IWC - Honda Forums General Section

With the recent changes made to the board, many useful sub boards were deleted or merged to others in Cars In General. The following is a list of those sub boards:
N20/Turbo/Superchargers
JDM Motor & Parts info/chat
Interior/Audio/Security
Let's Get Technical
Exterior/Bodykits/Lighting
Wheels/Tires/Suspension
Hot-To's and Walk-Through's

Most of these boards were used frequently on a daily basis, having 5-10 new threads started alone each day. As part of AF, the Honda/Acura forums have a higher hit/post count each day than any other car make of the whole site. This is because of the large abundance of H/A cars owned around the world, large aftermarket support, and large variety of engine modification and swaps available. Not only does the new change make it harder for H/A owners to find information and questions they've asked, but it also makes it harder for owners of other cars to find information also.

Now I can understand where the Wheels/Tires/Suspension and Audio/Security would be merged into the general car boards, because those (for the most part) are not completely car specific questions and can mostly generalized questions. But even for the N20/Turbo/Superchargers does the general car enthusiest know how our motors will respond to FI, which kits are available, which parts are available to buy to build the motors or fuel management? More than likely they don't, of course some will and there's no doubt about that. but the way the forums were before, people will get their information faster and get better information from people who have done it before.

For the JDM Motor & Parts info/chat and Let's Get Technical forums, there are so many different motors available from Honda (the makers of Acura); there are series from B's, C's, D's, F's, H's, K's, and ZC's; with many different variations of each. Each of those engines are regularly be swapped into any civic from 88-present (with exception to the C's which are mostly or all NSX rwd motors). And with so many different modifications to those motors available, whether it be NA or FI, that it only makes since to have it's own sub board for all the things performance wise you can do to our cars. There is no other car that I know of that has so many different variations with respect to engine performance. This is why I believe these sub forums should not be just thrown in with a general car Engineering/Technical forum. Those sub forums that were once part of H/A exclusivley, because they were car specific. And I feel loosing a car specific forum throws out the importance of having information readily available and more importantly easy to find; for everyone. As I mentioned before, it's going to make it harder for other car owners to find posts and information as well, when they have to sift through all the H/A topics to try to find information. Organization wise it just doesn't make sense to make things that much more difficult.

To me it's all about how easy the information is to get to and how that information is categorized to best suit everyone's needs. And I just don't feel that the way things were changed makes things easier, I think it make things harder.

Here are some other suggestions of how things could be combined to cut down on lower posts in certain boards. A car Appearance/Security/Sound forum combining Interior/Audio/Security and Exterior/Bodykits/Lighting. Engine/Modification/Forced Induction forum combining N20/Turbo/Superchargers, Let's Get Technical, Hot-To's and Walk-Through's(as a stickey or sub forum possibly), and JDM Motor & Parts info/chat. This alone would cut down 5-6 forums into 2, yet still be reasonable enough for people to find the info that they are looking for.

I'd like to end this by saying I'm not trying to insult anyone or say that Hondas/Acuras are better and deserve more space than anyone else, and I hope I don't come off like that. I just think that since we tend to post more often, post more topics, and have more enthusiests who come to AF that we deserve to have our own sub forums organized in a way that helps us get to our massive amount of information easier and faster. This would also help others with different cars in the same way. To me it's all about how easy the information is to get to and how that information is categorized to best suit everyone's needs. And I just don't feel that the way things were changed makes things easier, I think it make things harder. I'd like to thank everyone for reading this and sharing your opinion, and adding anything that I have over looked. And ask that AF please reconsider changing things the way they used to be. Thank you.
~Aaron (CivicSpoon)

Voted Yes.

You'll find it's better the way it is now.

I've been a member for almost 2 years and while that may not be a long time to some of you, I practically lived on the honda/acura subforums, and COT. Now I always loved the layout of AF everything was so easy to navigate and had car specific forums for honda/acura. I was permanently on here reading, learning, and sometimes helping. Well to make a long story short since the change last weekend this is the first time I have logged on since I found everything changed around, it is no longer user friendly, I find it to be a step backwards from what we had in the acura/honda section. I no longer have a desire to log on because to tell you the god honest truth I feel, as do many others, that the organization of the H/A subforums sucks now.




Will

Yeah, I think its messed up now. I don't even see the reasoning behind it......

:iagree:i definately agree that it was better the way it was. If it ain't broke don't fix it. and i don't know of anyone that was complaining on the format before.
I vote that the changes have gone from good to bad.

Yup, if it ain't broke, don't turn it into junk.

J Swigz - Better now? How?

I voted yes. J Swigz...how is it better now? Explain yourself at once! lol ;)

I also voted yes.

The Honda/Acura sub forums have always welcomed other car owners to check out our new topics. But there are so many new posts and topics daily, we almost need our own sub forums. I'm not trying to be an elitist or anything but the activity level in our old sub forums should show that they were necessary.

Please put it back the way it was.

I haven't been here that long but I agree with everyone else..It was better before. The seperate boards for H/A turbo/supercharging and suspension etc. where very helpful and easy to navigate.

*bump*

Spread the werd ppl! ;)

Hey, JSwigz is a mod so of course he's going to folllow the 'company line'. It's probably against the rules for mods to badmouth the site.
But yeah, the new layout sucks. Change it back, please.

*bump* :)

Geez! *bump* again!!

Yup, if it ain't broke, don't turn it into junk.

J Swigz - Better now? How?
I agree old way this new one sucks the wild moose!

The very heavily used Honda acura tech area is now a dirty orgy of mismoshed car stuff.

I can't understand it and I want reasoning on why it was done.

The new setup is a step backwards. Why would anyone change it?.........................fISH

I hate the change. Can we please fix it back the way it was?

Wow i'm seein a large gap! LoL keeep it com'n!

guys don't forget to vote in the one in my sig, its pretty much the same thing as this one but a little more general, anyway I voted that it should go back to the old way in this one and mine. you should do the same. Its not like voting in one takes away from the other they are for the same thing. so the more votes the better in both polls.

I voted on your thread to! :)

Yup I voted on yours too, first day it was up.
Also want to thank everyone who's voted so far. Hopefully we can get enough votes to get this changed back to the way it was.

I voted in all three.....what an amazing response by the admins and mods.

LoL i know right

Yes bring back the old way. 100% not liking this new format layout AF is doing. - brody

I bet you those 4 votes are the mods/admin lol

I think Beastiek2 voted for keeping it the same, unless the mods deleted 1 from the change list and moved it to the not change list. Cause it was 24-3 this morning. But I know 1 of those 4 votes was done not even a minute after I posted this here, at least the person could have read what I wrote before voting (maybe it was Superman with their high speed reading). But either way people vote, it is their opinion and that's what this is here for no matter how someone votes.

I voted I liked the old way of course -

I also remember it being 24-3 but regardless I think its pretty obvious which choice is getting more votes. Now if only an administrative member actually tried to do something about it...

New layout sucks. But most of all, do you guys remember the old format of the posting/features itself about a year ago? I got so pissed off when that change was made. The replies and all were all changed around. Ahh! I see new posts ang get mad when I see that they have nothing to do with my type or car or stuff. Blah! Lets boycott! uhh nah we cant do that. lol. Ive been here a while and to ME the changes have gone from GOOD to BAD to WORSE. Whats next? ONE single forum for the whole site titled "Anything Automobile Related"?

LoL i remember how it was changed a year ago. I dont think anyone did the poll to see if they liked it or not? Anyways the mods/admin wont do anything about it till the vote ends in october 21 i think. SO hopefully they'll do something about it.

I voted I liked the old way of course -
Oh yeah that's what I ment but I think your vote went the opposite way and ended up in the no change list.
Damn wish I hadn't had the poll end when i did, should have done 30 days instead of 40 (or 45 can't remember which I did).

Another bad thing is ALL the stickys from the Exterior/Body Kit/Lighting forum got lost. I mean, their all gone. I know the Body Kit website and aftermarket lighting:color temp and usable light output stickies where viewed quite a bit and many people found them helpful...and now poof....gone. The info is lost in AF cyber space and requires a bit of extensive searching to find.

Wy should all this info, some of it 3 years in the making, be lost becuase of some pointless change. If any people get mad I think this change is stupid, sorry, but thats how I feel.

I Know 2 stickys, one (Body Kit websites) viewed over 27,000 times since Dec 2001 and 1 (aftermarket bulbs:color temperature and usable light output) viewed about 2,400 times since Jan 2004, are lost.
The only way to find them is through search for all threads started by the thread starter, and then you have to know who it is.

If anyone still wants to view these Old stickys, I've searched and here are the links.
Body Kit Websites
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=15633&highlight=Body+Kit+websites
aftermarket bulbs:color temperature and usable light output
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=177538

I include these as an Example of what kind of Information was Lost.


Now all this info will have to be re-type, people will reask the questions, why not just keep them there, those where very resourcful thread, and now many a resourcful thread is lost, not to mention the forums are harder to Navigate...


I mean, why are Integra and RSX the same forum (I know the RSX is still called the Teg in japan). They are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. These knew changes probably serve there purpose of clearing server space, but the are awful changes!!!

I HOPE THEY CHANGE THE HONDA FORUMS TO THE WAY THEY WERE!!! These new changes are horrible, an no one will convice me otherwise.

Saying the new changes are better is just a furgal attempt at sell people on a change for the worse, similer to if they told you driving was outlawed but "it was for your own good."

Change the forums back the the old way they were, and DO IT ASAP...thats my vote...yes, change them back!!!!!!

^ Great you are exactly right. I am not a member as long as most of yas, but I feel like I participate enough to kno when something has just gone bad.

Precisely what you said eckoman.

i greatly dislike what has been done to the honda/acura forums. i don't understand why the change has been made but i feel valuable posters have been turned away because the new layout is NOT user friendly at all

i know i personally do not post on A/F anywhere near as much as i used to and the redesign of Honda/Acura forums is the main reason

I liked AF Before I voted yes... and i think everyone should vote yes... just easier to find things..!!!

it was soo much easier to find sutff in the old forums...

wOw im seein some progress here! Keep it coming!

will they even change it back if we get enough votes??

A mod said he believed the admins were working on something...

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=288566

lets hope its goes back to the way it was

will they even change it back if we get enough votes??


I'm pretty sure they would if they see enough votes.

I'm pretty sure they would if they see enough votes.

we will see:swear:

This sucks. Can some one fix it all back!!!!!!

Spread the wOrd! Tell ppl to vote! The more votes the better!

Spread the wOrd! Tell ppl to vote! The more votes the better!

fo sho

for some reason, i doubt the mods have even know this thread exists...

I figured a few of our mods would have jumped in by now and voiced.

Trust me, the mods do know about this thread and the admins are very well aware of the situation.

TS out

Uh-oH we got oNe posted here! ;)

i know about it, and i have voted :p

YAY! GREG! :thumbsup:

I hope you voted yes or i'll take the cheering back! lol

Some things that may help you all to understand why the forums were restructured:

The single biggest problem we keep running into with AF is the ever growing community size which places and ever increasing load on the servers. We just finished moving servers again, this time upgrading to two separate web servers and one database unit. However, web traffic will and does continue to increase.

Thus we are faced with a problem, we as admins must do something to optimize the site to allow our servers to work as efficiently as possible or we would be stuck with 20 minute page loading times and forced to move servers every other month.

In the effort to streamline the entire site, all of the forums were overhauled. If you look elsewhere around the site you will find that not just the Honda/Acura forums were significantly restructured.

Thus far we have only received complaints about the changes in the Honda section and are debating how best to resolve the problems.

You will be notified when the new changes are slated to take place.

Thanks,
-Jacob

Well yeh honda/acura forums are really active compared to other forums. Except the Coffee break. I really hope you guys can bring it back to the way it was.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know what the deal is, I know I appreciate the acknowledgment as I'm sure others do as well.

Hmmm...It may be the sleep talking but I think the Honda forum is going back to the way it used to be there are no arrows in front of the first 4 forums...correct me if im wrong...could jus be my pc freaking out

I see those arrows on mine. I think they'll decide when the poll is over.

Wait! You're right. Its coming back. LoL

Some things that may help you all to understand why the forums were restructured:

The single biggest problem we keep running into with AF is the ever growing community size which places and ever increasing load on the servers. We just finished moving servers again, this time upgrading to two separate web servers and one database unit. However, web traffic will and does continue to increase.

Thus we are faced with a problem, we as admins must do something to optimize the site to allow our servers to work as efficiently as possible or we would be stuck with 20 minute page loading times and forced to move servers every other month.

Thanks,
-Jacob

I can understand why you are trying to limit server load, but remember why you have server load? Because people visit here, and they come back. The current (new) design of the forums is EXTREMELY un-user friendly, mashing different cars and car types together in an illogical manner. It is, as it were, a step back in terms of the end user- which is who you really need to worry about. Remember that the only reason you are here, the only reason you have servers in the first place, is that we come and visit, click on links, buy stuff, and generally create a reason for you to have a job here in the first place.

In a retail store analogy- who do you think stores are designed for, employees or customers? Right, customers- because the employee is getting his/her own reward for being there... the customer has no other reason to be there then his/her own impetus- remove the impetus, and you remove the customer.

Returning to my point, the big problem you will run into with this sort of problem, is a basic inability to differentiate, for the user, interesting threads from uninteresting threads. If I see a thread, for instance, in the Honda/Acura -> Interior forum, titled "Stereo Harness Pinout", I can be pretty sure the discussion will be about a honda's wiring harness for a stereo.
However, if i see the same thread title "Stereo Harness Pinout" on the General -> Interior forum, I have no idea what vehicle it is- a '73 Chevette, or an '04 Corvette. We could all, of course, put the info in the thread title, but I dislike reading a dozen thread names that are all along the lines of "96 Honda Civic DX Stereo Wiring Harness"... it is excessive, and should be redundant or unecessary information, at a header-level.

Assuming you've read this far, and havn't skipped to the next post- I know that you are having problems with server load, but there are many other ways that you can improve the design of your forums, while still retaining the usability that keeps your "customers" coming back.

Why not ask us? After all, we know what we like- we're car people!