"Filer" threads

[Captain Ewok 1,857]

They don't need to be replaced.

I'm not dismissing your question krikit. Thing is, I believe these threads lead in many ways to a lot of the 'other' problems people complain about insofar as site 'usefulness'.

There's a lot of grumbling about members who want to be spoonfed. If it's mega-difficult to find information then maybe there aren't as many 'spoonfeeders' as we think.

There were no 'filer' threads for ages. I have always was been able to find my 'peers' by simply reading the forums.

I understand your position, RebeccaJo. And I think Caladan has a valid point. The search feature could certainly use some refinement. Among other reasons, the "filer" threads probably originated due to the less-than-user-friendliness of the search feature.

As to the spoonfeedees (lol), my general attitude is to ignore them. Once they realize it's not going to happen, they'll soon learn to do some research.

Unfortunately, I must run out now, so I'll check in on the discussion later/tomorrow.

Ciao!

The new site search in the blue bar at the top of every page is powered by google and is night and day better than the forums only search -- plus it searches the entire content of the site. If you have only used the forums search you will be impressed. It also can search for words less then three digits so is useful for form searching where the terms are small in length.

[trueimage 0]

I don't think subforums divide members. I think members divide members. If the issue is that these threads are clouding 'useful' information, then I think that separating them into their own subforum will eliminate that problem. Yes, some of you made it without it and that's all good, but the forum is growing, expanding and evolving. New members are added each day. Change can be good!

That's true.

I find it interesting though that some of the newer members think if we change something 'back' - that this is bad.

Get my point?

I don't think changing 'back' is bad. Í just think that going forward as opposed to backward is better. I will be moving on to the AOS section in the near future, and I can see that what you have pointed out is an issue. I was only trying to offer a possible solution. However Ewok and the members decide to handle it is fine with me. I don't think anyone will leave the forum just because a different approach is taken.

[no name 1]

The new site search in the blue bar at the top of every page is powered by google and is night and day better than the forums only search -- plus it searches the entire content of the site. If you have only used the forums search you will be impressed. It also can search for words less then three digits so is useful for form searching where the terms are small in length.

I do use the main search box.

However, it is impossible if you want filter in a forum/by a person for a 3 letter search word (and we know they are MANY), by using the advanced search option.

I don't think subforums divide members. I think members divide members. If the issue is that these threads are clouding 'useful' information, then I think that separating them into their own subforum will eliminate that problem. Yes, some of you made it without it and that's all good, but the forum is growing, expanding and evolving. New members are added each day. Change can be good!

That's true.

I find it interesting though that some of the newer members think if we change something 'back' - that this is bad.

Get my point?

ah, yes 'the old gits on VJ don't know anything' gem again.....

Edited July 29, 2007 by devilette

[vanee 13]

There is an easy fix to working with legitimate questions buried in the filer threads - those questions can be "split out" of the topic.

That sounds like a good idea to me. In addition, the stickies / pinned threads for these forums could be updated to state that these threads are only for updates and that questions will be split into new threads in other forums. Not that most people read forum announcements, but at least the information would be there.

Personally, I thought that the filer threads were a great idea at first. I looked forward to being able to post in one once we got our I-129F sent off. Posting in it was a mark of our progress. I got turned off by them when I saw how much reading was required to come to information that other people could use, but we all have our own preferences about how to use the forum. Why should we deny these threads to those who want them? They can have them, and those of us who don't want to read through them don't have to. Every forum has types of posts that interest only some people. And whether or not we split questions and informational posts from those threads, the same questions will get asked again and again anyway.

Edited July 29, 2007 by vanee

[rebeccajo 14]

I don't think subforums divide members. I think members divide members. If the issue is that these threads are clouding 'useful' information, then I think that separating them into their own subforum will eliminate that problem. Yes, some of you made it without it and that's all good, but the forum is growing, expanding and evolving. New members are added each day. Change can be good!

That's true.

I find it interesting though that some of the newer members think if we change something 'back' - that this is bad.

Get my point?

I don't think changing 'back' is bad. Í just think that going forward as opposed to backward is better. I will be moving on to the AOS section in the near future, and I can see that what you have pointed out is an issue. I was only trying to offer a possible solution. However Ewok and the members decide to handle it is fine with me. I don't think anyone will leave the forum just because a different approach is taken.

I would hope they wouldn't.

[rebeccajo 14]

Why should we deny these threads to those who want them?

You're correct in a friendly, philosophical way.

My only concern is the PURPOSE of the community. Which is finding information.

I wholeheartedly believe friendships and support can be had here without sub-categorizing everyone.

[no name 1]

Why should we deny these threads to those who want them?

You're correct in a friendly, philosophical way.

My only concern is the PURPOSE of the community. Which is finding information.

I wholeheartedly believe friendships and support can be had here without sub-categorizing everyone.

I just went into the K1 subforum & boy is it a mess. I would never know where to look for anything useful!

There are 2 May filer threads, one July filer thread, an April filer thread, a Feb filer thread, a March filer thread, 3 approval threads, a SEPARATE VSC filer thread, & a pot thread .

I do frequently visit the normal K1 forum though, and appareciate how much more informative it is.

Edited July 29, 2007 by devilette

[vanee 13]

Why should we deny these threads to those who want them?

You're correct in a friendly, philosophical way.

My only concern is the PURPOSE of the community. Which is finding information.

I wholeheartedly believe friendships and support can be had here without sub-categorizing everyone.

The purpose of the community is to help people connect with each other as well as to provide information, and the filer threads help with that.

If someone wanted to remove a forum or type of thread that we find useful, we wouldn't be happy about that. For example, someone once suggested removing the regional forums. The regional forum for my country is my favourite forum here, and I'd be really upset if it were gone. Those who don't want regional forums don't have to go to them. The same with filer threads.

I don't see sub-categorizing forums as the same as sub-categorizing people. In every forum I've taken part in, members tend to have their favourite forums or types of threads and those that they don't take part in. Information can still be found, and everyone can have the types of threads that they want.

[~*Maria*~ 1]

Personally, my AOS is attached to the June filer thread, i've posted numerous messages in there about my AOS and they never get answered, they seem to get buried amongst all the chitchat between the rest of the filers, so its got to the point i dont ask questions in those threads anymore, nobody reads them anyways.

They seem to have their own little Clique going on in there, i do comment when they get good news, maybe they get transfered to CSC or they're EAD gets approved or what not, basically thats it. If i've got questions now that i need answers to, and i can't find them on .google search. and yes i do use it then i'll start a new thread.

Maria

[no name 1]

If someone wanted to remove a forum or type of thread that we find useful, we wouldn't be happy about that. For example, someone once suggested removing the regional forums. The regional forum for my country is my favourite forum here, and I'd be really upset if it were gone. Those who don't want regional forums don't have to go to them. The same with filer threads.

I don't see sub-categorizing forums as the same as sub-categorizing people. In every forum I've taken part in, members tend to have their favourite forums or types of threads and those that they don't take part in. Information can still be found, and everyone can have the types of threads that they want.

Regional forums are a very different type of place tho, IMHO.

As several have already said, it's too hard to wade thru all the filer threads to find any useful info. Therein lies the problem.

[rebeccajo 14]

The purpose of the community is to help people connect with each other as well as to provide information, and the filer threads help with that.

Honest question here.

Do you really believe people would be unable to find that same 'connection' without those filer threads?

[rebeccajo 14]

Regional forums are a very different type of place tho, IMHO.

I like the Regional Forums for their original purpose (read the definition of that intent on the main Forums page).

I do get dismayed when I see too much immigration info in them. I think, again, it makes finding an answer nearly impossible.

[~*Maria*~ 1]

When i started out on VJ about 2 years ago, there were no filer threads and i still managed to get through the process of the spousal visa, and make friends at the same time.

rebeccajo put it this way, we arent limited to just one forum many of the people in the filer threads do meet up in regional and off topic and many other threads as well

just my 2 cents worth

[SqdnGuns 21]

They don't need to be replaced.

I'm not dismissing your question krikit. Thing is, I believe these threads lead in many ways to a lot of the 'other' problems people complain about insofar as site 'usefulness'.

There's a lot of grumbling about members who want to be spoonfed. If it's mega-difficult to find information then maybe there aren't as many 'spoonfeeders' as we think.

There were no 'filer' threads for ages. I have always was been able to find my 'peers' by simply reading the forums.

I understand your position, RebeccaJo. And I think Caladan has a valid point. The search feature could certainly use some refinement. Among other reasons, the "filer" threads probably originated due to the less-than-user-friendliness of the search feature.

As to the spoonfeedees (lol), my general attitude is to ignore them. Once they realize it's not going to happen, they'll soon learn to do some research.

Unfortunately, I must run out now, so I'll check in on the discussion later/tomorrow.

Ciao!

The new site search in the blue bar at the top of every page is powered by google and is night and day better than the forums only search -- plus it searches the entire content of the site. If you have only used the forums search you will be impressed. It also can search for words less then three digits so is useful for form searching where the terms are small in length.

Here is a link to a Google cheatsheet for search Query Inputs:

http://www.googleguide.com/quoted_phrases.html

[vanee 13]

Honest question here.

Do you really believe people would be unable to find that same 'connection' without those filer threads?

No, but to me, that isn't the point. Some people enjoy those threads. They don't hurt other members, and search works for the whole forum. I don't see any reason to take away a feature that some people like.

I should add that the filer thread I posted in last February did have value for me for the first month or so. It helped to have one place where I could see what was happening with people who had filed at around the same time. It was only when the thread became long and (to me) cluttered that I stopped reading it.

Regional forums are a very different type of place tho, IMHO.

I like the Regional Forums for their original purpose (read the definition of that intent on the main Forums page).

I do get dismayed when I see too much immigration info in them. I think, again, it makes finding an answer nearly impossible.

Some of them have immigration info because (a) it's related to the country or region, or (b) the member finds too much rudeness in the main forums and so posts in a forum where s/he knows that people will be friendly and helpful. That's another problem, but it's a real one. Also (c) the member feels more connected with the members in his or her regional forum and wants to share updates with them.

Some of the discussion is going in a circle here:

Having filer threads makes information more difficult to find.

Google search works much better than the forum search we used to have.

We don't need filer threads for people to find a connection with other members.

The filer threads are how some members find that connection.

There's no harm in some members using the filer threads, and they have value for some people.

We agree that the purpose of the forum is find information and to connect with other people who are or have been in our situation. We can have both, with or without filer threads, but the filer threads help some people.

Can we accept that all of the above is true?