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44K views 137 replies 15 participants last post by  Newcastle Historian 
#1 ·
Why is it that we have so many subforums here?
It seems to be that there' nowhere near enough activity to warrant splitting everything so much. With Sunderland and Newcastle especially...there's just so much overlap and most things in one are relevant to the other. Surely there should be a united forum?
 
#2 ·
Interestng question! I sometimes wonder the opposite thought, though. For example, the only Foum for Scotland is called "Glasgow" and so anyone in Edinburgh, Inverness etc etc has to make do with a single thread within the "Glasgow" forum.
I also wonder where we'd post any news about Alston, Berwick, Alnwick, Ashington or Carlisle, which leads me to think that we need MORE sub-fora.

But when there's not much activity on a sub-forum, then I agree with you, that having separate fora doesn't help. (There's probably more comment, fact and interest in some areas by the "Newcastle" posters than there is by the Locals).
Its hard to see how to make the decisions for merging or separating.

Another twist is that some of the national topic forums duplicate the regional ones (eg the national Transport & Infrastructure forum pontificates on local and regional transport whilst the local people are doing the same on their own sections. There's too many UK HighSpeed Rail threads on SSC - and they don't speak with each other.
 
#3 ·
I think the factor there with having just a Scotland forum called Glasgow is just awful naming.
If there are only half a board's worth of daily posts for Scotland then everything should just be merged into a Scotland board (and so named). Here I'd suggest a north east board rather than just moving all things Sunderland into Newcastle or whatever.
 
#4 ·
I like it the way it is. Yes some posts and threads cross-over but more often or not we are able to keep upto date with them. Lets not forget that that both Newcastle and Sunderland have about 100 threads each. If we put Hull's and Teesside's threads ontop of that which get little posts then they would just fall to the bottom, have a respnse then fall to the bottom yet again, eventually forumers from those fourms will just give up and then we will be left without any updates. The lack of posts from Northumberland is mainly down to the fact that we have little or no members from Northumberland, add on top of this that little happens in northumberland apart from a few houses being built so far their is not much worth of note being done in Northumberland. Whatever is done in Northumberland is pretty well coverd in the Morpeth area and Hexham.Tyne Valley threads and are well coverd by a few on the Tyne valley area thread and by both from NH. Having it all into one would just over size the forum and over comlicate it.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Lets not forget that that both Newcastle and Sunderland have about 100 threads each. If we put Hull's and Teesside's threads ontop of that which get little posts then they would just fall to the bottom, have a respnse then fall to the bottom yet again, eventually forumers from those fourms will just give up and then we will be left without any updates. .
Doesn't really matter how many threads a subforum has. Hull has a perfectly decent sized collective of hardcore, steady posters that have been here longer than many others in the north east section, and the amount of threads is just about right for the amount of projects at the moment.

Your point about threads falling to the bottom may well be true, but it would only be the case due to them being swallowed up by threads about football, 'interesting facts' and skybars from other regions. Fundamentally, the Hull forumers stick to what we have always stuck to - discussion about development in and around the city's strategic development areas. The times when the amount of posts fall off is when the amount of construction slows down. As it should be.

I agree with everybody else really. Things are fine as they are, we don't bother you and you don't bother us.

Respect and peace,

Yours

Mr. Leg O'Lamb esq.

Kingstonia
 
#6 ·
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I have changed the title of this thread.

It was originally set up by Tyr to discuss only the 'four internal forums' issue.

It attracted very few comments and was becoming dormant.

However, I do think it would be useful to have a more "ongoing" thread in this shared section of the 'North East England Sub-Forum', where we can occasionally mention issues of joint concern, or ask questions of other posters (from the other three internal forums) or you can even ask me (as your moderator) some questions.

Nothing too difficult, for me though please!!

There are individual "feedback" threads on all four of the internal forums, but we may as well have a shared one too. I could have started a NEW thread for this, but seeing as this one was already started (discussing a 'shared interest' issue) I thought we may as well adapt it!

Not many of us come onto this shared page of the sub-forum . . . but if you do and have something to say . . . THIS IS THE PLACE!
 
#7 ·
I wonder if we should keep monitoring this question - the creation of further sub divisions of the North East, or merging them?

Personally, I'd favour one or two MORE sub-fora (if the news, issues and of course the number of active members justified it) rather than merging them. I can't help feeling that folks with interests in, say, Consett, Hexham, Berwick or Rothbury are going to remain silent rather than add to a thread concerning Morpeth, Durham etc.

I've been prompted to raise this after watching the consequence of the re-naming of the Glasgow Forum to "Scotland and Glasgow Architecture Forum" (subtitle including ". . . and the country in general.") and it seems to me that there is now suddenly more posts in threads about Edinburgh, Inverness, Dundee and The Highlands than there were when it was called "Glasgow".

So I conclude from this that we shouldn't always wait for contributions about new areas, but accept that simply the creation of a forum about a certain area is likely to generate interest and comment!

Perhaps we could experiment, by kick-starting a new sub-area sometime, and see what interest it generates - if if doesn't then any posts can be merged back into the existing four. One suggestion that comes to mind would be Alnwick, where there's always been a vociferous community who comment on developments there (though perhaps we've missed the biggest wave of developments?).
 
#8 ·
Personally, I'd favour one or two MORE sub-fora (if the news, issues and of course the number of active members justified it) rather than merging them. I can't help feeling that folks with interests in, say, Consett, Hexham, Berwick or Rothbury are going to remain silent rather than add to a thread concerning Morpeth, Durham etc.

I've been prompted to raise this after watching the consequence of the re-naming of the Glasgow Forum to "Scotland and Glasgow Architecture Forum" (subtitle including ". . . and the country in general.") and it seems to me that there is now suddenly more posts in threads about Edinburgh, Inverness, Dundee and The Highlands than there were when it was called "Glasgow".
The key there is naming, not more forums.
New sub forums should only be created when a existing one has so many active threads that stuff from the past day or two gets pushed off the bottom of the page.

I live in Co.Durham but I very very rarely post in the Sunderland forum. It just isn't active enough, I very rarely even check it and just stick to Newcastle where interesting stuff happens.
With the two merged though then I would post on threads related to Sunderland and Co.Durham far more often as seeing them would be a easier task.

Right now for instance I'm considering making a thread about something in Stanley. But where do I put it? The Sunderland board is the official board but Stanley is just right next to Gateshead, there's far more local interest there and the people in the Newcastle board would potentially know far more about and be more interested in the project than people from right over by the coast. But then perhaps there is some Co.Durham people on the Sunderland board. They'd miss this thread relevant to them if its on Newcastle. Its all a mess, too focussed on (largely outdated) politics and football which doesn't reflect the situation on the ground.

We really should just go with a tyne and wear and surrounding area forum.
 
#9 · (Edited)
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There is a discussion taking place in the 'Forum Issues' section of SSC, regarding the possibilty of a "South of England" Sub-forum being set up.

HERE - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1243069

Both myself and Chris have got involved a little bit, in the discussion.

I have been spreading the word about our North East England sub-forum in the discussion, while offering some advice as to possible "structures" that could be adopted by a South Sub Forum.

As part of that discussion, it was mentioned that there could well be some areas of The South, that would not easily be covered by any of the suggested City-Region Internal Forums, and I said that those areas could still use the 'communal area' that would be available beneath the internal forums - if they chose to have internal forums!

In other words, the equivalent area to this area here, where this thread is.

It made me wonder if there were any geographical parts of North East England, not really covered by our four internal forums, that we could utilise our own 'communal area' for?

AN EXAMPLE . . .

The remit of the 'Newcastle Metro Area' Forum, includes South Northumberland, and to that end we have "Area Developments" threads on there for places like Blyth and Cramlington, and as far North as Morpeth. We also have the 'Tyne Valley' covered on its own Developments thread, for places like Prudhoe and Hexham.

Now, I'm sure we would happily cover on the Newcastle Forum, areas of Northumberland further West than Prudhoe/Hexham, and further North than Morpeth.

However (in the spirit of the discussions about "The South Sub-Forum") I just wondered if we might take the opportunity of similarly making better use of this 'communal area' of our forum, to cover areas not immediately identifiable as being part of our four internal forums.

So . . .

I thought I would kick it off with a Northumberland Area Developments - Areas and Subjects NOT being covered on the "Newcastle" Forum thread!


In conclusion:


1 - Do people agree that there are areas we could cover here, and that it would be a good idea to more utilise this area of our sub-forum?

2 - Can anyone think of any other 'areas' (from North Lincolnshire up through Teesside and Durham, etc) not seemingly included in our four internal forums, where issues of relevance to us on SSC could be happening, that we could set up a 'Developments type' thread for in this communal area?

.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Well, as can be seen, I have given our shire counties (North Lincs, Northumberland, Cumbria, North Yorks, County Durham) 'areas threads' a bit of a go!!

They may not be a success (I don't know) but I thought it was worth (at least) a try. We may attract posters from these more rural areas if they can see they have their "own area" thread, not necessarily as just a smaller part of a City-led sub forum?

.
 
#10 ·
I was thinking of posting something about the redevelopment of whitehaven habour, which obviously isn't in the north east but doesn't really fit anywhere else. I can't imagine posting anything about cumbria in the manchester or liverpool forums would generate the slightest hint of interest. Cumbria does seam more conected culturally to the north east than the rest of the north west and is part of the BBC Look North area. Not what you had in mind I'm sure, unless you wanted to extend the sub-forum to the whole borders region.
 
#11 · (Edited)
^^

Interesting, because we do not cover Cumbria, that's true.

But, if this communal area of the North East England Forum is where the subject would be seen by more people who might be interested in it, would know about it, and would be more likely to comment on it (than anywhere else) - then give it a go!!

As you say, Cumbria get their BBC local TV from Newcastle ('The North East and Cumbria') so there is a natural link already in existence.

I suppose, if it doesn't work out, your thread could be moved over to a North West forum (?) at a later date.

.
 
#12 ·
^^

I suppose, if it doesn't work out, your thread could be moved over to a North West forum (?) at a later date.

.

There isn't a north west forum though - just manchester and liverpool. Can I create threads in this 'no man's land' part of the north east forum for cumbrian issues? Seams like the best place, although I don't read it much.
 
#13 ·
I know this is a bit of a long shot but is there any way of getting a direct link to the NE forums from the SSC home page. The UK forum section has links for a number of subforums under it including london, manchester, etc. but no NE england. Not a big deal really, just saves an extra click if you're starting at the homepage.
 
#15 ·
I know this is a bit of a long shot but is there any way of getting a direct link to the NE forums from the SSC home page. The UK forum section has links for a number of subforums under it including london, manchester, etc. but no NE england. Not a big deal really, just saves an extra click if you're starting at the homepage.

This has been asked before.

I am advised that there is no more space on the SSC Home Page, other forums would like to be linked from there too!
 
#17 · (Edited)
That is certainly an option, but essentially the 'Newcastle Metro Area' forum was set up to cover the 'Metropolitan Area' (the Newcastle Urban Area) so North Northumberland was not really included.

As you say, it could be, but we have (already) the ideal area to cover it, in here (the 'shared/communal' area) and I hope to attract other 'more rural' type-areas to join in.

We've already got Cumbria, as well, now!

.
 
#18 ·
I'm not saying it's going to happen, but if what has been mentioned on another thread happens, I.E. Humberside going with either a Yorkshire or Midlands Sub-Forum, what would be the chances of their place being taken by a Northumberland and Cumbria section? It maybe low on the post count but if SSC is to have an overhau then surely that is a reasonable option.
 
#19 ·
If any of you have been having problems logging in to Skyscraper City this evening, it has been a worldwide problem and everyone has had the same problem.

It has been virtually impossible to gain access for the last three or four hours tonight (18.00 to 22.00 Hrs).

When I enquired about it, I was told . . .

; 66401457 said:
we're having problems with the network in one of the cabinets.
Well, I'm sure some of you know what that means! Anyway, the SSC IT people are pretty hot stuff, and it is now sorted.
 
#20 ·
Combined 'North East Forum' Area - Feedback, Ideas, Moderator Messages, etc

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USING THIS COMMUNAL AREA OF THE NORTH EAST ENGLAND SUB-FORUM . . .


Recently, a thread has been set up in this 'communal area' of the forum, called "Northumberland Area Developments - Areas NOT covered on the Newcastle Forum"

That thread covers the areas in the 'extreme-West' and 'extreme-North' of the County of Northumberland.

Those areas have 'urban-development' issues, like any other area, but they are either not actually covered by the Newcastle Metro Area Forum (they are outwith the remit of that forum) or they are simply not easily covered on there, because they are not 'identifiable' with the Metropolitan Area.

I feel that there may well be a similar situation in certain areas of North Lincolnshire, where there are small developments and relevant issues for discussion, that do not readily fall to be covered by the Hull and Humber forum.

If so . . . they can be covered, and discussed, in this thread.
 
#23 ·
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INSERTING/POSTING NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON THE FORUM.


(1) Please read the below and try to follow these general guidelines.

(2) I have been meaning to write this note for some time, but I hoped that posters would notice how I use newspaper articles and follow suite, but that is not always happening.

(3) SSC (Moderators) are required to delete any copyrighted content when pointed out, and this has already been discussed a fair number of times in this thread, in relation to PHOTOS.

(4) The guidelines and procedures in relation to photos are now (mostly) being adhered to (links and credit given to websites, etc) but we need to “put our house in order” regarding the posting of newspaper articles.

(5) Posting whole news articles should NOT be done.

(6) Posting of shortened versions of news articles (which is what I tend to do) or even just the first few paragraphs, CAN be done.

(7) At the bottom of your posted excerpts from the article, please (as with photos) ALWAYS provide a link back to the article. Sometimes, the site you are posting from gives you the link automatically, other times you will need to ‘copy and paste’ it.

(8) While I am not saying I always do it right, generally (if you have a look at one) the way I do it complies with SSC requirements. I always TRY to do it right!

(9) As ever, please drop me a ‘PM’ or post on this thread, if you would like to discuss things further.


Cheers,
NH.
 
#24 ·
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As we now have TWO Project Threads in this 'Communal Area' of our North East England sub-forum, I have added to each the common TAG of . . .

Project - North East Area

As with the similar tags used on our four City-based sub-forums, this enables all "Projects" to be called up onto screen at one time, for ease of moving between each one.

OK, with only two projects on here at the moment, it is not very essential yet (!) but 'down the line' hopefully it will be as useful as it has been on the four internal sub-forums.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I'm looking for as wide a participation in the below debate (see posts copied into here from the North Lincolnshire Developments thread) as is possible!

The debate is not just specifically about the North Lincolnshire / Hull and Humber issue (though I would welcome further input on that) it is about trying to attract non-city based posters to an area of the forum that they can call their own.

I think that if we can establish the 'identity' of this area of our forum (the North East 'communal' area, as I call it) by our regular posters from the four City-based sub-forums posting on here more, we can actually ATTRACT new posters from the more rural areas. People from those areas face 'urban/urbanism' issues (that SkyscraperCity is all about) in the same way that those of us in the big cities do!

What do people think?

Shouldn't Scunthorpe and North Lincs. development news be in the Hull and Humber forum?
What do people think?

This thread is (as said earlier) for any and all developments and urban-related issues that are not being routinely covered on the four City-based forums.

Are the issues on this thread already being covered on the Hull and Humber forum?

Do posters from the more rural areas go on to the City-based forums?

The purpose of this thread is to (help) provide forumers with the widest possible choice of locations to post, and to provide a location that they can come to (and identify with) to post on urbanism issues.

It (and the other threads here) are not intended to take anything away from the Newcastle, Hull, Teesside, or Sunderland forums!

What do people think?

Is this a useful facility or not?
.
 
#26 ·
I am looking to establish what areas of our "forum region" do not get coverage (for whatever reason) on the 'City' forums, and which rural and semi-rural areas could benefit from utilising the communal area.

Are there no such areas around Hull, as there are around the other three forum areas?

Thanks

I am looking for any information about the above, if anyone can help?

Thanks
 
#27 ·
East Yorkshire seems well covered in its own respective thread. The same should be set up for Scunthorpe (North Lincolnshire) and Greater Grimsby (North East Lincolnshire), both of which come under the Hull and Humber City Region.

It just seems that many areas of the country (largely rural/smaller towns) have negligable or absolutely no involvement on here. That is understandable and i think it will take significant regeneration in Grimsby and Scunthorpe before people from those areas think of joining up.
 
#28 ·
East Yorkshire seems well covered in its own respective thread. The same should be set up for Scunthorpe (North Lincolnshire) and Greater Grimsby (North East Lincolnshire), both of which come under the Hull and Humber City Region.

It just seems that many areas of the country (largely rural/smaller towns) have negligable or absolutely no involvement on here. That is understandable and i think it will take significant regeneration in Grimsby and Scunthorpe before people from those areas think of joining up.

Thanks for that pug, very helpful, as I am not as informed as I would like to be about some of the areas around Hull and Humber, that I potentially thought could have been more attracted to use their own thread on the communal area, rather than visiting a primarily City-based forum!!

You see what I am trying to achieve though?

There are identifiable areas around all of the other three forums, so they seem to be working ok . . . though I know it will "take time" for the word to get around, and posters to be attracted in numbers . . . if ever!!

We even have threads for CUMBRIA, which is not part of any of the four sub-forums on the North East Forum!! So, there is a demand, of sorts, for this type of thread, hence my prolonged efforts!

Can you suggest anything that could be done (name-changes, etc?) to develop a useful "areas around Hull" thread, in the way that we have for Cumbria and the other three North East forum areas?

Thanks again.
 
#29 ·
Perhaps a Northern Lincolnshire thread or some such? Inside the main Hull and Humber forum. Could be changed as and when more people from that area start joining. I keep my eye on news from around the region, so would post up anything worthwhile when possible.
 
#30 ·
Sorry NH, reading my reply back it does come across as a bit abrupt. Didn't mean for it too though, I was just a bit pushed for time. :)

I echo what pug says - there is nothing stopping somebody setting up threads for towns on the south bank in the Hull and Humber subforum - there has been a lot more discussion about the area and referencing of their local papers with recent developments around the ports, bridge tolls, the LEP etc.

It would be nice to see the sub-heading changed to include north and north-east lincs on the north east front page too.
 
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