"[TMP] We need fewer boards, not more" Topic

Right now, there are 16 main umbrella discussion boards with (by my quick count) 292--yes, two hundred and ninety-two--specific discussion boards on TMP. Enough. IMHO we need to consolidate, not keep adding more as we have been doing. (BTW, the number of boards that co-exist under multiple headings is actually quite few, so that is not a basis for arguing that board count is lower.)

Our hobby is fragmented and graying (at least the historical wing), but most of us have interests in multiple periods and start new projects at the drop of a hat when we see something shiny. These discussion boards should help bring all of us together, by showing us all of the projects and thoughts we each have in our diverse corners of the hobby and world, rather than reflect those divisions with myriad specialized boards that most will never see.

If we are indeed moving toward "TMP 4.0" etc., I would like us to reduce the complexity and micro-divided nature of this website rather than continue to increase it.

I realize a lot of people will think otherwise, but I think it is not problem if folks use the tools The Editor (may he live forever!) has given us.
I have my frontpage set for 300 posts (with 400 being the maixmum), and I spent some time turning off boards I am not interested in. That means that a large majority of what I see on my frontpage is interesting to me.
So the large number of boards allows the user to fine tune his personal TMP and make for a less cluttered frontpage.

Of course, if you donīt use the frontpage then all of this goes out the window, and therefore you are right- there are too many boards!

Perhaps with TMP 4.0, there's a way to do both, e.g. a catch-all board for say, WWII, Medievals, etc., etc., but you could also post secondarily, in specific categories for when people want to look up only certain things, like uniforms, battle reports, rules, tactics, painting guides, etc., etc..

The system should be smart enough to do that for us, say if posting on a Medieval Edged Weapons Board, it automatically posts to the catch-all Medieval Board as well, which will contain postings in many categories of subjects related to that, like:

Medieval History
Medieval Books
Medieval Media
Medieval Tactics
Medieval Battles
Medieval Battle Reports
Medieval Painting Guides
Medieval Rules
Medieval Cavalry

I don't see why that couldn't be done.

Having the ability to read, or search within unique boards would be a big plus, in my opinion, but I can also see where that can be a pain, so a generic, general umbrella for the whole period would be useful in some cases too.

I suspect it should be possible to please people on both sides of this issue, if set up properly.

Just use the front page

The "problem" is that not everyone thinks the same way.
If I post pictures of my latest batch of American Revolution backwoods of Scottish descent, "hillbilly Highlanders", I would start the thread in 18th Century Painting, and then crosspost to American Revolution. Simple, right?
It's now under two Boards I think it belongs.
Then, what if someone posts pictures of his Anspach jaegers, but doesn't bother to post them in American Revolution?

I'm as bad as the next guy when it comes to asking for new boards. However, I only do it if I think it will generate more threads on topics I'm interested in. Like the AWI or TSATF.
I am not about to ask for or vote to support separate boards for "American Revolution Tactics" because that will just make specific threads more difficult to find.

Tmp "needs" editors who actually know something about the hobby, and the peculiar specialized history that comes with it. Someone who can herd cats when it comes to exploding proliferation of boards.
As of now, our editors do not have that expertise, so it would be counterproductive to add new boards and sub boards Willy Nilly. (Or is that "will he nill he"?)

I have no problem with the proliferation of boards as I judiciously edit those I'm not interested in.

Just use the Front Page and edit what boards show up on it.

I rather like having a lot of different boards.

There are too many boards. (It will be at least a few months before I am able to surpass that level of understatement.)
The notion of many boards works IF and only if everybody that posts has the same notions of what belongs where, when clearly I would say about 74% on TMPers can't even be bothered to write a Subject line that has a whit of intelligence to it. They need LESS work and thinking of how to use this forum, not more.

A tag system would be nice, but that's not going to happen :/

ah, the organisation of knowledge or at least, information, nowadays, it's usually a flattened structure with tagging, not the old hierarchical organisation as in multiple boards. There are advantages and disadvantages to both but generally, while there can be false positives in the latter, you are much less likely to lose stuff, or more accurately, fail to identify it as germane. Critical in some information systems, not so much on TMP.

It appears that the membership likes having interest-specific boards – note that the Wargaming in General board is not getting a lot of use these days.

It's not that there are too many boards to sift through, it is that there is a real chance that something doesn't get cross posted. Example, 18th Century Board exists, but also American War of Independence and Seven Years War. If you take those 2 out of the 18th Century then 18th Century Boards has, essentially, become WAS and WSS -which straddles that even!! (Apologies to War of Polish Succession enthusiasts, I feel your pain and do not mean to slight you). As it is these boards already have crickets chirping when I check in there, so I am at a loss as to what is being made more efficient by splitting dribbling traffic into more areas. Are SYW enthusiasts REALLY put out by accidentally reading something about Fontenoy?!?!

Don't fight it, Yogi.
It seems visible-from-space to me that many of these boards are unnecessary but nevertheless, we seem to be going through one of TMP's periodic phases of board proliferation.
As daler points out, many of these boards have got tumbleweeds rolling through them.
(Although strangely, even boards which lie untouched all year seem to get a couple of posts in January. Maybe it's a New Year thing.)

What is the obsession the dear Editor has for more and more boards, most recently with the rules forum ones and the 'starting in' series?

Surely they make a creaking system even more clunky, increases the need for cross-posting, which makes things even clunkier and more prone to bugs striking?

And more boards are more difficult to monitor and moderate I suspect, especially when short-staffed.

Surely they make a creaking system even more clunky…

It's not creaking any more, and the number of boards is irrelevant.

…increases the need for cross-posting, which makes things even clunkier and more prone to bugs striking?

I think that it decreases the need for crossposting, but regardless, crossposting is not a buggy area currently.

And more boards are more difficult to monitor and moderate I suspect, especially when short-staffed.

It's not the number of boards, it's the number of topics per day.