I know there was some talk about this in the other thread as well, and I for one think it would be a good idea if, in your opinion, Cap...it wouldn't create too many forums altogether.

I think the new K1 forum that was created was a really good idea and is working well....is there any reason we can't combine that into K1 AND K3 waiting/approvals/celebrations and also create one for the AOS forum? I see an awful lot of the same exact things that were in the K1 forum before in there... (for example...Feb. filers, March filers, approved!, etc etc. etc.)

In my opinion it doesn't take away from the site and it makes it very easy to see the questions as in the K1 forum now. People that are looking for the celebrations/approvals know right where to go and those with questions will have them seen. Well, I don't have to "sell" you on it...you know the reasons from the subforum you just made.

Any other thoughts on it? I remember it being brought up but don't remember why we didn't do one for AOS? I think it was to wait and see how this one worked out....and also some of us thought (me included) originally that the new forum was going to be for ALL of those types of posts...not just K1.

It would make things a bit more uniform as well (among the visa type forums....)

How about it Cap? Anyone else? M.

I think the new forum has reduced the 'clutter' in the regular K1 forum by leaps and bounds. I know some may not like the change, but I'm happy with how its going. I think everyone's caught on to it pretty quickly too. (At least we already have an 'April filers' thread -- I was starting to get worried there!

I rarely go into the other forums, but if they're starting to have the same 'date driven' theme as the K1 was - then I think it'd be worthwhile to divide them out somehow.

The date-driven-ness is being carried over from the other forums as people head into AOS, and seems to comprise of little more than *did you get a touch - i did!... omg i DIDNT get a touch!... did you get a biometrics letter yet? yes i did!...* and so on and so on. I am still saying as long as there arent legitimate questions being asking in those threads, they can obsess all they want. I had also thought as Jenn & Yodrak did that the congrats forum would be for all, and not just for K1, but it seems to me that K1 just may have the most issues due to being on the 1st leg of their journey being date driven is supported to ensure they are processing as *normal*.

I would not be for splitting this forum at all. This was hitting to my point in the other thread. Where does the *splitting* stop? I would like to think at least by AOS time, people are a bit less anxious and can deal with some inequities in the system. Besides, people are dealing with real life issues by the time AOS rolls around. I think the issue is lessened.

I feel a little guilty, I guess, for having opened this Pandora's box. But I truly felt that the usefulness of the K1 forum was waning, simply because all we had was the endless waiting/monthly threads. Maybe its all a bit more 'raw' for K1ers (or even K3ers - although I dunno if the K3 forum is as date driven) to see that kind of stuff while they're still waiting, apart from their loved one - while in AOS, its just annoying rather than raw. That's just a guess since I'm not 'there', in that emotional space.

I really would have to defer to the opinions of those of you in there everyday.

The pandoras box was opened years ago when the simple structure of a single place for discussion of all the event-driven segments of the visa journey began to be split. This is really just the natural consequence of that, and unless we were to try and revert to a simpler structure, it's inevitable that we have to address these questions of increasingly narrow discussion area uses and how to resolve the invariable clutter.

My view was that the 'Yippee' forum would be for all segments of the journey, but having created it as a sub-forum off K-1, I see no reason not to have the same in the other forum areas too because that would be logical and consistent. It has to be said that as users progress through the system and increasingly realize the variability of it, there's generally a declining emphasis on notices, touches and timings, but it's still a relevant factor throughout the process from first petition to citizenship ceremonies, so I'd say let's bite the bullet and create the same sub-forum in each area for the sake of consistent operation and to help train users to use these areas appropriately throughout their process.

I am, on the other hand, in favor of rationalizing some of the other areas, but that's a different matter, based on a need to perhaps refocus a little attention on the immigration work here! We can address that separately in due course.

Well, going through AOS myself at the moment I don't see as much clutter in that forum. Yes, there are a couple of "March & February Filers" threads going on there, but no where near as many "touched" threads or similar.

I stand corrected on the Pandora's box then.

Lets give the K1 area a few weeks and see how it does before we move to other areas. I also only want to create new forums if the existing ones are flooded to the degree that the K1 was with off topic chatter per the forum description.

The other way of looking at it is to train users in advance of there being a problem, such that the problem doesn't occur and then need extensive discussion to identify and fix!

Captain Ewok and Andy,

I still think we need only 1 'yippee' forum (I like Andy's term for it) covering any and all aspects of immigration, and non-immigration ("I got my DL!"). Make it it's own forum (not a sub-forum) in it's own area, at the very top of the forums list where it will be harder to miss (although some people will overlook it no matter what).

Put all that clutter in 1 place for everyone who likes to celebrate.

Yodrak

Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely. That's what I had expected to happen from the suggestion originally made on the subject. However, if there's a problem with us having that for some reason, let us at least think of ways to ensure the various topic areas have consistency and structure such that users know what goes where as they progress.

lol how about a Yippeeeeeee pinned thread. sorry, i just had to say it. fact is, its the climate. how do you suggest to change a climate?

I am a regular in the AOS forum. the only thing I can see is - take the example I gave previously.

Topic #1 - I filed my AOS!!!!!!!!
Topic #2 - I got my NOA!!!!!!!!!
Topic #3 - I got my biometrics letter!!!!!!
Topic #4 - I had my interview!!!
Topic #5 - I got my welcome letter!!!!
Topic #6 - I got my greencard!!!!!

seriously, its pretty funny. You can literally merge topics 1,2,3,5 & 6. But really, instead of posting these things, isnt that what your signature is used for currently?

im just talking out loud here

heheh.. it's started in the Removing Conditions and now the Naturalization forums too!
crazy, maaan.

SIGH.

Its getting to the point where we ought to rename the site 'Visa Race'.

do you think this may be a result of things ACTUALLY going quickly?

Which is the reason why I think it should be addressed sooner, rather than later, and rationally rather than in an ad-hoc fashion that works differently in each place.

I think so specially for the CSC people and the removing of conditions..... things are going super fast right now and it is surprising to most people.. we have been conditioned to think everything in this immigration process takes forever.... so we just want to share the surprise....

When I suggested the K1 subforum, I didn't realize how prevalent the whole 'race' mentality was on the site. I thought it was just K1ers who are all trying to beat each other through the system (to the point where barely any other info was getting through in the forum).

I don't think it is that people are trying to beat each other through the process.... People just want to share their happy news that they made it through on more step of the process...

I know people aren't trying to 'beat' you. My point was mainly that I do remember when this board wasn't so focused around who got what and when, and that I didn't realize that mentality had creeped in other places here.

I think it's inevitable that it has, because we're now seeing those who developed the yippee posting habit at their early stages are now moving up through the process and continuing it in each of the process-based areas they travel through. I think it's also a matter of numbers and learned behavior, because while at first only a few did it, as the site has grown, all the new members have seen it being done and 'learned' that it's the done thing, so it's snowballing.

I could always add a filter that people could enable or disable to filter those threads or something. If the filter was on then it would dump them into another forum. If it was off it would leave them in the original forum.

Anyway, it may be good to have a central forum for everything but lets let this first trial run go for a week or two. In the big scheme this is not much time and will give us an idea of both the benefits and drawbacks and how to make it work better.

I don't think just having a pinned thread would work. Seems people need a whole thread of their own where they can be congratulated personally!

no kidding! but it also better be one thread per *milestone*

'twas just a thought...whatever Cap thinks will work is fine by me.... M.

yeah cos how annoying is it to have to share people's joy as well as the interesting lil road bumps of miserable red tape! I say ban all the happy threads altogether cos no one can learn a thing from them!

I've been looking at the AOS forum for a few months now due to the fact I was going through AOS myself and the number of those "I got it" threads didn't bother me one bit. Dunno if it's the fact people are more calm after K1/K3 or anything but it's more quiet there. I don't think there's need for a subforum.

My vote would be no sub-forum for AOS. It is much more subdued than the K1 forum.... most there have been here a while, it seems, so there's less 'clutter', if that's the right word.

I like seeing the success stories there.... it's different with AOS somehow.

I fullly agree. Once you hit AOS, or the Embassy for that matter, people generally have an understanding of the process. Most people also have an understanding of where to place their thread.

The entry levels, K-1 and K-3, may benefit from sub forums.

yeah...it was just a thought. Upon further reflection, you're right...it's nowhere near as bad as the K1 forum was. ...and again, no one was saying the congrats or celebrations were bad....at least no one that I noticed. It's just that people with legit questions often got bumped off the page way quick because there were too many of them. That's been said until people were blue in the face though, so I guess I didn't really need to repeat it....just seems that a lot of people think that anyone that was FOR the subforum doesn't want to have to deal with the celebrations....other people will disagree, but personally, they are some of my favorite threads...so that's def. not the case with me! M.

The more I think about it, the more I think one 'Yippee' forum would be a good idea.

It might help rebuild the sense of community I think we are trying to re-establish.

All the 'Yippees' in one place gives the newer members a chance to see ahead to the rest of the process.

And it gives those who have moved ahead a place to keep track of their friends whose process is lagging behind.

I second this! I even love the "yippee" title

Yep....I was one of the ones who thought it would be that way from the beginning too..I'm all for it. No confusion where those threads all....all in one place. JMO.M.

Yes please!! Or at least a subforum for the 693A supplement.

A sub forum for the vaccination supplement?

There has been ALOT of questions lately