new organization for the forum

Discussion in 'General chat' started by murray, Jun 17, 2008.

  1. murray

    murray Junior Member

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    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
     
  2. susann

    susann Junior Member

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    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 :)
     
  3. ppp

    ppp Junior Member

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    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..
     
  4. openeyes

    openeyes Junior Member

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    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
     
  5. dylanz

    dylanz Junior Member

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    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 !
     
  6. murray

    murray Junior Member

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    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
     
  7. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    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.... :D

    cheers,
     
  8. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    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
     

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