Forum for the Opus

[sassanik]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

We are working on it. Since it will involve moving existing threads around it's an irreversible process and as such all pros and cons must have been fully considered first.

Ahh gotcha.


Amy

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by gerraldo

And NO - a big fat (please) NO from me, for the idea to put all Netronix devices in one section (this would be just awful - it's the OS that makes the real difference in eReaders). What have Cybook, Slick, Cooler, Pocketbook etc. in common (apart from basic hardware)?!

But what if a new variant pops up?

Take the EB600 for example. I want to ask something about it, but since I've got an Elonex I don't know where to ask.
There is neither a generic "EB600-based" Forum, nor one for "Elonex-Firmware". (Or I simply didn't find it yet.)

Either way, since my question probably isn't about the firmware at all, it would be somewhat wrong anyway.

I'd split it in software and hardware. Any EB-600 related threads should go into one forum, while any firmware related should go into the other.

[gerraldo]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

But what if a new variant pops up?

Take the EB600 for example. I want to ask something about it, but since I've got an Elonex I don't know where to ask.
There is neither a generic "EB600-based" Forum, nor one for "Elonex-Firmware". (Or I simply didn't find it yet.)

Either way, since my question probably isn't about the firmware at all, it would be somewhat wrong anyway.

I'd split it in software and hardware. Any EB-600 related threads should go into one forum, while any firmware related should go into the other.

If a new reader appears and has enough followers, they'll add a new section for it. But I second that there should be an "other" section for eReaders before that happens.

I don't think they should have seperate sections for hard & software. The question is: How do you know that an error, bug, problem etc. is related to hardware and not software/firmware? Answer: You don't! (And I assume 99% are software related problems anyway.)

And if you have questions about buttons, cases, wrist-strap or else this would be different too (just the mainboard stays mostly the same).

So YES to add a new "others" section to eReaders, but NO to a split for hard & software.

(just my 2 cents)

[bill_mchale]

I agree with lumping the Sony readers together -- I grant that there might be issues specific to one or another device, but with 3 in production readers, and 3 discontinued readers (one of which at least was rather popular), I think it will make it easier for people to find things.

In fact, I think the readers should be split up based on the brand. Yeah, there are an awful lot of netronix and Hanlin readers out there, but since many people new to the forums might not know that Hanlin or Netronix made their device the brand specific forum would be helpful.

Alterntely, (and I know I origianlly started the idea of a Jetbook forum), we might want to split it down to Sony, Kindle, Irex, Cybook and other...

--
Bill

[sassanik]

Cool-er didn't get a forum?


Amy

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I agree with lumping the Sony readers together -- I grant that there might be issues specific to one or another device, but with 3 in production readers, and 3 discontinued readers (one of which at least was rather popular), I think it will make it easier for people to find things.

In fact, I think the readers should be split up based on the brand. Yeah, there are an awful lot of netronix and Hanlin readers out there, but since many people new to the forums might not know that Hanlin or Netronix made their device the brand specific forum would be helpful.

Alternatively, (and I know I origianlly started the idea of a Jetbook forum), we might want to split it down to Sony, Kindle, Irex, Cybook and other...

--
Bill

Lumping all the Sony Readers together is a bad idea. Would you like the Jetbook forum to be turned into a generic 5" screen size reader forum? I think you'd find that a bad idea too.

[Alexander Turcic]

The rationale of lumping all Sony Readers together would not be based on their screen size (note that their sizes differ), but based on the fact that they are from the same manufacturer, use the same auxiliary software and share a similar firmware (if you look at the sources you find hardly any differences). Thus chances are that users with a Sony Reader share similar experiences. Based on what practical rationale should we keep all Sony Readers types (or likewise Amazon Kindles) separate from each other? How would the community benefit from that kind of separation? When we make decisions in regard to the forum structure - decisions that are far from being easy btw - we must always ask ourselves that question. For instance, we reasoned that OEM manufacturers, despite the fact that their device is rebranded, could benefit from having their dedicated sections if the community (or a large part of it) benefits from it. What I am saying is that the decision for dedicated sections should primarily be based on the benefit of the community and not on semantics, such as device types.

[JSWolf]

I still think having seperate forums lumped under Sony would work best...

PRS-300
PRS-500
PRS-505
PRS-600
PRS-700
Daily Edition

And in each forum section, have categories instead of subforums. That would solve the mess subforums would cause.

And the same goes for all the other reader specific forums.

If you wanted to do say an EB600 forum, you could and then have categories for all the different rebranded brands. This would also work for the V3 and clones too.

[Alexander Turcic]

Jon your suggestion would lead to an abundance of forum sections, and I am not convinced that the separation would be of any benefit to anyone. On the contrary, I argue that it would lead to a separation of the community where the left hand (eg a sony prs 300 user) doesn't know what the right (eg a sony prs 600 user) is doing.

[JSWolf]

But chances are, a PRS-300 user doesn't need to know what a PRS-600 user is doing as the 600 user is doing things the 300 user cannot do.

[Alexander Turcic]

For which purpose we could introduce an optional thread prefix defining the device type. I believe Sony Readers (and their community) share more similarities than differences.

[gerraldo]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

For which purpose we could introduce an optional thread prefix defining the device type. I believe Sony Readers (and their community) share more similarities than differences.

And in that case, I'd like to note (again)...

Originally Posted by gerraldo

That's why I think a feature to filter the threads by prefix/topic is absolutely needed! Would be an OK substitute for the different sub-forums. And it would be good to make the search functionality more prominent (= always visible - I think one would use this more often).

[Who are you?]

Originally Posted by gerraldo

And in that case, I'd like to note (again)...

Those filters already exist, both for forums as well as for searching ...

[orwell2k]

Good luck!

I asked for a BeBook forum and was shouted down, told it was only a Hanlin V3 clone so it should go in the Hanlin forum. Turned out to be a good thing, as a lot of Hanlin users (LBook, BeBook, Jinke) have shared info, tips/tricks, firmwares, etc.

Then suddenly an Astak forum pops up - clearly a set of Hanlin clones, but they rate their own forum. Now the benefits of the common forum are diminished because info has to be searched for in two places. Could it be becasue the Astak is the US clone and gets some preferential treatment? Did someone request the separate forum and get approval? Was it just a mistake that is now too late to rectify?

The Cool-ER is different to any other device, has been out for some time, has sold like hot-cakes, and still no MR forum. makes it hard to find good info on the Cool-ER, and as far as ePubs go, it seems to be one of the few devices that can display them well, so I'd like to know more.

I don't know much about the Opus, but it may be in a similar situation to the Cool-ER.

Please, let's get the forums organised a little better, and give some consistency to the decisions being made. I know it's a thankless task, but it would help readers, especially those looking at alternative devices to the big names like Sony and Kindle.

[gerraldo]

Originally Posted by Who are you?

Those filters already exist, both for forums as well as for searching ...

I know that, but not in the way they should be implemented, if the new forums work like Alexander explained. There should be dedicated, always visible features at the top and no need to use the advanced search function.