The forums should be consolidated to give a better sense of community. Just a thought.

I'd be worried that there were too many forums when people stop posting on certain subforums, but as of now, all have been constantly posted on except post-production classifieds, and that's sort of a moot point.

I could be biased though because I'm used to Dvinfo.net which is a huge community many times the size of sf.com.

I find the best way to navigate the forums is to use the New Since Last Visit feature, which just shows you all new forum posts, regardless of which area they are in.

yeah, thats exactly what i use titanium.
actually, all i have is a link in the top of my screen which links to studentfilms.com>new posts since last visit so until i read this post i didnt even realise that there were that many boards on this forum.

? How do you mean?

Too many sections?

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

Yeah, I just have a bookmark to: http://forums.studentfilms.com/eve/ubb.x?a=nslv in my bookmark bar.

"Too many sections?"

I think so. Even at the sake of being less organized, it would make the forum more lively. When there are so many sections it feels like the place is less populated than it really is.

Maybe one section for 'production' and another for 'discussion of existing films' and one for 'off-topic.'

what I mean to say is that there are 24 seperate forums here, and I think that could be cut in half probably. At least for the moment. It just seems like a forum for "film stories" and "interviews" seems redundant. I'm sure as the site grows the amount will be welcome but it just seems a bit excessive right now.

Yea I would post "film stories" and "interviews" in the general forum more than likely. The forum is quite underpopulated of active members. Yes, there are alot of members, hundreds. But if you look at the stats a very small percentage are active. And if you look at most active forum topics the same 20 or so members are posting. So untill sf gets alot of activity I say morph some forum topics together.

Here is what to do. I post on a really active forums called www.neogaf.com They keep themselves really active by only having two forums. On topic and off topic.

You should have a on-topic forums dedicated to all things filmmaking. And another Off-topic forum for everything that is off-topic. It sounds like dumb idea, but it will funnel all your traffic into two areas. That way when Johhny freshamn posts his question that might not normally get seen it now has a much greater chance of getting seen.

If you think about it, you really dont need 24 separate forums. 2 is great.

24 may be too much - I agree. 2 seems too little for Studentfilms.com - how about this:

Site Announcements
Films on the Site
Film Submission/Site Questions
Filmmaker Introductions
Celebrity Chat Transcripts Don't need - haven't had one in a while.
Film Articles Redundant now with the new articles section


General Filmmaking Discussion
Student Filmmaker Diaries Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion
Screenwriting and Pre-Production Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion
Film Production Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion
Film Post-Production Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion

Getting into the Films Business Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion
Film Schools
Film Festivals

Actor/Actress Classifieds
Composer Classifieds
Crew Classifieds
Miscellaneous Classifieds
Post-Production ClassifiedsRoll into one of the above - Crew perhaps

Off Topic Discussions
Filmmaker Announcements Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion
Film as Art Roll into General Filmmaking Discussion
Film Recommendations
Polls

What do you think? The forums do get alot of traffic - perhaps not as much as those forums that you mentioned - but I'd love to get it there!!!

-Chris
Studentfilms.comg

It's cool to see that you're considering this feedback-

That looks pretty good, but you can probably make just two classified categories: gear and services (acting, crew, composer, etc.).

Schools and festivals can also be rolled together.

Site announcements can just be stickied at the top of submission and site questions.

Also, I'm not sure if a separate polls category is necessary. They should be able to be posted anywhere as necessary - it's just another form of discussion.

I think that if you were to make some changes tot he site you are generally on the right track, however, the forums "General Filmmaking Discussion, Student Filmmaker Diaries, Screenwriting...ect." Are in my opinion the most used and help to easily divide up questions when it comes to filmmaking. It easily allows people to post questions where people are able to answer according to their strengths. This is one of the few sections that I recommend you not change, but it's up to you, as always that just my opinion, take it or leave it. Either way I still enjoy coming to this site.

Cheers to that. Good changes there. I think it will prove to be a good move. Thanks Dan for the suggestion.

i agree with chris' suggestions.
except, i think ALL the classifieds should roll into ONE; and filmmaker announcements should remain its own board.

Looks good to me. I would change Off topic to its real name though, Kyle's Nook of Nonsense.

Hmmm... Well I think Site Announcements is a good forum and should remain separate as it is a good place for me to post news on the site.

I used to have all of the Classifieds in one section but switched it up when people asked for it. Perhaps Cast/Crew as one and then Composer Classifieds.

Film Schools and Film Festivals should remain separate.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

looks good Chris. should make the forums easier to navigate.

Cool...

Should we put all in that section all under General Filmmaking Disc - or is that overkill?

Also, what does everything think of the new articles section?

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

Wow it is cool to have such a response. I think your plan is great. I'm sure that as with anything it will require adjusting since I don't know anything about the internet. Thanks for listening though!!! Great site too.