1000% agree. That's why I use the search feature! But, I also try not to post in those old threads. I just glean the info and move on. It'd still be nice to know if it's an old thread. That way I don't go diving into a For Sale thread about a guy trying to sell his TZ for $2500 just to find out the thread is 3 years old.

As far as them still being discussed.....they are, people have just started new threads. If you search for "price bubble", you'll see what I mean.

I don't use the sub forums...I like it the way it is. I agree with if it ain't broke leave it alone!! The only thing I would like to see is an easier search to find older posts that you would like to revisit.

Phoebe

Hey Robin-great idea! I am new to pinside and have seen a lot of repetitive topics. Being new it is new to me-but to some other pinheads it is a topic that has been discussed numerous times and probably is getting old. Mabye have side margin up by ask loyd where newbies like myself can ask what is best to use to clean playfeilds or simple q and a to guy like loyd- instead of making whole topic about it? Mabye little icon that says newbies ask questions here-ha ha. Seems to be a lot of topics that are simple answers-just my opinion. Thank you for this wonderful website and keep up the good work.

Well, the biggest benefit of the sub-forums for all of us that use the main page is it allows us to deselect groups. This will only help that.

Lots of work for mods though so this should get the thumbs up from them before you do it.

How about a separate forum(s) for people wanting to discuss early solid state era pins.
i.e. pre DMD
or break it up further
1978-1984 early S/S (up until about the time when most of the majors switched MPU systems)
1985-1990 (BLY 6803, WMS Sys9/11, & GTB Sys80A/B) Alpha-Numeric era
1991 to 1999 (Post DMD introduction thru to end of WMS/BLY era)
2000 to present (modern era)

I like the current layout, but it would be great to have a category called "Complaints" for people to talk about prices, quality issues, etc.

I like it the way it is. I think too many sub-forums can make a site into a bit of a mess.

I do think there should be a dedicated forum for tournament talk, though. I know this could go under "events" but there are various topics relating to tournament play that could theoretically go under several of the proposed categories, yet may only be of interest to serious tournament players. For example one might start a thread promoting a tournament (in "Events") and another might start a thread asking "what's the best way to set up Jack-Bot for a herb style tournament?" which I assume would go under "game setups," and still another might start a thread about tournament etiquette, and I have no idea where that would go? Or how about a thread about playing strategies on a game set up for tournament play? Right now that might be discussed in the gameplay forum, but the difference between home/route play (taking EBs and various rules that may typically be changed for tournament play into account) and playing in a tournament is pretty large and might confuse some people. I think having a one-stop forum for all things relating to tournaments would be a good idea, especially considering how much the tournament scene has been exploding in recent years.

Sub forums on Pinside aren't really forums at all, they're filters.

They allow you to exclude a specific subject (The forum title, by un-checking the box next to it), or include only that subject (by clicking on the forum title). For example, if you don't like price check threads, uncheck the "buying and selling advice" forum and you should start to see fewer price check threads.

No matter how many forums there are, the front page will always look the same until you start un-checking forum titles. Adding forums (filters) only serves to make it easier to either find the posts you care about, or ignore the ones you don't care about.

i prefer it the way it is..

I think the new extra sub-forums/categories would be great. I seem to be in the same boat as others, in that most days the main front page is what I view... But there are at least a good 5-7 days a month that I'm in the mood to dive deeper into either restoration or market topics, so the sub-forums help a LOT.

All in all, two thumbs up from me for the new ideas, Robin!

I normally follow the first 2 pages. I do like the idea of a tech sub-forum. Keep up the great work Robin.

I'm kinda new around here and still learning heaps.

Any use for Game specific advice or Tech threads?
I've seen lots of posts asking for advice when purchasing a new machine- ie what to look for.
Game specific repair guides/logs??

I've found the search engine not that effective - can that be improved?

Scott

Nicely Put 0-din

I must admit I'm like others on here. Unless I'm looking for something specific and do a search, I only ever look at the first page to see what latest things have been posted, then check my own favourites.

However, as far as I can tell, what your proposing won't really effect this, as I can still look in exactly the same way.

Great site whatever, so well done chap.

Like rancegt said, as the sub-forums work like filters I don't see the harm in having more of them.
Getting people to put threads in the right place might be difficult though.
Maybe it would help if people, when starting a thread, have to specify the subforum before letting them type anything else.
I think a lot of people normally just forget to do that because it is one of the options on a quite busy screen.

Add these manufacturer categories: Bally, Chicago Coin, Gottlieb, Classic Stern, Williams, Bally/Williams, Other(for Zaccaria,Sonic, Playmatic, Segasa. etc.).

like many have said, I like the manufactures change and adding them all under one main sub heading. I also like the idea of breaking down the EM forum. HDC suggested by decades but I think you could have all the manufactures under EM and tech.

Need to think about the rest for a while. Maybe get more details and ideas. Your ideas usually turn out great though.

I like your new ideas! If a change just dosn't work out, get rid of it. You've done an outstading job on this site so far so go for it. Pinside has replaced Facebook in my life. Much more interesting reads here. Thanks again for all your hard work Robin!

Mike

Probably expect to see double the traffic if PinballBash doesn't renew their Domain name....

I do this most of the time.

Robin I think issues with new machines and or codes should have its own check box due to a lot of people get very angry in those threads as they are very polarized.

Also Agree with Markmon tech is fine as just tech. With the search function this seems to be enough for me also.

OT: Amazing site and great resource. Pinside is the new (old) RGP. I left RGP in favor of smaller forums like the bash and pinside because of the trolls on RGP the better structure and capabilities. Keep up the great work.

On Topic, I suggested a sub-forum for coordinating pinball transportation. Whenever I need to move a pin, I will post where I'm headed, when I'm going and what carrying capabilities I have take additional machines. It almost always results in a win-win for all involved, Deals get made that otherwise might not have, people save money, and everyone's happy. I suggest adding it under marketplace or in a forum of it's own. I like the name "pin wheels" but whatever you think.

I like the Restoration tab idea. Machine common problems and fixes (mods) would be helpful also.

Most of my time on here is spent on the first two main pages. Change can be considered good, and has worked well in the past. Go for it Robin!!!

Don't forget a Members Only sub-forum

I get the feeling that people don't really understand that they are just filters really, hence my thoughts that having more of them would just be more confusing.

Honestly, I feel like once a day is the proper rate someone should be checking forums as populous as pinside. The way you have the main list paginating, that typically spans 2 pages. I don't think that there is much you can do to reduce the volume of info someone has to consume when it is already as small as 2 pages of info once a day.

I prefer to keep the front page as everything mixed like it is now. Then others still have the option to view particular categories while us addicts can view the whole deal the way it is presently.

I'd like to see a category for recycling. I get the feeling a lot of pinballers toss defective/broken boards, ramps etc. because they don't know what to do with them. Be nice to get those to someone who can fix them and keep the parts supply alive.

love the site the way it is! keep up the great work!!!
thanks!!!

Great site. I see that there is already some effort that goes into linking threads to the machines being discussed. I think that is an excellent idea, but I have not been able to see where this 'tagging' can be used in a search for instance?

For me, In addition to the current filters, I would love to have tick-box categories available for posts that relate to just the machines that I am interested in - maybe set in the same way we can select tech, etc. at the moment. Even easier, if there was some way of linking Current Collection to an auto category filter?

I hope this makes sense??? I just woke up!

I'd like to see a "Pinball News" category, mostly just so I can label posts as such. And look for news there.

Don't know if some kind of a transport availability site would work? Being collectors here, I would think most would be careful moving a game? We might be cheaper and quicker amongst ourselves vs the freight boys. We have Don and Brian making long runs sometimes, but not when I happen to come across a game I would like. I would have probably bought a little more if I could coordinate shipping and price being a little cheaper. Had Brian drop off a game a couple years ago, it was a big help price wise, time wise, and knowing someone cared about my game as they were moving it.

I think it works fine as is

Yeah, but think about all the great karma points he gets by telling us it has been moved!

Is that a "Second motion" on a "Pin Wheels" pinball transport coordination sub-forum?

oops, I should have read more......But yes, a 2nd motion.

Great minds think alike.

I like it the way it is. I just skim down page one a few times a day and never use the sub forums. I think adding dozens of subs would be silly.

I'm following you and like the proposed changes. Being able to filter my topics provides more personalization. This is particularly helpful when the main page is simply too busy to keep up.

"Owners clubs" was inevitable, and one I'm looking forward to.

I'm also with Mr. Bally's recommendation of adding past manufacturers. They're gone, but still live on in various ways.

We definitely need some sort of "Pinball Price Bubble" forum, so I can turn it off.

Maybe regional forums?

New England, South, Mid-west, West Coast, etc. maybe international subs like Europe, Canada.

Would help a lot with local trading and meetups.

Also, no offense, but I think 'Koog' should be removed as a main section of the site and be replaced with 'Dear Llyod' to shine more light on that feature.

I would respectfully disagree with that one.

That is so people in the Netherlands can easily read the site. ( Robin's home country, our founder and fearless leader ).

LTG : )

Nahhh, moving threads is easy. It's just taking the time to do it.

The sub-forums will be great, the organization will be great for searching topics.

I, like many others, mainly look at the overall 'combined' forum page...

Maybe, to keep the stored data down, topics that are greater than, say, 3 months old that have less than, say, 10 posts can be deleted...? This will keep the old 'classic' topics alive, but will weed out the chaff...?? Could use a sliding scale to delete 'dead' topics... no one posted for a year and less than 20 posts: delete... Maybe a post per month of idleness as the delete line...?

The only issue I see with this is for the people new to pinside or people surfing for information. Sometime those old and dead threads contain information that is very useful to the newbies. I speak from experience.

My only suggestion to pinside would be for threads started in an specific forum such as market place to stay in market place and not get recycled in the main forum. I feel like a jackass every time I bump my want ad in the market place because everyone has to see it on the main page.

Maybe the auto-deletion, if it's useful, should be category based... i.e. a for sale ad would auto delete quicker than one in technical help... Maybe technical help shouldn't delete at all...

I imagine as the nunmber of posts grow the amount of memory needed to save EVERYTHING will rise exponentially... but maybe that's not a problem...?

I personally don't like where the "sticky" threads are any more.
From a design/visual standpoint they look nice, but from a functional/user standpoint they are no good.
I forget they are there and rarely look at them now

Would love to have an Early EM hangout!

Pinball events/clubs/locations and Game/location seem to much like the same thing easy for some one to get mixed up.

Maybe an game only one and events/clubs/locations.

Just wondering.... Would it be possible to have the user go straight to the last post when opening a thread??? Such as when opening a thread with more than one page.. goto the last page on the thread rather than having to click the last page once the thread is opened....

click on green box rather than thread title

Another suggestion to help is a "new topics with no replies" button. That way tech help guys can easily find any unanswered questions.