Too many similar topics

[+Salvelinus]

I'm noticing many topics about palms and PDA's in the "General" category. Would these not be more appropriatly be logged under the "GPS and Software" category.

 

I personally have no reason to read any of these threads but I'm sure they are valuable to others. They seem out of place on the general page.

 

"Only when the last tree is cut,

and the last stream is polluted,

and the last fish is caught,

will we realize that you can't eat the money"

[+parkrrrr]

I think you're right; Discussions about Palms and Palm software do belong under the "GPS and Software" category. But the real problem is that someone went and found every thread that mentions Palms or PDAs and posted an ad for their software, regardless of how old the threads were. So all those old, moldy threads are now at the top of the list, and it looks like there's suddenly a lot more interest in Palms than there really might be.

 

So, the other message we should be harping on is: don't post to every old thread that looks relevant just because you have some new information. If it's of that much general interest, start a new topic (This person did that, too. That should have been enough.)

 

[+rschoolf]

Sorry. I did not realize that following up these threads would create this reaction.

 

The GeoClipping software is of interest to many Geocachers with Palms - who have brought up the subject over and over. I was just following up to tell them I have invested a lot of work on the software project, and would like to share this tool with them.

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~rschoolf/geocaching.htm

[Zuckerruebensirup]

quote:

---

Originally posted by smoochnme:

 

I'm noticing many topics about palms and PDA's in the "General" category. Would these not be more appropriatly be logged under the "GPS and Software" category.

 

I personally have no reason to read any of these threads but I'm sure they are valuable to others. They seem out of place on the general page.

---

And it isn't just the Palms/PDA threads...I notice a good number of non-General threads (i.e those that fit within an already-existing sub-category) that get posted to the General forum instead of the appropriate place. I mostly excuse the "newbie" ones, giving them allowances for not knowing better (although it really should be self-explanatory)...but I'm guessing that a large majority of the others get posted here because people think that the General forum gets better "exposure", and so the originators deliberately choose to ignore the sub-category in lieu of this more heavily frequented one. (Sometimes they post in both places, which is even more annoying.)

 

There are so many postings in the General category that the threads scroll off the main page faster than most of us can keep up. Some of that would be improved if people consistently respected the category headings. (Not to mention that casual searches for relevant threads would become easier for everyone. When people don't readily see a discussion thread covering something they are curious about, they often start new ones...which adds to the number everyone has to weed through.)

 

Personally, if people can't use the honor system for posting under the appropriate category headings, I think those threads should get deleted by the moderators. I'll bet if that started to happen, we'd begin seeing people use better discretion about what they post where.

 

-------

"I may be slow, but at least I'm sweet!"

[+VentureForth]

Instead of criticizing the existing threads, how about suggesting new forum categories?

 

I propose the following:

 

Nuthin' about Geocaching [for when I get a craving for salad dressing recepies]

GPS and PDA

Park Happenings [discussions about park rules, attitudes, etc]

and my favorite (stolen from MacAddict):

The Rant Room [for those civilized cussin' outs!]

 

Just my idea...

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[rghermes]

It's an awesome program. I tried it out today and it sure beats lugging around sheets of paper for every cache you plan on visiting. You can download the decoder and cut and paste the hint if you really need it. I see no problem in digging up old topics. Some people may be interested in it and some may not. If you're not, don't read it. Why does this bother some people?

 

"I am umbilically connected to the temperate zone. It's brought me life. It's brought me love, I never have outgrown"----J. Buffett

[Zuckerruebensirup]

quote:

---

Originally posted by VentureForth:

 

Instead of criticizing the existing threads, how about suggesting new forum categories?

---

I support the idea of adding some additional forum categories for those topics that seem to get a lot of discussion (especially the Rant Room...LOL), but that doesn't address the issue that was brought up here: people who aren't using the already existing appropriate categories.

 

I've seen plenty of posts with titles such as, "Attention {X} Area Cachers!" Those should be posted in the specific Regional forums. As smoochnme pointed out, the PDA questions fit within the scope of the "GPS and Software" forum.

 

Sure, adding more categories could help unclog the General forum...but only if people use them.

[+parkrrrr]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rghermes:

I see no problem in digging up old topics. Some people may be interested in it and some may not. If you're not, don't read it. Why does this bother some people?

---

 

Because he dug up old topics that are fundamentally identical to existing topics and pushed lots of interesting discussions off the bottom of the first page in the process. One or two posts in well-chosen, active threads would have been okay. A post in every tangentially Palm-related thread from the past two years was a bit excessive.

 

As it happens, I have a Palm too, and I carry cache descriptions with me in my Palm. A few months ago, before I wrote my own solution for the problem, I would have found this program interesting. But even so, it's not interesting enough to merit so many posts in so many dead threads.

 

[rghermes]

Well, you probably need to excuse the over-exuberance of the guy that developed this software for his fellow cachers. I find it amazing that someone would take this much time to develop something this involved for a sport or hobby. And now he is willing to share it with no expectation of payment.

I know if I was successful with something like this I would want to share it too.

We can be as equally guilty be perpetuating this thread with constant blabbing and knocking worthy threads to page 2.

 

"That's all I got to say about that!"

 

"I am umbilically connected to the temperate zone. It's brought me life. It's brought me love, I never have outgrown"----J. Buffett

[+VentureForth]

One that Markwell has made over and over. Why post new threads if old ones are valid and abundant?

 

Now, I'm a little more lenient than Markwell here... I don't see much problem in posting a new thread based on another one, especially if there is a twist. The PDA post though came when there were like three postings about PDA software on the first page of the forum.

 

As for the guy who wrote the clipping software, I can't get it to work, but I use (hapily) blsceare's pathetique.com site. I preferred infosponge's site, but it is no longer operational.

 

There are a great many ways to port data to a PDA, and all of them I learned here.

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[rghermes]

The geoclipping works well if you follow the readme instructions. I have had no problems using it. It's a bit convoluted how you need to have the palm desktop software running as well as IE on the cache page you wish to transfer, before opening the geoclippping program, but after you do that it works fine.

 

"I am umbilically connected to the temperate zone. It's brought me life. It's brought me love, I never have outgrown"----J. Buffett

[Miles5150]

People get their little panties in a bunch cause the threads scroll down. Who give a flying thud? I can understand if it's off topic and unimportant, but this gentleman spent a lot of time making this software, and personally, I'm embarassed at your reaction. If you don't like a thread, here's a frickin' novel idea, DON'T READ IT!!! PROBLEM SOLVED. Quit being a candyass.

[+Salvelinus]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Miles5150:

People get their little panties in a bunch cause the threads scroll down. Who give a flying thud? I can understand if it's off topic and unimportant, but this gentleman spent a lot of time making this software, and personally, I'm embarassed at your reaction. If you don't like a thread, here's a frickin' novel idea, DON'T READ IT!!! PROBLEM SOLVED. Quit being a candyass.

---

 

I haven't read any of them and why are your "panties in such a bunch" over my post?

 

The point is that these threads ARE off topic and there IS a topic, created by the same gentleman who developed THIS software, where they better fit.

 

I have two questions.

1. Did you just sign up today?

2. Who benefited from YOUR post?

 

"Only when the last tree is cut,

and the last stream is polluted,

and the last fish is caught,

will we realize that you can't eat the money"

[+Salvelinus]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Miles5150:

People get their little panties in a bunch cause the threads scroll down. Who give a flying thud? I can understand if it's off topic and unimportant, but this gentleman spent a lot of time making this software, and personally, I'm embarassed at your reaction. If you don't like a thread, here's a frickin' novel idea, DON'T READ IT!!! PROBLEM SOLVED. Quit being a candyass.

---

 

I haven't read any of them and why are your "panties in such a bunch" over my post?

 

The point is that these threads ARE off topic and there IS a topic, created by the same gentleman who developed THIS software, where they better fit.

 

I have two questions.

1. Did you just sign up today?

2. Who benefited from YOUR post?

 

"Only when the last tree is cut,

and the last stream is polluted,

and the last fish is caught,

will we realize that you can't eat the money"

[+sbell111]

Let's add 'Member's Only' and 'Locationless' topics to this issue. Hearing the same rants over-and-over gets tiring.

[Miles5150]

I came here to find info on GPS and all I can see is people ranting and raving and having spastic fits cause a thread bumped down. Yeah I know I'm ranting and raving to, so that puts me on the same level. Oh well, I guess I'm becoming one of the 'rotten apples' to that spoil an otherwise great place too, so I'll just drop my rants and move on. No hard feelings!