DIY indexing

[gogmorgo]

Bear with me here, as this might be a bit rambling before I get around to my point.

 

So I've kinda stopped looking at the DIY and Tech Write-up forum. This is because I was getting increasingly annoyed at scrolling past all the pinned threads. I'm the kind of guy who gets really frustrated with minor annoyances. In my mind, this is somewhat justifiable in this case because out of the 30 threads displayed in the first page, 24 of them are pinned threads, which after having looked through them once, don't really offer me much new information. I'm also the kind of guy who starts thinking up sometimes major solutions to minor annoyances because in my mind it's preferable to fix a problem, even if it's not a severe one or even something anyone else sees as a problem.

 

So to this goal, I though about having sort of a master pinned thread, an FAQ so to speak, of the pinned threads. I'd actually started making one a couple months ago, but was interrupted by a power outage, and lost interest. But a couple weeks ago, I kinda wanted to redo it. Except then I had another idea. What if the entire forum was indexed? With one master post with all the links in it? I think there's sound reasoning for such a thing:

There are 300+ threads in the section. They date back to 2007. There's no organization beyond the 8% that were pinned. Some of them may have been forgotten, despite containing useful information. There's probably also some reduplication of topics. For a new member looking for ideas on something specific, that's a bit of an overwhelming haystack to find a needle in, and it would be quite annoying to discover that there may be a better needle than being relied upon. The site's search function works, and Google works well, but a single place where someone could see all that's there in an organized manner would be very helpful in my mind.

 

Basically what I'm suggesting would be a list of all the DIY threads, sorted into affected areas (i.e. engine, suspension, brakes, interior, etc). There would also be room for:

 -differentiation between repairs and modifications

-classification into skill levels (i.e. can be done in the driveway with a socket set and some screwdrivers vs requiring welding or specialized tools),

-whether or not there are pictures,

-??? what else would be helpful?

This would also require continuous work after "completion" to keep it current.

 

I have no idea how long such a project would take, but it wouldn't surprise me all that much if it ended up being 40+hrs of work just to compile the index. I'm 100% willing to do the work myself in my free time, and then stay on top of keeping it updated, but it would end up being a lot of work for nothing and a huge waste of time if no one else wants or sees the need for something like this.

 

So Yay or Nay? Is this something people want? Or does anyone have any other input?

[Rockfrog]

I surf the forum with Tapatalk on my phone. It had an option to not display 'stickies' ... Problem solved.

[Pete M]

There are 300+ threads in the section. 

 

 

it wouldn't surprise me all that much if it ended up being 40+hrs of work

 

 

now you know why we have what we have.  :yes:   I'm all for more organization, but there's no way I can find the time to attack it.  :(  and I have no interest in splitting it into a dozen more forums.  but if they were all in a master thread, I can dig it. :thumbsup:

[HOrnbrod]

How about a "Master Thread" at the top of the DIY forum divided into menu categories (Cooling, Steering, Suspension, etc. in alphabetical order). Each category will have the title and link to every DIY post pertaining to that category, including stickies. Then another thread right under it for new DIY posts so the mods can review them then move into the master thread under the appropriate category. That shouldn't be too time consuming after it's set up.

[gogmorgo]

I kinda like that idea, Hornbrod. In fact, I actually had it independently some time on Saturday I think. I didn't look back to this thread until today to give everyone time to add thoughts over the weekend. I got three replies... Oh well.

I just moved into a new place last night, but once I've got my stuff set up, I was going to start putting everything into an excel sheet, a line to each thread, with a column for categories and whatever else I throw in. I was thinking for categories, I'd just go with the stuff on the MJOTM posts, so engine/performance, drivetrain, cooling, electrical/ignition, interior, exterior, suspension/steering, brakes, lighting. Maybe splitting up the slashes. I'm still thinking sorting into mods vs repairs (I don't think there are many repairs), and a flag for pictures.

I'd like do include a skill level, but I'm not sure how to do that. Right now I'm thinking three levels:

1. Basic, i.e. can be done with a good socket set, screwdrivers, voltmeter, soldering iron... stuff most people are likely to have around.

2. Intermediate, i.e. requires specialized tools. This one I'm less certain about. My thought was stuff like pulling a motor or dropping a transmission, things a typical shade-tree mechanic might not be so comfortable with.

3. Advanced. i.e. requires fabrication. This is everything beyond bolt-ons. Cutting, welding, etc. I'm not sure trimming for larger tires counts, but you get the picture.

 

Once I've got my categories established, and all the flags and things sorted out, I can stick it all into a big excel sheet and then have excel do all the sorting for me. But I want to run it by someone else to make sure the categories and things are well appropriate before I start, cause it'll be a pain in the @$$ to change stuff once I've started indexing... I'd pretty well have to start all over.

 

I don't know how convenient it would be to have a big list of everything sorted out for moving threads into separate forums under the DIY one (it would still have to be done one at a time, right?) but I don't see it hurting anything. There's a few days before I'd get started, and all input is appreciated. I know pretty well what I'd like to do with it, but what works for me isn't always a thing that makes sense to everyone else, eh?

[Jeep Driver]

 

There are 300+ threads in the section. 

 

 

it wouldn't surprise me all that much if it ended up being 40+hrs of work

 

 

now you know why we have what we have.  :yes:   I'm all for more organization, but there's no way I can find the time to attack it.  :(  and I have no interest in splitting it into a dozen more forums.  but if they were all in a master thread, I can dig it. :thumbsup:

 

 

 

 

In the Pub you have a sub-forum entitled "popular".

 

Create a sub-forum here and title it "pinned".

 

As you pin a thread, simply move it to the Pinned sub-forum.

 

 

Seams simple enough.

[gogmorgo]

SO I'm back... and this totally didn't happen this summer. Things got a little weird with my internet (stealing unsecured wifi from your neighbour only works wen your four other roommates, and all her other neighbours aren't all trying to do it too) and I kinda dropped away from some stuff. Like this entire forum. But my other summer projects are coming to a close and the summer staff is starting to leave the park, so things are quieting down and maybe I'll have time to get started on this. I was surprised by how quickly they had seasonal staff on... usually they don't start showing up until June or July, but this year I had a full house as soon as I moved in. Lots of stuff going on.

 

But excuses, excuses. Maybe I'll get started on this. Maybe not. I may be in an empty house until the end of October. But I don't quite know.