Categories

Linc

This discussion was created from comments split from: seeing is believing?.

SarahT

And this is Buddhism for beginners??? Phew ... :dunce:

DairyLama

You're right, Advanced ideas might have been better.

federica

@SarahT‌, not always...

There are two factors:
(One) the discussion begins appropriately for a 'Buddhism for beginners' topic, but then comments bring in more complex matters to consider, regarding the original point, which go beyond a preliminary basic discussion -

OR -

(two) People are lazy, negligent or forgetful or merely not mindful about which forum they need to post in....
'Buddhism for Beginners' is the default option, and I am constantly shifting threads to more suitable locations, because people don't pay attention.... .

DairyLama

The options here are a bit muddled though, and the Beginners forum comes under "Your practice" so it's a bit unclear.

Why not add a forum for "General discussion"?

PS I still have no idea what "Modern Buddhism" means! As opposed to "old-fashioned Buddhism"?

federica

Maybe we should add @Linc to the mix.... .

DairyLama

@federica said:
Maybe we should add Linc to the mix.... .

Yes, that would be good. A lot of comparable forums have too many sub-forums IMO, but I think this one would benefit from a quick overhaul of structure and adding 1 or 2 more.

My suggestion:

Beginners discussion;
General discussion;
Advanced discussion

Meditation and practice ( though that might be redundant );

Then the miscellaneous ones like Arts + Writing, Comparative Religion, General Banter, Members only.

vinlyn

Although I am not pushing for it, I always thought we would benefit from sub-forums dedicated to the main branches of Buddhism.

DairyLama

@vinlyn said:
Although I am not pushing for it, I always thought we would benefit from sub-forums dedicated to the main branches of Buddhism.

I wondered about that. The only difficulty might be agreeing what those main branches are, which schools they include, and where to put Secular Buddhism.
Also I sense there are quite a few members here who wouldn't associate themselves with a particular branch, or even necessarily the tree.

DairyLama

Linc, is it technically difficult to re-structure the sub-forums?

Linc

I think the category structure communicates something about the intention of the site. To add categories for sects is the antithesis of that intention.

We have a "general" category, it's called "General Banter".

DairyLama

@Linc said:
I think the category structure communicates something about the intention of the site. To add categories for sects is the antithesis of that intention.
We have a "general" category, it's called "General Banter".

"General Banter" sounds like general chat to me, like a lounge or tea-room function.

I get your discomfort with the idea of sect categories, but I still think the current structure is muddled and could do with an overhaul.

I assumed you would value customer feedback.

poptart

Does it really matter which category things are in? Why the need to pigeonhole? I must confess I rarely look at the category.

Nirvana

What about a BUDDHISM 404 for those of us who feel a bit lost?

DairyLama

@poptart said:
Does it really matter which category things are in? Why the need to pigeonhole? I must confess I rarely look at the category.

The categories don't bother me personally as I've got used to the muddle. I was thinking more of people coming in new, and of Federica who has to move threads around on a regular basis because people aren't sure where to start them.

It's about making the forum structure more user-friendly, easier to manage, less idiosyncratic.