Wrestling only forum, anyone?

[Greco]

Would you like to make the forum more attractive to potential new wrestling fans by showing them that we discuss wrestling in depth and with passion? Thereby helping Tom grow this forum as a great place for Wisconsin Wrestling.
Or should we keep it the same as it has been for years with the same people arguing about the same non-wrestling topics with the same stances over and over and over?

[npope]

It would seem that this question/poll could be better parameterized if the vote was on whether Tom should keep the Misc. forum or just get rid of it. That said, there is an argument to be made that the Misc. forum sets up a place where all of the non-wrestling talk can congregate and thus, not permeate all of the many wrestling forums the forum has.

Moral of the story - be careful what you wish for.

[aarons23]

The poll question itself is written in a way to try to get the response he is looking for.  While many don't appreciate the talk on the misc. forum , many wrestling fans do participate, learn from each other and share ideas.  The real solution here is that if you don't like it ....then don't read it.  Any time wrestling fans can get together and share ideas is a good thing.

[Wisconsin Wrestling Fan]

It would be interesting if there was a separate category for "Politics" what the "The New Misc" would become... :-)

Also, when people are alerted about updated topics, perhaps those could be limited the wrestling only ones as a solution?

Probably not easy to do it that way however...

[Greco]

The poll question itself is written in a way to try to get the response he is looking for.  While many don't appreciate the talk on the misc. forum , many wrestling fans do participate, learn from each other and share ideas.  The real solution here is that if you don't like it ....then don't read it.  Any time wrestling fans can get together and share ideas is a good thing.

Like I said, when I hit "show unread posts since last visit" it shows me all of the useless stuff and I have to wade through a couple pages of topics to try and find anything about wrestling.

How about it being what I actually said? Don't show me the non-wrestling threads in the list.

Give me a way to never show parts of the forum again.

[jaguarwrestler]

Many people here for wrestling probably never even visit the Misc. section. At times you have very little news in the world of wrestling but something might be going on with Brewers, Packers or the world we live. You would be asking Tom to get rid of a lot of traffic by getting rid of those forums and that would be bad for business as this site is not free and a small amount is made off traffic and advertising. I say that using assumption but that is how most of these forums make it.

[Handles II]

OldPanther, It takes just the smallest amount of effort on your part to make you completely happy rather than having TomM do some major changes to the forum to make you happy. It's really very easy and manageable to avoid any and all non-wrestling talk or any subject for that matter.

Here's how:
1. Click on the home page of the forum.
2. Go to the sections of the forum that you want to read and click on them.
3.The newest topics, or those with the newest replies will be at the top of that list.
4. Avoid clicking on the sections you don't want to read.  


Good luck. I hope you can do it and it will make you happy.

[Greco]

LOL! There are 66 wrestling related forums and 10 non-wrestling! All I have to do when I come to the forum and want to see what's new since the last time is check through 66 forums.

It does make a statement about those that consider "Misc" more important. Non-wrestling makes up only 13% of the potential topic forums, yet well over 90% of the posts are in that 13%.

[npope]

LOL! There are 66 wrestling related forums and 10 non-wrestling! All I have to do when I come to the forum and want to see what's new since the last time is check through 66 forums.

It does make a statement about those that consider "Misc" more important. Non-wrestling makes up only 13% of the potential topic forums, yet well over 90% of the posts are in that 13%.

Old wrestlers with an opinion to share (on anything) - go figger 

[Handles II]

LOL! There are 66 wrestling related forums and 10 non-wrestling! All I have to do when I come to the forum and want to see what's new since the last time is check through 66 forums.

It does make a statement about those that consider "Misc" more important. Non-wrestling makes up only 13% of the potential topic forums, yet well over 90% of the posts are in that 13%.

Ok, solution #2 for you.
1. Click on unread topics since last visit.
2. Click only on the topics that you want to read.

It's so easy a caveman can do it. 

Have a happy day and happy reading.

[FIRECAT]

I agree with the idea of too much non-wrestling stuff.  I have stopped looking at the forum due to this issue.  When I go 2-3 days without visiting and then I hit unread posts since last visit there are 2-3 pages of 'misc. stuff' and 3-4 posts about wrestling.  This past weekend Wisconsin wrestlers had some great battles at the FILA nationals.  Very little discussion if any.  How may wrestling fans get turned off by all of the noise.  When my HS boys, who are die hard wrestler's, ask me 'why is there so much junk on the forum', then maybe we have a problem.  This used to be a great place to read and discuss Wisconsin Wrestling. I would like to know what percent of posts are now about wrestling?  How many fans/wrester's are now gone?  How many posts are by the same group of 10-15 people? Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.

[dad 2 5]

So would this be a wrestling or non wrestling series?
Just kidding.

I too thought there would be more wrestling talk here but it shows a little about the state of wrestling for the UW and for Wisconsin. I would like to see both get stronger and I think they are.

I do enjoy some of the non wrestling trends but most I don't look at. I don't think that it would be good to not have them as it would cut traffic to the web site even more.

Greco - I say we get more trends going and really dug in to wrestling in the State (youth and HS) and with the UW and UW system schools.

[dad 2 5]

So here is my challenge to all of us.


For every non wrestling post we put up we put up a post that has something to do with wrestling!

Any takers?

[Handles II]

I agree with the idea of too much non-wrestling stuff.  I have stopped looking at the forum due to this issue.  When I go 2-3 days without visiting and then I hit unread posts since last visit there are 2-3 pages of 'misc. stuff' and 3-4 posts about wrestling.  This past weekend Wisconsin wrestlers had some great battles at the FILA nationals.  Very little discussion if any.  How may wrestling fans get turned off by all of the noise.  When my HS boys, who are die hard wrestler's, ask me 'why is there so much junk on the forum', then maybe we have a problem.  This used to be a great place to read and discuss Wisconsin Wrestling. I would like to know what percent of posts are now about wrestling?  How many fans/wrester's are now gone?  How many posts are by the same group of 10-15 people? Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.

Old Panther stated that there are 66 sections, and only 10 are non-wrestling. I'm not sure how that adds up to too many non-wrestling. Those of you who want to talk more about wrestling, go ahead and get after it. There are 56 sections about wrestling. Choose a few and start some threads. If you are simply waiting around to see what someone else says that is new, then perhaps you are part of the reason why it is dead. All of you that want more wrestling posts, AWESOME! Get going on it, start some chatter and then you will see more wrestling topics on the "updated topics" link.  Simple solution. Sheesh.

[imnofish]

This site is a microcosm of the wrestling community.  Most of us have wrestled enough to know that the sport holds us together, but that unity allows us to share other interests and ideas.  Even the most intense wrestlers must step away from the mat and let off some steam.  The adult manifestation of that is found in our diversionary explorations of non-wrestling topics.  Those discussion threads keep us engaged on here and increase our awareness of wrestling topics when they appear.  Those of us who participate in this manner are also very active in many of the wrestling topics that appear on the forum.  There are plenty of participatory options on here for people to exercise, ranging from topic choices to navigation paths.  Having those options allows us a variety of ways to bond as an online community, with the understanding that wrestling is still the basis for our participation.  It's like guys on a team.  In college, we used to play cards and chess during road trips; we got in arguments, discussed girls and politics, laughed together, razzed each other, competed for starting positions, and did a variety of things to connect on as many levels as possible.  Ultimately, we bonded into a team that competed for each other and loved being there.  Our coaches were smart enough to allow us the latitude to have those diversions, as they were critical to team unity.  Wrestlers don't just wrestle 24/7/365 and always play nice.  We're not wired that way.  Tom's smart enough to recognize that and "coach" us accordingly.