A common complaint about the boards, hard to find

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

It is a common complaint and one I understand. The boards are kind of scattered and, to be honest, not well organized.

They lack logical arrangement I think. The arrangement of order and grouping needs to be simplified and somewhat re-arranged (in my opinion). Of course everyone wants their favorites "at the top" or easiest to find. But that is not possible, not everyone is going to find complete satisfaction of course.

But I am of the opinion that we can create an order, say an hierarchy of boards,  that would benefit board users (hopefully mainly in finding what they are looking for) and ebay (by making the boards more accessible to ebay users) at the same time. Of course implementation of anything we create is pretty much out of our hands. But I think it would be instructive and helpful to try to work out a solution and see what we encounter on the journey.

Starting off I think it safe to say there are like 14 (or so, I need to count them) boards that ebay is pretty much demanding as part of their investment. We are not going to start out by changing those simply because we can not.

In my opinion, where we can start is by taking some boards out of the groups and making them more prominent.  Also by slightly changing the naming convention we can make things clearer and get rid of the same names used with two different meanings. That would be my wish list anyway.

What are your thoughts?

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

I was thinking maybe 100 boards out there, and there are actually hundreds of boards. Too complex. No wonder ebay has a hard time organizing them....

[mountaingigi]

Agree wholeheartedly. I would suggest that the most widely used boards be given the best real estate. Then there's the boards that get little use ... but is that because they're so frickin' hard to find/get to, or some other reason?

I have noticed a huge uptick in the antiques and collectible boards of pottery and glass queries. That board seems to get a lot of traffic, but unless you know about it, you post to this one.

Well, that doesn't solve anything but I don't know where or how to start organizing the mess they made. One thing I'd love to see is a separate board for art: paintings, prints, etchings, engravings, etc.

[sonomabarn67]

Ebay did this a number of years ago to stop all the infighting, trolls (not Trollmama), general bad doings-on going on. There were some bad players but most of us truly wanted to help. Maybe ebay will forget what they did and put it back unknowlingly :).

[sonomabarn67]

I see sometimes (even recently) one of the old group that still has a bit of vineger to work out  will show up here for battle but it seems to have diminished. Most of us are really into all of this old stuff and like to share what we've learned without the drama.

[argon38]

I don't think I have the energy to make constructive suggestions when there is zero chance of them being considered, let alone acted upon.

[maxine*j]

At various times through the years, users have given input about the boards when asked to do so.  At various other times through the years, users have given unasked-for input about the boards.   But the user input, solicited or unsolicited, never makes a difference.    The boards are like Popeye:  They yar what they yar and that's all what they yar.  So just enjoy the hornpipe, I say.

[sonomabarn67]

How true, we are invisible, white noise. I think that any of us, had we invented ebay, would face the same issue with trying to control those that would use our service! It's like they want our input, but only if they can control it.

[sonomabarn67]

I liked the Popeye when I was a kid. Wimpy taught me empathy and Brutus taught me anger control. And Olive Oyl, ouh la la!

[maxine*j]

And do you remember Swee'Pea, who was christened "Scooner Seawell Georgia Washenting Christiffer Columbia Daniel Boom: by his adopted pop, Popeye. 

[sonomabarn67]

Sorry, Bluto. I've been researching a Roman diadem all evening and got confused!

[maxine*j]

Of course.  As Benny Hill used to say, "I heard what you said, but I knew what you meant."  

[sonomabarn67]

Yes, Sweet Pea. How did the writers back then know that we would  be here in 2018 packing a few G & T's  & trying to figure out the deep hidden meaning of Popeye's world?

[c*me*4*lefton*info]

Still running this around in my head, trying to brainstorm a bit. Do they make a spinach for the brain, Popeye?

Always more than one way to solve a problem. I probably initially looked at this the wrong way, by trying to alter the disorganized mess of the boards. Perhaps a better way is to leave the mess but make it so the boards can be more efficiently searched, especially board titles. I think it would be easier to leave the mess and improve the searching of it rather than trying to undo and redo a mess.

I am trying to think like a new person here. It seems logical and reasonable to me that such a new person would use the (board/community) search to find things on the boards. But can they do that now? Is the search capable of finding a specific board like jewelry, fashion, books, or rocks and minerals? If it is capable then I personally need to use it more myself. If it is not, the board search should be more capable and efficient for searching board names/titles.

And then theres "some other reason," which could be correct of course, for the lack of board use. I am saying the lack of ability to find what is being sought plays a role in this matter. There are other factors as well. Just judging by what I see in auction listings I would have to say another factor in low board use is - sellers just do not care. On a daily basis I see listings that are just plain wrong and it seems to me you can try to help those seller's listing, but you can't help someone who won't help themselves. An apt saying - you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Many ebay sellers would have their thirst quenched if they visited the boards, they just do not care to do that. Their loss I figure.

I also read a comment here about whether any "work" we do is worthwhile, as in will it be implemented? Is it worth the time and effort if ebay ignores our comments and suggestions? I can only answer that question on a personal basis. It is worth it to me to at least try to solve the problem with a problem-solving approach just to see where it gets me. The adventure may lead to success or be doomed to failure from the outset, and I won't really know which it is unless I try. So I'm trying.

[tryno2]

One thing that really needs to be done on a regular basis is delete the unused boards.  I bet 20-25% of them don't get more the a couple posts per year.  There are several that have been there for a long time and have ZERO posts.  Those should be deleted, that would help.