Cities, Places, Regions

[RestedTraveler]

Greetings,

I don't mean to make waves, but I just don't quite understand the reasoning behind the new alignments:

USA Atlantic States

From the Ocean to the Mississippi

Subforums: Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, The South

USA Gulf States

The Southern Coast

Subforums: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, The South

USA Midwest

Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio

Subforums: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio

USA Northeast

The Megalopolis and Beyond

Subforums: Baltimore-Washington DC, New England, Pennsylvania, New York State, Virginia

USA West

The Great Western Expanse

Subforums: California, Hawaii, Alaska & US Territories, Washington, Oregon

Why not just apply the K.I.S.S. principle?

• USA Northeast: New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Baltimore-DC, etc.

• USA Southeast: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisana, Texas, etc.

• USA Midwest: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, etc.

• USA Southwest: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii, etc.

• USA Northwest: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc.

[Spartan]

The reason we split things up like that was because the South was becoming too large with way to many subforums. We still wanted to have the southern discussion forum, so we let the Gulf and the Atlantic sections (which used to be The South) share a subforum for general southern regional discussions, as that was very popular.. Its linked thorugh both but its the same subforum.

There are many ways to split the South up, and there is certainly no right way to do it. This way serves its purpose, regardless of the name we give it

[RestedTraveler]

That's fair enough, I suppose. It'll take some getting used to, that's for sure.

I guess the thing that really screwed me up is that I usually navigate to where I want to go by drilling down from the Regions listed on the Front Page, which still hasn't been updated to meet the new alignment. As a result, when I clicked on the Southern USA, it took me here.

[goodbye]

I agree with RT about the Atlantic States being misleading. I have always (and will always) think of the Atlantic States as ALL states along the Atlantic Coast. It doesn't make sense to have only southeastern states in a forum broadly titled Atlantic States. That being said, I know where to find the subforums, but I think it will be misleading and sub-professional for guests and new members. The K.I.S.S. method should definitely be considered here, but I'll live with whatever we have, however organized or disorganized.

[RestedTraveler]

Although I'd rather NC not secede from the Southland, maybe this would work better to both organize gographically and balance out the load? (just throwing ideas out there):

• USA:
  • USA Northeast: New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

  • USA Mid Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia/West Virginia, and North Carolina

  • USA Southeast: Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisana, etc.

  • USA Midwest: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, etc.

  • USA Southwest: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, California, Hawaii, etc.

  • USA Northwest: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, etc.

[RestedTraveler]

OK. Nevermind. I now see that something similar to this has already been done. Serves me right for checking here first instead of trying to navigate.

I need my coffee.

The Front Page still shows "Southern USA" though, or at the very least mis-directing or mis-leading?

Must have coffee. Coffee.

[monsoon]

They are not directly linked. That has been fixed now.

[Neo]

I guess the thing that really screwed me up is that I usually navigate to where I want to go by drilling down from the Regions listed on the Front Page, which still hasn't been updated to meet the new alignment. As a result, when I clicked on the Southern USA, it took me here.

The main page has now been updated to reflect the changes.

[RestedTraveler]

Awesome! Either I've had my fill of coffee today or I really like the new alignment.

It does look great, by the way! I can drill down and stop off along the way if I see something that strikes my fancy once again! Hip, Hip, Huzzah!!

[cheeriokid61]

Just wondering, but what is the K.I.S.S. method?

[goodbye]

Okay, it's a bit juvenile, but very effective:

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

Keep it simple, stupid.

BTW, I LOVE the new layout and small flags!

[Florida]

I also love the little flags, but I'm having a hard time with "USA Lower South". Is it possible to go back to Gulf States... it had a much nicer ring to it.

[cranberries]

• USA Northeast: New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Baltimore-DC, etc.

• USA Southeast: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisana, Texas, etc.

• USA Midwest: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, etc.

• USA Southwest: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii, etc.

• USA Northwest: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc.

[elfyum]

Hey! Where are Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota & South Dakota???!!!

I wanna see some pics!!! Is there NOBODY from there on these boards?

Or at least, is there someone that's been to those states & has some pictures?!

I'd love to see The NE Sandhills, The Flint Hills of KS, & The Badlands of The Dakotas!!!

Anyone???!!!

[jice]

Just a thought...

I find it a lil hard to find the state/city I want to "jump" to when using the drop down box at the bottom of the page. I think it would make more sense to have this alphabetized by state, then by city. (if possible)

The organization of Cities, Places, Regions is fine with me, however. Just the "jump to" drop down is what im concerned about...

[Neo]

Just a thought...

I find it a lil hard to find the state/city I want to "jump" to when using the drop down box at the bottom of the page. I think it would make more sense to have this alphabetized by state, then by city. (if possible)

The organization of Cities, Places, Regions is fine with me, however. Just the "jump to" drop down is what im concerned about...

The drop-down that you are referring to is based exactly on our our site is structured and cannot be changed. Unfortunately not everyone likes how it is structured but many do so it will remain as-is.

[jice]

The drop-down that you are referring to is based exactly on our our site is structured and cannot be changed. Unfortunately not everyone likes how it is structured but many do so it will remain as-is.

[Neo]

Another thought... and actually, this might be better... what if you used the same code from the Home page for "Forums" (at the top navigation bar).. on all pages.

On the home page you can hover over and go to the forum you want, but on other pages its just a single "Forums" button.

The reason we don't include the full menu on our forums is for speed. We want the forums to load as fast as possible for all users so it is a balancing act to offer maximum features with fast page loads.

[jice]

The reason we don't include the full menu on our forums is for speed. We want the forums to load as fast as possible for all users so it is a balancing act to offer maximum features with fast page loads.

[Neo]

Ah, I see...

I didnt realize adding that would slow the forums down... but my experience with web design is not really all that deep

Due to the amount of forums we have, adding the same menu that we have on our regular site to our forums would bump the size per page load up around 15k. It may not be much to those on high speed connections, but it is a deal breaker for anyone with a slower speed DSL connection (like 128k) and particularly anyone on dial-up.