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Wow! So many threads, so little time

Gregg2

Gregg2

macrumors 604
Original poster
May 22, 2008
7,412
1,331
Milwaukee, WI
I've been checking these forums for about a week, and contributing on a small number of them. The volume here is amazing! In fact, it's overwhelming. I don't know how many of you cope with this, especially the moderators. Even though I'm only interested in 5 or so of the nearly 50 forums one can find on the "front page" just sifting through those is a major chore. My solution, I'm afraid, is to skip them altogether... unless someone can offer a strategy that might work for me. Phew!
 
Mods handle it by relying on everybody else to use this button when appropriate:
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We can't possibly read every thread (although it seems like there are some people here who do), so we need to use our collective membership's eyes to help us.

As mentioned, forum spy is a great way to keep on top of what's happening as it's being posted, but for absorbing what's gone since the last time you logged in, it's a bit tougher. New Posts searches help, as do thread subscriptions to help you monitor threads you've posted in or are interested in.
 
Gregg2 said:
My solution, I'm afraid, is to skip them altogether... unless someone can offer a strategy that might work for me. Phew!
Click to expand...

I check one or two forums on a regular basis, then use the New Posts link to see what else is being talked about that I might find interesting. Periodically I go back and check for responses to previous posts. I ignore everything else.
 
You can exclude certain forums from your "new Posts" searches.
 

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Thanks for the quick replies. (no surprise there!)

We're not quite there yet...

Forum Spy seems to be a tool for someone who "lives" here roughly 24/7. And, I gather it brings up everything as it's happening. Since I'm only interested in 10% of threads in 10% of the forums, I don't see that helping. But, I haven't used it, just looked at it / found out it exists.

New Posts - same drawback.

One thing that might help a little, is to break things down even more. (Did I just type that?) I say this only because of the volume. Forums that collect more than a full page of "new" items in less than 24 hours (for those who visit once a day) would be good candidates.

Personally, I think the Mac Applications forum is too broad. It suggests its own breakdown in the description, but apps that get lots of questions would be candidates for further breakdown.

The Mac OS X forum would be another candidate. Other boards with lots of traffic break it down by "points", that is 10.3 and earlier, 10.4, 10.5

I'm sure this is a subject that gets plenty of attention at "meetings".
 
It's a delicate balancing act. Breaking things down into additional forums will make for smaller forums, but it also adds to "forum bloat", which can overwhelm new members when they hit the forum index and have no idea where to start to look for answers or post a question.

As mentioned, excluding forums New Posts searches and/or Forum Spy might help you narrow things down quite a bit, depending on what topics you're most interested in.
 
Forum Spy + Exclusions (In Forum Spy and New Posts) + New Posts + Thread subscriptions + Buddy List.

The power users around here know the tricks. ;)
 
Well, you have to have been around awhile to develop a buddy list, no?

And, as a Newbie (3 posts until last week) I'm in the overwhelmed stage, and about to move to the possible solutions stage, perhaps.

I'll have to figure out how to do some of the stuff that was suggested. Like, you have to enter the titles from the list of forums as exclusions? There are over 40 I would exclude! Too bad there's not a drop down to select from.
 
Gregg2 said:
I'll have to figure out how to do some of the stuff that was suggested. Like, you have to enter the titles from the list of forums as exclusions? There are over 40 I would exclude! Too bad there's not a drop down to select from.
Click to expand...

No, check boxes actually. Just take a quick look at Forum Spy and you'll see for yourself. I only include about 6 forums.
 
Gregg2 said:
Well, you have to have been around awhile to develop a buddy list, no?

And, as a Newbie (3 posts until last week) I'm in the overwhelmed stage, and about to move to the possible solutions stage, perhaps.

I'll have to figure out how to do some of the stuff that was suggested. Like, you have to enter the titles from the list of forums as exclusions? There are over 40 I would exclude! Too bad there's not a drop down to select from.
Click to expand...
It's alright. You knew enough to ask here and get all the people in the know to respond to you. :D
 
angelwatt said:
No, check boxes actually. Just take a quick look at Forum Spy and you'll see for yourself. I only include about 6 forums.
Click to expand...

No, I don't see that when I click on Forum Spy at the top. Obviously, you mean something else. But, as I understand Forum Spy, I'm not interested.

In User CP/Edit Options, I find this:
Thread Display Options
Exclude Forums
"Enter a list of forum ids (comma seperated) to exclude when searching for new posts"

That's what I was asking about above... typing in the names(? - forum ids) of all the Forums I want to exclude from New Posts. Since there are about 50 total, wouldn't it make more sense to list the Forums to include?
 
Gregg2 said:
No, I don't see that when I click on Forum Spy at the top. Obviously, you mean something else. But, as I understand Forum Spy, I'm not interested.
Click to expand...

It's under Preferences, right above the thread list.

Your best plan would be subscriptions, coupled with checking the forums that actually matter to you. It would be the easiest way.
 
Gregg2 said:
No, I don't see that when I click on Forum Spy at the top. Obviously, you mean something else. But, as I understand Forum Spy, I'm not interested.
Click to expand...

Click preferences when on Forum Spy,
 

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Thanks to both of you. Forum Spy doesn't seem to be a good fit for me, but I might give it a tryout some day.

Too bad the same checkbox system doesn't apply to New Posts. I think that is what I would prefer to use.
 
Gregg2 said:
Thanks to both of you. Forum Spy doesn't seem to be a good fit for me, but I might give it a tryout some day.

Too bad the same checkbox system doesn't apply to New Posts. I think that is what I would prefer to use.
Click to expand...


You can enter forum numbers and restrict them from the New Posts view. See your User CP. To find out the forum number, go the forums main page and check the status bar for the number. HTH
 
Do you mean the "...f=4" etc. (that's on the Forums main page)

...or the five digit number on each Forum's page?

Either way, seems like a pain to have to enter more than forty "secret codes" in the Exclude Forums box.
 
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