Separate Forum for computing, electronics, mobile phone?

[gato]

I just noticed that all computing threads (like those proxy and VPN) are now in the "Life, Work and Study in China in General" forum. Makes it a rather large forum, I think. Any chance for separating the computing/electronics threads into a separate forum again. These are bound to be popular topics, and I think it might help people find them if there is a separate forum.

I'd also propose again that there be a separate "Studying in China" forum for all threads related to schools in China.

"Work and life in China", I suppose, can still be bundled together in the same forum.

[muyongshi]

I agree with you. Those topics seem to take up a lot of space in general.

[gato]

Bump.

[roddy]

I am watching this, but was hoping to see some more opinions. More opinions please . . .

[liuzhou]

Having just been searching for a computer related thread, I agree with a separate technical forum.

[c_redman]

Does this mean a top level forum for computing, or a subforum under Life,Work and Study in China? Aren't most of the general technical threads in "Resources for Studying Chinese"? I only see a few in "Life, Work and Study". Those threads are related to internet access or electronic from within China.

[fanglu]

Just adding my support for a computing forum. Did there used to be one?

[chrix]

Yeah, there's a potential conflict between "computing etc. as relating to life in China" and "computing etc. as relating to studying Chinese". Quite a number of people here might not be interested in the former at all.

[gato]

Bump.

[roddy]

Quite a few people have said they miss the Computing / Technology forum, so I think that should come back in some form. However I'd appreciate comments on how to differentiate and handle, ie, CD-ROM courses for learning Chinese, general tech issues such as display of Chinese characters, more China specific stuff such as VPN's and mobile broadband, and then perhaps more obscure technical issues.

Also: How about three forums, Living; Working; Studying in China. The city specific forums I"m not sure about, I like the extra organization but they're not exactly buzzing. Teaching could perhaps be folded into Working.

[chrix]

Yes, exactly. A lot of the stuff discussed in the Resources forum is about computing/technology as relating to language study, and IMO it should stay there. Would there be a way to clearly differentiate this and avoid confusion?

[gato]

I think you can label the forum as "computing and electronics" and let the users decide where to post. If someone wants to post about Pleco in this computing forum instead of resources forum, so be it. It's not that big of a deal. It just means that there are two places to look for posts about Pleco and the odd posts on CDROM courses.

Making Studying in China a separate forum is a good idea because it's such a common topic. Living and working can probably still be together as they kind of go together and there aren't as many threads about them.

[roddy]

I'd rather at least attempt to define it somehow. The less 'I wasn't sure where to post this's we see the better. Maybe that's just me though (often is).

[chrix]

One of the things I'm trying to do is to move misclassified posts to the right place, and it would make this very difficult with ill-defined forum titles like that. For me personally, a post about Pleco wouldn't belong in or even under "Life in China". So I would be glad if we could define these things properly.

For most of us, this won't be a big deal, but everyone uses the forum in a different way, and it would beneficial to those primarily browsing the site one subforum at a time, if the threads were catgorised in a logically coherent manner.

[chrix]

So what about creating a subforum in "Life etc. in China" called "Technology in China". It would have to be made clear that anything that has to do with learning Chinese would still remain in the Resources forum.

So we could make a note like this:

- Software and websites related to learning Chinese : Resources for Learning Chinese

- Anything else technology-related, if it's relevant at all to learners of Chinese, like making characters work on your computer, or the best electronic dictionaries for Chinese: Resources for Learning Chinese

- Anything about buying hardware or software in a specific location: Use the regional forum if it exists.

- Anything about hardware, software, websites specifically relating to life in China: Technology in China

- Software or hardware not relevant to learning Chinese: Technology in China

Edited March 4, 2010 at 11:53 PM by chrix

[Meng Lelan]

I think you can label the forum as "computing and electronics" and let the users decide where to post.

gato you got a great idea, I like it. But I don't think that topic should go under Life in China. I mean, here I am in stupid San Antonio, trying to create a fake life in China through computers and through (soon to be getting one) an iPhone. Or do we create a separate "Technology Outside China"?

[gato]

I personally don't think we need to worry too much about the taxonomy.... Just do it.

[tooironic]

Actually this is something I've thought about recently too. I think a separate forum for IT and telecommunications (including stuff like web design, software, etc) would make it a lot easier to navigate the forums.

[chrix]

I think one should clearly distinguish between the two.

As I said many come here only looking for the stuff related to learning Chinese, not necessarily for stuff about living in China, and vice versa.

[Meng Lelan]

looking for the stuff related to learning Chinese

or related to creating a fake Chinese life outside of China. I call it living not learning. Or maybe living and learning are both the same thing.