Streamlining ATARNotes

[taiga]

Well the idea popped up one summers evening with Binders, Ninwa, and the rest of the chat gang.

Essentially the idea was to create broad sub-boards for ATARnotes, similar to the current VCEnotes one.

So with Maths/Science/Tech, essentially it would comprise of subjects from all states which were similar.

So for example, under Mathematics, there would be a communal national discussion board, and the current existing sub-boards (e.g VCE Maths Methods, SACE Maths Methods, HSC Math B etc.)

The reasoning is that there isn't a WHOLE lot of difference in coursework between different states, and there is no reason why our Victorian members cant help out with questions on the HSC course which have overlap. Furthermore it expands the resources that we have already on the site (VCE students can pick up HSC notes relevant to their topics), and gets that communal feel that we're aiming for with ATARnotes.

The fact that we would already have a membership of 15000+, many of whom willing to help in HSC, WACE, and SACE subjects, would also make the site a whole lot more attractive.

On the downside, I DO think it is a gamble, and if the idea fails, it could be worse for the forum having a bunch of dead sub-boards (not unlike another particular site).

It would also consist of huge technical work, which may or may not be possible. But if it could work, it would be excellent.

The other thing to note is that many languages have the exact same papers and coursework in different states, which may be something else to consider whilst we're talking about making our website more of a national community.

This would also, if successful, put an end to petty disputes about the placement of OGD and whatnot.

[Mao]

Devil's advocate:

Boards are already cluttered, having each board filled with different subjects from all states will be very messy.

If any subject boards are merged, that will be one step closer to merspi. We all saw how well that went.

[taiga]

I meant that the Maths Science Tech from all the states would be merged into one Maths/Science/Tech, which would exist on the ATARnotes main page.

Nevertheless point taken, it would make it cluttered.

Perhaps under Mathematics for example, there would be VCE, HSC, WACE, SACE etc. and the communal area would exist as it is.

The intention being that the communal area is where people ask about questions, and the state areas are where they talk about Area of Studies/Practice materials/complaining about how hard exams are, and the sort of discussions which pertain specifically to a state's course.

[stonecold]

Hypothetically, if everything was integrated into a single forum, what do you guys mean by 'clutter'?

Is it that you don't want HSC maths posts coming up in the updated posts of the other states for example?

Because apparently it is possible to to prevent certain boards from appearing in the updated threads section to avoid this kind of clutter.  I do agree though, VCE students getting bombarded with HSC threads for example would be rather annoying, but I think GerrySly posted the workaround for this.

Also, I like taiga's idea.  Although we all have different subjects, in essence, the fundamentals of many subjects are the same, and members should be able to ask questions on a national basis.

[Mao]

@stonecold, if you can hide it, why merge in the first place? 

I still think indexing is important. The state of the boards right now is cluttered but not that bad, we can achieve more than just a cluster-fuck of answering questions, we have quite a few very useful guides and informative posts.

The best idea would be if all boards/subboard were managed by a  cms, and users choose a list of subscriptions of boards they are interested.

[stonecold]

@stonecold, if you can hide it, why merge in the first place? 

Sorry...didn't make myself clear

I remember when there was talk of a Religion board (btw is this going to happen??) enwiabe said that posts in that board would not show up in the updated posts section, and people would have to specifically enter that board to view the activity.

I am suggesting the same for cross state threads.  If you are from NSW for example, you only get national and HSCNotes threads come up in updated posts, and if you want to see the other stuff, you can go look for it.

So similar to what it is now, but without the integration hassles because it would just be one forum. 

[EvangelionZeta]

I personally hate this idea.  There might be a bit of overlap for maths/sciences, but I know the English boards (which are quite prominent) would become even more chaotic than they are already.  That, and I think it's just hard to maintain stickies, guides, etc., in a reasonable fashion if we're having all the different systems in the same board.  Maybe wait for the national curriculum.

On that note, to the admin as a whole, I honestly don't see us picking up that many kids from other systems for a fair while.  Like it or not, BoS (as badly managed as it is) has a fairly large NSW userbase, and I think it'll take a good year or two before they start realising that there's a better place now.  The good news is that once there's a small, dedicated base, more and more people will come in exponentially through hearsay, etc. - I think we just have to wait (and advertise), rather than try and find "instant population" methods.

[taiga]

On a side note.

Moving the UMAT section to the UMAT section on the ATARNotes forum sounds like a logical progression.

[enwiabe]

I personally hate this idea.  There might be a bit of overlap for maths/sciences, but I know the English boards (which are quite prominent) would become even more chaotic than they are already.  That, and I think it's just hard to maintain stickies, guides, etc., in a reasonable fashion if we're having all the different systems in the same board.  Maybe wait for the national curriculum.

On that note, to the admin as a whole, I honestly don't see us picking up that many kids from other systems for a fair while.  Like it or not, BoS (as badly managed as it is) has a fairly large NSW userbase, and I think it'll take a good year or two before they start realising that there's a better place now.  The good news is that once there's a small, dedicated base, more and more people will come in exponentially through hearsay, etc. - I think we just have to wait (and advertise), rather than try and find "instant population" methods.

Slow and steady wins the race!

[stonecold]

On a side note.

Moving the UMAT section to the UMAT section on the ATARNotes forum sounds like a logical progression.

Nah, enwiabe doesn't want this, because people need to make MedEntry groups etc.

But when are we getting our admission tests board!

And I have to disagree EZ.  I think in addition to the state boards, general discussion on subjects such as maths, science, English etc. is not such a bad idea.  I mean, what is wrong with someone posting a math question they need help with on the national forum?  Maths is maths.  Also, as much as I hate to say it, for my English text 'Cosi', which was new for this year, I found a lot of helpful resources on BoS because they had already studied it in NSW.

Sure for fine details the courses vary from state to state, but fundamentally, subjects are all pretty similar.  

I may be ignorant to assume this not having done VCE LOTE, but other than detailed study, language studies are probably the same.  It may even be helpful for people to post their LOTE questions on a national scale, because this way their thread will get more exposure compared to the relatively small amount of people who take LOTE in each state and use the site.

I don't know.  It is just that if I go to a physics forum, I expect them to be able to give me some kind of help because physics is physics, even if I am conversing with someone half way around the world.

[ninwa]

I'd love to have more people to talk with in French and German, that's for sure...

But when are we getting our admission tests board!

What?

[stonecold]

But when are we getting our admission tests board!

What?

enwiabe said he would convert the UMAT board to an admission tests board so we can discuss GAMSAT, LSAT, MCAT, SAT etc as well. 

[taiga]

But when are we getting our admission tests board!

What?

enwiabe said he would convert the UMAT board to an admission tests board so we can discuss GAMSAT, LSAT, MCAT, SAT etc as well. 

MAT CAT HAT BAT SAT FAT
(sorry couldnt resist)

Is there a big demand for a board for all of those? :X

[DavidB3ck]

Hypothetically, if everything was integrated into a single forum, what do you guys mean by 'clutter'?

Is it that you don't want HSC maths posts coming up in the updated posts of the other states for example?

Because apparently it is possible to to prevent certain boards from appearing in the updated threads section to avoid this kind of clutter.  I do agree though, VCE students getting bombarded with HSC threads for example would be rather annoying, but I think GerrySly posted the workaround for this.

Also, I like taiga's idea.  Although we all have different subjects, in essence, the fundamentals of many subjects are the same, and members should be able to ask questions on a national basis.

As far as I am aware, completely ignoring boards per member is only doable in SMF 2.0, which has yet to be officially released.

[stonecold]

Do you think the SMF 2.0 upgrade will be hard to do when it comes out?

I am looking forward to it.  It looks really modern and sleek and will complement all the new design up the top and on the homepage nicely.