I agree! Gardening and many other topics are not just rural. Just my opinion that SOC has too many forums and sub-forums as is. I know a few I have recommended it to, looked it over, and felt it was overwhelming. The big question is how to simplify and condense without losing internet visibility. I think threads many times serve as sub-forums. I have probably complicated things, so I will zip it for now.
No, gardening isn't. My understanding, however, was that the Rural Living category would include more than a gardening forum. Otherwise, there is clearly no point.
Well, Faye started this with "I see under different boards things like "Tractors" and "Fairs" and "Gardening" and "Raising animals," and "trail riding" that might be better put under one roof." Kate followed up with "access to basic services when out in the boonies." Beth said "It's much more than gardening" Then blabbermouth me said: -Create a group named Raising and Caring for Livestock (might have a separate group for raising critters to be processed) -Maybe create a group named Wildlife (risk of fragmentation, nearly everyone's got birds & deer) --Then change "Pets and Critters" to "Pets" -Move Crops and Gardens to Rural Living (you may want to scan that group to see if a different group might be needed for the lawn & [flower] garden stuff) -Create a group called Tractors -Create a group called Wells and Septic Systems -Create a group called Livestock, Agricultural and County Fairs -Maybe create a group called Rural Culture and Social Life (risk of fragmentation) -Maybe create a group called Finding Doctors, Plumbers and Service Providers (risk of fragmentation) Yvonne said: What @Faye Fox was asking for was a forum where we can chat about aspects of living in the country, and it does not have to be people who are living in the country right now, it can be people who have lived in the country and want to share stories about when they lived there. It might be people who have never lived a country lifestyle, but are interested in learning, or just talking about it. Everything else was meandering fluff & stuff and conversations that eventually belong in Rural Living but did not discuss the structure. edit to add Faye's comment I overlooked: 1. Crops --- would be for gardening, canning, drying, composting, and anything related to growing food whether in the city or in the remote mountains. 2. Animals -- would be for talk about raising horses, cows, goats, sheep, hogs, chickens, etc. 3. Energy -- would be for home solar, water wheels, developing springs, making candles, windmills, making your own fuel, etc. It would differ from our other board about energy as this one would address home systems only and not talk about big solar farms or electric cars in downtown LA. 4. Buildings -- would address building, maintaining, and converting, houses for efficient country living as well as barns, corrals, or even outhouses. Log cabins, board and bat, buffalo hide tepee, yak hide yurt, or adobe. 5. Entertainment -- would address all forms of rural home entertainment from making instruments, to talk about radio communications, cell service in remote areas, satellite internet, community potlucks, and even card playing. Maybe even steer riding on the homestead. Maybe quilting or spinning wool. 6. Tools -- would be for anything from hand tools, tractors, to horse-drawn plows. anything past or present that makes rural living easier.
@Ken Anderson you pontificated about structure in these comments: https://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/request-for-new-board.21091/page-2#post-611037 Renaming "Crops & Gardens" would break the URL and potentially have a negative effect on our SEO. I could create a forum called "Rural Living" (or whatever), and move "Crops & Gardens" beneath it, as a sub-forum; and that would not break the SEO because I wouldn't be renaming it. The forum, "Rural Living," could also include other sub-forums. https://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/request-for-new-board.21091/page-6#post-617841 I like the idea and, as has been suggested privately, I'm thinking of making it a category of its own. There are some things to work out, however. I am hesitant to have two gardening sections, one for urban or suburban gardening and another for rural gardening because this could become a PITA when it comes to separating posts into one or the other. The other, of course, would be deciding on the topics. https://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/request-for-new-board.21091/page-6#post-617850 What I'm thinking is that, since we have a gardening section, any topic related to gardening would be appropriate there, whether it's in the Rural Living category or where it is now. Otherwise, it could easily become either redundant or unmanageable. If a category of its own, I'd want at least four sub-categories. https://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/request-for-new-board.21091/page-6#post-617986 If I moved the gardening forum from the Getting it Done category to the new category, I'd need to replace it with something. Otherwise, the forum will become asymmetrical and it might fall over and break.
@John Brunner, I know. Then there was a suggestion to make Rural Living a category, so that's in the mix. If there were a clear idea as to what to do, the discussion would be done and I'd do it when I get the chance.
Exactly! My thought was that by having this category, related topics would be easier to find. Example: Maybe county fairs would be discussed there instead of in a reminiscing forum. Maybe a better title would be "Self Sufficient Living" and this would include urban and rural, but then again the title "Getting it Done" is a good one that is all-inclusive. My idea was in reference to the growing movement among seniors to be more self-sufficient. Many are moving into the country simply to have a space where this can be accomplished, but a degree of self-sufficiency can be achieved in urban areas. While my original idea was to move the gardening as a sub-forum and replace its existing spot with "Rural Living" (lifestyles is better), I now see that Gardening is going to attract the most attention and should probably be left alone. I am now thinking if anything needs doing, it would be consolidating and simplifying and maybe adding forums and subforums to existing relevant threads. It seems a consensus feels the forum is too vast, categorized, and overwhelming taking more time and patience than most seniors possess. After all, it is the "threads" we see when searching "New Post" which is an easy way to see what has happened on the forum since our last visit.
But only if they are placed in the most relevant forum. I seldom look at what forum they were placed in because many times they would be relevant in several forums. I tend to look at who posted the post as this gives me a better idea of what the content might be.