Miata-specific Subforum or Pinned/Master Thread?

Just thinking out loud here, and 100% chance I'll get flamed but whatever........We all know there is much Miata love here, and currently out of the 35 threads showing on the front page, 9-10 of them (over 30%) are about Miatas. Perhaps GRM should consider making a dedicated sub-forum for all the Miata years, to consolidate the information? WIth the amount of Miatas here and featured in every issue, maybe Keith would even sponsor it. :) Alternately, perhaps make a pinned "Miata Thread" at the top as a catch-all. Doesn't mean you couldn't post whatever threads you want to about MIatas in the main/general GRM forum, but it could be a good repository for frequently-asked questions (i.e. "What Miata Should I Get" threads). 

I'm sure the large percentage of MIata owners here will take this as some kind of hating, but I assure you it's not - I'm just one of those people who likes to organize things (and has moderated/admin'd other car forums), and the whole "Miata Zone" separate section struck me as an interesting idea considering the high amount of interest in them here vs. "everything else" (I can't really think of any other car type here that would qualify for such a section).

No hate from this Miatophile.  It might sort of split the board readership into "the Miata Crowd" and "the cool kids", though.  

kazoospec said:

No hate from this Miatophile.  It might sort of split the board readership into "the Miata Crowd" and "the cool kids", though.  

Idk, seems to me that most or all of the Miata owners here have other interesting cars as well, so it's not like they would just leave the general forum and spend all this time in the separate section.  for that matter almost every Miata owner I know personally also owns a Subaru of some sort. There was a running joke that the Mid-Atlantic section of NASIOC "MAIC" stood for Miata And Impreza Club lol

impulsive said:

Yeah, there's really not enough web sites & bandwidth already utilized containing all the information pertaining to a Miata so any half wit with basic grasp of Boolean search strings can find the answer to their query.

 

There should also be a subforum for Civics and SBC's too because lord knows it's so difficult to find info online about either of those.

But that goes for anything. I mean, what car question could you possibly post here on GRM that isn't already covered somewhere in the forum devoted to that make, model, etc?  Ok ok....maybe the Impulse....

The main gist of my idea is to reduce the amount of Miata repetition in the open GRM forums by putting it in one place - not to increase Miata posts. Civics and SBCs really don't get that kind of volume here on GRM.

In reply to irish44j :

Sounds like a good idea to me.  I don't currently own a Miata, but when I did, I would have appreciated a dedicated section.  Turns out it wasn't the answer for me.

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Clearly, from your avatar, you're more of an "angry car" guy.  

irish44j said:

kazoospec said:

No hate from this Miatophile.  It might sort of split the board readership into "the Miata Crowd" and "the cool kids", though.  

Idk, seems to me that most or all of the Miata owners here have other interesting cars as well, so it's not like they would just leave the general forum and spend all this time in the separate section.  for that matter almost every Miata owner I know personally also owns a Subaru of some sort. There was a running joke that the Mid-Atlantic section of NASIOC "MAIC" stood for Miata And Impreza Club lol

I don't own a Subaru anymore but most of my other cars are more interesting than the Miata...they just aren't as good. 

I guess we should have a cheap tow pig forum for suburbans and another one for "what car" threads, and another where we extoll the virtues of minivans. My point is that GRM topic trends change overtime depending on where the members are currently focused and every forum ends up with repeats of the same question. It would help if google wasn't the best way to search this forum. And most people who ask Miata questions here are asking here because they want this communities input not m.net etc

Jaynen said:

I guess we should have a cheap tow pig forum for suburbans and another one for "what car" threads, and another where we extoll the virtues of minivans. My point is that GRM topic trends change overtime depending on where the members are currently focused and every forum ends up with repeats of the same question. It would help if google wasn't the best way to search this forum. And most people who ask Miata questions here are asking here because they want this communities input not m.net etc

I'm not disagreeing with you about the other stuff getting a lot of repeats as well (I'd be all for a running "TOW PIG" sticky thread). But in terms of sheer numbers hardly comparable.And those topics are about a broad variation of vehicles over a long period of time - just because Suburbans are noted as "the towing answer" in the tow threads, doesn't mean there are a dozen standalone Suburban threads each week. "what car" is pretty dependent on what the asker is looking for (race car, tow rig, wagon, etc) and not make-specific. So I don't personally see those as direct comparisons, but whatever.  Again, I was just looking at this from a statistical point of view and in ways of organizing information specifically BECAUSE the search mechanism on this forum is so pathetic. 

Also, I will admit that, while I'm trying to make a sensible argument, we all have our opinions about what we want to see here and how we like to see it. You have a Miata, so clearly you likely enjoy 10 Miata threads per day. If the front page had 10 threads about e30s, both of our opinions on this matter *may* be somewhat different (human nature). IDK. 

And also i'm trying to kill time to make the evening go by faster, since waiting for race day (tomorrow), time seems to go so slowly lol.

kazoospec said:

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Clearly, from your avatar, you're more of an "angry car" guy.  

LOL.  That's the Einhorn with the hood open....

Gumby pointed out it looks like #5:

One of the things that I like about grm is that it's not sectioned off into a million subforums that require intimate knowledge of the answer to the question that you're about to post - and the ensuing moderation that leads to threads being constantly moved around and categorized properly. I want the broad spectrum, even when it's 10 "what car" threads.

But then again, I'm one of those Miata people.

A "what car" sub forum makes more sense than a miata one. I mean it would probably be more active than the tech tips and shoptalk forum .

Reading threads here is sort of like going to a regional SCCA race.  Half the cars are Miatas, and the other half are things you actually want to look at. 

If you do make a miata sub forum, can we call it "The hairdresser's lounge" ?

cmcgregor said:

One of the things that I like about grm is that it's not sectioned off into a million subforums that require intimate knowledge of the answer to the question that you're about to post - and the ensuing moderation that leads to threads being constantly moved around and categorized properly. I want the broad spectrum, even when it's 10 "what car" threads.

 

But then again, I'm one of those Miata people.

I happen to be a miata person now, but don't consider myself to be a miata person. I am interested in way too many other cars, just the one that happens to be my current toy is a miata. This is definitely one of the things I like most about GRM in fact I ONLY read this main forum and sometimes check the classifieds. I think if you created a bunch of sub forums I don't think I would spend as much time here. What I love most about GRM is how I will read some random thread about something I had no idea I would be interested in and learn something. I don't come here just because I want to know about  X Y Z miata thing

NordicSaab said:

If you do make a miata sub forum, can we call it "The hairdresser's lounge" ?

Or “the salon” for short 

GRM is all encompassing and all are welcome. In effect a judgment free zone. Hell the the fact the the powers the be have put up with my nonsense for all these years is testament to that. 

Don’t  change a thing. Reading about someone’s $500 every day hoopty in one thread and then reading in the next thread about the finer points of a 6 figure toy is what keeps me coming back.  It is what makes this place great. 

tr8todd said:

Reading threads here is sort of like going to a regional SCCA race.  Half the cars are Miatas, and the other half are things you actually want to look at. 

Bingo. 

I own a Miata, and have noticed the crazy amounts of Miata questions being raised lately (I’m one of them). 

My only concern with a sub forum is that it wouldn’t get the attention of those that truly know the answer’s answers. For instance, would grand wizard Keith frequent that sub forum, spreading delightful knowledge to those of humble Miata beginnings? 

Or would Mr. Tanner (and others like him) simply keep to the “behold all things GRM”? 

(I do agree that most, if not all Miata questions can be answered with a google search, I’ve been doing that lately)

I think if we separated off the Miata talk then Miata threads might not get answers like... "I've got a good V6 Suzuki Sidekick engine here if you want that for your Miata project." 

I fear that the lack of cross pollination might make for just dull Miatas.  Otherwise how might a Suzuki engine expert and a Miatas builder otherwise cross paths?

In reply to John Welsh :

Didn’t even think of that. Agree very much

I'll throw in my opinion (which, as they say, is like a belly button, everyone has one, but they don't have any value).  :D

I'm not a Miata owner, but have thought about it over the years.  I see a sub forum not from a perspective of "cleaning up" the main forum, but more from a single location for Miata stuff.  Should I buy one, I'd love a place to start researching and getting questions answered from a group that I trust 100% vs. slogging through a Miata specific site to find what i need.  Plus, I'm a member here vs. having to be on a new forum for days before I can post or ask questions.

However, starting to break up the forums into car specific will start to dilute it and you'd probably see less Miata questions with a specific sub-forum for it. 

Irish's other suggestion is a specific tag or something to make them easier to find would be an awesome option.  Possibly even a "sub" site or page that kinda pulls the posts from all over to a dedicated page.  Any posts/responses would stay in originating forum, just more of an aggregation map thing of Miata stuff? 

-Rob

As a "Anything mechanically interesting" person first and a "Miata" person second, I like it they way it is now.

The issue is that if you move it a subforum, the topics would still show up in the “Latest Topics” view that many people (myself included) use.

I have no interest in the Sprockets forum, the posts still show up in the view and I just ignore them.  I do the same for threads I have little interest in, like BMW’s or Tow rigs, etc.