Special sections for building tips.

I have been following the Rabe molding threads and began thinking that it would be great if all this stuff were stored in a special section. A section devoted to building tips and technigues. What do you guys think? As an aside I would love to see a chat room as well so I could chat real-time and ask questions and generally bug some of you guys.

Glenn,
Personally, I prefer to have it all right here in one area. On some forums the range in groups gets very narrow and you have to fiddle through several groups to see what you want.
You might try copying a thread and put it into a Word file or something for your personal use. I do that.
I then place it in a folder titled "Airplane Stuff"

>I have been following the Rabe molding threads and began
>thinking that it would be great if all this stuff were
>stored in a special section. A section devoted to building
>tips and technigues. What do you guys think? As an aside I
>would love to see a chat room as well so I could chat
>real-time and ask questions and generally bug some of you
>guys.

I have been waiting for other comments here, but so far not much is happening. Makes me think there is not a lot of interest.

I can make as many categories as I want. I can set up separate conferences. Even go to full-size airplanes, ultralights, ping pong and volley ball if I wanted to (I fon't.) The biggest problem with separating all the categories is trying to find it all. And then it becomes a blur as people get confuesed. I think the product review section, which, in theory seemed like a good idea, has become that.

A separate events section is fine as people into that can look and those not into it don't need to bother. And I can delete when the event is over so the forum doesn't get cluttered. Same with classifieds. I can delete when the item is sold (or lock it down and then delete afterwards) and it doesn't clutter up the main forum.

Humor is just that. If people aren't intrested, they don't have to bother. The product review section was supposed to be there for people to give their reviews of things they have purchased and tried out. It can help other people to make an informed decision. However, people have begun to use it to ask questions, or simply to say, "Great service" or some such. The questions are better left in the main forum (that's what it is for). And the product review is better when people are able to say, "The good is...the bad is...and the ugly...but these are minor, and overall, on a scale of one to 10 I rate it as a..."

I think there are a lot of categories that we could separate out, but, for the most part, if you want building tips, just copying them to your computer when you see a good one will be a help to you. And then if people want to ask a question or drift off subject just a little (and NOBODY EVER does that, do they?) it is all right without someone saying, "you need to put this...(somewhere else)"

Agree? Disagree? This is a forum. You can all express your views. If you want, I can even set up a poll on the subject.

Having many different sections can be confusing. I do think that it would be good to have a Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) kind of forum though. If a topic looks like something people would like re-read at a later time, our host can move it to the FAQ area. Searching through thousands of topics for one particular article can be tedious and difficult.

>Having many different sections can be confusing. I do think
>that it would be good to have a Frequently Asked
>Questions(FAQ) kind of forum though. (snip)

>Steven Yampolsky

Funny you should mention that. On the new software (still waiting for the final release which was supposed to be this week) I did set up a help forum for this very purpose. A lot of people are experiencing the same "problems" with the forum, most of which have to do either with firewalls, or with the fact that their preferences are not set properly in the help menu at the top. (I keep repeating, log in, then go immmediately to the help_Menu at the top of the forum and fill out your profile and set your preferences. the first preference must be checked as "yes" in order for you to remain logged in. When people get logged out, invariably that preference was not properly checked.)

Whereas all other areas of the forum will require people to be logged in, the help forum will be the only one that will allow posting for help in getting set up or in using special features without being logged in. But it will be limited to help with the forum only.

I was actually thinking of questions that a person just getting into stunt(or looking to move up to the next level) would ask. Questions on equipment, building and finishing techniques. For example, an article that describes a proper way to setup 40VF motors(I found it in archives!) or the more recent Magnum 36 article. Article on how to finish using auto-clear would be another good example. Also Al Rabe has been posting wonderfull articles on diferent aspects of construction.

I also think a 'Forum Help' type of section separating non-stunt related topics from stunt is a great idea!

I like Steve's idea. I don't know how much work it would be though and I am sure Leonard has enough of that now. I have seen certain questions asked repeatedly in the forum and if they were put into a FAQ environment it may be useful. But when I think more about it, it doesn't matter how many times those questions are asked, they always generate more responses and debate. If they were put into an FAQ environment, all those debates/responses would be gone. I just like the idea of some of the better disetations being filed for easy finding: molded parts, prop work, engines, finishing tips, etc. I think it could enhance the forum, specially for newbies and old retread boots like myself that are out of the loop in reguards to the new way planes are built, etc. And I would still like to see a chat room, but again all this stuff takes time and effort and I don't want to intrude into Leonard's as I feel what he gives is tremendous now.