Computer Hardware Forum Changes

Review system isn't the only item itself, you also have the entire product database why people ignore one item or the other is always beyond me.

I honestly prefer the option Dynamite presented where a single "hardware" forum aggregates news from all the hardware forums into a single place but doesn't exile the other ones from functioning. It would serve as an optional area for users to ask any inquiry be it linux, mac or windows based and leave users who are more accustomed to using the regular forums to continue doing so while their contributions still get included.

I don't like the idea of combining / merging forums permanently or using permanent redirects though and I wont support such a thing tbh.

A collective presentation of those areas makes a lot more sense for that broader crowd appeal instead, we technically offer a similar solution in game forums by allowing an all messages option to exist which delivers the latest information from all the forums within a section. I'd rather see that instead of just mashing things up until they look okay.

Surely if Neoseeker uses a content management system then surely it should be easier assuming a feature has been implemented to aid this type of thing. I certainly think it is possible since the other forums have been merged in the past, although I'm not too sure how its affected the forum database.

However, when the Steam forum got merged with the PC Games forum, both forum numbers still functioned and redirected you to the same forum (the merged one). I think these changes would help users since all help is directed into one generic forum, instead of five or six smaller, seperate ones which don't see much viewer numbers, it should make moderation easier to do (there is only one forum to search through and clean), and the tagging system can be used for threads. Surely the CMS should be able to compensate for moved things by automatically updating the database.

Whilst we're at it, I wouldn't mind a change to how products are reviewed (or how the graphs are done anyway), by having them stored in the database (or perhaps a seperate one if needs be) so we have a hardware database and a feature which allows direct comparisons between products.

I don't have coding knowledge but I suppose something would be

NAME      PRODUCT TYPE     MANUFACTURER       MAN. CODE     CHIPSET     CLOCK SPEED       CORES      TDP     TEMP      PRICE     REVIEW RATING       METASCORE     REVIEW BADGE
HD 6950   Graphics Card    Sapphire           abc 123       AMD HD6950   925Mhz           -          150w    60°c      £190      80/100                85/100           Gold

Temp could be changed through a peice of easy coding formula to calculate either. Price could also be done through that conversion and could be inserted through the Neoseeker price review feature. That is just an example above. Drop down boxes, and what not could then be used to draw a comparison against other products.

Then depending on the product type (say Graphics Card, CPU, Motherboard, etc... different columns would apply, and comparisons only between the same product types would be done through the PHP scripting.

May take alot of hardwork doing but it would help users find out which product is best through comparing reviews, which is what this site is meant to do. Surely the graphs could be done then through PHP or something and drawn in that based on the database info. Just a suggestion about that.

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In terms of forums getting amalgamated into the Computer Hardware Forum then, things such as Motherboards and CPUs, Video Cards and Monitors, Harddrives, DVD, CDR and other storage fun, Gaming and input devices, and the laptops forum should be merged into a Computer Hardware forum. Windows OS, Mac OS, *nix could be merged into a OS forum with tags (if not kept seperate), HD Gaming and AV, Audiophiles, Audiolovers and Audio junkies, digital cameras, printers and digital imaging, could then be reclassified or merged or done away with and pointed towards new forums. Networking and security could be split up into two (hardware networking goes into hardware), software/OS networking goes into an OS & Software forum.

Basically,

Computer Hardware Forum, for specific hardware
OS and Software Forum, for Windows, Mac, *nix, and software
Electronic Forum for TVs, Audio systems, cameras, personal electronics, etc...
Deals could be placed alongside the member selling thread or something.

Gaming devices could be put into the PC gaming thread or the computer hardware thread.

Networking forum isn't needed for other devices such as a DS since that could go into an generic DS forum.

quote VeGiTAX2

harbin91 neo doesn't use commercial cms systems, it never has. Also you're failing to provide a valid comparison here which was my whole point to this. Merge Action and Adventure and Sports and Racing as complete profile sections here and on the product database itself and then think of the issue that breeds. Forums aren't what we're talking about, we're talking about entire subsections of hardware.

Even if that is the case, the CMS is developed by Redemption and his team of Neo cronies.

There doesn't have to be a timescale on this, but merger functionality to deal with this could be written in a major update to the system to deal with this and things such as this that may come about in the future. 10 years down the line, forums such as PS2, Xbox, gamecube and DS could be put into a noughties category to clean up the index.

I mean, even the forum will need to be modernised at some point in the future to move away from tables, to build up more advanced features such as perhaps live threads so a post appears instantly without needing a page fresh, etc...

quote

HD Gaming and AV, which is essentially about home theater and tv's should go into a forum about controllers and keyboards and then get merged with a forum for general accessories? Never thought to say it should go into... Video Cards and Monitors and expand the field to keep the whole thing consistent?

i dont go in that forum, so i dont know what its really about. i see HD gaming, and i make an assumption.

those ones are a little harder to decide on, but there are others that seem more obvious, at least to me. i see absolutely no reason why we have to have a forum dedicated to laptops. whats so different about a laptop compared to a desktop or server? that its portable? laptops have their own issues that other computers wont have (or are much less common), but that doesnt mean they need a forum. the exact same things can be asked in this forum.

and im still strongly opposed to the splitting of the OSS forum in to three different forums. sure, it gives each a more specialised feel, but look how little activity is there. perhaps the OSS forum can be reintroduced with the tags. users select windows, mac, or linux when making a thread.

those are the two groups that i feel strongly about (compared to the others)

I think there are several areas of concern when it comes to the hardware side of forums. I've tried to summarize it below in point form (it might not be complete, just off the top of my head)

• There may be too many main "sections" (eg Networking and Security).
  • Personally I think we need to keep some separation in these sections
• Some of the sections might be outdated (eg Hard Drives, DVD, CD-R and other storage fun). At the versy least these should be renamed.
  • Some of the sections were created to service a need that might not exist anymore.
    • HD Gaming <-- was formed when very few people had HD televisions. In another few years everyone will essentially be HD gaming, unless on a mobile platform.
    • Networking and security used to be a more important topic, nowadays its pretty easy to buy a simple Router and set yourself up.
    • Audio as a topic is much smaller than 10 years ago when sound cards and speakers were a major purchasing decision (entire groups of sites formed around this topic, all of which are gone now).
• We're still creating a new forum per product added to the database. This works ok for games (and even that is scheduled for some consolidation), but not as good for hardware. So far we have no solution for this, but we should consider whether its possible to just point products to their main forum.
  • Some of the less useful sections still remain because the products are still being added to those sections, and if we have to collapse sections (like Printers) into another section (Peripherals) it would mean a LOT of hardware products might get shuffled around.
  • This is more of a "chicken and egg" style problem where its hard to consolidate main sections because we have the individual products, and its hard to manipulate the products because we have a products database.

I think there won't be a simple one size fits all solution. We probably have to make small tweaks here and there to achieve an overall incremental improvement.

I suggest we start by considering renaming of some sections and exploring whether we can consolidate any that are not related to the product database.

The ones I think are not related to product database I bolded below:

quote

Computer Hardware & Overclocking
Motherboards & CPUs
Video Cards and Monitors
HD Gaming and AV
Audiophiles, Audiolovers, Audio junkies
Digital Cameras, Printers and Digital Imaging
Gaming and Input Devices
Hard Drives, DVD, CD-R, and other storage fun
Networking and Security
Windows OS and Software
Nix OS and Software
Mac: OSX and General Discussions
Personal Electronics
Deals
Laptops/Notebooks

quote Redemption

There may be too many main "sections" (eg Networking and Security).
Personally I think we need to keep some separation in these sections

Yeah, I do think we need separation, but not as much (eg Linux os, Mac os and windows OS could easily go into one forum).

quote Redemption

We're still creating a new forum per product added to the database. This works ok for games (and even that is scheduled for some consolidation), but not as good for hardware. So far we have no solution for this, but we should consider whether its possible to just point products to their main forum.

I think just having the product point the main forum would work and probably be the easiest way to do it. Or perhaps setting up the main forums to be an All-Forum.

quote Redemption

The ones I think are not related to product database I bolded below:

quote

Computer Hardware & Overclocking
Motherboards & CPUs
Video Cards and Monitors
HD Gaming and AV
Audiophiles, Audiolovers, Audio junkies
Digital Cameras, Printers and Digital Imaging
Gaming and Input Devices
Hard Drives, DVD, CD-R, and other storage fun
Networking and Security
Windows OS and Software
Nix OS and Software
Mac: OSX and General Discussions
Personal Electronics
Deals
Laptops/Notebooks

How about this:

Computer Hardware and Overclocking > Rename to General Computer hardware
Windows OS, Nix OS, Mac OS > merged into a general Operating Systems and Software forum, or keep separate forums and make an all-forum for the 3 of them.
Personal Electronics and HD Gaming and AV combined to a single forum
Laptops/Notebooks merged to General Computer Hardware

That would at least cut down the categories from 15 to 11.