Small change to forum & site categories

Hey guys,

Just a quick note to say that you may have noticed we've made some changes to how the forum and site categories are ordered.

Quick bit of context
We've had the site organized by broader areas of interest for fans, such as "Collecting" and then had sub menus for classic toys, modern toys, comics etc. The forums on the other hand were categorized by the decade in which cartoons and collectables were issued.

We always aim to make the most relevant and visited areas of the site and forums more visible and accessible to visitors... and so...

New developments
With the news of Mezco's Tygra being produced, and Mattel announcing they're doing a ThunderCats Classics line we're emphasizing the Collecting parts of the site, and making those discussion areas more easily visible in the forums.

What has changed?

1) On the site we've moved 'Collecting' to the front of the top menu bar, and moved 'Cartoons and Movies' to second spot.

2) On the forums we've created a new top level forum called 'Collecting'
Now, all generations of collectibles are grouped under this category with toys at the top, and statues, comics and merchandise rounding out the list.

3) On the forums we've created a new top level forum called 'Cartoons & Movies'
Now, all generations of shows and movie discussion are grouped under this category

Possible future changes
We're considering folding the Fan Art and Customs into one forum. We're looking at removing the existing forum sub folders with artist names on them and moving those threads into the overall forum. This way new content will be more visible and we think it will re-energize these sections. We also want to encourage people to post fan art and customs they see on the web that don't belong to them. The current structure seems to discourage that level of content sharing.

I like the new changes! Personally I would like to see the Mezco and Bandai toy sections given separate billing but understand if I am in the minority. I would also support removing the folders in the fan art section as I believe it tends to bury content.

Overall, another positive step for the site. Great work!

I love the new changes. <3

Quick follow up note, after reviewing the activity levels and content in our Fan Collections and Creations forums area I decided to do a few more things as mentioned in my first post above:

1) Moved all fan art posts out of the "by artist" / user sub categories into the general forum area.

2) Created a new Forum called 'Fan Art and Customs' which is now a catch all area for all fan created / non licensed art and toy / statue customs.

3) Moved all posts from the old 'Customs' forum into the new 'Fan Art and Customs' forum

4) Rolled the 'Mature Fan Fiction' threads into the General 'Fan Fiction' area. The password protection for the 18+ content remains in place.

The idea with all of this is to make the forums more navigable and allow fresh new content to rise to the top and be more visible. We also want to encourage all users to post any cool fan art or customs that they come across and hopefully the tweaks will make this a bit easier.

I agree that these are all in the best interest of the members. Great job Mark! :thumbsup:

Great job, Mark! :thumbsup: The changes certainly make it easier for new members (as well as old ones) to navigate around the board.

I especially like that you have added the official TC.ORG banner at the top of the page as well! :)

I've been trying to setup the forums so they display our main site header and nav bar but there are a number of styling code issues I'm running into. Going to have to keep reading up on this, or will need help from someone who can actually code in css to get it right.

For now I've reverted to the standalone forums setup.

You're very amazing, Grizzlor.

I like the changes. Good move. Keep the good work. Thanks!