If I could change TroubleFreePool, I would....

[domct203]

That one doesn't work for me for some reason. Case in point: when I click that now, THIS thread isn't listed, but Subscribed and What's New both show it...?

I believe that is because you have posted here, hence it is not 'new posts' for you.

 

[Rollercoastr]

ahhhhh.

 

[pooldv]

I think this forum is very helpful, the one thing I think would help everyone to see who is talk is a new post column on the right side of the forum page. I also frequent another forum that has this exact format and they use a new post section on the right of the main forum page. I always scan to check out new and interesting topics. Maybe it is already possible and I just cannot find the tab to make it pop up. All and all this is an awesome place to learn great unbiased opinions from people who are not trying to sell you something.

Clicking the New Post button, upper left, will show a list of threads that only have new posts that you have not seen.

That one doesn't work for me for some reason. Case in point: when I click that now, THIS thread isn't listed, but Subscribed and What's New both show it...?

Originally Posted by domct203
I believe that is because you have posted here, hence it is not 'new posts' for you.

That's right, it won't show up after you post to it. But, it will show up the next time somebody else makes a new post.

 

[Dougk30]

Ahhh I see it now that's great.

 

[Patrick_B]

Back when Sean_B owned the forum, I pushed hard for a "classified" section. It failed terribly. There was hardly a post made for 6 months.

During our reorganization of the sub-forums, we may consider it again but it did a nose-dive several years ago.......I thought it would be a big success.

It might do well now that the forum has grown so much. Back then it was tiny.

Great to hear! I think a category for SLAM would be popular.

Not a bad idea perhaps. Maybe combine it into a new "Algae Problems & SLAMming"

 

[Rollercoastr]

Not a bad idea perhaps. Maybe combine it into a new "Algae Problems & SLAMming"

Yeah, I think it would be good to discourage SLAMs within Getting Started. I'm thinking of how often we see threads where people have just signed on, they have test strips or a basic kit, and they start dumping things into their pool and calling it a SLAM.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I think the Chemistry 201 sub-forum is redundant. The topics there should either be moved to The Deep End or to Testing and Balancing Your Water. The Baquacil sub-forum should be shutdown as there are fewer and fewer Baqua pool users and it really only ever deals with conversions from Baq to chlorine which can be handled elsewhere. I also think there are way too many sub-forums under the "Equipment" section which slices and dices the topics too much, e.g., having a completely separate sub-forum for Cleaners is unnecessary.

It also would be nice to see two construction sub-forums or some kind of differentiation between contractor builds versus owner-builds.

Annnnnd, finally, I do believe there was A LOT of work that went into re-writing the ABC's of Water Chemistry....would be nice to see some traction on the website redesign and redeploy ....

 

[atttech-2]

+1 on an organized video section perhaps in Pool School, would also be nice if there were a way for members to suggest videos that should be added when they run across a good one.

 

[GeorgiaPoolOwner]

A section on how to turn your pool into your very own backyard swamp using the twin wonders of iodine and test strips would be nice.

 

[jtrovato21]

Not sure if this is a setting that we can change or not, but why do old threads get moved out of the forums so quickly? For example, if you go into the Backyard Oasis subforum, there are only a few threads there. What happened to all the older threads? Where do they go? What's the time frame for when they become expired or moved?

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure if this is a setting that we can change or not, but why do old threads get moved out of the forums so quickly? For example, if you go into the Backyard Oasis subforum, there are only a few threads there. What happened to all the older threads? Where do they go? What's the time frame for when they become expired or moved?

Aaand I just answered my own question. Went to the forum to look after posting this and realized the default is to only show threads from the last 2 weeks. That explains it! This is the first forum I've encountered that has that short of a default time for what shows.

 

[Nectarologist]

I too think a video section would be great. Maybe sub-categories of opening, closing, filter cleaning, etc. could be either embedded or linked to youtube. I think we'd get some cool videos. Even though I could post a link a video section would encourage people to take the video.

 

[Plazaglass]

Perhaps some more cross-linking within existing content? Example: While reading about alkalinity in Recommended Pool Chemicals, include a link to the alkalinity testing instructions page (and vice versa).

Or ... maybe a short list of "Related links" at the bottom of some pages.

 

[pookiesunshine]

When one click's on New Posts, i think it would be nice if they could be grouped by Forum.

 

[mwalling]

I love the tutorials, so much wonderful and useful information! I would love to see some tutorials on how to operate the various automation systems, and more basic information on "if you want to skim your pool, turn your pump to X speed, etc". Just basic newbie info on how to do various things and what to close or open in terms of valves, etc. We didn't get a very thorough pool school from our start up guy and it's been a very big learning curve to figure things out. I hope this makes sense...

I second this suggestion!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[woodyp]

This thread is turning into a good Xmas wish list....................keep'um coming folks!

 

[Teald024]

Is it possible to turn on the forum coding that allows picture resizing from within the "new post" window? That way my full resolution picture doesn't take up the whole screen in the posts. The picture is hosted on an image share site.

https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/129740-picture-resize-tags?p=1147655&viewfull=1#post1147655

.

 

[smforte]

How bout a terminology page. For instance, when I was new and talking to some great folks I had no idea what a puck was. It was just assumed I did I guess. I've seen a lot of people ask,,,um, what is a puck?

 

[Rollercoastr]

The page exists, but "puck" isn't one of the terms: ​Pool School - Definitions and Abbreviations

 

[Leebo]

I'd like to first off thank everybody for all your suggestions. While the few below I'm able to comment on right now I'd like everybody to know I'm reading each of them and letting them all soak in. The ones below are simply ones that we either already have plans for or are ones that I can easily comment on right now.

...tweak some of the sub-categories in the Swimming Pool Care section. I've noticed that I'm not the only one to struggle to distinguish between "The TFPC Method" and "Testing and Balancing Balancing Your Water."

I'm not sure the Baquacil category pulling its weight...? I'd like to see it get replaced by "Indoor Pools". I think we could at least match, if not exceed the activity Baquacil gets.

As Dave mentioned above there is a plan in place for TFP to reduce it's sub-forum size by over 20% this winter after the holidays. We've been looking closely at each forum over the summer and really watching what forum is used and "how" is it used. Many of the suggestions made below are already ones that we've thought of and a few others are idea's that I'm debating in my head. This is likely going to be a large project as it will require several thousand threads (around 40k last I looked) get moved from it's existing forum into a new forum that the site will use in the future. Because of this we're planning on preforming this task during the forums slowest time of the year, likely January or February. Stay tuned as there will be large changes.

I think this forum is very helpful, the one thing I think would help everyone to see who is talk is a new post column on the right side of the forum page. I also frequent another forum that has this exact format and they use a new post section on the right of the main forum page. I always scan to check out new and interesting topics. Maybe it is already possible and I just cannot find the tab to make it pop up. All and all this is an awesome place to learn great unbiased opinions from people who are not trying to sell you something.

This forum likely uses a modification called "side bar anywhere" that is very common on many vBulletin forums. TFP currently tries to keep modifications to a minimum for multiple reasons such as site stability and our desire to keep the forum "stock" to assist us in any future updates. I don't wanna change the current software to the point that we must do TONS of changes if/when we move to new software. That said, this feature is commonly used in newer programs and the bugs have likely been worked out of this modification so stability likely won't be affected on our current forum. Let me look around some to weigh this suggestion and it's uses and I'll chime back in shortly.

I didn't know you could search for old threads using the seach at top for a long time until somebody brought it up, must not be just me.

Not sure if this is a setting that we can change or not, but why do old threads get moved out of the forums so quickly? For example, if you go into the Backyard Oasis subforum, there are only a few threads there. What happened to all the older threads? Where do they go? What's the time frame for when they become expired or moved?

From time to time we get so "used" to how we view the forum that we alter our style to what fits us the best. It's always nice to be reminded that our way of viewing isn't always that of everybody else. This setting was set to only display threads from the last week in MANY of the sub-forums TFP currently uses. While that would allow the user to easily only view recent threads in a forum it really doesn't make since to me to view the forums in that matter. I've increased the setting on this where all sub-forums now display threads from the last year verses the old setting where only the last week's worth of threads were displayed. In addition this setting can be altered by members by following the path below,
Settings > General Settings > Thread Display Mode > Change this field to set how old you wish your threads to be

I totally missed the fact that TFP only displayed threads from the last week even though I've answered the questions multiple times concerning this setting. Thumbs down for me!!

 

[Holydoc]

Let me just state first that this forum has been and will continue to be a great resource for me. The mods and members here are both friendly, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic to help. So I know that whatever changes you make will be great!

My suggestions would be:

1. Place a direct link at the top of the forums to "Handy Reference". I know we have a Pool School link, and besides Poolmath, items like the Chlorine/CYA chart and the "Recommended Levels" are probably the most linked references in members signatures and replies. Let's make them even easier to find.
2. Under equipment, maybe we could distinguish better what is for Inground Pools or aboveground pools. There are several ways this could be done, but I will offer this one suggestion. We could reduce the number of Forums under Equipment to Inground Pools and Aboveground Pools. Under each of these forums, you could then have Pumping station, Pool Cleaners, SWG, Chemical automation, Reviews, and Under Construction. This would allow a member who is interested in Inground Pools to have everything under one forum category. I know I have read great reviews on Pool Cleaners only to discover they are not for my type of pool.
3. Finally, I get confused on where I should post certain questions in the "Swimming Pool Care" section. If I am just starting out using the TFPC method and want to have clarified how the different chemicals work together, do I post in "Getting started", "TFPC method", or "Testing and Balancing"? I know from experience my question will be addressed no matter where I post, but as a member, it would nice to be able to have less choices of places to post that appear redundant. In my opinion (even though this is where I made my first post), the "TFPC Method" forum is unnecessary. This entire website is dedicated to the TFPC method. Every forum topic pushes and supports the TFPC method. I am not sure why this one forum topic is unique.

Once again great job on the forum and thank you for asking for input. Whether you use it or not, I leave in your hands. I will continue to be a loyal member.