Alternate way of organizing the index?

[jrj84105]

As of right now, 95.4% of sports-related posts on this board are about Utah football. Does having 14 different sports topics in the index serve a purpose when the vast majority of talk is typically about whatever Utes sport is in season, and the vast majority of users are on line to discuss that sport? I see this same index structure applied to most sports boards, but I’m not sure it really works. What would the index look like if it were organized by type of post rather than by sport?
Something like:
SPORTS
– sports conversation (free form chatter that keeps the board lively, ephemeral).
– Ute pre-game previews (a thread for each game, original content, link to previews).
– Ute game predictions
– Ute game threads
– Ute post game analyses
This would make it really easy for fans of opposing schools to come to the site and read about how we see their team. Visibility of this site to fans of other teams would set this site apart from the rest.
OFF Topic
– non-sports conversation
– religion
– politics
– byu

Basically, all the sort of hot topic sports conversation would happen in the sports conversation forum, and the topics would vary by season. The preview, prediction, and post game analysis sections might contain more standardized format threads (like reddit college football game threads) with more in depth discussion that people could easily look back to later in the season or even the next season as there would be a somewhat limited number of threads.

Just a thought for how to make the index a more unique tool for navigation rather than a list of topics, some of which are empty.

• This topic was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by jrj84105.

[GadValleyUte]

That is different thinking and makes all sorts of sense. I really like it. Up vote.

[Tony (admin)]

I’ve thought of combining all Ute sports into one, except football and men’s bball, maybe gymnastics but really, now many posts does that get?

[jrj84105]

I think you could combine all sports (or maybe separate categories for college and professional sports). What percentage of users are interested in Ute football but not Ute basketball? The vast majority are interested in both. The indexing just divides content along lines where there is no division of interest for the users- it actually makes navigating via the index harder rather than easier.

I think my browsing sessions are probably fairly typical in that it’s based more about available time and attention span than subject matter. Sometimes I want to quickly scan what people are talking about, see if there is any breaking news, or read some snarky comments. That’s where the conversation forum would fit in. Other times I want to have more in depth focused discussion about an upcoming or just completed game, and that’s where the more formal preview and post game forums come in. The Michigan site mgoblog has the kind of content in terms of pregame opponent preview and post game analysis that I’d like to see here. Unfortunately mgoblog is a terribly organized site, and it’s hard to navigate to those specific posts. I think this site could do better.

Here are some examples of the reddit threads (which Utes are contributing).

[Post Game Thread] Stanford defeats Oregon State, 42-24
byu/pash1k inCFB

[Game Thread] #21 Stanford @ Oregon State (10:00 PM ET)
by inCFB

[Tony (admin)]

I added some borders to the reply threads. Hit refresh and you’ll see them. I see the reddit one. They have a left border only, which serves to show the reply threads. Interesting.

The thing that having the topics in different categories does allow users to filter their viewing. I’m not really interested in anything other than men’s bball or football. I don’t want to see baseball, hockey, women’s sports or anything else.

[Author]

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