OK, let's get the ball rolling...

I agree with reducing sections, in my opinion since this is a photoshop user base, I would like to see 3d and like photography axed. No need to do everything
I also agree with a better site look and feel, update the target audience a bit shoot older not 13.

cheers,
-Michaelp

@ fusiuns post :


The Gallery

Website Showcase - Needed.
Artwork Showcase - Also Needed.
3d Artwork Showcase - Delete this.
Photography Showcase - Not needed, but enjoyed by many.

Other than myself and a few others, no one does 3d. Also the 3d crowd doesnt use PS much (texturing/compositing/corrections), they wont really "add" to a photoshop site.



The Pixelwars

Pixelwars Challenges - Needed (kind of).
Ongoing Battles - same as above forum. no need for multiple sections.
Team Battles - same as above forum. no need for multiple sections.

Pixel wars are fun, but that's a dead section. It really needs to be cut down to one section only. No challenge/active sections...just as basic as it gets. Rules & images in one post too.


Development and Resources

Web Design - ok
Graphic Design -ok
Photography - not needed
3D, Video, and Post Production - not needed
Flash and Interactive Media - not needed.


I have the biggest problem with these sections. When you start trying to include such a broad range of topics in one section, your only asking for confusion and lack of organization. I see these sections filling up quick with random noob questions, that can easily be answered with a little searching.

Id actually like to see those become "discussion forums", rather than turning into just another help section. Maybe strict posting rules would help?


The Lounge
Introductions & General Chat - general chat needed.

Introductions aren't needed. If ppl want to post and introduce themselves in general chat....thats fine.

-----------------------------------

@ Michaelps post:

I wouldn't axe photography. Atleast not yet. At first it was a dead section, but it's had a steady heart beat for a while now. It isn't a requirement, but as i mentioned above its enjoyed by many.

-------------------------------------

@ the whole thread :

I agree that we're photoshop users, and we need to stick to a mainly photoshop site. I also agree that it needs to be a tad more professional...as spectra mentioned. I myself am not in the biz quite yet, but I fall under the "could be" category which I think defines quite a few ppl.


----------------------------------------

My take on the current forum layout :

FAQ - Can we hide this in a button somewhere? It needs to be accessible for new users, but not up front with the rest of the sections.

Web Site Showcase - needed. I cant think of any reasons against it.

Art Showcase - needed.

Graphic Check - NOT NEEDED. It gets 1/2 the posts, 1/2 the users, and 1/8 the replies of art showcase. No joke, at this time art showcase has 40 viewers, and graphic check has 20.

It's also pretty much the "low quality" section, where ppl post work not good enough for the art showcase. And there should be rules against posting sigs. Only 1 out of every ~25 sigs is worth a crit.

Cool Sites - Not needed. It basically gets abused. Though every once in a while its nice to share a find, but most of them are pretty bad. We all have different ideas of "cool", so it doesnt work quite that well.

Pixel Wars - dead, but fun once a year. Maybe a temporary keeper??

Advanced Photoshop Help - needed.

New To Photoshop Help. - needed.

Photoshop Techniques Area - get rid of it. Its barely been used by anyone other than a newb, and well their techniques arent all that great.

Flash and 3D Area - Im a 3d'er, but get rid of it.

Client Side code - pretty much crap, barely any use. no need for it.

Server side code - same as above

Misc Software... - not needed. doesnt get used anyway

Misc - it's THE section. We almost have nothing without it....sadly.

Resources: - search google. though id hate to disrepect all that took the time to fill it up. depends on how many views it gets.

Exposed Rippers - again other sites to deal with this. If this site is ripped, then it can be posted in MISC.

Computers/OS's - do it yourself or call tech support. Were a photoshop site. Plus im sure most of us know computers.

Suggestionsp - doent really help. Maybe an email link such as suggestions@teamphotoshop would be better?

Digital Photography Showcase - not needed, but liked.

Digital Photography Discussion - not needed. Or maybe combined with the showcase?




Thats pretty much it for now. About the main site??...eh maybe i'll comment later.

very good post rodder... I agree with you in the aspect of limiting the forums down to simply photoshop and photoshop alone. I would still prefer to have the photography sections however I think it can be limited down a bit. I will edit my post and tell me what you guys think of the changes...

[QUOTE=x_fusiun_x]
The Gallery

• Website Showcase
  
• Artwork Showcase
  

Web Development

• Server Side Code - php, perl, c/c++, jsp, etc.
  
• Client Side code - html, java, javascript, dhtml, etc.
  

Tutorials and Resources

• Advanced Photoshop Help
  
• New to Photoshop Help
  

The Lounge

• Introductions & General Chat
  

[/QUOTE]

Alright, the forums as this list stands I think is pretty good. Everything is slimmed down rather well and I think it should work well

Let me throw out an idea here....rather than crit.

What if you combined sever/client side into one. Then from that you could make :

Web Development : Coding, Hosting etc.
Web Design : Discussion, Cool sites, & Software.

That combines like 5 sections into one. Well 4, and you could steal some links from Resources, maybe like a "hosting" sticky.



Edit : Currently browsing other forums to see what we "shouldnt" do. I did come across a photo section, questions & photos combined like i mentioned before. Looks like it works, especially if users titled their posts something like:

Photos : Click to see my pics!!
Question : What camera should I buy?
Discuss : Digital Rebel review

And about the introductions, other forums are full of "hello, im a n00b, i wanna learn" and 10,000 welcomes. No real exchange of information is going on there. Maybe if age and skill level was a requirement, but that wouldnt go over well, basically wasted space on the board.

photohraphy is artwork so maybe just anything like cd stuff and photos under "artwork" ?

Well, I personally know that I recieve more hits on my site from the photography section than any other.

A large portion of the PS world is photo retouching and editing digital photography. I say if anything, we expand this area here and on the front end of the site.

Slightly revised...

Web Development & Resources

• Website Showcase
  
• Server/Client side code
  

Other Medias

• Photography
  
• Flash, 3D, and Video Production
  

Photoshop Resources

• Advanced Photoshop Help
  
• New to Photoshop Help
  

The Lounge

• General Discussion
  

Thoughts?

Also... once the new forums get up and running. I think we should really inforce a taging system. For example. If the person is looking for help the use a [Help] tag, if they are requesting something us a [Request] tag, if they are releasing a tutorial put [Tutorial] in the thread title, etc...

maybe in the help sections, there could be a dropdown topic selection when you make a new thread to force everyone to be more specific rather than, "how do create effect more like this"