Just an idea, and maybe a bad one, but the Tournament Info topic is too big for me. I am wondering if we should regionalize the Tournament Info topic. Perhaps we can enter our zipcode and only see threads for tourneys that are within X miles (where the user gets to define X and the zipcode) - or the user could define nothing and see everything just like it is now.

Is this possible?

Would it make the tourney info more useful to other folks too?

I'd have to say one would need to know more about people's searching/use preferences before deciding if a bunch of energy should be expended towards enhanced options. Such info might be tracked somewhere on the server, I don't know.

Myself, I generally look at the most recent posts (24 or 48 hrs) and leave it at that. When I want a particular bit of info, I'll do some word-specific searching or checking of topic lists, but that's pretty infrequent. So I'd find little use for more advanced options, but that's just one point of view.

Joe

Regions are relative to where one is at (duh :))... True, a feature relating travel distances (via zip codes) would be cool, though quite a challenge I suspect. Maybe do this regionalizaton facilitation by Time Zone? :cool:

ps What folks 'name' their tournament-thread can and does add to the confusion...

we already have zipcode distance technology as part of the course directory, so i would not be tooooo difficult to have the tournament schedule use that code.

the point about checking into how people search before doing any real work is a good one. how could we get that information efficiently?

standardization of the titles in the tournament section is a really good idea also. i can totally relate to the feeling that how the threads are named affects their findability. standardization would be easy to accomplish by having someone set up a thread for each event as part of the sanctioning/scheduling process. a moderator could also change the titles of event threads if one got started wrong.

Standardization of thread names seems like a great idea. And creating a thread when an event is sanctioned would create yet another advantage to becoming a sacntioned event.

Three quick questions:

1. What format should the listing take? What info should be in the title?
2. Would an event have to be sanctioned before a thread could be created? Would the TD make the thread or would the PDGA staff make the thread as part of the sanctioning process?

I guess that is all three questions I would have.
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And I could potentially create a poll asking folks how they use the tournament info section of the message board and if a distance option would be useful. I'd love suggestions (from the technically minded) on how to word it so we can implement it and meet expectations if folks want it.

If only the TD (or an appointed official/moderator) could START the thread...then anyone else can post after that.

And I think only PDGA sanctioned events should be allowed to have active threads in the section called PDGA Tournaments. Right, Steve? Other events could be in the Courses section or within their affiliated club threads.

Now that there...is a good idea! Keep it official. :D

now thats a nice sortie into controversial territory chuck :)

i could see some value in a sanctioned and unsanctioned sectioned. i'd bet though that given the late sanctioning many TDs do that keeping hte two separate might be tricky.

one could argue that providing space for non-sanctioned events is ok, since the PDGA is at least partially for the benefit of the overall sport.

Just an idea, and maybe a bad one, but the Tournament Info topic is too big for me. I am wondering if we should regionalize the Tournament Info topic. Perhaps we can enter our zipcode and only see threads for tourneys that are within X miles (where the user gets to define X and the zipcode) - or the user could define nothing and see everything just like it is now.

Is this possible?

Would it make the tourney info more useful to other folks too?



along with the other suggestions, I'd say having a section for majors only would be a good idea because then distance/proximity is often not as big a factor in member interest...

if a section is granted to non-sanctioned events, i think that section should be less prominently displayed and maybe the text and background could be a little blurry and hard to read :eek: :D

1. What format should the listing take? What info should be in the title?


about the same text as the official name in the database? ... which is the same name as shows on the PDGA Tour section of hte site


2. Would an event have to be sanctioned before a thread could be created? Would the TD make the thread or would the PDGA staff make the thread as part of the sanctioning process?

good questions, with no obvious answers, just choices... if they sanctioned early, i would think the most efficient would be the setup by staff or moderator, provided as a service to the TD

And I think only PDGA sanctioned events should be allowed to have active threads in the section called PDGA Tournaments. Right, Steve? Other events could be in the Courses section or within their affiliated club threads.



Absolutely. That was my point. Only allowing PDGA sanctioned events would add value for events that sanction. And only allowing the thread to start after the tourney is sanctioned would encourage TDs to sanction early.


one could argue that providing space for non-sanctioned events is ok, since the PDGA is at least partially for the benefit of the overall sport.



Absolutely. There could be a non-organized non-sanctioned events section. But their zip code data would not be input by the staff and the topic area would not be first - like the PDGA Tournament Info topic.



about the same text as the official name in the database? ... which is the same name as shows on the PDGA Tour section of hte site



Perfect. Perhaps creating the thread would be part of the sanctioning process and the first post would include the name, date, tier, link to results / pre-reg list, tourney schedule, and how to pre-reg information.

we might even be able to have threads originally started as non-sanctioned by moved over to the sanctioned area when the paperwork is done.

there really are not any technology reasons for this not to work. its a change to an existing process, so it would be appropriate to consult the good folks who are doing the work now. they know the current process and will have good insights as to the feasability.

A lot of regional tournament information can be found by visiting the affilliated club threads for whatever affilliated clubs are in your area. Posting in the Tournament Info area is kind of useless because those threads get buried so fast.

Posting in the Tournament Info area is kind of useless because those threads get buried so fast.



That's because most message board users don't change their default settings which only show ten threads at a time. I can't understand the reasoning behind why they don't change the default settings (don't know how, laziness, slow internet connection?) but the following settings work great for me and allow me to see dozens of threads at a time:


From time to time, I see message board users 'bumping' threads up to the first page and complaining about blank pages, which occur due to old message board crashes and the resulting user deletions. You're likely still using the default display preferences.

To make for a much better message board experience, click on My Home, then Edit for Display preferences, number of shown threads, languages, colors...

Then make the default display the Infopop style sheet (skin) as well as the following:

Default display mode: Flat mode
Default view: Collapsed threads
Total parent posts to show per page: 99
Total posts to show on one page when viewing a post in flat mode: 99
TextArea columns: 60
TextArea rows: 5

Thanks Jeff,

Those settings are great! I never did this because I did not know I could. Yahoo!

Steve.

I gotta say that I prefer the 'Desert' format over the 'Infopop'...easier on the eyes, IMHO.
.02 // YMMV

I gotta say that I prefer the 'Desert' format over the 'Infopop'...easier on the eyes, IMHO.
.02 // YMMV



A little too much brown for my tastes in the Desert skin, but as you indicated, your mileage may vary and it's all up to personal preferences. Pretty much anything beats the default settings though.

Split it in two... texas, somewhere else :D

What folks 'name' their tournament-thread can and does add to the confusion...


...just name the thread the same name as the name of the tournament.
.02

How hard would it be for the PDGA -when they sanction and post up a tournament to the PDGA Tour section- to automate the creation of a thread for the event, possibly in a special forum just for that. It could be linked directly from the tournament information page.

How hard would it be for the PDGA -when they sanction and post up a tournament to the PDGA Tour section- to automate the creation of a thread for the event, possibly in a special forum just for that. It could be linked directly from the tournament information page.

The problem is that there may already be a thread in existence prior to the sanctioning agreement being official.