the guys at PRI are reorganizing the blog category structure and have sent me an early proposal of heirarchy... (see below!) i really like them and am thinking of doing some forum re-organization using the main categories only... water, soil, plants, animals, earthworks & earth resources, design, community, events, why permaculture, projects, food & food support systems. well, maybe not all.. maybe one or two can be folded into others.. but i really like the overall structure and it could help us grow the forum from its current size... feedback? ---------------- Water Water Harvesting Potable Water Waste Water Storm Water Biological Cleaning Aquaculture Conservation Natural Swimming Pools Regional Water Cycles Soil Soil Biology Compost Structure Soil Composition Rehabilitation Conservation Salination Fungi Plants Food Plants – Annual Food Plants – Perennial Food Forests Animal Forage Trees Medicinal Plants Plant Systems Nurseries & Propagation Seeds Animals Insects Livestock Fish Working Animals Bird Life Fencing Animal Housing Breeds Earthworks & Earth Resources Swales Dams Roads Terraces Earth Banks Gabions Limonia Surveying Material Design Land Building Waste Systems Energy Systems People Systems Retrofitting Community Financial Management Ethical Investment Bio-regional Organisations Village Development Development & Property Trusts Alternatives to Political Systems Effective Aid Events & Resources Upcoming Courses Project Positions Conferences Social Gatherings Presentations/Demonstrations Why Permaculture? Peak Oil Global Warming/Climate Change Soil Erosion & Contamination Water Contamination Population Permaculture Projects Aid Projects Demonstration Sites Education Centres Networking Sites Community Projects Urban Projects Commercial Farm Projects Eco-Village Food & Food Support Systems Markets & Outlets Fermenting Animal Processing Processing & Food Preservation Recipes
Re: new organization for the forum Hi Murray, re: Proposed - water, soil, plants, animals, earthworks & earth resources, design, community, events, why permaculture, projects, food & food support systems. Current - Planting, growing, nurturing; Designing, building, making and powering your life; The big picture; Jobs, projects, courses, etc; General chat; Buy, sell, trade etc Think it is a great idea. Looking at the current and proposed titles - feed back is: "The big picture" may need to be retained in some form as I can't see it all fitting under "Why Permaculture", and "Buy, sell, trade etc" would still be useful along with "General Chat" - could they go under "Community? There may be some cross over with "Design" eg waste systems under "design", waste water under "Water" - although still useful as topics such as retrofitting would only go under "Design" As an aside, a good integrated photo album would be appreciated - I'd love to see more photos of the permaculture activities of our forum members. Cheers
Re: new organization for the forum I actually think a simple structure is better (like the one that is already here).. I've seen other forums that have far too many categories and I think it is intimidating, especially to a new user. I'm no nay-sayer to change, but I'd just be wary of having TOO many categories..
Re: new organization for the forum Hi, I would second the "not too complex structure". Has there been any feedback about not having enough categories for postings? It would seem that as the forum gets busier then more structure would help to ensure postings don't get lost in the mass of postings but it is not really there yet - is it? Kindest Regards, Ross
Re: new organization for the forum Yeah, if you include the sub-categories, I think that would be too much... but... I think the primary categories would be great on their own. What do you think about this... only primary categories, with some tweaks: Animals Community Courses & Opportunities (would be like Jobs, Projects, Courses, etc) Design Earthworks & Earth Resources (Maybe just Earthworks only... or, what is Earth Resources exactly ?) Food & Food Support Systems Plants Soil Social & Politics (would be like The Big Picture) Water Why Permaculture I'm also a fan of having the categories in alphabetical order if possible... or, having similar topics be listed after one another, ie: plants water soil animals projects ... etc But yeah, definitely like the more pointed topics. There would be some minor overlap in regard to Design, and the rest of the topics I think... but, wouldn't think too much. Awesome, thanks Murray and the PRI crew !
Re: new organization for the forum hi all thanks for the feedback... privately, yes, a little, but not much. but really, it's not the kind of thing you realize you need until you get. we used to run this forum on 2 categories and nobody really wanted more! good point, but maybe it's a result of not having the topics separated out so people can find what they're looking for quickly. at the moment, the topics ARE kind of broad, so it's hard to really zoom in quickly and look for specific things. dylan -- no i'm certainly not thinking of using the subcats, just the primary category areas. and thanks for your improvements to the cats. murray
Re: new organization for the forum Murray, Some time ago I asked you to consider an 'almanac' of who is doing what, why and when. You kindly asked for a response. I fell flat, was pre-emptive and very busy, apols. What I was after at that time was an ongoing response forum about who was doing what and where and at what time. Maybe the current expanded concept will entail this. At that time I was fishing for a more hardline part of the forum which mentioned stuff like ''I am planting carrot seeds at my place [long/lat or region] and I will post results''. I brought this up because we do have a number of posts along the lines of ''I currently grow 2 basil plants on 200m2 of balcony and I am thinking of buying 30 acres and 6 emus/horses/rabbits/alpacas and I am wondering how to feed my wife and kids''. Not to make light of any query but there are dozens of us that contribute to this forum and wish to push on and use/share the efforts of others. For example, I have never found a cauli seed packet that showed them being grown much past Brisbane yet I have successfully produced caulis in Katherine for most of the year, they were never huge but were oh so edible. This is one example, I wanted to be able to swap experiences along the lines of someone in, say Bairnsdale who was growing an avocardo, or someone in Port Augusta with a successful mango, etc etc, To reiterate, there is a lot of 'good advice' out there that says you cant grow parsnip north of the Murray, and you can't grow roses north of Broken Hill etc etc. You also cant grow guava or pawpaw south of whereever. I know I have yet to perfect a technique to grow onions with a long storage life. I also cannot grow 1kg carrots - I do know I can feed my family carrots year round, albeit small. I can also grow all sorts of allium and keep the 'onion' up to the family table. I cannot grow wheat. I have not had tagasaste survive, stevia is a real bitch!. These are things I know and have learned. Permaculture is always about what works for you. It is also about not accepting current 'truth' and trying these things for yourself. It would be so nice if there was a little forum we could share our results and failures on and not quote 'experts' or folk who make a living writing contestable books and articles for magazines. I remember posting about not feeding worms 'swill', which was defined to be fermented family scraps, only to have another member post that he/she did this to huge success. I am not contesting those results [his were outdoors in a bath/mine were indoors in 1/2 12gall drums] but it is suffice to say that we both apparently achieved great results, given our own definitions. Anyway, I make another bid for an almanac or forum for permaculture where we can track our results. At the end of the day, my tropical cauliflowers may have been considered a failure in any southern market,but where I live, caulis are often $6-7 each and have been beaten to death in transit. They made mine look marvellous.... cheers,
Re: new organization for the forum Hiya Sir Muzza....Yes your thoughts are pretty spot on mate.... I think the "Big Picture" should continue,and could/maybe include (spiritual aspects) also, As for Ho Hums post....Great idea!!...... Back in the boards good olde days when everyone one in here was happy smiling,having fun.. We even had a cyber birthday party in here one day long of laughs and fun wishing happy birthday.... We even had our verry own party clown wearing his cyber lampshade party hat.. Suffice to say....We had a posting somewhere called "My Place" i think funny thing was i initiated the post i think but never actually posted "My Place" of my own...... For me to post pics of my place its easier to post in the glleries,then in here..Maybe we could rename the photo galleries to "My place gallery", or something close. 8) Just my 10 cents worth Tezza