Subject:These Forums are a Disaster

Posted by: Illogical

Date:3/3/2005 1:19:40 PM

Man I wish there was a bit more structure to these forums...it's like Craigslist, for crying out loud. Acid Pro is a big topic, innit? Why can't we have these forums divided up a bit, so people don't post the same topic every other day?

It'd be nice, also, if we could have some sort of quick link to the latest news on when a patch will be released to fix the numerous bugs in Acid Pro 5.

Finally, does anyone know how to remove the vocals from a song?

That last one's a joke.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Illogical

Date:3/3/2005 1:22:54 PM

Also, is there any way to get an email letting you know if a thread you've posted to has new replies?

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Weevil

Date:3/3/2005 2:10:23 PM

Divided up a bit? What on earth do you mean?

Email notification would be very cool. And maybe an auto link converter thing.

Other than that I can’t see a problem.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: vitalforce2

Date:3/3/2005 3:18:41 PM

Two words: Search window.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Illogical

Date:3/4/2005 6:36:29 AM

well, here's four suggestions for subcategories, it's really not that difficult to conceive

1. Product Suggestions (which shouldn't be some clandestine submission to Sony)

2. Bugs/Glitches/Troubleshooting

3. Tips/Tricks/How do I...

4. Rants/Raves/Etc

I know there is a search window, Dr. Two Words. It's really not the point...some people like to browse. I'm looking for a department store, and right now we're strolling through a swap meet.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:3/4/2005 8:15:07 AM

I can see the benefits of having seperate forums like you suggested. And if I was mainly here looking for a specific item then that's the way I would want it. I'm here usually browsing for tips, answering questions, seeing what bugs others are finding, to see if I can reproduce the same thing and wander in on a general off topic subject now and then that interests me. Your recommendation would therefore now make things difficult on what I find convenient to accomodate your convenience. I would look at it like this as an analogy. Some people like to shop at a specialty store, like say a store like Home Depot, specializing in Home projects/hardware merchandise. This way they can get in there find exactly what they need without having to go through the produce isle first and get out quick. They know they're going to find exactly what they're looking for, it's the specialty store and if it doesn't have it, then nothing else will. Other's like to shop at a broader store like a Super Walmart, where I can be there shopping for my groceries and while I'm doing that I just happen to look over in the electronics section next to the dairy products and I see a clearance sale on a flat screen TV I've been wanting, so I put that TV in the same cart as my gallon of milk I just got. Some will argue that the Super Walmart is better, other's like the specialty store. You like the simplified convenience of going to individual stores without being bogged down by everything else you don't need at that time. I like the convenience of not having to travel to seperate stores. Different folks different strokes as they say. I don't think either one of us is wrong in which we prefer, so it's nothing worth getting upset about and arguing.

Sony has put together a very helpful "knowledge base", that a lot of users seem to overlook. I would give that a shot and see if that helps in finding an answer for something you're looking for.
http://www.custcenter.com/cgi-bin/sonypictures.cfg/php/enduser/entry.php

There's also a products suggestion section page here:
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/productsuggestion.asp

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Illogical

Date:3/4/2005 8:57:06 AM

wow, you took my metaphor to new heights there, and also reminded me I need to do some shopping ; ) Anyway, what if there was just an option in the forum settings to see the forums all together, if that's what you'd prefer? I'm no programmer, but that couldn't be too hard I'm guessing. You can already customize how many posts/threads you see per page and all that, seems like it would be easy to create an 'opt-out' for my suggested feature.

The email notification thing would be a big help too.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: MJhig

Date:3/4/2005 9:24:10 AM

The Sony Media Software discussion forums are already subdivided into;

AC-3 Encoder

ACID Product Family

CD Architect Software

DirectX Plug-Ins

DVD Architect Software

Movie Studio/VideoFactory

Sound Forge Product Family

Vegas - Audio

Vegas - Scripting

Vegas - Video

I visit about half of these regularly as I'm sure many others do. That's already enough traveling for me to use Red's analogy and for the same reasons he does. Breaking these down to further sub-categories would also mean clicking a bunch of links possibly for nothing as I couldn't see what the topics are before clicking.

More importantly, many posts morph into, sometimes several different topics that are unrelated to the Original Poster's topic so if one was to rely on posts from only a given category they would miss what they were actually looking for if a thread was started in Produce, morphed to Shoes and ended at Sporting Goods.

The Search functions searches the body of each message offering a much more reliable method of finding a specific topic for those that prefer to zoom in, grab what they are looking for and head home.

MJ

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Illogical

Date:3/4/2005 1:22:53 PM

well, I won't push the issue, if everyone else is happy with the chaos, so be it. If there is ever a redesign though, a good model would be the Acid Planet forums, which are great.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Shawn Murphy

Date:4/12/2005 6:28:00 PM

I'm new here, and although I'm sure I'll just get used to it, the format here is completely different (painfully so) from a dozen other forums that I use regularly, which all have a more detailed tree structure so you can drill down your browse and search, and I have to say it is completely beyond me why there is no email notification or ability to subscribe to a thread... maybe because Sony developers wanted to write code (reinvent the wheel) instead of using the Open Source PHP stuff freely available.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Lionel Richtea

Date:4/13/2005 5:39:36 AM

at the very least, lets have some sort of email notification for replies. please?

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/13/2005 12:20:50 PM

Just FYI, Lionel (great name, BTW), Sony doesn't reply to any suggestions or comments that they don't like.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/14/2005 12:55:53 PM

I'm new here, and although I'm sure I'll just get used to it, the format here is completely different (painfully so) from a dozen other forums that I use regularly, which all have a more detailed tree structure so you can drill down your browse and search, and I have to say it is completely beyond me why there is no email notification or ability to subscribe to a thread... maybe because Sony developers wanted to write code (reinvent the wheel) instead of using the Open Source PHP stuff freely available.

Actually, the look and feel of the SPD forums is very similar to what used to be Sonic Foundry's forums with a few added features.

I imagine it's not quite that easy to transfer all existing members of the forums over to a new format either.

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
Buy Instant ACID by JohnnyRoy and mD!
mD at ACIDplanet

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:4/14/2005 5:32:29 PM

That's not exactly surprising because this is still the same SonicFoundry forum software/website ... with a few new features.

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: MikeDee

Date:4/15/2005 10:20:27 PM

This suggestion might require a programmatic change to the Forum site itself; however, I'll mention it nonetheless....

How about a "Category ID" for each new thread within a Product Family? As a quick example...using a legend..."1" for, say, update-related content; "2" for bug/feature-related content; etc.

Implementing the above will allow the user to view each of the Forum's Product Families either categorically or generally (as it is now).

I'm sure I've left plenty of room for improvement/enhancement, considering this is a quick shot from the hip in the middle of the night. Then again, that's usually when I get my inspiration. ;-)

Best regards,

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/18/2005 7:03:27 AM

What's with the new look?

We ask for improved functionality and they invite Martha Stewart over to redecorate the place.

Faberge egg, anyone?

Subject:RE: These Forums are a Disaster

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:4/18/2005 10:56:45 AM

Mike, the problem with the categorization idea is getting people to use it when posting messages. Most won't bother and you'll end up with almost everything in the "default" category. Many others will choose the wrong category. This is probably worse than not having them at all.