Even more updated idea/more explained and added more reasoning. I appreciate my idea is a large change but after looking at what forums get used and what a lot of threads are about I honestly think it would benefit all users of these forums as well as encourage more people to take part in debates across more forums. I have really careful thought about this. Also hopefully a simplified layout would prevent certain topics (mainly youview) ending up across multiple forums.
Also there are good reasons for having open "Top Level forums" as occasionally there are posts about issues in Ireland ect which will not quite come under the UK companies as well as other very small providers.
My idea also links providers together so Sky TV is linked to Broadband ect so it is also clear and has a clear link to each provider too!)
Rename Digital Entertainment Forums to Telecommunication Forums (or something else just an idea)
Broadband and Homehone (Open forum for other providers and issues)(With a link to the Mobile Broadband Forum)
*BT Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the BT Youview forum)
*Sky Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the Sky TV forum)
*TalkTalk Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the TalkTalk Youview forum, and maybe to the mobile forum too for TalkTalk Mobile issues)
*Virgin Media Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the Virgin Media TV forum, and maybe a link to the mobile forum for Virgin Mobile issues)
*Technical
As most people have Broadband bundled with Homephone now, and companies bundle broadband and phone services together, so most issues that arise are linked together so I think merging Broadband and Landline forums would make sense. Also adding a TalkTalk Broadband and Homephone sub forum so that the "Big 4" suppliers have dedicated forums. I don't think there is a need to add it for any other suppliers as there would not be enough threads to call for a forum and there would be the general forum for other suppliers, also to add a Technical forum to include issues about home phones (the actual handsets) and there seems to be a fair few threads about this in the current Landline forum as well as some in the Gadgets forum. So this would bring them all together in one place.
Cable (Open forum for other not specific cable issues including Smallworld Cable and other small suppliers)
*Virgin Media TV (With a link to Virgin Media Broadband and Homephone, and maybe to mobile too for Virgin Mobile issues)
*Virgin Media TV Hardware
*Technical
Get rid of the dedicated Smallworld Cable forum and merge it into the open Cable forum due to the very small number of threads. Also merge the V+ and Tivo forums as both are relating to a similar topic and both are small forums. Admittedly a combined forum would still be small but I still think maintaining a separate forum is a good idea. And also add a technical forum for other technical issues relating to Cable.
Satellite(Open Forum about non Specific Satellite and other issues)
*Sky TV (With a link to the Sky Broadband and Homephone Forum and maybe a link to the On-Demand forum for Now TV)
*Sky+HD
*Freesat
*Freesat+ and Freetime
*Technical
Keep Sky and Sky+HD separate forums as they are both quite large forums. As well as keeping a separate Freesat and Freesat+ forum they do get a number of posts in them and are ultimately different things and add Freetime to Freesat+ as they are related, I don't think a new forum is needed for Freetime *Yet* and it could become the ultimate replacement for Freesat+ Boxes in the long term so.
Terrestrial (Open forum for other issues, Top Up TV and Saorview )
*Freeview
*Freeview+
*Technical
*Youview
**BT Youview (Including BT Vision)(With a link to the BT Broadband and Homephone Forum)
**TalkTalk Youview (With a link to the TalkTalk Broadband and Homephone Forum)
Get rid of the Top up TV forum as Top Up is now a very limited service and now the sports situation has been sorted the forum is likely to go back to being basically empty again, Also get rid of all the Freeview+ Recorders sub forums as many rarely get posts in a may only get one every few years and merge into one forum. Also make two separate Youview sub forums for BT Youview and TalkTalk Youview (as they are the main two providers) keep the Youview forum open as you can buy the box separately too. Also (Other than Sky Sports) BT Vision and BT Youview seem to be nearly identical services (and IF/when the Sky Sports issues is resolved then it is likely the BT Vision box will no longer be available for new customers)
On-Demand Services(Open forum for other On-Demand Services)
*BBC iPlayer
*Netflix
Rename Online Entertainment Services to On-Demand Services I think would better reflect this and more users could see what the forum was about, also as this is a fastly growing area this forum is likely to get much more "busy", Also BBC Iplayer and Netflix seem to be (in my opinion) the two biggest topics so they may require sub forums.
Keep this for forum for things such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer which are NOT platform specific, unlike Youview and Freetime which ARE platform specific.
Then if any other topics became big enough to justify a new sub forum such as Lovefilm or Now TV then add one.
Mobile(Open forum for issues regarding mobile spectrum, other mobile companies and other issues)
*Mobile Broadband (With a link to the Broadband and Homephone forum)
*Mobile Phones
*EE (Including Orange and TMobile)(With a link to the Broadband and Homephone forum)
*O2
*Three
*Vodafone
Move Mobile from the Gadget/Tech Forums, this would enable it to be a little bit more split it up than it is now and also because Mobile Phones and Mobile Broadband have become very interlinked with TV, Broadband and Landline services and in many cases are now sold together so would flow a lot better than currently. And as TV/On-Demand services are being watched on mobile phones too it seems more sensible. And as many Homephone and Broadband providers do offer mobile too, like EE, Virgin and TalkTalk it has become very intertlinked. As well as many internet connected boxes and TV's that are around, and the use of Signal boxes by mobile companies that make Mobile, TV and Broadband very linked up.
I hope you like my new fully explained plan! And should address almost all issues!
*Same companies linked up
*Removal of very underused forums (Top Up, Free+ Recorder subforums and Small world cable)
*Merges certain forums (V+and Tivo)
*Keeps a clear layout
*Adds forums for new topics that justify a new forum such as youview, netflix and TalkTalk services.
*Doesn't add a forum for everything! (If we were to add forums for every Broadband provider it would just be too complicated and very few posts would ever be made) and The main 4 Broadband and Main 4 mobile companies should cover the vast majority of threads and posts made)
*Adds Continuity having a forum for Sky+HD, Virgin Boxes, Freesat Boxes and Freeview boxes) so the layout should be familiar if people switch between forums e.g switch from Sky to Virgin.
*Should encourage more people to take part in debate which is the main purpose of web forums!
I really hope I have explained this clearly and you can see what I mean and am trying to get at!
Also VOIP services e.g Skype are also being chatted about in the PC Hardware and Software forum as well as the VOIP forums here, which could become a new home from them. In order to further simplify
I really don't think it would be a good idea to have separate forums for TT YV and BT YV.
They are essentially the same product, in slightly different boxes but the overall experience for both sets of customers is the same. Let's just keep it to a single YV forum where everyone can discuss all aspects of the service no matter who you get your broadband from.
I really don't think it would be a good idea to have separate forums for TT YV and BT YV.
They are essentially the same product, in slightly different boxes but the overall experience for both sets of customers is the same. Let's just keep it to a single YV forum where everyone can discuss all aspects of the service no matter who you get your broadband from.
Except they offer totally different services!
What you get on BT youview is totally diffrent to TalkTalk youview, the only bits that are the same is the hardware and the freeview element to it, what makes it unique is totally different.
freetoview33, I disagree with your suggestion above regarding the Satellite forums. As I said the other day the Satellite top level forum should remain closed to new posts (as it is at the moment). People would just end up posting sky specific or freesat specific topics there and it would be messy (and argumentative).
I believe the Satellite forums should be as below:
Satellite (top level closed to thread posts)
Sky
Freesat
Freesat+ Recorders
Technical
Non-Platform Specific Satellite TV
The Sky and Sky+HD forums should be merged as Sky no longer sell non Sky+HD boxes to new customers, therefore all topics are relevant to all forum members using both the current Sky forums. The sizes of these two forums should not be a factor to keeping them separate as they are both basically the same and as I said topics end up being double posted.
freetoview33, I disagree with your suggestion above regarding the Satellite forums. As I said the other day the Satellite top level forum should remain closed to new posts (as it is at the moment). People would just end up posting sky specific or freesat specific topics there and it would be messy (and argumentative).
I believe the Satellite forums should be as below:
Satellite (top level closed to thread posts)
Sky
Freesat
Freesat+ Recorders
Technical
Non-Platform Specific Satellite TV
The Sky and Sky+HD forums should be merged as Sky no longer sell non Sky+HD boxes to new customers, therefore all topics are relevant to all forum members using both the current Sky forums. The sizes of these two forums should not be a factor to keeping them separate as they are both basically the same and as I said topics end up being double posted.
I agree with the Sky forum plans, I get confused because i'm not sure which forum to post on. There is no Freeview or Freesat HD forum so why should there be a Sky one.
Then again there is a fair bit in the Broadcasting forum that would be better suited in these forums. So something needs to be done to sort it out.
The only thing about Broadcasting that would ever be needed, is a place for Licence fee disscussions to be seperate on a sticky thread, other than that keep it as it is!
Except they offer totally different services!
What you get on BT youview is totally diffrent to TalkTalk youview, the only bits that are the same is the hardware and the freeview element to it, what makes it unique is totally different.
So when we want to talk about something that is coming to YV in general, like a new free IPTV channel or catch up service, where do we talk about it?
Or what about those that have retail boxes? Or if another ISP, say PlusNet, launches a service?
Entertainment Services
Broadband Internet
Cable Broadband
Openreach Broadband
Home Phone
Openreach Landline
Cable Landline
VoIP Landline
Television Services
Virgin Media TV (including TiVo, V HD and V+ HD)
Smallworld TV
Sky TV (including Sky HD and Sky+ HD)
BT TV (BT Vision & BT YouView)
TalkTalk TV (including YouView)
Freesat (including Freesat From Sky, Freesat+ & Freesat+ HD)
Technical
Non-platform specific TV
Freeview (including Freeview+ & Freeview+ HD)
YouView General
Top Up TV
Not quite, I remove top up because it will not last much longer:
Entertainment Services
Broadband Internet
Cable Broadband
Openreach Broadband
Home Phone
Openreach Landline
Cable Landline
VoIP Landline
Television Services
Freeview (including Freeview+ & Freeview+ HD)
Virgin Media TV (including TiVo, V HD and V+ HD)
Smallworld TV
Sky TV (including Sky HD and Sky+ HD)
BT TV (BT Vision & BT YouView)
TalkTalk TV (including YouView)
Freesat (including Freesat From Sky, Freesat+ & Freesat+ HD)
Technical
Non-platform specific TV
YouView General
Thanks for the continued feedback. We're continuing to monitor the thread and the suggestions by other posters (mobile sections are highly unlikely) and will make changes in a few weeks time.
Freesat From Sky discussions belong in the Sky forums not the Freesat forums unless it's a comparison thread between the two "Freesats", which like all cross platform comparison threads don't fit into a single specific forum but might reasonably be discussed in more than one.
What about mobile broadband and 4G services? Surely these should now have a forum within this genre / structure please?
Agreed, 4G is set to be big on the broadband scene as well as the mobile scene, come on DS this sort of thing needs looking at too! Its a big chance to stream line everything, including things like this!
Hi. I have used this forum since 2000 and find it very useful, very informatiive.
However, I assume this specifically relates to the Digital Entertainment Services SECTION of the forums - rather than the entire set of sections.
Either way, can you please reasure me that:
1: All existing threads and historic threads will still be accessible
2: All content in those threads is still accessible
3: The sdame should apply if any of the other sections are going to be changed.
I use mainly the following forums:
No 7: Cable
No 48: virgin Media
No 141: Satellite
No 14: Sky
No 156: Terrestrial
No 13: Freeview
No 64: Technical
No 62: Radio
and possibly others depending on circumstances.
However, so long as this is specifically about one section of forum, rther than the whole forum, this should not be a problem in principle - but I would have to give a more detailed answer when I have had chance to look properly at the suggestion.
Freesat From Sky discussions belong in the Sky forums not the Freesat forums unless it's a comparison thread between the two "Freesats", which like all cross platform comparison threads don't fit into a single specific forum but might reasonably be discussed in more than one.
Yes I think having Freesat From Sky, and freesat in the same forum block will confuse people, So yes best to keep Freesat From Sky in the sky forum
Comments
Talk Talk
Phone. Broadband. Fibre
TV
Sat:
Sky
Freesat
Other
Cable:
Virgin Media
Other Cable Services
Ter:
Freeview
Techional
Youview
Connected TV:
NetFix
??????
Also there are good reasons for having open "Top Level forums" as occasionally there are posts about issues in Ireland ect which will not quite come under the UK companies as well as other very small providers.
My idea also links providers together so Sky TV is linked to Broadband ect so it is also clear and has a clear link to each provider too!)
Rename Digital Entertainment Forums to Telecommunication Forums (or something else just an idea)
Broadband and Homehone (Open forum for other providers and issues)(With a link to the Mobile Broadband Forum)
*BT Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the BT Youview forum)
*Sky Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the Sky TV forum)
*TalkTalk Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the TalkTalk Youview forum, and maybe to the mobile forum too for TalkTalk Mobile issues)
*Virgin Media Broadband and Homephone (With a link to the Virgin Media TV forum, and maybe a link to the mobile forum for Virgin Mobile issues)
*Technical
As most people have Broadband bundled with Homephone now, and companies bundle broadband and phone services together, so most issues that arise are linked together so I think merging Broadband and Landline forums would make sense. Also adding a TalkTalk Broadband and Homephone sub forum so that the "Big 4" suppliers have dedicated forums. I don't think there is a need to add it for any other suppliers as there would not be enough threads to call for a forum and there would be the general forum for other suppliers, also to add a Technical forum to include issues about home phones (the actual handsets) and there seems to be a fair few threads about this in the current Landline forum as well as some in the Gadgets forum. So this would bring them all together in one place.
Cable (Open forum for other not specific cable issues including Smallworld Cable and other small suppliers)
*Virgin Media TV (With a link to Virgin Media Broadband and Homephone, and maybe to mobile too for Virgin Mobile issues)
*Virgin Media TV Hardware
*Technical
Get rid of the dedicated Smallworld Cable forum and merge it into the open Cable forum due to the very small number of threads. Also merge the V+ and Tivo forums as both are relating to a similar topic and both are small forums. Admittedly a combined forum would still be small but I still think maintaining a separate forum is a good idea. And also add a technical forum for other technical issues relating to Cable.
Satellite (Open Forum about non Specific Satellite and other issues)
*Sky TV (With a link to the Sky Broadband and Homephone Forum and maybe a link to the On-Demand forum for Now TV)
*Sky+HD
*Freesat
*Freesat+ and Freetime
*Technical
Keep Sky and Sky+HD separate forums as they are both quite large forums. As well as keeping a separate Freesat and Freesat+ forum they do get a number of posts in them and are ultimately different things and add Freetime to Freesat+ as they are related, I don't think a new forum is needed for Freetime *Yet* and it could become the ultimate replacement for Freesat+ Boxes in the long term so.
Terrestrial (Open forum for other issues, Top Up TV and Saorview )
*Freeview
*Freeview+
*Technical
*Youview
**BT Youview (Including BT Vision)(With a link to the BT Broadband and Homephone Forum)
**TalkTalk Youview (With a link to the TalkTalk Broadband and Homephone Forum)
Get rid of the Top up TV forum as Top Up is now a very limited service and now the sports situation has been sorted the forum is likely to go back to being basically empty again, Also get rid of all the Freeview+ Recorders sub forums as many rarely get posts in a may only get one every few years and merge into one forum. Also make two separate Youview sub forums for BT Youview and TalkTalk Youview (as they are the main two providers) keep the Youview forum open as you can buy the box separately too. Also (Other than Sky Sports) BT Vision and BT Youview seem to be nearly identical services (and IF/when the Sky Sports issues is resolved then it is likely the BT Vision box will no longer be available for new customers)
On-Demand Services(Open forum for other On-Demand Services)
*BBC iPlayer
*Netflix
Rename Online Entertainment Services to On-Demand Services I think would better reflect this and more users could see what the forum was about, also as this is a fastly growing area this forum is likely to get much more "busy", Also BBC Iplayer and Netflix seem to be (in my opinion) the two biggest topics so they may require sub forums.
Keep this for forum for things such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer which are NOT platform specific, unlike Youview and Freetime which ARE platform specific.
Then if any other topics became big enough to justify a new sub forum such as Lovefilm or Now TV then add one.
Mobile(Open forum for issues regarding mobile spectrum, other mobile companies and other issues)
*Mobile Broadband (With a link to the Broadband and Homephone forum)
*Mobile Phones
*EE (Including Orange and TMobile)(With a link to the Broadband and Homephone forum)
*O2
*Three
*Vodafone
Move Mobile from the Gadget/Tech Forums, this would enable it to be a little bit more split it up than it is now and also because Mobile Phones and Mobile Broadband have become very interlinked with TV, Broadband and Landline services and in many cases are now sold together so would flow a lot better than currently. And as TV/On-Demand services are being watched on mobile phones too it seems more sensible. And as many Homephone and Broadband providers do offer mobile too, like EE, Virgin and TalkTalk it has become very intertlinked. As well as many internet connected boxes and TV's that are around, and the use of Signal boxes by mobile companies that make Mobile, TV and Broadband very linked up.
I hope you like my new fully explained plan! And should address almost all issues!
*Same companies linked up
*Removal of very underused forums (Top Up, Free+ Recorder subforums and Small world cable)
*Merges certain forums (V+and Tivo)
*Keeps a clear layout
*Adds forums for new topics that justify a new forum such as youview, netflix and TalkTalk services.
*Doesn't add a forum for everything! (If we were to add forums for every Broadband provider it would just be too complicated and very few posts would ever be made) and The main 4 Broadband and Main 4 mobile companies should cover the vast majority of threads and posts made)
*Adds Continuity having a forum for Sky+HD, Virgin Boxes, Freesat Boxes and Freeview boxes) so the layout should be familiar if people switch between forums e.g switch from Sky to Virgin.
*Should encourage more people to take part in debate which is the main purpose of web forums!
I really hope I have explained this clearly and you can see what I mean and am trying to get at!
They are essentially the same product, in slightly different boxes but the overall experience for both sets of customers is the same. Let's just keep it to a single YV forum where everyone can discuss all aspects of the service no matter who you get your broadband from.
Except they offer totally different services!
What you get on BT youview is totally diffrent to TalkTalk youview, the only bits that are the same is the hardware and the freeview element to it, what makes it unique is totally different.
Also the two Sky forums should be merged as many topics get double posted nowadays. This has been requested by many users in this thread: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1847224
I believe the Satellite forums should be as below:
Satellite (top level closed to thread posts)
The Sky and Sky+HD forums should be merged as Sky no longer sell non Sky+HD boxes to new customers, therefore all topics are relevant to all forum members using both the current Sky forums. The sizes of these two forums should not be a factor to keeping them separate as they are both basically the same and as I said topics end up being double posted.
I agree with the Sky forum plans, I get confused because i'm not sure which forum to post on. There is no Freeview or Freesat HD forum so why should there be a Sky one.
The only thing about Broadcasting that would ever be needed, is a place for Licence fee disscussions to be seperate on a sticky thread, other than that keep it as it is!
So when we want to talk about something that is coming to YV in general, like a new free IPTV channel or catch up service, where do we talk about it?
Or what about those that have retail boxes? Or if another ISP, say PlusNet, launches a service?
Entertainment Services
Broadband Internet
Cable Broadband
Openreach Broadband
Home Phone
Openreach Landline
Cable Landline
VoIP Landline
Television Services
Virgin Media TV (including TiVo, V HD and V+ HD)
Smallworld TV
Sky TV (including Sky HD and Sky+ HD)
BT TV (BT Vision & BT YouView)
TalkTalk TV (including YouView)
Freesat (including Freesat From Sky, Freesat+ & Freesat+ HD)
Technical
Non-platform specific TV
Freeview (including Freeview+ & Freeview+ HD)
YouView General
Top Up TV
Entertainment Services
Broadband Internet
Cable Broadband
Openreach Broadband
Home Phone
Openreach Landline
Cable Landline
VoIP Landline
Television Services
Freeview (including Freeview+ & Freeview+ HD)
Virgin Media TV (including TiVo, V HD and V+ HD)
Smallworld TV
Sky TV (including Sky HD and Sky+ HD)
BT TV (BT Vision & BT YouView)
TalkTalk TV (including YouView)
Freesat (including Freesat From Sky, Freesat+ & Freesat+ HD)
Technical
Non-platform specific TV
YouView General
Agreed, 4G is set to be big on the broadband scene as well as the mobile scene, come on DS this sort of thing needs looking at too! Its a big chance to stream line everything, including things like this!
by that token TVs would be in gadets!
However, I assume this specifically relates to the Digital Entertainment Services SECTION of the forums - rather than the entire set of sections.
Either way, can you please reasure me that:
1: All existing threads and historic threads will still be accessible
2: All content in those threads is still accessible
3: The sdame should apply if any of the other sections are going to be changed.
I use mainly the following forums:
No 7: Cable
No 48: virgin Media
No 141: Satellite
No 14: Sky
No 156: Terrestrial
No 13: Freeview
No 64: Technical
No 62: Radio
and possibly others depending on circumstances.
However, so long as this is specifically about one section of forum, rther than the whole forum, this should not be a problem in principle - but I would have to give a more detailed answer when I have had chance to look properly at the suggestion.
Thanks very much.
Yes I think having Freesat From Sky, and freesat in the same forum block will confuse people, So yes best to keep Freesat From Sky in the sky forum