This thread was originally posted in Electronics Resources, as it dealt with software (its availability and price). That was moved yesterday (06/28/16) by EETech Adam to General Electronics Chat. Today, it was moved again to Off-Topic by a moderator.

I am having a hard time finding my own threads.

First, this is not a complaint. However, when the organization is so ambiguous that administrators and moderators don't know how a thread should be categorized, it is time for a "Book of Instructions." (Source: Colonel Manfred von Holstein in "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines").

Is there one?

John

 

John:
The thread was I found it on the General Electronics Chat forum, and the contents didn't like it should be there, I reported it and via the discussion, so I moved it to the off-topic forum, sometimes the category is hard to decide, because many threads could be mixing with two different categories, so when we meet the situation like this then we will through the discussion to decide it, maybe the category isn't that match, but we still have to decide where it should go, if you felt that has better forum to move to, please let me know, and the reasons, we will discuss it then tell you the destination and why.

 

I was just amused by the multiple moves.

The ultimate question is whether the definitions of the various sub-forums are so ambiguous and overlapping that no one knows what should be where. The fact that a moderator and an administrator didn't agree on the classification of my thread emphasizes that point. Moreover, what purpose is served by having so many categories? If one compares threads in Electronics>General Chat with threads in Circuits & Projects>Projects, it is hard to find a clear difference. Consider just these two examples:
In Projects:
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/pinout-for-lion-rechargeable-battery.86536/
In Chat:
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/fixing-trace-on-a-motor-pcb.125013/

Does it make a difference to me? Only very minor. I usually just use the "new posts" button and don't even notice what sub-thread, much less the sub-sub-thread an item is in. The only time the categorization comes into play is when I try to go back to a thread to edit something.

Whatever you do, please don't move it again.

John

 

sometimes the category is hard to decide, because many threads could be mixing with two different categories

Precisely the reason for not having too many categories, or vague, overlapping categories.

 

Precisely the reason for not having too many categories, or vague, overlapping categories.

If you have any good comments, please write down and post them here, actually the categories were not that clear, if anyone has good idea, through the administrators and moderators discussion, if really helpful then the idea will be accepted.

 

I would suggest that where categories overlap it should be made clear, in the category headings, which category takes priority. This hopefully would reduce the number of duplicate posts.
I see many students posting coursework questions in 'Projects' categories, because they regard assignments as projects. This could be discouraged by adding text in the 'Projects' heading to steer them to the 'Homework/coursework' category.

Edit:
This is a snippet from the CPC patent classification system, showing the heading for one sub-class (category), with references out to other (sub)classes, hopefully to resolve ambiguities, the aim being to find a single applicable class for the subject of an invention :-