Split Deals Forum into Ebooks and Readers Forums

[Ken Stuart]

The mobileread Forum has been extremely helpful and has even saved me some money. So, the following is a small suggestion to make it even better:

Split the "Deals..." Forum into two separate Forums - that would "Ebook Deals..." and "Reader Deals...".

The reason is that - in my assessment - members are either looking for one or the other. New members are especially only looking for reader deals, and the numerous ebook deal threads tend to scroll valid reader deals off the front page.

Then when they use their mobileread Forum deal to get a reader, then they want to see the ebook deals ... and not the readers deals.

Even long-term members who decide they want a new reader, are only looking at the reader deals at that particular time.

It seems to me that it would be a win-win for everyone.

[Worldwalker]

I agree there. There's some overlap, of course, but they're generally different markets. That's especially true with people who are looking for specials on readers and don't want/need to dig through pages of deals on ebooks to find them.

Having tags for some of the major readers would also be helpful, though that runs into the problem of multiples: what happens if a book is available for the Kindle and Sony but not iPad? But still, I'd like to be able to sort the forum so I can get rid of all the Kindle-only books, for instance, which are useless to me. Ideally, there should be a section strictly for DRM-free epubs (we can call it "Worldwalker's Forum", naturally) so I can go right to those. But even without that perfectly reasonable suggestion, given the volume of deals we have nowadays, some way of organizing them by target platform and DRM status would help.

But definitely, at least split out books and readers. It's not that big an issue for me, as I have a reader and I'm looking for books, which are in the majority, but it has to be a nightmare for someone looking for a good price on ebook readers.

[Elfwreck]

Ebook Deals, definitely. But the other should be broader than Reader Deals. I can imagine several kinds of deals/bargains other than those two... software, scanners, memory cards, booklights, protective screen covers... While things like that don't get a lot of entries, I'd like the not-ebooks forum to make it obvious that other ebook-related deals & discounts belong there.

[Worldwalker]

Books and Hardware, maybe? Or Books, Readers, and Accessories?

[ATDrake]

I'm not so sure that the Deals forum needs splitting per se, but prefix tags to further categorize what's being posted would be helpful. Something like Readers, Accessories, Free Book/Game, Bargain Book/Game, Coupon/Discount, Resource would be useful, so that people could quickly skim over the colour-coded post titles that don't interest them.

There was some earlier discussion of using prefixes to categorize the various ebook deals as well, but given the shifting availability of certain offers, it doesn't seem practical unless one can stack prefixes.

If it does come to a split, then Hardware (readers & accessories) and Software (ebooks, reader-based games, the occasional e-book creation software freebie like those PDF converters that have free license giveaways, and of course, online resources) seem to be the logical divisions.

Or maybe Resources as the third category, since stuff like the Philadelphia Free Library and Creative Commons e-book sites don't exactly expire (one hopes).

[doreenjoy]

I like having all the Deals in one place.

[poohbear_nc]

Implementing any sort of organization on this section has to contend with the often ephemeral life span of these deals. Posts appear, sometimes explosively in large numbers, and often have a known or unknown lifespan. Posts age rapidly off the first page as well.
Labels could be made available for posts [such as Book, Ereader, Game -- or Free, Bargin] - but the hard part is getting posters to use the labels consistently, so that readers could either filter the posts and not miss anything, or leaving members still having to sort through any unlabeled posts to make sure they didn't miss anything.

We implemented a compromise solution in the Kindle Forum, where a member (koland) was willing to supervise and maintain a Sticky thread of Free/Bargain Kindle books. This Sticky is replaced monthly - keeping new deals up front and reducing the clutter of old posts.

In the Deals/Freebies section we're currently trying a compromise solution - putting enough relevant information in the thread title to allow members to decide whether the deal applies to them or not.

Any additional labelling/sub-dividing, etc. would really require a member to monitor the forum continuously to ensure all new posts were added in accordance with the forum organizational scheme.

[Ken Stuart]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Any additional labelling/sub-dividing, etc. would really require a member to monitor the forum continuously to ensure all new posts were added in accordance with the forum organizational scheme.

I think we are arguing about a Straw Man (the usual result of "I would also like" replies).

How hard would it be for people to figure out:

- "Hardware Deals (incl Readers)"

- "Software Deals and Freebies (incl Ebooks)"

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

In the Deals/Freebies section we're currently trying a compromise solution - putting enough relevant information in the thread title to allow members to decide whether the deal applies to them or not.

I like this system. A flag for "Ended" might help, too.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I like this system. A flag for "Ended" might help, too.

One of things we try to do is keep up with the changing availability of which ebook stores have the free ebook by editing the title when a member posts to that thread.

It is easiest to keep up with the quick changes when members post to the thread as a book is made available on another site or when it is no longer available for free. The title can be updated again. Only moderators are able to change the thread titles.

I admit it is frustrating to go to the site and find that it is not free, but these deals are sometimes very quick and always changing. I'm very thankful to our dedicated members who take the time to post the finds for us, and I don't mind the little bit of time it takes me to go check a site for a deal when I am interested in a book.

If a member posts that the offer is ended a moderator can add that to the title. When more than one site is listed in the title, the title is edited to remove that site. You still need to check the posts in the thread for other information.

This system is not perfect, but I think it is working pretty good for now, especially with members posting changes to the threads.

[Ken Stuart]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I like this system. A flag for "Ended" might help, too.

I'm sorry, but at this point, your post is "thread crapping".

Start your own thread about titles.

It's especially disrespectful of you, because I had just posted to steer the thread back to a simple split of the Deals Forum.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Ken Stuart

The mobileread Forum has been extremely helpful and has even saved me some money. So, the following is a small suggestion to make it even better:

Split the "Deals..." Forum into two separate Forums - that would "Ebook Deals..." and "Reader Deals...".

<snip>

Thank you for your thoughtful suggestion and it will be added to our list and considered for implementation.