robert Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 (edited) *Please note I am working 15 hours a day, pretty much busy every waking moment trying to meet deadlines for major projects, but I am taking this seriously and tonight I put some quality time into this idea of restructuring the forum to make it more productive, efficient, and user friendly. I will make changes in the near future after I get feedback from our community. Thank you* What are your thoughts on this NEW format outline? I took it down from 32 categories to 13 categories. We completely wiped out the Veganism Section, which I'm not sure how I feel about and we're missing popular sections like: Vegan LifestyleEntertainmentNews/ArticlesAnimal Rights Many could argue that all of that could go under General Discussion. Here is what I came up with based on the restructuring ideas from another thread and from my own desire to restructure the forum. Please share your thoughts with me: Welcome to Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness 1. Introductions Introduce yourself. Tell us about your training history, how long you've been vegan, share some of your goals and some of your interests. Training 2. Beginner’s QuestionsFor those just starting out in the world of bodybuilding, or new to fitness, get your questions answered here.3. Bodybuilding/Strength Training Share your training programs, favorite exercises, training secrets and tips with the rest of the group. Discuss contest preparation, off-season diets, carb depleting and loading, posing, and training programs.4. General Fitness/Other Sports Discuss Cycling, Marathons, Endurance Sports, Martial Arts, Yoga, all other sports 5. Blogs/Training Journals Create and maintain your own personal online journal. Log your meals and/or workouts, and monitor your progress. Hold yourself accountable and receive support, suggestions, and be open to feedback.6. Before/After Photos & Progress Photos Post your before and after photos here. Share success stories and show your progress. Health & Nutrition 7. Health & Nutrition ProgramsAll topics relating to health, diet, nutrition programs and any questions you might have about general heath. 8. Raw Food Nutrition & Lifestyle Discuss the raw food lifestyle here. Ask and answer questions relating to raw foods. 9. Recipes Share your favorite recipes with us. General 10. General Discussion Discuss anything else on your mind with other like-minded people. 11. Events/Meet-ups/Gatherings Post events for activism, bodybuilding, fitness, yoga, and anything else going on in the world of Vegan Health and Fitness. Use this section for regional meet-ups, gatherings, and event notifications for forum-member activities. 12. General Photos and VideosPost all other photos and videos here. They can be photos/videos from bodybuilding or other sports, photos/videos of animals or foods, nature, whatever you like. 13. Relationships – Personals – Vegan DatingThis is an area to discuss relationships, post your own personal profile, and explore vegan dating. Disclaimer - This forum section is viewable by registered members only. It is not appropriate for readers under 18, and may contain adult material that some people could find offensive. Do not enter this section if you are under 18 or easily offended by adult topics. You have been warned. –Respectfully, the VB&F Team. ------------ This format puts Training above Nutrition since some felt there was a lack of focus on that aspect of this site. I tried to put things in an order that made sense. Obviously I'm open to feedback and once feedback has been given, we'll make some official changes around here and see how it works. We can always add/change/take away sections anytime. Thank you. Edited October 10, 2007 by robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggieprincess Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Anything that is in Vegan Lifestyle or Entertainment could easily fall under a General Discussion. That is where you discuss anything and everything. As far as News and Articles and Animal Rights... I don't know... maybe.... but I DEFINITELY don't agree with a seperate category for Vegan Lifestyle because that is what a General Discussion area is for. Discussing challenges, obstacles, or misc things related to Veganism or not related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggieprincess Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Just one more thing... I don't see a need to seperate Beginning Bodybuilding from General Bodybuilding/Strength Training. I think it should be combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 I looked back at Richard's proposal and saw this: Vegan Lifestyle and Animal RightsAnimal Rights, Vegan Lifestyle, News/Articles So that could be an addition. I think a fear was that General Discussion would get too busy if we lost some of those other sections and we'd have to go back a page or two for something that was only posted days ago. But we can try it and see and always make changes as we go. I see this as forward progress and I hope most people see it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I agree. Let's have a members only forum that unregistered can't see. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggieprincess Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 If you're going to ad that column Robert, I'd kinda like to see: Vegan Ethics/Animal Rights/News and Articles/PoliticsDiscuss Animal Rights, Environmentalism, News and Articles and Political Issues [/b] An area where people can come to discuss politics, news, a/r, global warming and the environment, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Cool, thanks for the feedback so far. I hesitated to add "Beginner's Questions" but I felt like we would use that section to ANSWER all the normal questions. There would be tons of stickys that answer FAQs. People could also ask questions, but most would be covered so we wouldn't get the same questions over and over and over again throughout different sections of the forum.What do you think? Zack, Members only section............I can work on that. Any theme for it? Or just "Registered Members Only" as a title or heading? Thanks. I'm sure we'll get lots more feedback as the week goes on and we'll get something up in a few days when "most" agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggieprincess Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I agree. Let's have a members only forum that unregistered can't see. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Do you have deep dark secrets that need to be hidden from the general population or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I agree. Let's have a members only forum that unregistered can't see. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Do you have deep dark secrets that need to be hidden from the general population or something? Just a few. I just don't like every random person being able to look at everything. Robert likes it because it's part of the "community." I think we should have a space where just members can go..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kon Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 the categories seem balanced, robert. I think most people will be happy with such changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdarthveganx Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 looks good to me. I too dont think the beginning bodybuilding section is necessary as long as we have stickies and faq sections for people to peruse first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Cool, thanks for the feedback so far. I hesitated to add "Beginner's Questions" but I felt like we would use that section to ANSWER all the normal questions. There would be tons of stickys that answer FAQs. People could also ask questions, but most would be covered so we wouldn't get the same questions over and over and over again throughout different sections of the forum.What do you think? Zack, Members only section............I can work on that. Any theme for it? Or just "Registered Members Only" as a title or heading? Thanks. I'm sure we'll get lots more feedback as the week goes on and we'll get something up in a few days when "most" agree I think we don't need a beginners section, we will just sticky some of the basic questions. Members only area is fine, can it be something that's not seen until you register and log in? That'd be sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Cool, thanks for your opinions. I'll wait to hear from others too, and if most feel the same way we can take off Beginner's Questions. Yeah, we can hide things so they are not visible until you login, at least I think that is possible. I'll play around with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 That will be cool to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pink Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I agree. Let's have a members only forum that unregistered can't see. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I like this idea We can do major plotting against meet eaters and try and find a way to secretly turn the world Vegan without them even knowing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flanders77 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Very good work Thinthin!I would also say not to have a biginners section. Make the beginners read stickies of the section they are interested in and use the search function.IMO a Members-only/Personals/Dating/Relationships would be a good idea. @Robert: If you really make this kind of new beginning you should think about using some of the info provided here. It may help to get rid of the bots/spam etc. Maybe one or two of the many admins we have should do this for you Also it might be useful to finally delete the zero-posters on a regular basis and give newbies the advice post once after registering if they do not want to be deleted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc7 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Personally I think the beginner section is a good idea. If we're going to have tons of stickies covering all the beginner FAQ's, better to have them in one place than spread out. Also, some people might just feel more comfortable posting in a newbies section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I personally think that there is no need for a beginners section. There is little difference in training methods for beginners or intermediates (I think we would agree that there are no advanced weight lifters on the forums at the moment - I include myself in that) or even advanced lifters. Better to have a sticky with a few basic programs, and guidelines for diet and rest. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 This board definitely needs to be updated so bots cannot register. Probably half or more of the members are spam... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flanders77 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 This board definitely needs to be updated so bots cannot register. Probably half or more of the members are spam... Right now we have 6120 members but only 917 postet at least once. That means more than 85% have never posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 I'm aware of this. It's very complicated to fix it. Not something I am capable of doing. I've been in touch with JP from veganfitness and he knows the software or whatever it is called to fix it so spam can't register as easily and I may bring him in to help. He offered to do so. But it's not something I can control aside from deleting each spam member one by one and that is certainly not something I have time for or interest in doing. I'll continue to work on this. Sorry if some of you are getting frustrated, but you have to understand that I have very little time, I run everything around here and sometimes it takes me a little while to make changes. I have my hands in 10 projects, this forum is one of them and I try to make some time here everyday to evaluate the status and look to create change. Thanks for the feedback and I'll implement some changes soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 Very good work Thinthin!I would also say not to have a biginners section. Make the beginners read stickies of the section they are interested in and use the search function.IMO a Members-only/Personals/Dating/Relationships would be a good idea. @Robert: If you really make this kind of new beginning you should think about using some of the info provided here. It may help to get rid of the bots/spam etc. Maybe one or two of the many admins we have should do this for you Also it might be useful to finally delete the zero-posters on a regular basis and give newbies the advice post once after registering if they do not want to be deleted. It was mostly your work that I copied I think people have had a couple of days to give input. I may have time on Saturday when the site is quieter, to move things around and make these changes. It should be interesting to see what it looks like. No promises. I barely have time to bathe or change clothes these days, but I'll do what I can this weekend. Thanks everyone for your input and patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I run everything around here Change that? No point in even deleting spam members as long as they can keep registering though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veganitaliana Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Photos should definitely be members only- and even then, members that have been here awhile, perhaps say at least 100 posts. There's a lot of weirdos out there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Photos should definitely be members only- and even then, members that have been here awhile, perhaps say at least 100 posts. There's a lot of weirdos out there.... and invisible to unregistered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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