As discussed in other threads recently, this forum needs to have it's sections recategorized, split off, and pared down.

I think we could get a more active forum out of it, and get better information presented to potential/recent buyers. Things are picking up for the GE8 in parts development at the moment too, so it's a good time to give this car a better place on the web. It will make the GD content better, as well.

Who's with me? How can we make this happen?

 

I'm with you but have no idea who will make it happen...lol

 

Split up even more? GE's Have their own sections in all applicable areas already.

 

I agree but the MODs/owners have to be on board. the GE & GD need to have their own parent & sub forums like most other places and not this "scattered" around feel. It's only going to get worse when the 3rd Gen arrives as most all GF? owners will likely not care about the GD. GE & GD sub-forum structure should mirror each other with the GE sub-forums potentially expanding down the road as needed. (This will also make it easy come the time for the 3rd Gen to be talked about)

I've been here for about a 1,1/4 years and still probably haven't found all of the GE subforums and realistically, good site design means that I shouldn't have to hunt, (or go all the way back up to the top forum level to get to more GE Content) The GD owners have it a little bit easier as the majority of top level forums, are for the GD and the GE sub-forums seem to be a "Subset" of the GD - which in itself doesn't make sense. The GE isn't a subset of the GD... if anything there should be a general "FIT" parent forum, then two equal sub forums for GE & GD owners (but in my opinion, that would "thin out" the site even more.)

The mods (from what I remember) are trying to keep the entire FitFreak membership as one community so they've Mixed all of the content together. The Theory is an "honorable" one but does not have a future as the fit lineup only expands. Those that have interest in the GD, will read the GD forums. Those that have no interest in the GD would stick to the GE forums. currently those members exist (I have minimal GD interest) but they have to wade through subforums or hop back to the top level just to get to GE content. I don't know how many times I've read thread where people just can't find what they are looking for (and were turned onto sub-forums that they, and I, didn't know even existed). search realistically only works for more experienced users as no forum search is really all that good.

The site needs a reorg... but it needs support from those in charge.

~SB

 

BUMP - thanks for adding your input. I'm not sure how to get things rolling there. It might be really difficult from a back-end standpoint.

 

The first step is usually defining the parent & Sub forums. Moving them around shouldn't be all that difficult as it usually requires moving the sub-forums, not moving individual posts.

Figuring out the directory structure and which forums do NOT need to be duplicated. (like Audio and ICE) Fortunately, the mods have already broken some of it up as there are dedicated sub forums for each model already.

for example the directory structure might begin to look something like below.

GD - 2003-2008

• Photo/video
• maintenence
• DIY & Repairs

GE - 2009 -

• Photo/video
• maintenence
• DIY & Repairs

Audio and ICE
General discussion
Wheels & Tires

~SB

 

I think it's a pretty good thing that most of the threads are'nt model specific... as a lot of infos are useful for both gens...

 

Sorry, I never saw this message from a while back. Split off, not split up. Then merging, or simplifying some of the categories. I usually can't remember where a message was, and since there is too much categorization and mixing, I have to use the search. Sorry, I can't be more specific. It's just a really hard forum to navigate and use, but overall I'm not quite sure why. The community, categorization and direction of the owners/moderators would all play into that. Then there is the whole thing about the GE starting in 2008, which is only relevant to a fraction of the user base, and confuses just about everyone who buys a fit. The site is in English and it isn't called Jazz Freak - so - wtf?

 

IDK how you guys find this place difficult to browse.....

 

Unfortunately, most of the threads ARE model specific and there are more differences between the two generations than there are similarities. Topics which do have similarities are often going to be not even specific to the fit as a car; such as AutoXing, wheels, tires, Audio & ICE.

LOL. (sorry if this was actually a serious statement but the ellipses suggest otherwise...)

One of the problems is that when the GF (or whatever comes next... wife? sorry...) the Next version of the Fit is released, or when the Fit EV makes it to the US market, it is going to compound the issues already experienced by many members (& especially new ones). Then when the Fit shuttle & Hybrid make it to market, it'll just get worse. Currently the two Generations have some things in common but the 1st & 3rd gen will have much less in common but with the way this forum is organized, the 1st-3rd gen will all be lumped together and the GE & GF will be "afterthoughts" of the GD. (will we have the "Great GD/GE/GF debate"?)

Since this is a make AND model specific forum, the Generations should be separated like a MAKE only forum would separate models. The Pilot & Ridgeline have a lot of things in common but you wouldn't lump them together (they probably have more in common than the GE & GD do).

This disorganization is going to frustrate many new members, especially as the fit lineup continues to grow.

I think it would make sense to have the following groups, especially now we know more versions of the fit are coming to market

FIT - General Fit lifestyle discussion
--- Audio & ICE
--- AutoX & Racing
--- Blah blah blah
--- Eco Driving

GD - All GD Specific discussion
---GD sub Forums

GE - all GE specific discussion.
---FIT EV
---FIT Shuttle
---FIT hybrid
---Rest of the GE Subforums

GF - when it arrives
---EV
---shuttle
---Hybrid
---Fuel Cell
---Solar Powered
---Natural Gas
---flintstone powered


or we'll end up with
GD
--GE subforum
--GE shuttle
--GE hybrid
--GE EV
--GF NG
--GF Fred Flintstone
--GF Solar
--...

It'll be a mess down the road and no one new will be able to find anything especially since the GF Solar will have only a 4x100 lug pattern in common with the GD. :-/
~SB

 

Time to revisit this as well as other things?

We are coming up on the 3rd Generation of FIT and this site is going to get messy without some form of organization. Reorg AFTER the 3rd gen arrives will be a nightmare so this needs to be done soon. Even if it means taking the forum offline for a few days.

IT really needs to be broken down into 1st gen, 2nd gen, 3rd Gen, and then all sub-forums such as performance, Photos, etc... belong under each Parent generation. Especially now with the FIT EV, Fit Shuttle being added to the 2nd Gen. will these now have their own dedicated subforums detatched from the 2nd Gen? It's only going to get worse without help.

Part of the reason I really only visit the one subforum is due to the organizational structure (or lack thereof). I'd post in more threads probably if it was more intuitively laid out.

~SB

 

weeeee i knw owell fit life YOLOW lol jp love fitfreak

 

Amazingly the man generally gets his points across, pretty effectively too.

Anyway. As a newcomer I'll say this: there's two things to think about: what you want and what you can do. I think your choice A is very simple, do you want to split things by type of discussion (perf, maintenance etc) or by generation of Fit? And as for B, if you WERE to reorg, can you map the existing tags into new categories? Any new org where you can't remap existing threads is probably not worth taking up (would you have everything in an "old" forum? not ideal).

Personally I only use while searching. I check "new posts" otherwise. Never go into the actual forums. My interest is not so specific that I would care only about, like, Suspension only; or that I would care only about GE and have no interest in GDs. Sure, some GD topics are not relevant to me - does that mean I want to block out everything they might talk about? Of course not! Why would I ignore 1/2 of the smart people on the forum? THAT would be foolish.

 

Rather than divide the forum by GD, GE, GF, and FIT EV divide it into main topics like "Announcements, Discussion, Aftermarket, Power and Performance, Handling, Projects, Resources, Communities, Sponsors and Classifies." Then have subcategories under each and have the individuals starting the threads label like " Pictures of GD's with aftermarket wheels". The only place which the generation really needs to be separated is in the classifies. Under Announcements have "Meet and greet" so we can see how many new members are joining the forum in one spot, currently this is being posted all over the place.

I myself would like a project category with all generation of Fits I like seeing what people do to modify their Fit no matter what generation.

 

Right now, with just two generations of fits, it doesn't seem too big of an issue having everything sprawled out across multiple threads. with Generations of FITS becoming more different, you'd want to separate them to make sure that first Generation information isn't mixed with 3rd gen EV info. Using the "New" posts button would work for any organization which is what makes it nice for those that wish to see everything. for those that primarily want to stick to their generation fit, this forum is a pain. The content in many cases is good, the org... not so much. it would be like lumping the Ridgeline performance and Accord Performance into one category called performance. Unless you own one of each and are looking for performance info on both regularly, you wouldn't lump them together. The 1st and 2nd Gen may share some similarities and the 2nd & 3rd gen may also share some as well. the 1st & 3rd will be more different and this will only increase. That's why it needs to be separated now like in most other forums. Check out Nissan Forums : Nissan Forum for how it should be set up. Those who still want to see everything can use the "NEW Posts" button.

The way it is lumped now, it's like having a hospital with All Front office assistants for ALL departments in one area of the hospital, with Nursing staff all in another part, and Doctors in their own wing. You want Front office staff, nurses, and doctors all specific to one specialty in their own small grouping, not spread across the entire hospital. The Bigger the Hospital gets, the more problematic it is.

~SB

 

The Ridge line and Accord are two separate models under the same manufacturer where the Fit is a single model. Since the forum is dealing with one model and several generations that segregating the generation may lead to less involvement. The Nissan Forum covers different models I was thinking more like VOLKSWAGEN GTI Forum | VW GTI Forum • VW GOLF MKVI GTI Forum • MKV GTI FORUM • MKIV GTI FORUM • MKIII GTI FORUM • MKII GTI FORUM • MKI GTI FORUM

and ClubRoadster.net - Powered by vBulletin and Ford Focus http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/ same model different generations.

 

This organization makes a whole lot of sense to me & may make it much easier to navigate the forum.

 

Hmmm not bad thats sounds great lets make it work

 

Requiring members to appropriately "Tag" threads at the beginning is a great idea but utterly futile in execution. you are likely to get 1/10th of the people we request "search first" to do this... The idea again is great but unless there is an automated system to force this (which will piss people off) it'll never happen.

The VW forum is much like what I was describing. Each "Generation"/"Version" of the GTI has it's own sub-forum. The same would be for the FIT with Generations being the big delimiter. as for the Nissan forum, I was referring to how each model has it broken down by generation and under each generation has it's own sub-forums. For Example the altima forum has sub-forums for each Generation of Altima that are quickly accessible from the main screen.

Naturally for certain items such as Audio and electronics, you won't necessarily want to separate it out as most of the discussion isn't about the fit but the Equipment put in the fit. With the primary topic being the equipment and not the car, you'd be better off to group all audio discussion together.

Granted the Ridgeline and accord are two different models but 2-3 generations from now, the similarities of the 1st gen Fit and the 5th or 6th gen fit [as far as engines, suspension, braking, bodywork, stereo, basically everything...] will be about as similar as comparing a ridgeline and Accord. (Heck, they'll likely have the same engine) Planning for the future is important in the beginning. The best way to organize so that people don't have to sift through hundreds of posts to find what they want (Thus preventing re-posts) and to keep people interested (as most people are primarily interested in their own generation of vehicle) is to organize by generation. There are a lot of good theories listed above but in practice, many won't work well, if at all.

~SB

 

Should update site for the next generation including the sedan and CUV since Honda says the next generation will be released in 2013 (except the CUV).