We've had a bit of a bumpy start moving over to the new forums, but with things starting to settle in I feel it's time to update the help and information available to our members as well as review the rules in place in this forum.

Firstly, I am in the process of re-writing the ** READ BEFORE POSTING ** topic to remove any old or irrelevant information and to correctly match the new forum software; the current version should be usable for now, but we'll have a completely new version within the next couple of days. We also have the new Help Wanted Rules, Guidelines & FAQ (accessible above the topic listing) which replaces the forum faq from the old software; everything in that page should be current and up-to-date, but there is still more to be added.

So, how can you help?


I'm looking for feedback -- as much as you're willing to give! Answering the two poll questions at the beginning of this topic is a great start, but I'd also love feedback on the rest of the rules, the required template, the information available in the Rules, Guidelines & FAQ, and anything else you would like to make suggestions on.

I'm also planning on adding an actual FAQ section to the Rules, Guidelines & FAQ, in a traditional questions and answers layout -- your suggested questions and answers are both welcome and encouraged!

Thanks in advance, and good luck with all your current projects!

I think that the RULES/FAQ's need to be more visible.. Hell I think anyone with under X number of post(or X numbers of days registered) should be automatically forwarded to the rules page when they click on Help Wanted. (And somewhere in the rules will be a link to the actual help wanted page)


I personally have no problem with the bumping rules, however I do believe help wanted needs to be much better organized. MMO's and freelancers should be given their own subforum. Premium projects (such as GDNet+ projects or projects that have shown to be serious) should be boosted and highlighted....

Maybe even sort by the rating system....

Organization will keep good projects from getting lost, as well allow people to continue to try to squeeze help out....



~Sorry for grammar and spelling.... mindless drivel night.

Just a suggestion regarding the rules / forum structure related to "help wanted" ads. I post it here to be visible by those who visit this section and as I see no proper related forum but if there is could a mod move my post there?

I highly recommend separating the "help wanted" and "help available" sections from eachother. No need to add additional top level subforum for it as that would be an overkill, you may just create a subforum inside "help wanted".

Why I suggest this is because useful talent gets pushed back from the first page quickly making it difficult to recognioze, while if they bump frequently they push back dev team posts, this combined with the bump abusing violators really harms the mature projects, and also is bad for those offering their services. Also easy to recognize that it is more difficult to see help available ads when they are mixed with help wanted ones, while if suchs posts would be organized under a separate subforum then every time a new help available ad would be posted it would be seen, clearly, distinctively, without interrupting or being mixed amongst dozens of other ads, and especially would not disappear so quickly from the first page for the simple fact it is much more rare that help available ads are posted than help wanted ones, which also means conveniance for those offering their services as they may not even need to care to manage their ads (by bumping them) as the ads would not get out from the first page for weeks or even an entire month.

I agree with the notion of dividing the posts into sections. This will increase the exposure for every post.

A way to divide it might be "help wanted" and "help available" as already suggested.

A way to divide it might be "help wanted" and "help needed" as already suggested.

Just a note: I have suggested "help wanted" and "help available", the first is for the top level subforum as currently and for those looking to form a team or recruit new members, the later as a subforum of help wanted and is for those who want to offer their services.

You say help wanted and help needed which is the same thing, so instead of help needed there should be "help available".

i dont mean to be stupid or something, but i cant find the See the Rules, Guidelines & FAQ post, ive searched and hunted around and i cant find it
am i missing something ?

[quote name='forsandifs' timestamp='1306140953' post='4814510']A way to divide it might be "help wanted" and "help needed" as already suggested.

Just a note: I have suggested "help wanted" and "help available", the first is for the top level subforum as currently and for those looking to form a team or recruit new members, the later as a subforum of help wanted and is for those who want to offer their services.

You say help wanted and help needed which is the same thing, so instead of help needed there should be "help available".
[/quote]

I'm sorry, teaches me for posting when I'm half asleep. I meant "help available". I've been feeling dizzy and drowsy all day actually. I'll edit accordingly.

I wanted to add that I think two weeks is far too long of a period between bumps. I think one week is a more reasonable period. In fact, I think it may be even better to stop trying to observed a fixed period of time and instead allow people to bump their thraeds once it is no longer on the first page. Threads that are not on the first page are almost never seen, and I don't think there's that many active threads on the forum that it would be a constant "bump war" either.