Suggestions anyone?

[Jay]

Hey everyone, just wanted to say that if you need any help in the Windows Mobile or HTC forums, feel free to PM me. I wanted to see if anyone has any ideas for how we can make all three forums run smoothly. What do you guys want to see happen?

It has been pointed out that it would be beneficial to cut down on the overlap. Should the lines be more defined, or less?

[Captain_Eric]

Glad you posted for suggestions. Overlap is a big problem.

You may need to bite the bullet and combine some forums, if that makes sense. I lean toward a hardware forum NOT liked to Carrier, and a Software Forum (eg your existing PocketPC) also not linked to Carrier. Why? Because if it IS linked to the carrier, you will end up with duplicate issues in both forums.

Other ideas:

1) add a Navigation (GPS, software, Maps, LBS) Forum, maybe subdivided into Installed Software (eg TomTom, et al) and Subscription Services (eg Telenav). Navigation and Location Based Services (LBS) are exploding in importance!

2) add a camera phone subform (that Niknon forum is a real head scratcher).

[Urban Strata]

You may need to bite the bullet and combine some forums, if that makes sense. I lean toward a hardware forum NOT liked to Carrier, and a Software Forum (eg your existing PocketPC) also not linked to Carrier. Why? Because if it IS linked to the carrier, you will end up with duplicate issues in both forums.

With all due respect, what you're suggesting would be a MASSIVE overhaul to the structure of HowardForums. For the most part, the forums are organized by carriers and device manufacturers, with a few exceptions like the smartphone forums organized by OS. I'm not sure any of us are willing to go through the pain that such a huge change would require.

1) add a Navigation (GPS, software, Maps, LBS) Forum, maybe subdivided into Installed Software (eg TomTom, et al) and Subscription Services (eg Telenav). Navigation and Location Based Services (LBS) are exploding in importance!

2) add a camera phone subform (that Niknon forum is a real head scratcher).

I like the idea of a GPS forum, but I'm not sure it needs to be divided between software and services. If a GPS forum is created, I suggest we see how much traffic it receives before dividing it any further. Also, I'm really not sure about a camera phone forum... What phone today isn't also a camera phone?

[HTC_S60_Fan]

The Nokia 2610

[Fresh-Popcorn]

I also agree that there is too much overlap.

[Captain_Eric]

No worries mate, we're brainstorming!

I agree a Navigation forum should start small and slow. See what happens. It needs to include discussion on GPS, Maps, Navigation Software, and LBS (location based services), but maybe not devices. With Nokia buying one of the world's two digital mapmakers and HTC selling devices with TomTom Navigation pre-installed, the time is coming fast (or is it here?). Then there is ubiquitous Telenav, Microsoft Live Search, Google Maps, Yahoo! Mobile Maps ....

On the camera phone, I am not so much thinking about hardware, but how you use the dang thing (GPS location stamping, uploading, sharing, tagging, etc.) and associated software. AT&T Tilt has a 3MPixel camera, enough for a recreational users sole photography needs (in my view). Others phones, with greater pixel capacity are coming.

As for the devices independent of carrier, no doubt you raise a good point: it's a big change. But, to a certain extent, AT&T and T-Mobile are already device-independent, since the carrier's SIM chip can be popped into any (unlocked) GSM phone, and presto, it's works on the GSM carrier's network. Also, with Verizon's recent open network announcement, they are headed down that path too, e. g. Sprint phones working on Verizon, etc. And, the next FCC wireless spectrum auction requires a portion of the spectrum with open access for any device. Need we mention the Google phone? So, maybe forum overlap will become more and more a problem. We'll see!

Dare I mention possible forums related music and video (software, syncing and such)?

Bottom line, devices are becoming very convergent. So HOFO is smart to think about it. Who knows, maybe it's fine without any change.

With all due respect, what you're suggesting would be a MASSIVE overhaul to the structure of HowardForums. For the most part, the forums are organized by carriers and device manufacturers, with a few exceptions like the smartphone forums organized by OS. I'm not sure any of us are willing to go through the pain that such a huge change would require.



I like the idea of a GPS forum, but I'm not sure it needs to be divided between software and services. If a GPS forum is created, I suggest we see how much traffic it receives before dividing it any further. Also, I'm really not sure about a camera phone forum... What phone today isn't also a camera phone?

[ed311]

I hate catch-all threads that run 100s of posts

[Slider76]

Well, if we were to look at this from the perspective of someone who may be logging on for the first time, I would think that the Manufacturer section should be more hardware related and the Windows Mobile section (etc.) should be more software related. It would be easy to append the name to Manufacturer/Hardware Section etc.

Also, I don't think the Carriers section really has the same overlap problem as it primarily deals with dealer specific issues, which may or may not include a particular device.

I also agree that a GPS section would be a nice addition.

[Jay]

Glad you posted for suggestions. Overlap is a big problem.

You may need to bite the bullet and combine some forums, if that makes sense. I lean toward a hardware forum NOT liked to Carrier, and a Software Forum (eg your existing PocketPC) also not linked to Carrier. Why? Because if it IS linked to the carrier, you will end up with duplicate issues in both forums.

Other ideas:

1) add a Navigation (GPS, software, Maps, LBS) Forum, maybe subdivided into Installed Software (eg TomTom, et al) and Subscription Services (eg Telenav). Navigation and Location Based Services (LBS) are exploding in importance!

2) add a camera phone subform (that Niknon forum is a real head scratcher).

I agree that the carrier specific manufacturer subforums are a source of some overlap. However they have their own niches and purpose. If someone is coming to HoFo to look for help on a device they got from their carrier, they can find it there. Since it is carrier specific, the overlap in that instance is OK. If someone is coming to look for some help with operating systems, flashing, hacking, etc., they will probably end up in either the HTC or Windows Mobile forums. That is where the issue is. We need to decide where everything belongs within these three forums, and if there is a better way to have them laid out and organized.

Everyone seems to be pretty interested in some kind of a navigation forum area. I will bring the ideas to Howard and see what he thinks will be the best way to implement them.

I agree with the others that camera phones are too much of a staple to put in a catagory of its own. As for the Niknon Photography Discussion forum, that is an independent board from HoFo. Howard is simply promoting it via announcement here.

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...I like the idea of a GPS forum, but I'm not sure it needs to be divided between software and services. If a GPS forum is created, I suggest we see how much traffic it receives before dividing it any further...

Are you guys suggesting we need a windows mobile specific navigation subforum? Or one that covers WM, Symbian, Android, etc? Maybe within the Smartphone/PDA Forums ?
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...As for the devices independent of carrier, no doubt you raise a good point: it's a big change. But, to a certain extent, AT&T and T-Mobile are already device-independent, since the carrier's SIM chip can be popped into any (unlocked) GSM phone, and presto, it's works on the GSM carrier's network. Also, with Verizon's recent open network announcement, they are headed down that path too, e. g. Sprint phones working on Verizon, etc. And, the next FCC wireless spectrum auction requires a portion of the spectrum with open access for any device. Need we mention the Google phone? So, maybe forum overlap will become more and more a problem. We'll see!

Dare I mention possible forums related music and video (software, syncing and such)?

Bottom line, devices are becoming very convergent. So HOFO is smart to think about it. Who knows, maybe it's fine without any change.

You are absolutely right about the open network phenomenon bringing need for change on the forums. I would suppose that over the next few years it will make quite an impact. For instance if carriers stop supplying locked phones, the carrier's manufacturer subforums might need to be merged with manufacturer forums. Who knows, we will see what the future brings.

Multimedia discussion sounds like a good candidate for a subforum rather than a forum. Can anyone think of a good way we could integrate the WM smartphone and Pocket PC forums? Maybe all we would need to do is have a multimedia discussion subforum in one and have a redirect to it from the others. That way we could eliminate overlap.
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I hate catch-all threads that run 100s of posts

If you see one and have an idea on how to clean it up; splitting, merging, etc., PM me and let me know. I'd be happy to take a look at it.
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Well, if we were to look at this from the perspective of someone who may be logging on for the first time, I would think that the Manufacturer section should be more hardware related and the Windows Mobile section (etc.) should be more software related. It would be easy to append the name to Manufacturer/Hardware Section etc.

Also, I don't think the Carriers section really has the same overlap problem as it primarily deals with dealer specific issues, which may or may not include a particular device.

I also agree that a GPS section would be a nice addition.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I think program related threads in th HTC forum should be moved to a program subforum within its respective windows mobile forum. Really it is whatever all of you want. Where should we draw the line between HTC and windows mobile?

[sfdteam]

Common guys! The howard forums are great, I especially like the structuring. Keep all as it is, don't make big merges, otherwise many users will be confused.

[Dette]

Well, if we were to look at this from the perspective of someone who may be logging on for the first time, I would think that the Manufacturer section should be more hardware related and the Windows Mobile section (etc.) should be more software related. It would be easy to append the name to Manufacturer/Hardware Section etc.

Also, I don't think the Carriers section really has the same overlap problem as it primarily deals with dealer specific issues, which may or may not include a particular device.

I also agree that a GPS section would be a nice addition.

I agree with you
I was new about 3 weeks ago and it was kinda confusing at first... now I know the swing of things more.. its still confusing as to where i should post a topic for example a battery issue.. took me awhile to decide where to post because i didnt know where the correct section was

[lindaa]

really ??????