Thread Structure - Free Agency Discussion

[Schneed10]

Thought I'd share an opinion on something that the mods could consider as to whether it would be an improvement to the board.

I see that all free agency reports/rumors/discussion have been consolidated to one giant mega thread. It's huge, has a ton of pages, and isn't conducive to quickly scanning the site for free agency updates. It probably grew much larger than the mods intended due to the sheer number of pointless one-line posts tacked on by the membership.

One thing that draws me to the site every day is to quickly scan the forum for new threads on free agency signings and rumors. When new threads are allowed for each report, the benefit is that it serves as a headline flash of sorts to the reader, kind of like the ESPN crawl at the bottom of the screen. But because free agency rumors and reports are all housed in one giant thread, it's more efficient for me to use Redskins Insider or other sites to get the quick Redskins-related updates.

I get the downside though. If you allow the free-for-all of threads on free agency you end up with a cluttered board, which can be a lot for the mods to manage. So it's up to you guys to consider that and I know you will, and I'll respect whatever decision you make. It's just I think the site loses a little appeal when the "headline" aspect is missing. Thanks for reading.

[mredskins]

Well they have been allowing threads for signings but I get you as well. I was reading one thread on FA and it got merged and then I was lost. Maybe restart a new thread each day? FA News for 3-11-10 then close it and start FA News for 3-12-10, just an idea.

I don't know it is a tough thing to manage.

[CRedskinsRule]

I never make useless 1 line comments!

[Trample the Elderly]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

I never make useless 1 line comments!

Dude?

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

Dude?

Agreed :smashfrea

[SmootSmack]

Started a new thread for overall NFL talk

http://www.thewarpath.net/redskins-l...s-reports.html

Feel free to start individual Redskins threads, at worst we'll just lock it...and then ban you

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

Dude?

Dude. I am serious, every one of my 4700+ posts has been of earth shattering importance, they have added deep, thoughtful dialog to this small websphere. I am awesome, always!

Now where's that snob thread again

[mredskins]

I am guilt of talking about home invasion in the FA mega merge. The thread is kind of out of control.

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Thought I'd share an opinion on something that the mods could consider as to whether it would be an improvement to the board.

I see that all free agency reports/rumors/discussion have been consolidated to one giant mega thread. It's huge, has a ton of pages, and isn't conducive to quickly scanning the site for free agency updates. It probably grew much larger than the mods intended due to the sheer number of pointless one-line posts tacked on by the membership.

One thing that draws me to the site every day is to quickly scan the forum for new threads on free agency signings and rumors. When new threads are allowed for each report, the benefit is that it serves as a headline flash of sorts to the reader, kind of like the ESPN crawl at the bottom of the screen. But because free agency rumors and reports are all housed in one giant thread, it's more efficient for me to use Redskins Insider or other sites to get the quick Redskins-related updates.

I get the downside though. If you allow the free-for-all of threads on free agency you end up with a cluttered board, which can be a lot for the mods to manage. So it's up to you guys to consider that and I know you will, and I'll respect whatever decision you make. It's just I think the site loses a little appeal when the "headline" aspect is missing. Thanks for reading.

I agree and have brought it up before too. Much easier to find news for the reader, for the search engines, etc if they get their own headlines.

Matty does a good job with the news forum, but face it, we all go into the Locker Room first and look around probably. Maybe if the news allowed discussion as well, for the "2nd tier" topics. Splits a lot of the discussion up though and wouldn't be fun to bounce back and forth.

[SmootSmack]

Well I think it's definitely gotten a little big and I have wondered if it makes sense to close that thread and start a new one.

Not to speak for Matty or the other mods, but I would say that you shouldn't be afraid to start a new thread if there's a) an official signing or even b) an official visit planned. That type of info can live in two places. Even a rumored visit, like Antonio Bryant.

What we don't want is to clutter the board with multiple threads of "what about this guy" or "this guy just got cut" and even "X player not from the Redskins is interested in another team that's not the Redskins" I mean if Charlie Whitehurst is visiting the Cardinals and Seahawks, is that thread worthy? No

To that end though, I thought it made more sense to keep the Redskins and general NFL free agency rumors and reports threads together because the information overlaps a lot.

Matty, what do you think?

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Well I think it's definitely gotten a little big and I have wondered if it makes sense to close that thread and start a new one.

Not to speak for Matty or the other mods, but I would say that you shouldn't be afraid to start a new thread if there's a) an official signing or even b) an official visit planned. That type of info can live in two places. Even a rumored visit, like Antonio Bryant.

What we don't want is to clutter the board with multiple threads of "what about this guy" or "this guy just got cut" and even "X player not from the Redskins is interested in another team that's not the Redskins" I mean if Charlie Whitehurst is visiting the Cardinals and Seahawks, is that thread worthy? No

To that end though, I thought it made more sense to keep the Redskins and general NFL free agency rumors and reports threads together because the information overlaps a lot.

Matty, what do you think?

I agree with this. I actually suggested the merge before it happened. Yeah it's big and cluttered, but prior to the merge there were so many FA-related threads that I couldn't really find a spot for legit discussion really.

Maybe if we had like 3 or 4 threads with different categories:
1) Players visiting
2) Players cut (by the Skins or anyone else)
3) Players signed
4) Who's out there that you'd like to see signed

That wouldn't be too cluttered on the main-page, and would give posters some direction. Just my two cents.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by GMScud

I agree with this. I actually suggested the merge before it happened. Yeah it's big and cluttered, but prior to the merge there were so many FA-related threads that I couldn't really find a spot for legit discussion really.

Maybe if we had like 3 or 4 threads with different categories:
1) Players visiting
2) Players cut (by the Skins or anyone else)
3) Players signed
4) Who's out there that you'd like to see signed

That wouldn't be too cluttered on the main-page, and would give posters some direction. Just my two cents.

Unfortunately people are going to create their own damn threads, like multiple Colt Brennan ones.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Unfortunately people are going to create their own damn threads, like multiple Colt Brennan ones.

Of course, but the mods could quickly lock all the extra crap.

[tryfuhl]

I agree with you on Player X going to visit the Jags

but if someone is cut, I think that's somewhat worthy, I mean only discussion official team actions? we speculate in threads like the rebuild our offensive line, etc.. I mean yeah you might not want one for every cut, but if the person can make the argument that he'd be a good fit, maybe it's worthy.. hard to say because I have seen the threads that you're probably thinking about when you say it's not worthy

the first page covers about 2 weeks of content so I don't think it'd go too insane if some new threads were made, it IS hard to navigate/follow with only 8 threads that are 20 pages or more active.. I do understand the redundancy with more threads though (like when people complain "we're already discussing that in blah blah thread")

I think that the first set of mergings for the FA threads was good.. there was a Skins FA thread and an NFL FA thread, that made a lot of sense to me

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

I agree with you on Player X going to visit the Jags

but if someone is cut, I think that's somewhat worthy, I mean only discussion official team actions? we speculate in threads like the rebuild our offensive line, etc.. I mean yeah you might not want one for every cut, but if the person can make the argument that he'd be a good fit, maybe it's worthy.. hard to say because I have seen the threads that you're probably thinking about when you say it's not worthy

the first page covers about 2 weeks of content so I don't think it'd go too insane if some new threads were made, it IS hard to navigate/follow with only 8 threads that are 20 pages or more active.. I do understand the redundancy with more threads though (like when people complain "we're already discussing that in blah blah thread")

I think that the first set of mergings for the FA threads was good.. there was a Skins FA thread and an NFL FA thread, that made a lot of sense to me

If you can make argument he's a good fit, sure. If you're just telling us some dude got cut then no

I have an idea, but first I need to do some work.