Harry P.

Actually I'm not the town of West Chicago, but another town in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, about 10 miles north of West Chicago. And how about some Chicago-style pizza?

Knocking old posts off the front page isn't the point. The point is to arrange the various posting areas in a logical way. Whether a post gets knocked to page 2 sooner vs. later is completely irrelevant to how the forum should be laid out. New posts will always knock old posts back, regardless of how the site is arranged. And the reason for what you call a "very narrow" forum is simple: Logical categories make it easier to find what you're interested in and easier to skip over what you're not interested in. For example... It makes much more sense to me to break down cars and trucks into their own separate categories rather than one big "Models" category, because some guys are more interested in cars, some more in trucks. And separating the cars from the trucks makes it so much easier to find either without slogging through a bunch of posts you might not be interested in. And of course if you want to see the latest posts since your last visit all you have to do is click on "View New Content" at the upper right. Geez... kind of a long way for me to go just for a free meal...

The way I broke it down is General at the top of the page... Then Model Cars (with the model car-specific sub-categories)... Then Model Trucks (with the model truck-specific sub-categories)... Then all the rest. This way Model Cars and Model Trucks are at the top, where they should be... and all the rest is below. If you look at my outline I think you'll see that it makes sense logically to arrange things that way. Basically what I did is to arrange what we currently have into a more logical order, putting the model cars and trucks sections together at the top, and eliminating/combining currently separate categories where it makes sense to do so. (For example, all the "community" type stuff like Club News, Shows, Events, community builds, etc. would all be together under the "Community" header and not placed here and there like they are now.

Fearless Leader is working "behind the curtain" as we speak...

Ok... let's see if you guys can do better than last time! Remember... year, make and model. Do NOT post your answer here, email me your answer at harrypri@att.net. The answer... and the list of who got it right...coming FRIDAY! And Hint #1: NO, this is NOT a Jaguar!!! (but is sure looks like one...)

The new setup gets rid of that problem.

Notice the "Other Models" category?

Yeah, baby! That is one SWEET looking model. But "Phoenecian Yellow?" Sure looks white to me...

We already have a separate Trucks area now, so no new Truck category is being added, and no new complexity is being added. In fact this reduces the total number of categories while more clearly defining each section. I'm just trying to make the breakdowns a little bit more logical by adding discrete categories for street trucks/pickups and commercial/big rig models... as up until now the street truck/pickup guys had been lumped in with the big rigs...or they were posting their trucks in the car section.

It's all very simple. Actually simpler than it was before. Fewer categories, but now a place for everything. Check out Gregg's post on reconfiguring the forum.

Hey! Only those of us from Chicago can vote more than once...

Ok, after all the back and forth... how about it: General (includes questions, comments, "What did you get today" type posts and any other topics that don't fit anywhere else) Model Cars Showcase Stock/Street/Show/Custom Competition: Straight Line (meaning drag) Competition: NASCAR/Circle Track/Road Course, etc. (basically ANY competition car other than drag) 1:1 Reference Photos Model Trucks Showcase Pickups/Street Trucks Competition: Drag/Track/Monster Truck, etc. Commercial/Fire/Emergency 1:1 Reference Photos Other Models (no category breakdown, just one catch-all for everything else) The Hobby Room Tips, Tricks and Tutorials News and Reviews Real or Model/Auto ID Quiz Resin Swap/Trade/Free/Wanted Auto Art Rants 'n' Raves Large Scale Dioramas Community Clubs Contests/Shows/Events Links/Advertisers/Web sites Community Builds Model Car Racing A place for everything... and everything in its place, without going crazy and breaking down into too many categories. I think this breakdown is logical and workable.

No more "On the Workbench" category. Any WIP would go into whatever category othe subject belongs in. No real reason to have a separate "in progress" category when there already would be a category for every automotive subject. Community Builds would be in the "Community" section.

I never said they're the reason the category exists, but since they specialize in unique one-of-a-kind 1/8 scale parts, they are a big part of the Large Scale forum. Look, if you don't like big scale, just don't go there. Problem solved. We're trying to make the site simpler, more logical and more inclusive, but we can't please everyone.

Maybe the most logical place for a "Community Build" category would be in the "Community" section. Community Clubs Contests/Shows/Events Links/Advertisers/Websites Community Builds

Large scale is unique because of several factors, including the ongoing work of TDR Innovations. Ask Model Cars would be eliminated as a standalone category, and all questions would go in the General section. Kit reviews would go into the News and Reviews category. The goal is to have only as many categories as needed so that EVERY post topic has a logical place, but no more categories than necessary.

We can combine the "Ask Model Cars a Question" section with the "General" section. No need to have both. If you have a question it goes in the "General" section. If we have only one section where questions would logically go (General) then we can eliminate the unnecessary "Ask Model Cars a Question" section. The point is to make the site SIMPLER, with fewer categories... but with a category for EVERY possible post.

Customs go in the Stock/Street/Show/Custom category. Separating fendered and non-fendered cars goes into the "way too many categories" category.

Nice! But one suggestion: Post the actual photos here, not just a link to them.

Somehow this falls into the same category for me as the "Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin" type stuff. Impressive, yes. Did it take time. effort and skill? Undoubtedly. But ultimately... what was the point?

Aaron, check out the thread where we're talking about re-configuring the forum. I think you'll like what you see.

There's always room for fine tuning... But yeah... for now us "big boys" are a pretty small, select group. And I actually kind of like it that way...

Relatively few members here build large scale (although I do, almost exclusively)... so since we have a relatively small large scale group (no pun intended!) here, I think we can get away with just having one overall "Large Scale" category that would cover WIPS, showcase finished models, or whatever. And besides, you could always post a finished large scale car or truck in the appropriate Car or Truck "Showcase" too... those areas wouldn't be limited to any particular scale. Like I said, there will inevitably be areas of overlap... but I think I came up with a fairly logical breakdown overall.

I'll tell you what... sometimes I think I could use a Drink Recipes section here...

So you're on board with a new "Recipes" category, then? Mmmmmmmm.... recipes........