Forum:More categories needed

< Index | Site-related discussion

Currently we only have off topic. I'm thinking another category for mission-related stuff, and another one for site issues. Or would that be too confusing? -- Nx / talk 01:06, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

let's not have categories. Also, make however I got here (off topic expanded) from be "edit" so I only have to click once. Please see my new topic at the SB. ħuman 06:44, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Will do the edit buttons, but it was 3 AM when I did the expanded thing (I actually went to bed, but then I had the idea and had to come back to do it quickly)

As for categories, why not? If someone doesn't care about discussions like "Here's what I ate for dinner today" the categories would allow them to skip these and just look at the important stuff. -- Nx / talk 09:26, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I think the name you picked—off topic chat"—is a bit off-putting. It implies some sort of negative judgment on the utility of the conversations it contains. (Also, it's kind of counter-intuitive to call the category containing 90% of the pages "off topic".) How about "Forum chat" as the parent category, with "General discussion" and "Site-related discussion" as the sub-categories? Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 10:41, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

This was meant to be the "What I ate for dinner today" category. We are discussing important site related stuff here because right now there's only one category for everything. -- Nx / talk 10:50, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Oh. Well, anyways, you forgot the " - " in "Off-topic" </nitpick>. Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 10:55, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I know, but I think general discussion would be a better name anyway. That and site-related discussion, to keep things manageable. -- Nx / talk 10:59, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Can't we make up categories manually? Totnesmartin (talk) 11:02, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

You have to set up the index to show the threads in that category, plus the two subpages (expanded view and all threads). I'll make templates for that. -- Nx / talk 11:04, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Want me to go ahead and make the categories? Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 11:07, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

If you mean adding them to RationalWiki:Forum, no. I'm in the process of making it a table, and will create a template to add new categories there. -- Nx / talk 11:10, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I meant making creating the category itself (e.g. making the Category:General discussion). I figured you'd add them to your magic template thingies yourself. Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 11:16, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Could I suggest a section specifically for requesting help with an article? It'd be handy to have a place for posting requests for help on a specific article, and we can just browse that section for interesting jobs - i.e. proof reading and critique requests. It'll work fine so long as people don't whine if they get no responses, but we do have quite a few users who enjoy some of the stranger and more tedious tasks. --^{Ask me about your mother} 18:09, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

That would be better on the todo list IMHO. -- Nx / talk 18:15, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

But no-one uses the todo list... of course, if that category linked to the todo list instead of a forum page, or we moved the todo list to forum:todo list... ħuman 20:27, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Discussion about improving an article should go on the article's talk page, so all that is needed is a place to notify other editors of such requests. That's what the todo list is for. -- Nx / talk 20:31, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

I know that. But nobody uses it. ħuman 20:57, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

(EC)That'd also require refining the To Do List and also finding a way of inspiring the "work ethic" needed to improve articles. I find it quite fun to click "random page" and wikify it, but that's my, and I'm a self-confessed dweeb. So, the issue is less about notifying than it is of people being interested in doing it. Some people come here with very specific goals of what they want to do and write, so beyond those, it's difficult to get people rallied around something - I've experienced one collaborative effort to bring the article to a happy medium between the views here, but I completely forget which one it was... ^{d hominem} 21:00, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Anyway, creating a new subforum/category is as easy as adding

{{Subforum|INSERT SUBFORUM NAME HERE}}

and then clicking on all the create links and saving. -- Nx / talk 18:15, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What about a part on the subforum template that explains a little more about what each sub forum is about more specifically? ^{d hominem} 22:08, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Just put it on Template:Forum description/INSERT SUBFORUM NAME HERE -- Nx / talk 22:25, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

That was fairly easy, thanks. Is such a link built into the series of red links one follows when making a new subforum now? ħuman 00:36, 12 January 2010 (UTC)