suze

If this forum wasn't here... wouldn't people simply post their Europe question on the Europe forum, their United States questions on U.S., their off-topic questions in The Lounge?

What is the reason for this forum? Anyone know?

ShelliDawn

Although lately I'm finding a lot (most?) posts here belong in the different regional forums (Europe, US, etc.) there are many I don't beleive belong in the lounge. For example, I wouldn't go to lounge for packing tips, and they're not off-topic. Plus, they would get lost amongst all the political, personal etc. posts that are in the lounge. I got so tired of those I haven't been to the lounge in months and months.

thursdaysd

Maybe we need a note at the top, or on the page where you start a new thread, telling people to take their questions about places to the appropriate board? Pity there's no way to put up a "sticky" here. I do seem to be typing "take it to..." more often lately.

suze

ShelliDawn~ The packing threads always used to go on the regular destination forums (before the Lounge was invented) packing for Europe, packing for Mexico, whatever.

Good ideaThursdaysd. because I feel kind of negative, all I ever seem to post when I check this particular forum is "I see you are new here. You'll want to post your question over at xxx instead of here".

toedtoes

I don't think it's such a bad idea to have folks posting here first. Many of the questions being asked are SO general that how do you decide what board to post it in.

For example, "I have 2 weeks and no budget, where should I go?"

Posting that question in the Europe board will get you 50 million suggestions, but they'll be limited to European destinations.

Posting that question on this board will get maybe 10 suggestions but they will be for 10 completely different locations. Then the OP can consider those ideas and move over to the board(s) of the location(s) that interest them most to get more definitive information.

I find getting fewer but more varied responses is more helpful for questions like this.

We had the same issues back when it was "Solo Travel" - folks posted questions regarding specific destinations that would get more responses on the destination board. But, "Solo Travel" had it's place as does "Travel Tips and Trip Ideas".

As regulars on this board, I think we can help more by providing what responses we can to those posting here, and suggest a follow up post on a specific destination board if needed. As many of the OPs here are new to the forums, perhaps we could even provide helpful hints on getting the best response from a secondary post (such as make the title more specific, provide some background information on what you enjoy doing, take a look at XX's trip report because it answers many of your questions, etc.).

thursdaysd

toedtoes - I take your point, but based on their titles 13 of the current top 25 threads here clearly belong on the destination boards. E.g. London markets, Barcelona hotels, Italian trains, etc...

toedtoes

As I mentioned, we had the same issue with the Solo Travel board. When solo travel was melded into this board, there were a lot of complaints because "Solo Travel" was a small but important subject matter.

I think part of the demise of the Solo Travel board was simply because we tended to direct folks AWAY from it.

Personally, I'd rather deal with the 13 posts that don't "belong" here than lose the 12 that do.

Coquelicot

The title led me to assume the board was to give travel tips and ideas, not request them. (I see now it could be read both ways.) I'm interested in advice from more experienced travelers or people just back from a trip with new info. Agree that people with questions should post to the most specific board.

thursdaysd

"Personally, I'd rather deal with the 13 posts that don't "belong" here than lose the 12 that do." - that's fine, provided you're volunteering to tell the 13 to post elsewhere! AND, provided they actually do so, which I'm not sure is always the case.

suze

Solo travel was a different type of subject imho. There is/was a very specific body of information that is helpful to for when people travel alone. And it doesn't change by destination (i.e., going solo to Amsterdam has the same tips & tricks as going solo to Argentina or to Hawaii or whatever). I don't recall us often directing people away from the Solo Travel forum. I know that I made a huge personal effort to support it. That was not the reason for its demise.

suze

Coquelicot~ Now I LIKE that idea! If this were a forum for people to post their own "Travel Tips" and ideas, like in Budget Travel magazine (readers 20 best tips feature) & that actually makes more sense. But you're right, I never once 'read' the title of this forum that way. Not sure why.

janisj

The vast majority of folks posting destination specific questions here are brand new and may not know anything about the other forums. Especially if they got into Fodors directly from a google search.

Even sadder than the poor lost threads here - are the ones on Forums Help asking about trains to Barcelona etc . . .

I normally will suggest they e-mail katie to have her move the thread. She does that all the time.

But I also think Fodors should do a better job -- when someone is posting to this board or ESPECIALLY the Help forum - to have something along the lines of:

<blue>Forums Help is a board for questions and comments about problems and issues using the website. If your topic is about travel or specific destinations, select a different forum such as Europe, Asia, United States, Air Travel, etc.</blue>

The Travel Tips & Trip Ideas notice could be something like

<blue>Travel Tips & Trip Ideas is a board for sharing travel tips and general trip ideas. If your topic is about a specific destination, you may get better results posting on one of the destination-specific forums such as Europe, Asia, United States, etc.</blue>

Katie_H

Thanks everyone for the great feeback. We're going to be adding "teasers" under each forum (or at least the ones that could particularly use them) to identify the purpose of the forum.

This forum has been in some existence since the beginning and but was originally called "Other Topics". It was then called "Smart Travel Tips"; the forum has received much more traffic since we changed it to Travel Tips & Trip Ideas but I agree that it's not helpful for newbies to post here and not know that they'll receive more specific advice on the individual travel forum if their question is destination specific. I may also add a message to the actual new topic form that gives newbies more direction.

I realize that a handful of you have nicely served as crossing guard pointing members in the right direction, but obviously this isn't your job. I appreciate you bringing this to our attention and I'll move it further up on the list of to-dos.

suze

Hi there Katie, But at least "Other Topics" made sense.

Sure this forum has more traffic... it's a bunch of brand new posters who are LOST on the website!!!

I don't mind working as a crossing guard, it's just it doesn't seem very welcoming for someone's 1st reply to their 1st question to be someone telling them "Don't post here, post there..."

muchas gracias, Suze

yk

For the Help Forum, I think it may be more appropriate to change it to Technical Help Forum. That should be a clearer title to steer newbies away from posting any questions that may be travel-related.

As for this Travel Tips forum, I agree with toedtoes to a small degree. Sure, sometimes the posters are so lost (read: no idea) that it seems like NO other forum would suit their needs. Therefore, posting here may make the most sense to get some ideas to get them started (eg, "Help, where to go for honeymoon?")

However, to be honest, how many Fodorites actually come over to this board? Probably no more than 10 do so on a regular basis. Therefore, these clueless newbies *may* get 10 different responses to their questions, if they're lucky. If they're not lucky, they may only get 1 or 2 replies, and they may decide that Fodors' forums are useless to them; if they aren't savvy enough to check out the real travel forums.

toedtoes

Suze - people were constantly being told "no one really visits the Solo Travel board, you should repost on another board" before the change in names. When I started posting, I fought against that re-routing a lot.

Katie - Thanks for the quick action on this. It's great to have a moderator who is always so willing to rework things to work better.

YK - while the newbies may only get a couple responses to their questions, they aren't going to be overwhelmed. For me, getting hundreds of differing responses is not helpful at all - it's too hard to wade through them all. And, it doesn't deteriorate into nitpicking about word usage or other petty off-topic stuff that is likely to scare off a newbie.

Katie_H

Well I'd like to take action more quickly but every decision effects everything else because of the forums' template so sometimes it takes longer than it seems it should. I appreciate the good faith and the feedback.

phieaglefan

Hi all - my comment on this board is a bit late, and also a little off topic.

First off, I don't come here (travel tips...) alot, but when I have lately I did notice all of the destination specific questions.

I had hoped this forum would be more banter about destination suggestions. For instance, I realize that I have some time to take a trip and have a list a mile long on 4 different continents of where I'd like to go. But I'd like to see what makes sense for the time frame, the time of year, the budget, etc.

Or, I'd like to see where other people suggest for ....
Quick trips outside the US, or a girl trip, or a winter trip.

And I suppose there is a bit of that. Maybe I'm unusual in this regard?

And I think the teasers on the non-specific destination boards are a great idea.

Just my thoughts.

H

yk

phieaglefan - In the ideal world, your example is a good topic for this forum, IMO. however, since so few Fodorites bother to come over to check this forum, you may only get 1 or 2 responses, and these responses could be biased depending on where the other posters have visited before.

toedtoes

YK - but if you post that question on a destination board, the responses will be biased depending on the board you choose and where the other posters have visited before.