So many messages, so many choices
 

I know this is off-topic (I guess) but I was checking to see if new posts to the "general" Europe forum can be configured to post simultaneously to a sub-Forum, like "France", by means of selecting both the "general interest" and "France" lines in the "subject" box which appears on the new posting screen. So I'll mention both France and Britain here (just did) and will post to both the France and general fora if I can, then we'll see if responses on one forum post to the same question on the other forum, etc. <BR> <BR>It seems to me that a lot of travel to Europe involves more than one country, just as US travel might involve both California and Florida, or people might be asking comparative questions. If the questions and answers post just to the France forum, say, many folks who look at the "general" Europe forum might miss them, or vice versa. Of course one can check all the sub-forums so as to be sure nothing's missed, which will also give you the chance to see more ads. Wait...

John, good experiment. I see, however, that your post didn't go into France or Britain. I wonder what it takes to get those to go there. <BR>You could try it by starting a new post and clicking multiple choices I suppose. Or did you do that already? <BR>Isn't fodors.com getting pretty fancy these days? Too fancy, perhaps? <BR>Maybe not when we understand how, and if, it all works.

And the answer is... <BR>No, posts only go to the forum or sub-forum from which the "new posting" is launched. <BR> <BR>Don't like it.

Agreed. Lots of people surf only the general forums and don't necessarily check the separate specific forums like France or Italy, so there is a good chance that if you post your question about Italy in the Italy forum, you will not get as many readers as you would if you posted it in the general Europe forum, and there are probably people in the general forum who may have answers for you but they will never see your question unless they check the specific separate forum. Too fancy, indeed.

I agree that the new "organization" is anything but clear. If the powers that be want Britain, France, and Italy posts to be posted only to the country forum and not to the general Europe one as well (or instead) they should rename "Europe" to something like "The Rest of Europe," and make it clear on the entry page that these are equal-level forums, not subgroups. Not only is posting now confusing, but so is searching, since older Italy threads are in Europe whereas newer ones may be in Italy, Europe, or either. Plus, for the reasons stated by previous posters, it's not even clear that it's a good idea to split these countries off.

Whoa! Thanks for this post. Just discovered the change because I had the following page bookmarked and never saw the entry page. At first glance, I think I like the separating GB, France and Italy. But you are SO right on--it's not very clear. I agree with KT that the title should be "The Rest of Europe." <BR> <BR>Happy searching!

Do you think Elvira will know how to post a message when she returns?!

I just say a post under Spain that also showed up in the General Forum. I believe that this has always been so. It just makes it easier to look under a Specific country if that is where your current interest lies. <BR>

I ment saw not say. I tried posting under Spain and another new one under Germany and they both show up under Europe as well as the individual countries. <BR>

But Art -- Spain and Germany are part of the general Europe forum; they did not break those countries out as they did others. France and Italy and Great Britain are in separate ones. So if someone posts a trip report on the "Italy" forum, it will not show up in the "Europe" forum. Therefore you really have to search two separate forums now for Italy, two for France, and two for Great Britain -- but only one for Germany, Spain, etc.