rendering the truly closed ones read-only) would make navigation easier.
The archived forums could still be arranged in a tree structure similar to the main one.

Is this topic dead or merely resting?

Assuming this is still alive, I think improving the organization is a good idea. The geographic structure of the Travel&Dining destinations can particularly be improved. For example, why is Singapore a sub-forum of Asia, while Japan isn't? Last time I checked, both of them were on that continent - or, to be more precise, both of them were groups of islands just off its shores. (Since I was at both SIN and NRT yesterday, that's a fairly recent data point.)