Thread Organization Poll

[nizerims]

I found this forum in late 2012 and joined as a supporting member in 2013. At that time there were only like 40 pages of threads to read through so it wasn't hard to go back to find a specific thread I was looking for. As time has passed and more members have joined our community we now have 171 pages containing 3400+ threads and its becoming quite a task to find threads from the past that contained good information.

On December 16th, member Ahsholay asked a question about Thread Organization and why all the threads weren't separated into categories (such as Suspension, Power Train, Tires and Wheels, Accessories, Body Mods, Paint and Trim) like the Buick Encore forum.





Sal Collaziano Said

I can definitely do the same thing I did with the Encore to the Regal if that's what people want. But it needs to be a "majority" that wants the change. I try to do what's best for the masses...

So I have us all gathered here today to ask you fine folks to please vote on how you feel about the layout of the 2011+ Regal forum....


Do you like it the way it is and we should keep it that way?

OR

Do you like the look of the Encore forum and think we should change to something similar?

 

[stoopid]

At this time it doesn't seem to be an issue, but on a long enough timeline it could. I say *could*, because this generation is nearing its end and I wonder if a 2017+ Regal section will be created, and all the 2011+ threads dumped into the existing 'old' Regal section.

 

[nizerims]

Well its really hard, but I'm not going to think about myself for a second......

Picture this,,,, Its the year 2025 and Joe Blow just gets his drivers license. He's been working part time after school at the marijuana factory and saving his money up so he can buy the car one of his neighbors have been trying to sell for over a year. A black 2012 Regal GS. He wanted an iCar or a Teslagoogle, but his dad thinks the Regal would be a nice first car for Joe. The Regal is super cheap because of the stupid manual transmission and in 2025 it is politically incorrect to own anything black in public. The Regal has 126,000 miles and the owner is only asking 49,999.95 United States Trea$ury Credits.

Joe Blow buys the Regal and is pumped to start modifying things and make it his own. The first thing he wants to do is fix the left headlight that was damaged during the great garbage avalanche of 2023, but he can't figure out how to remove the front fascia to gain access to the headlight bolts. Puzzled, Joe jumps on the internets seeking experienced guidance and finds buickforums.com.

By this time Sal has changed the name of this forum to the 2011-2016 Buick Regal / Regal GS Forum (fifth generation). The forum has 1767 pages with 38,874 threads. Joe tries the search tool but comes up with nothing. He tried advanced search but there were too many boxes to click it was confusing to him so he gave up.

Needing answers quick to his problem he starts a new thread entitled "2012 GS headlamp removal".... It took 24 hours to get a few replies to his thread and by that time he already figured out how to remove the fascia, but with that behind him he can start the mods. So he starts a new thread about tires. And then he starts a new thread about the cabin filter. And then he starts a new thread about the BPV. And then he starts a new thread about LED bulbs. And then he starts a new thread about changing the oil. And then he starts a new thread about a compact spare tire and a new thread about navigation updates and a new thread about condensation in the headlamp and a new thread about what is the best tune and a new thread about shifting noises and a new thread about wiper blades and a new thread about brake pads.............

______________________________________________________________

For the future of this forum my vote is for categories ...... I don't hate it the way it is, but we need change. The same questions are getting asked over and over and over. Instead of one or two really good threads full of answers and information we have 25 threads on the same damn topic and 24 of those end with the same exact answer/part#/link. It's a waste of my time now. It's a waste of Joe Blow's time in the future. And it's a waste of space on the internets that could be used to store good wholesome down to earth gluten free porn.

 

[sweetness34]

I personally don't have an issue with the way it is setup or finding old threads, but I also don't mind spending some time to research it. However I do see where the categories have value. Part of the reason I like the way it is, is because I can jump on the forum and see what's going on. I don't always have something I'm looking for but when Kranz decides he needs more power and I like to hear what he plans to do or has discovered wont work. Yea I know I could go into the powertrain section to find that but then I need to do the same to see whats new with the suspension, and the lighting and..... whatever else. Is it possible to keep it as is but have better filtering? I don't know anything about the back end of forums so I apologize if that's a stupid question. If that's not possible I won't lose sleep over the change.
Another option I've seen on other threads is they have one "sticky" at the top and within that thread it has a breakdown between categories and links to everything and that constantly gets updated.

 

[kranz38]

I feel that I'm on here often enough to filter out the garbage, however, I really do think categorizing is the best way to go for people that don't jump on here a lot. It might take an extra 5 minutes on the forum to see whats new in each topic, but hell... that's why we come here.

By the way, I need to make another thread on things to look out for when I purchase my new regal.

 

[nizerims]

Bump for more votes.

 

[stoopid]

Well...

The search engine isn't *that* broke. Plenty of people, including me, have used it with great success. Even with different categories, the sub-forums will still have multiple pages and depending on the topic could have MANY pages/threads. What then? If the search engine is that broke/unused/useless, then we mind as well just fold up shop and go back to ... (?)

It's a bit of a red herring and exaggeration to say "things are this bad". Sub-forums will not guarantee people who (won't) don't use search engines will suddenly use it. There will always be a percent of membership that register and immediately post their question, out of laziness and (frankly) selfishness. Sub-forums do not remotely address the underlying problem.

I post this from my experience as an admin and moderator for much larger forums where these issues and discussions occurred often. There isn't a section on this forum so busy and cluttered that it needs to be further broken down. Additionally, such subdivision always results in a catch-all "general discussion" sub-forum which ends up becoming the dumping ground for most new member threads, usually prefaced with "I don't know which forum this goes in...". Again, usually motivated by laziness and a selfish desire to just get the information ASAP [although on occasion it's because the issue is actually none-of-the-above].

I'll also remind the membership that moving threads has to be done by hand, so it's a lot of time out of Sal's life to accomplish the creation of these sub-forums and moving of the appropriate threads to them. Then add the new overhead to maintain the topics (moving of threads will then need to be done more regularly). In light of the perceived problem not actually being related to the proposed solution, and the fact even trying it requires a significant expenditure of effort, I hereby propose the idea is bunk. 😉

 

[Mackiesback]

I dunno, I guess this forum doesn't strike me as busy enough to deem it necessary. But, for as little as I use it, I am not a supporting member, I say let the people who pay for it decide.

For us non-turbo guys it's pretty much floor mats and snow tires and move along.....LOL!

 

[nizerims]

 

[ImminentFailure]

I had a 2011 Regal for 3 years, my best friend just got a used 14 and I'm trying to research lighting and if the 14 requires CANBUS error correcting LED's to prevent bulb out warnings like my 2011 did. I've done 7 searches and came up dry. I wish there was categories.

I moved to a 14 Terrian last year and the Terrain forum has sub categories. It also has a 'Show unread posts since last visit' feature that works great. Adding that to this forum should solve the issue for those who want to easily see 'what's new'. without having to navigate to each 'category'. I jump on there maybe once a week and click 'Show unread posts since last visit' and gives you a list of the threads / topics that have new posts in it all on one page. It's beautiful.

 

[stoopid]

... I'm trying to research lighting and if the 14 requires CANBUS error correcting LED's to prevent bulb out warnings like my 2011 did. I've done 7 searches and came up dry. I wish there was categories.

Did you ever actually find anything on this forum regarding that? Search obviously only works if there's content related to the keywords.

There are/were 8 results with "CANBUS" in the 2011+ forum:

 

[ImminentFailure]

Not to derail this thread/poll but yes I saw those then expanded my search as no one directly asked about it nor mentioned it. I ended up reading about 16 threads. About 3 of those someone had asked about LED's for their 2014+ and people gave them bulb numbers for the 2011-2013.

From my research it sounds like you need CANBUS / Error correcting in the license plate lights and maybe in the DRL since they are an 'always on' bulb that is monitored. Reverse bulbs don't seem to be monitored and I found my old thread for me 2011 reverse cree bulbs that were $40 and not CANBUS correcting and I had no issues.

The 7443 socket with halogen DRL for the non HID 2014 headlamp is really putting me over a barrel. Looks like no one on here found an LED bulb that worked.

 

[stoopid]

Did you ever actually find anything on this forum regarding that? Search obviously only works if there's content related to the keywords.

I asked because you implied that not finding results = needing categories. My point is that categories won't help you find content that isn't there.

... I'm trying to research lighting and if the 14 requires CANBUS error correcting LED's to prevent bulb out warnings like my 2011 did. I've done 7 searches and came up dry. I wish there was categories.

There will always be a need for new/specific threads. Sometimes the information is scattered throughout too many existing threads or too specific for a few keywords in a search. Typically on forums that's when you switch to different keywords (as it appears to did), or start a new thread. [or hijack one 😉 ]

 

[ImminentFailure]

Very true. And categories are only as good as users posting in the correct category. Pro's and cons for sure.

I believe my point with categories was that quite a bit of my information was found not using the search function because the OP really did not use keywords, or instead of a respondent saying 'you need CANBUS or ERROR FREE' they said 'you need these, *insert link*' and then someone replied 'great those worked'. I felt like I was decoding the story lol. A lot of info was found in threads titled things like 'New to me Regal' , then the OP clearly made a post about lighting upgrades. In a perfect world that 'new to me regal' given the nature of the OP inquiry would have been in a Lighting category. The hope is if you don't use keywords, and things are left generic, if they are put in the right category you are at least 'combing through' relevant material and not an entire forum and every topic ever.

Hopefully that explains what I was getting after a little better is all. Thanks for the feedback too, appreciate it.

 

[nizerims]

 

[MikeC725]

I vote we need categories.

I'm such a dumb azz. I voted yes instead of No. See what getting old and not reading the whole thing does...........

 

[nizerims]

Isn't that exactly how George W. got elected for a second term? 😉





(for those that don't understand my humor,,,,,,,,,, It was a joke.)

 

[MikeC725]

Isn't that exactly how George W. got elected for a second term? 😉





(for those that don't understand my humor,,,,,,,,,, It was a joke.)

I thought that was Chad's fault...............

 

[nizerims]

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I moved to a 14 Terrian last year and the Terrain forum has sub categories. It also has a 'Show unread posts since last visit' feature that works great. Adding that to this forum should solve the issue for those who want to easily see 'what's new'. without having to navigate to each 'category'. I jump on there maybe once a week and click 'Show unread posts since last visit' and gives you a list of the threads / topics that have new posts in it all on one page. It's beautiful.

This is exactly what the "New Posts" tab up top does...

Otherwise... I have one question before moving further on this... Can anyone tell me their thoughts on how the Encore forum is doing after the change to subcategories was made? What's your assessment? Since it's not exactly "BUSY" - did it help or hurt?