PHilthy PH*ckers

[308mate]

One of the things to come out of the recent hiring of a two-wheeled contributer and the subsequent two-wheeled stories on the front page, is lots of people responding with things like "PH has a motorbike section?" Lots of fresh contributers have appeared who had bikes sneaking around in the background of their profile garage list and it would be interesting to see if post traffic in the BB section has increased as a result(?)

I think the same could be done for that dirty, muddy corner of PH thats currently referred to merely as "Offroad". Ive been around a few years and I only just discovered it last month. But the odd 4WD news story on the front page, nestled into the offroad forum, might wake more PHers up to it's existence. Because its not exactly a bustling mecca at the moment. I even have a new name lined up - PHilth (its a work in progress).

Im sure there will be an outcry from some TVR old-timers, but even they must have accepted by now that PH is on the march to become a catch-all for most types of motoring enthusiast. Why fight it I say. Especially since I bought a Jeep

I could be your Offroad Editor whilst it gets up to speed, my rates are very reasonable and I have half a clue. But it is only half.

PS - How come the Range Rover Sport piece didnt go in the offroad section? Its not like it actually went on the 'ring and it was photographed off the road. In fact, Im not sure what that piece actually told us apart from that a well-established configuration of the RR Sport is quite a nice vehicle. Still, a free car for the day needs a nod in print, no matter how useful to a consumer. And the site is free etc etc

[RemaL]

I feel the only downside to the PH2 part of PH is the amount of daft comments, and trolls that appear sometimes. other than that BB has been a great area of PH to visit.

regarding the other areas on PH. I have my profile set out to only see what I want. And often miss any new baords that may pop up over time. Any chance of making everyone aware of new boards? IE: I drive a 4X4 but only just found out about the board from this thread

[Dan_1981]

I think alot of news stories seem to be dropped into GG when far more appropriate forums exist for them.

It might being more traffic to the smaller, quieter forums if stories were moved to a particular one that suited them rather than a catch all in GG.

Of course the quality of posts in the smaller forums may then fall but i guess its a risk you take!

[Life Saab Itch]

Dan_1981 said:

Of course the quality of posts in the smaller forums may then fall but i guess its a risk you take!

It's amazing how fast the quality of the posts in General Motorsport drop when there is a linked article to the front page.

[Garlick]

It's a tricky one for us regarding news content and sub-forums.

The front page is our headline area, and is used for breaking news or stories that we think are relevant. Some readers access this content from the home page, some from the daily newsletter and other from the forums.

If a story is deemed worthy of a wider audience then GG is the natural home, as it gets more 'eyes' and the reach is wider. This choice is not about the number, or quality, of comments but is simply to spread the news to a wider group.

The other factor to consider is that the sub-forums attract a dedicated and specialist audience, and sometimes pointing everyone to an area that is usually quite specialist can bring it's own issues. Take Porsche as an example, I'm sure they don't want the 'I hate Porsche' brigade invading the forums and it's a similar story with the recent PH2 articles over in BB.

There is no doubt that the specific forums should be used more frequently, and we'll have to give some thought as to how we do that without upsetting the balance of the sub forum in question. It is a fair point though.

Regarding editorial content, I'll leave that one to Riggers

[308mate]

Garlick said:

If a story is deemed worthy of a wider audience then GG is the natural home, as it gets more 'eyes' and the reach is wider. This choice is not about the number, or quality, of comments but is simply to spread the news to a wider group.

That's an interesting philosophy - dont particularly use a subforum if you want a news story to have wider coverage, use a catch-all forum like GG. Fair enough.

A bit like when you need help with a hotel question but because you want more "eyes" on it and a wider reach for a better chance of getting the answer you need, you stick it in the lounge? But then its moved to holidays and travel and noone ever sees it again.

I mock, but I can see your dilemna. Why doesnt the front page act as a funnel to draw the wider audience in with a subject theyre interested in and then direct them to the correct subforum via that story? Are there too many access points to the front page?

Garlick said:

The other factor to consider is that the sub-forums attract a dedicated and specialist audience, and sometimes pointing everyone to an area that is usually quite specialist can bring it's own issues. Take Porsche as an example, I'm sure they don't want the 'I hate Porsche' brigade invading the forums and it's a similar story with the recent PH2 articles over in BB.

I take your point there, but the "I hate Porsche/Bikes/4WDs" brigade is surely an issue for the mods to tackle isnt it? The policy cant be "Dont direct loads of non-enthusiasts to that sub-forum, the anoraks will get upset", surely? How is that helping increase awareness of the subforums and therefore expand the site?

The assumption would be that a news story on Porsches or 4WDs, would attract people interested in Porsches or 4WDs mainly. The fact that a minority may respond purely to express their dislike for 4WDs is no doubt more of an issue on the offroad sub-forum than in GG, but surely not reason enough to steer people away from it in general by plonking everything in the catch-all GG? If you dont want to see or manage conflicts of opinion, youre in the wrong game I'd have thought. My experience of the Biker Banter forum is that a BBer will spot a dissenter in GG and drag the BB lot over to rally the cause anyway.

Just my 2c

[Garlick]

It's a long running debate, and both of us are right.

Expand the smaller forums, or keep them as hidden gems that survive without trolls?

Seriously, it can run and run. Moderation is there of course, but despite appearances 90% of the PH teams day job is off-forum. Honest.

[308mate]

Garlick said:

It's a long running debate, and both of us are right.

Expand the smaller forums, or keep them as hidden gems that survive without trolls?

Seriously, it can run and run. Moderation is there of course, but despite appearances 90% of the PH teams day job is off-forum. Honest.

Fair enough Garlick. Thanks for adressing the thread.