How about splitting up PHP Code into two or three sub forums

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raghavan20
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How about splitting up PHP Code into two or three sub forums

Post by raghavan20 »

I think it would easier to manage if PHP Code is split up into two or three forums depending on the level of difficulty. I would like to use JavaRanch as reference as it is very useful splitting Code forum into beginner, intermediate and advanced subforums.

A master level user can answer queries from beginner to intermediate levels so they know where they should be looking at when answering questions.
Most of the PHP novices would post directly in PHP Code - Beginner and other newbies can answer their problems which they might came across lately.
Many of the mods and Guru level members can directly look at PHP Code-Advanced to solve big problems.

I think this gives more clarity to the forum as everytime we can see one whole page is always filled which is not really pretty. I hope you get what I am trying to tell you....
timvw
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Post by timvw »

I understand the problem.. But this approach has completely failed at sitepoint ;)
What would be nice, if users/moderators could rate the difficulty of a post :)
And if this is possible, rating the way of asking something, providing info, and rating the answer shouldn't be too hard to add.
If i'm not mistaken, these plans exist already a couple of years, but never have been implemented.. Probably blame it on phpbb ;)
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shiznatix
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Post by shiznatix »

i like it the way it is. being a stupid person at first i would never have checked the forums and at first would have been like screw this, i dont know where to put this.

also the current situation kinda makes everyone look at every question, no matter how stupid.

third i have to say:

what? you to scared to answer the hard questions that require thinking :lol:
or are you mean enough to not answer the easy questions of n00bds :D

i dont mean anthing by it but i think that the way it is now, the n00b will read more and more advanced stuff if they look around the forums as are then just them sticking to the easy section. i think this stunts growth because people that are learning will generally not look to much above the forum they belong too and wont get ideas as fast as he would if he was like 'hey, it didnt know it could do that' when reading higher level code.

dont fix what is not broken.
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

timvw wrote:What would be nice, if users/moderators could rate the difficulty of a post :)
That would be a nice idea... perhaps there's a phpBB mod for this sort of thing. We have a small queue of phpBB mods waiting to possibly be added, so if we can find something we'll give it some consideration ;)
timvw wrote: If i'm not mistaken, these plans exist already a couple of years, but never have been implemented.. Probably blame it on phpbb ;)
I'm not sure what was discussed before I joined this forum, I'll trail through the archives but we have had discussions about a similar setup within the past year yes. We used the exact same reason you have just given regarding Sitepoint as a valid reason not to implement anything like that.

If you're looking for advanced discussion, theory and design is intended for that, although not particularly at a coding level.
raghavan20 wrote:I think this gives more clarity to the forum as everytime we can see one whole page is always filled which is not really pretty. I hope you get what I am trying to tell you....
I do, but a sizable chunk of our members are newcomers so the PHP Code board would still be full of posts like that. This is a busy web forum :) Believe me, we have thought about similar things in the past but considered that based on observations at Sitepoint it would do more harm than good.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway :)
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raghavan20
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Post by raghavan20 »

shiznatix wrote: what? you to scared to answer the hard questions that require thinking
or are you mean enough to not answer the easy questions of n00bds
I really applaud for thinking to your best. I think many big forums like Java Ranch should have thought what you have said :P
If things are split up, it does not still stop you from going forum to the other. But I will try to explain why I thought would be useful....
Most of the time, I answer questions of medium and less difficulty and sometimes I jump into advanced discussions to find out what is going on there. If things are split up, you would be in a better position to do what you want.

Thanks for the clarifications timvw and d11wtq.
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twigletmac
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Post by twigletmac »

The main issue with this concept is defining what topic belongs where - the advanced board would be filled with what you might consider 'easy' questions because the poster thinks it's a difficult question. Also, just because someone is new to PHP does not mean their question is simple...

Mac
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raghavan20
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Post by raghavan20 »

twigletmac wrote:The main issue with this concept is defining what topic belongs where - the advanced board would be filled with what you might consider 'easy' questions because the poster thinks it's a difficult question.

Mac
Thanks for your remarks. I do agree with you. But I have been in JavaRanch for a long time and I see people making good judgements of their posts' difficulty. I do not personally know about the failure of the scheme at SitePoint.
twigletmac wrote:]
Also, just because someone is new to PHP does not mean their question is simple...
For the same reason, in my post, I have referred to novices rather to newbies.
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m3mn0n
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Re: How about splitting up PHP Code into two or three sub fo

Post by m3mn0n »

raghavan20 wrote:I think it would easier to manage...
I have to disagree. Changing a proven system to add more complexity really does nothing but make it more difficult to manage, whether it is a rating system or a sub-forum system that's being added.

And personally I don't see a real problem with how it is now. We successfully split up the forum into Code, Security and Theory & Design and anything beyond that (eg. different levels of complexity for each category), IMO is overdoing it.
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Post by Roja »

- Many 'easy' questions are hiding a not easy situation. Moving that many threads can be obnoxious.
- The vast majority of posters wouldn't post in "Advanced"
- Having a seperate "Novices" section would encourage posts that are no better than "Whats the manual page for rand()", and they could defend doing so - because they are novices.
- The Theory and Design *is* the advanced section

I understand the desire. In some places, it works well. Here, it would confuse, clutter, and lead to mods having to move a ton more threads.

I fall back to classic wisdom: There are no stupid (novice) questions - only stupid (novice) answers.
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