I spent some time copying/moving threads across forums today. Looking at the thread topics I thought may be it would be a good idea to split the some of the forums or create sub-forums (if possible) for major topics.

For example, 17025 forum could be split into separate forums for calibration and MSA. Statistical Techniques forum into SPC, Sampling, Six Sigma etc.

What is your opinion? Do you think it will help? Should we do this?

-Atul.

I'm moving this thread to the 'Forums Help' forum so others can offer their opinion as users.

It's not a bad idea. The question is the grouping. I've been thinking of ways to consolidate some forums. I deep sixed the Spanish forums last night as in the future there will be a 'language pack'. In addition, the Spanish forums were not really used with any frequency. Tonight I may merge a couple of other forums - the APQP and the FMEA forums. I'm not sure what to do with the VDA6 forums, but I may start an 'archive' or something.

One limitation is I' not sure want to drill down to have more levels that there are now. Part of that is the main listing and the amount of confusion new uers, in particular, are faced with. If there is a forum you visit which has multiple levels, give a link and I'll look at it

Right now when people come to the Forum Home - the main listing - they see a listing of groups with nothing hidden. I can make it, for example, so that all they see is the 'main' list of topics. Or, if we went deeper - say to 4 levels - I can tell the software to show can every level. What I don't know is whether there will be a performance hit or other issue.

I am afraid not to list all levels in the main screen because I want folks to see all levels and forum topics. Otherwise I believe we're building in confusion knowing how new this medium is to many people.

What I have tried to do over time - right or wrong - is to come up with 'categories' without having a separate forum for every niche. Right now there are about 50 individual forums spread out over seven main groups. If you print it out, it's 3 pages. I don't want to spread it out too much more.

For example, 17025 forum could be split into separate forums for calibration and MSA.
The original idea was that the 17025 forums was for questions specific to that standard. I combined Statistical Techniques and 6 sigma in one forum because for all intents and purposes 6 sigma is part of statistical techniques. And a lot of people might not relate calibration to 17025 because they don't know what 17025 is just as may will think of MSA with respect to APQP or QS 9000 or TS 16949.

If you have a suggested combination, I'll consider it. Just be complete and specific. And don't forget to take into account the attention to detail and the attention span of many users. Some folks will post wherever their mouse is. We want to make choices as clear as possible across the spectrum. The more we obfuscate the more work it makes to move threads to the 'appropriate' category.

I'll probably be shutting the forums down again tonight for several hours as I do a few more things to the forums listing. So, over the next week, after I've made changes tonight (or early Sun am), think about a grouping you believe would be more clear and appropriate.

At first when I discovered that the VDA forum had dissapeared I paniced and then started to PM Marc, then I saw the running headline.
First is the running headling effective, should it be more obvious. I don't know but it takes time to read and to releate too.

The main issue forum headings.
There must be divisions so that the interested reader can be able to know wht the thread is about.
Atul, If we subdivide threads it will start getting to complicated for the none expert member.

Specifically lets take the Automotive topics.
I would suggest the folowing:
TS QS merged with VDA, for another year , VDA should be with auto and not in other standards as has been done. APQP and FMEA to merge, I don't really understand why they were seperate. Company standards - this is important.I would also suggest

ISO9001:94 to close. It really is irrelevant today.
Non conformance and preventative to merge it would seem more logical.

I think that no more changes need to be made than these.
Any one else

As a quick note - none of the threads or posts have been pruned. As I reorganized I Moved them - I did not delete them.

Q: Is VDA 6 still relevant? What is the link to QS?

SO9001:94 to close. It really is irrelevant today.
I've left it open because so many companies are still '94. Three years after the fact, however, point well taken.
APQP and FMEA to merge, I don't really understand why they were seperate.
They were separate because I saw APQP and PPAP as high level processes as opposed to FMEAs and Control Plans (and I shouldn't short thrift Process Flow Diagrams) which are (my paradigm) technical process documents. I thought about merging them tonight but decided not to. I'll consider further.

If there is a forum you visit which has multiple levels, give a link and I'll look at it


http://www.visualbasicforum.com/
The 'Web Programming' forum has several sub-forums : ASP, HTML, PHP etc. Click on 'Web Programming' and you will see the page with these sub-forums AND threads in the parent forum.

Q: Is VDA 6 still relevant? What is the link to QS?
It is still relevant as QS9000 and maybe more because it is not being phased out officially.
The link is that QS to US = VDA to Germany.
Maybe they should both be in customers specifications!

I would also suggest ISO9001:94 to close. It really is irrelevant today.

I think the proper course of action would be to close it 15 dec -2003... or maybe make it a subforum (for reference) of the current 9001:2000 forum, which could then be renamed ISO 9000 series...

/Claes

I'll go along with whatever you folks want. We have until next weekend to work this out. After I do all the changing, I have to rebuild the database, redo each forum for thread counts and such, etc. so it's a several hour job during which the forums have to be closed so the database isn't written to during the processs.

Howard, I think QS-9000 should stand alone as it is 'world wide'. Part of what I was looking at was post counts. For example, The VDA 6 forum had only 20 posts over the last 3 years or so. *NOTE: I thought VDA 6.1 was being phased out - apparently I was wrong.* The Embedded Device forum had only 6 over 2 plus years.

...maybe make it a subforum (for reference) of the current 9001:2000 forum, which could then be renamed ISO 9000 series...
That sounds like a good idea.

And Howard, there were few posts in the VDA 6.1 forum so I can resurrect the forum and move the old posts to it.

Marc,
I dont really care about VDA as such, a lot of the posts were mine but....

With the demand for process audits of manufacturing in TS the major source work for this is VDA 6.3.
This is where for example VW puts their emphasis. They want suppliers to take training for this.

If we look at this thread it appears that the ordinary cove dwellers do not really mind.
From my point of view feel free to do what you like. I will manage to fit in anyway.

All the best

Do we have a listing of the VDA series anywhere? We could make a subforum to TS for 6.3?

Here is a full list

.. We have until next weekend to work this out...
Just bringing it back on view...
Any other suggestions folks ?

Please take a look at the current forums groupings and comment. I will consider further changes based upon your opinions. The issue is not dead.

I agree about the ISO-1994 board....

On the Business Standards, what about combining the "Others" with the FDA board?

What about combining the NC/CA with the PA/CI boards. The 2 subjects always go hand in hand.....

CarolX

I recently had a request to add a HAACP - HACCP forum. Do any of you haver an interest?

There's a relatively long list of forums now, but is there a forum you would like to see?

I recently had a request to add a HAACP - HACCP forum. Do any of you haver an interest?

There's a relatively long list of forums now, but is there a forum you would like to see?

Software Quality is certainly one I would recommend.There are some members in this forum who have good knowledge in Software Quality.
Govind.

I can do that. Not a problem. But I do want to take a few days to get a number of responses so I can restructure with incorporations at one time. So folks, get your comments in.

I recently had a request to add a HAACP - HACCP forum. Do any of you haver an interest?
I don't know what those are (without going to look them up!), so I guess my interest is low.

There's a relatively long list of forums now, but is there a forum you would like to see?
Not at this time ... what I am looking for or want to say can usually fit into the existing fora.

Graeme

I am still interested in a Quality Tools forum. One that addresses a topic for each tool - what it is - how to use it - when to use it - how to analyze the results - success stories - failures - questions - etc. One for each quality tool so they don't all get lost in the same "Tools" topic.

Dave

I am still interested in a Quality Tools forum. One that addresses a topic for each tool - what it is - how to use it - when to use it - how to analyze the results - success stories - failures - questions - etc. One for each quality tool so they don't all get lost in the same "Tools" topic.
Make me a list of sub-forums (specific 'quality tools').

Maybe instead of a specific HACCP forum, there could be a forum for food safety and standards compliance issues: HACCP, GMP, etc. There's a lot of crossover with general quality management topics (in some food processing companies the same person is responsible for both HACCP and ISO 9001:2000 compliance). I'm sure if you make it, the food QA guys will find it and start posting.

Maybe instead of a specific HACCP forum, there could be a forum for food safety and standards compliance issues: HACCP, GMP, etc. There's a lot of crossover with general quality management topics (in some food processing companies the same person is responsible for both HACCP and ISO 9001:2000 compliance). I'm sure if you make it, the food QA guys will find it and start posting.

Welcome to the cove Kerrym,

Good call. I agree with the QA guy also in charge of the food industry standards (because I am one). I am in charge of QA and the requirements of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). The APVMA regulate our animal feeds and pesticides etc and we have to meet their GMP rules (very similar to an ISO audit). We will be moving product into Europe this year and an avenue for me to ask questions would be very beneficial.

Greg B

Yes, Quality Tool is a good Idea. It should be well appreciated.

Manoj

It would be nice to see some specific Forums on 6 Sigma/Lean tools, Baldridge, Strategy Deployment & Change Management.
Regards,
Adam

If we come up with a list, I'll be happy to make the changes. HOWEVER - this will be a somewhat major restructuring effort. What will make it difficult is not my changing the forums structure in and of its self, it will involve moving existing threads to appropriate forums. For example, currently Six Sigma is part of the Statistical Techniques forum. If I split these two off, or if I split the current forum up into more than two forums - say Six Sigma, General Statistical Techniques and Process Capability - I have to go through the existing forum and 'Move' all relevant threads to the appropriate forum one at a time. Basically you have to go to each post where the title indicates it's a 'Move Candidate', you have to open that thread (as you do to read it), verify it should be moved (as opposed to retitled), use the Thread Tools dropdown (moderators have access to the Move item so I'd have to give volunteers {see below} special access for at least a day) to actually move the thread, and navigate back to the forum they were in (or if searching do another search) to find the next thread to move. I mention this because I want to make sure everyone knows that this is not a simple and quick process - especially when splitting a forum as opposed to adding a new forum. It typically takes 1 to 3 minutes to find and move a thread and get back to where you started.

But even adding a new forum, a couple of the current 'catch all' forums would have to be looked through for relevant posts. For example, if we put in a 'Lean' forum, someone would have to do searches for 'lean' to find relevant threads and then move those threads to the new forum.

Statistical Techniques and Six Sigma, for example, has over 3,288 posts. Only 1 person at a time per forum should be moving posts in a mass move like this, unless we divided it up by date ranges per person, so that would probably take a couple of days.

So we have 2 issues:
1. Coming up with the specific categories we want without going over board and trying to make up a list of 100 super-specific groups. Six sigma is currently grouped with Statistical Techniques. There are a lot of different statistical techniques - do we also want to split off, for example, Capability (process, machine, etc.)?
2. Volunteer list. Please don't volunteer unless you want to put in a serious day.

The 'Cons':
1. Too time consuming for me alone to move all posts, so several volunteers would be needed.
2. The list of forums on the main page is already several pages long. If I print out the main forums listing page right now it's six pages. I mention this because I want to make sure we don't go over board on specific divisions. I have mixed feelings about more forums from the perspective of keeping confusion to a minimum and relevancy. For example, I set up a forum a few years back for someone who wanted a forum on Vehicle Computer Firmware or something similar which ended up with only 3 or 4 threads. I finally merged threads in it into another forum.

The 'Pros'
1. Better discrimination for 'specialties' making searches easier and keeping a localized focus.

That said, please let me know in this thread if any of you would be willing to spend a saturday or sunday (or a saturday and a sunday...) helping me move threads to the appropriate categories. I can make changes to the forum structure on a friday night and then on saturday and sunday we can move threads. The best I can liken this to is an Amish Barn Building where the community gets together and builds a barn. Almost sounds like work, doesn't it!?!

The current forum categories are: http://Elsmar.com/Forums/statistik.php?do=popularforum_popup

But I do want to take a few days to get a number of responses so I can restructure with incorporations at one time. So folks, get your comments in.I Agree.

Volunteer list. Please don't volunteer unless you want to put in a serious day.I'll volunteer.

EDIT NOTE by Marc:
I merged a thread from last time we discussed this and removed a link to that thread from this post.

OK - I'll look at distilling a 'suggested forums' list from this thread. So far we have these 'main' suggestions:

The 'Main' suggestions so far (let me know if I missed one):

For example, 17025 forum could be split into separate forums for calibration and MSA. Statistical Techniques forum into SPC, Sampling, Six Sigma etc.

TS QS merged with VDA, for another year , VDA should be with auto and not in other standards as has been done. APQP and FMEA to merge, I don't really understand why they were seperate. Company standards - this is important.I would also suggest ISO9001:94 to close. It really is irrelevant today. Non conformance and preventative to merge it would seem more logical.

On the Business Standards, what about combining the "Others" with the FDA board? What about combining the NC/CA with the PA/CI boards. The 2 subjects always go hand in hand.

Software Quality is certainly one I would recommend.There are some members in this forum who have good knowledge in Software Quality.

I am still interested in a Quality Tools forum. One that addresses a topic for each tool - what it is - how to use it - when to use it - how to analyze the results - success stories - failures - questions - etc. One for each quality tool so they don't all get lost in the same "Tools" topic.

Maybe instead of a specific HACCP forum, there could be a forum for food safety and standards compliance issues: HACCP, GMP, etc. There's a lot of crossover with general quality management topics (in some food processing companies the same person is responsible for both HACCP and ISO 9001:2000 compliance). I'm sure if you make it, the food QA guys will find it and start posting.

It would be nice to see some specific Forums on 6 Sigma/Lean tools, Baldridge, Strategy Deployment & Change Management.

The Current Forum List:

National and International Business Standards
- - The ISO 9000 Series Standards
- - - - ISO 9001:1994
- - ISO 14000 Series and Other Environmental
- - ISO 17025 - Calibration Inspection and Testing
- - ISO 13485 (EN 46000), FDA and Medical Devices
- - Other ISO Standards and Related Topics
- - Other Various Standards and Test Procedures

Auditing, Consultants and Registrars
- - Auditing including ISO 19011
- - Registrars and Registration
- - Consultants and Consulting

Common Specific Topics Marc
- - Statistical Techniques and Six Sigma
- - Documentation and Forms
- - Nonconformance and Corrective Action Systems
- - Preventive Action and Continuous Improvement
- - Training - Internal and External
- - Certification Training and Tests
- - Miscellaneous Related Topics
- - Software - Quality Assurance, Environmental and Other
- - Philosophy, Gurus, Controversy and Evolution
- - Book, Video and Web Site Reviews
- - Occupations - Quality, FDA / Medical, Environmental, etc.
- - Position Openings - Opportunities: Companies and Recruiters

Automotive Sector Topics
- - ISO / TS 16949 Sporty
- - QS-9000 and the AIAG Supplements
- - APQP and PPAP
- - FMEA and Control Plans
- - Company (Customer) Specific Requirements

Odds and Ends
- - Contribution Access and Guide File Sets
- - - - Outdated Threads
- - Help Using the Forums and User Information
- - Coffee Break Talk
- - Tosebo and Summer Camps
- - Used - Buy and Sell
- - Organization and Company Announcements

Make me a list of sub-forums (specific 'quality tools').
Okay, I'll start this off: this is something I had mentioned in the "Vintage" thread:

Kepner-Tregoe, Kano Model, Kirkpatrick's Model, Balanced ScoreCard, QFD, Taguchi & Shainin's Techniques (we have some threads on Pre-Control).

Add: Pareto, and any of the many 'diagrams'

"back to the group"!

I can understand several of those:
Balanced ScoreCard,
QFD
Taguchi & Shainin's Techniques (we have some threads on Pre-Control).
Pareto, and any of the many 'diagrams'

But - for example Kepner-Tregoe and Kirkpatrick's Model - Do you really want to be that specific? Do you think there will be that many specific 'calls' for Kepner-Tregoe and Kirkpatrick's Model?

But - for example Kepner-Tregoe and Kirkpatrick's Model - Do you really want to be that specific? Do you think there will be that many specific 'calls' for Kepner-Tregoe and Kirkpatrick's Model?No.Not necessarily...topics could be clubbed under a suitable common title indicating what one may find under that heading. (eg. Problem Solving Techinques ?)
Like you said:Coming up with the specific categories we want without going over board and trying to make up a list of 100 super-specific groups.

OK - We need a couple more people who will help out. I can do the changes as soon as we come up with a list. You folks have me hyped up for this. if you want to make it happen, get in here and SPEAK UP. Atul and I cannot do this alone. If the response in this thread is so low that it's only Atul and I, I question whether there is a real interest in doing this.

I am still interested in a Quality Tools forum. One that addresses a topic for each tool - what it is - how to use it - when to use it - how to analyze the results - success stories - failures - questions - etc. One for each quality tool so they don't all get lost in the same "Tools" topic.

Dave

I do like your suggestion of a "quality tools forum" especially the success and failure parts. But I do not like the idea of having to "reinvent the wheel" (as Marc indicates would have to be done) just to have it. Although I advocate CI, and I believe this would be a good step forward, why not simply start a thread under "other iso standards and related topics" or even "odds and ends"?

...But I do not like the idea of having to "reinvent the wheel" (as Marc indicates would have to be done) just to have it.
It's not reinventing the wheel. It's like taking a library or book store and rearranging the 'sections'.

I am very much for the idea of Categorization. It is, however, admittedly a controversial idea. The 'new' theory is really a 'theory' which was made prominent with Apple's Newton PDA - the 'soup' theory. That is, searches are more 'relevant' than catigorization. M$'s future engine (2006?), and Apple's next (2005?) OS are supposed to operate on this theory as is, to some extent, Google's GMail. There have been a number of articles on this as of late. I'm an old categorizer - yet, when I want to find something - whether in these forums or on Google (or Inktomi or Yahoo or whatever search engine) or on my computer I'm not interested in Categories - I put in the search terms I want and say 'Go'.

But this all has to do with finding information in general as opposed to an 'interest group' aspect - Which is why I'm for doing this.

This said, restructuring will be most advantagous to 'interest groups' and their focus (some people only want to come here, for example, to discuss calibration).

Commments on my comments welcomed.

I do like your suggestion of a "quality tools forum"...
I think that's a dead ringer and will be part of it.

I'll be happy to help out. HOWEVER - "Operator Instructions" will be vital, at least for me :rolleyes: .

I'll need some advance warning as to which weekend is picked as most of my weekends are fairly heavily booked at this time of year.

Bill

I will provide 'Operator instructions'. It's really a simple process - just time consuming. Any other volunteers? I'd say we'll be looking at next weekend. Not that all the moving has to be done on a weekend - it can be spread out over the following week. I'd like to attack it as quickly as possible, though.

We still need to get a list defined as well. Get your suggestions in this thread!

Count me in Marc, I have the time on my hands. I will however need the above mentioned instructions.:applause:

Al...

Marc - I know it sounds like a cop-out but my granddaughter is getting married a week from Saturday, I am in New York the following weekend and in Detroit for the Lead Auditor class. Otherwise, I would be glad to offer to help.

Dave

I appreciate the response, Dave. I have an idea of how I think I can swing this.

HOWEVER - I hear a lot of complaining about the ASQ forums and how the folks there don't listen to what the users want. There have not been many people commenting in this thread about what they want, especially with regard to specifics and suggestions. That EITHER shows a low user interest OR the current layout is pretty good as it stands.

I have decided to significantly change the forums listing (the current forum list in sequence is laid out in an earlier post in this thread). I believe I know how I can get threads moved with the help of a few people over a 4 to 6 day period.

BUT - First I need more specific feedback on the structure and specifics you folks want.

SO - Post your WANTS, NEEDS, SUGGESTIONS and RECOMMMENDATIONS soon! This reorganization of the forums has to last for a couple of years, so Think Ahead...

If you're a regular, Please - Take a few minutes and Get in on this thread so We can make this one of the most useful, user friendly forums on the internet!

I spent some time copying/moving threads across forums today. Looking at the thread topics I thought may be it would be a good idea to split the some of the forums or create sub-forums (if possible) for major topics.

For example, 17025 forum could be split into separate forums for calibration and MSA. Statistical Techniques forum into SPC, Sampling, Six Sigma etc.

What is your opinion? Do you think it will help? Should we do this?

-Atul.

Hello,
If you are going to consolidate forums I'm in favor of it. If you affinitize all of them you will end up with a higher level forum called "Business Improvement".
A higher level of Forum will allow for a more diverse set of opinions and fosted greater learning/sharing.
Best Regards,
Adam L Bowden

Hey there, Back home, but still on vacation. http://elsmar.com/Forums/images/smilies/cool.gif That EITHER shows a low user interest OR the current layout is pretty good as it stands. Actually, it's not half bad as it is, but there is always room for improvement.I have decided to significantly change the forums listing (the current forum list in sequence is laid out in an earlier post in this thread). I believe I know how I can get threads moved with the help of a few people over a 4 to 6 day period.I'll chip in as much as I can, but I'm not sure how much that will be. Unless I'm very much mistaken, I'll have a heap of work waiting for me when I get back to work next week.
BUT - First I need more specific feedback on the structure and specifics you folks want.The only specific thing that comes to mind is the already suggested Quality Tools forum... Which I fully support. I would advice against sub forums however: That would probably just make it harder to find things. I'll have to think this through, and who knows? More ideas may pop up...We can make this one of the most useful, user friendly forums on the internet!It already is...

/Claes

I don't plan to over load the place by any means. I also agree sub-forums are confusing.

Go to the forum you want to scan for threads to move. Go to the thread you want to move and open it. Take a good look at the thread. Is the title appropriate? If not Edit the thread (Thread Tools Drop-Down menu) and retitle it appropriately. Are there any dead links? If so, you can edit it (them) out by editing the specific post (if you have permissions to do this, you will see an edit button at the bottom of each post). If you do not have permissions to edit users posts in that forum, use the Report This Post Button/Icon and I'll take a look. Go to the Thread Tools Drop-Down menu. Now - The 'work' aspect..
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://Elsmar.com/jpg/Thread_tool_dropdown_b.jpg
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://Elsmar.com/jpg/Move_thread_screen-b.jpg ---------------------------------------------------------------
Click the 'Move / Copy Thread' button to complete the move. This will take you to the thread and it will be in the forum you set in the 'Destination Forum' drop down. Go back to the forum you were in that you are moving threads from (the 'Forum Jump' drop down at the bottom of the page is always convenient) and repeat with the next appropriate thread.

Moderators and Volunteers:

If you don't have permissions to move threads, you won't see the option in the Thread Tools drop down menu. PM me or post in this thread and I'll arrange permissions for you.

As you can see, I've started the forums rearrangement. Please take a GOOD look at the categories and the 'sub-titles' (or comments) under the forum titles. I may have missed something or mis-stated something. If I screwed up - PLEASE let me know!

I hope to get this done in a week. My fear is there won't be enough volunteers and I'll end up with a mess here. There are close to 8000 threads right now and while most of them will not have to be moved, quite a few of them will have to be sifted through to find ones that are move candidates.

I plan to have the forums categorized by saturday afternoon or evening. In the mean time, if you have comments about the redistribution and new forums please post them in this thread.

I'll post in this thread when I think the forum structure is 'set' (saturday afternoon or evening) after which moving threads can begin.

Marc
I have moved some AS 9000 and VDA threads that you missed and by chance saw but how do we know which forums have been treated?

:confused:

Since I've re-organized the forums, added some and renamed others, I need you feedback on what we have now forum wise. Comments, suggestions, where have I goofed up?

What I have done thus far has been to attempt to find threads from any forum that have certain terms in the Title of the thread and 'mass moved' them. I have not yet laid out a list of forums for specific individuals to peruse because I was looking at what I can do with titles before I focused on specific forums.

I'm thinking the mode of attack could be for anyone to choose a forum, let us know in this thread which one, and start going through the thread listings for that forum. It woulod be great if forum moderators would look through forums they moderate.

However, if you want to do searches (remember my mass moves can only key on words in thread titles) or you're just browsing and see a thread in the 'wrong' forum, just go ahead and move it.

I can tell you that I have a couple of forums 'of concern' - the 'Catch Alls':
Other ISO Standards and Related Topics
Other Various Standards and Test Procedures
Miscellaneous Related Topics

At present, I'm looking at 17025 and MSA

At present, I'm looking at 17025 and MSA
I appreciate it! Are you going to go through them completely?

How about you other folks. Any comments about the rearrangement and forums listing? Is this what you expected? Suggested refinements or changes?

I appreciate it! Are you going to go through them completely?

How about you other folks. Any comments about the rearrangement and forums listing? Is this what you expected? Suggested refinements or changes?:thanks: Yes, I'm going through every thread. Re-titling and/or moving threads as necessary. Next I intend to take up QS9000 and SPC forums.

OK - I'm deep into Misc Topics right now. Man - There are a LOT of posts. I AM deleting some zero reply threads I'm finding here and there. Most are from several years or more ago, but I'm sure there are later 0 reply threads. If you see a thread which is really a loss, pleasse Report the first post to me. I may delete it. Atul, I think you have admin privilages to Physically Delete (no need for a 'soft delete' as that just takes up database space) so please do if you judge a thread to be useless.

NOTE: By 0 (zero) reply, I'm referring to threads where a question is asked and no one ever answered. There a lot of 'informational' zero reply threads which should stay.

BTW - I appreciate your help! :agree1:

I will start on the PPAP/APQP forum.
If I understand correctly if I find threads that are not relevant then to find the relevant forum, try to make the names more relevant and checking links.

Correct. I start from the oldest threads and mover forward, myself.

Marc
After going through the APQP/PPAP forum I now appreciate how much work it is, and the PPAP thread is easy.
I am also not as good as you at renaming the threads.
It is though interesting to see the way I and others have developed.
There are a lot of single posts by people who wanted information and then never posted again. This seems to be a pity. :(
There is a large amount of real information as well as opinion.
Until you do it you don't really understand the actual amount of information.
Have you done the FMEA forum?

First of all, I appreciate your taking the time to help. Atul has been busy moving some threads as well. I would like to get a few more people to help out, though, so this doesn't end up being a long, drawn out affair. As long as we say, in this thread, what forums were looked through we can keep it somewhat systematic.

I have only been working on the 'Miscellaneous Related Topics' forum this week. Got it down from 33 pages of threads down to something like 26 - I'll have to look, but I still have work to do on that forum.

I didn't do too much this week as I had APQP training and some meetings. And I admit I sorta washed out for 2 nights because - well, it is difficult to sit here for 4 or 5 hours moving threads.

The forums have changed - obviously. This started out as fun and a small group. I posted a lot of 'general info' one post wonders myself. Over the last year I have been here a lot and have tried to watch for questions which get no answers. As you know, in the 'Moderator Info' thread I state that the most important part is that no question asked starting a new thread go unanswered. This is less of a problem than it was in years past. I rarely see a post here go unanswered any more. That is a combination of moderators and registered users getting more involved. I still 'bump' threads which get no answer from time to time, but it's not very common as it once was.

Recently I have been deleting the '1 post question - no answers' 'threads' (not informational threads - just where someone asked a question in 1998 or 2001 or such and never got a reply) because it makes no sense to leave them. I lament that many posts over the years did not get responses, but over all that was not the norm. We also have to remember that the internet is changing a lot. More people are on, search engines are better, and it has become more routine.

Now - to shake people up - Yes - It's a lot of work to keep this forum online and 'working'. This is why I have hesitated making forum changes for a while. I've put in one heck of a lot of work on these forums particularly since last December, and while I do not at all discount the role and participation of the moderators here, I'm not the ASQ with a lot of $ and other resources to - if they want - spend on having people do what is necessary to keep things 'alive' and to make changes when necessary. When I first started charging for things like the powerpoint presentations back around 2000 there were howls and screams and nasty e-mails. When I started asking for donations back in March 2003, I heard the same negative, sometimes nasty, feedback as if I owe people something. I do understand - I visit a lot of web sites and don't want to have to pay. But if they go away because the person keeping the site online decides it's no longer worth the effort - for whatever reason - I don't get upset and call them names or send nasty e-mails. They had a free site, decided to get on with their lives and move on. They don't owe me a thing.

On the other hand, when I 'tried' Google's adsense in December and found it would pay, not to mention more than contributions (someone contributed just the other day but it is very rare any more) were paying, I quickly went back to making the site 'mostly free' (I still charge for the powerpoint files and such, obviously, but those don't sell much either) so I don't feel like I'm taking advantage of anyone. Nor do I feel like I have taken advantage of anyone in the past. In my heart I sorta feel guilty but only because I would like all this to be free, but the reality is it costs to keep the server online and I do spend one heck of a lot of time to try to make things 'better' here. To those who took or take offense at my charging people for things when I did, I have no sympathy. Instead of griping and sending me abusive e-mails they should go find a site that offers what they're looking for and leave me alone.

It may be in the future I will have to start charging again. As I explained in the moderator's forum back in May-June, Google made a change April 1 which cut the site income over 50%. I planned to shut the site down last month but have given it a reprieve until at least December. Very few people understand how much of my time this takes. When I ran the numbers a few times it came out to less than 5 bucks an hour. As I have stated before, this used to be fun - a hobby. Now it is something I have to spend more and more time on. I don't advertise break-in attempts as I once did because they were not every day affairs. Now I get attempted break-in reports almost daily. Yesterday alone 3 people (one from Miami, one from Germany and one from somewhere I couldn't trace). This is only to point out that it's not even just keeping the forums online. I have many more aspects to worry about and it reaches a point where it's simply not worth it to spend so much time in the spirit of being a 'nice guy'.

I was moved by your comment about reading through the old threads and seeing how we've changed as people. You are right - until you really start going through threads one by one gong back to 1998 when the current message base starts, you don't really see how much is here.

The forum has changed as well, but yes - more importantly we have changed. Our definitions and understanding have changed. I know in a thread here somewhere I somewhat recently commented about that and said that this forum has 'changed my mind' on many things. As I remember I likened it to people in politics accusing a candidate of 'flip-flopping'. I know that over time I find new information and change my views on many things. So - I'm definitely a flip-flopper but I don't see it as a negative - I see it as learning and changing my views when information tells me my prior view was 'not on the mark'. Now when I hear someone accuse a politician of 'flip-flopping' the first thing I think is the person being accused is reacting to changes in information as well as changing circumstances. Yes - there is one heck of a lot of information here. Some of it is redundant, but that's to be expected.

Oh well, my rant for the day.

If anyone wants to help out, PM or e-mail me.

:thanks: Yes, I'm going through every thread. Re-titling and/or moving threads as necessary. Next I intend to take up QS9000 and SPC forums.
I've waded through the ISO 14001 forum. It was a quickie.

I still have some work to to on Misc Topics - A toughie.

I'm done with 17025. Halfway through QS9000. Unfortunately, I won't be able to spend time on Monday & Tuesday (due to prior commitments)..

Any time you (or any of the others) spend is VERY much appreciated!!!

I'm working on the ISO9000 series forum (Starting from the oldest posts). I expect it will take me a while despite the fact it's in good condition.

/Claes

I'm working on the ISO9000 series forum (Starting from the oldest posts). I expect it will take me a while despite the fact it's in good condition.

/Claes
Great! That's a big one. I'll bet you re-live a lot of memories there!

I did a runthrough on a couple today. I did some retitling in the 17025 and MSA forums.

I'm not going to worry about the QS-9000 forums because they're toast anyway. I'll take a look at the TS 16949 forums. I've been finding a lot of old links and stuff but I can't remember right off hand what shape the TS forum is in.

I haven't done any recent 'mass moves', but last night I did completely empty the search index and rebuilt it. Took about 1.5 hours for the script to run. Right now I'm rebuilding the 'Similar Threads' table because I've retitled one heck of a lot of threads and relevance is in part by a thread's title.

Ummmm, what else... So far so good. I really am happy we did this. I'm not sure the categories are what you folks all wanted - But I didn't get too much feedback before. Any comments now would be appreciated. I'm not too sure about the 'Tools' forum, but I hope it approximates what you folks were looking for.

I feel like I'm cleaning up a disorganized library full of poorly titled books. A late Spring Cleaning, so to speak. It's a strange feeling spending this much time going back to threads dating back to 1998. A lot of people have come and gone over the last 6 years.

Oh well, on with the show. No client work for a couple of days - Tuesday am - and I'm pretty focused on this right now so I better 'get back to work'.

I don't know if I mentioned I went through the 14001 forum and the ISO 13485 - Medical Devices forum and the AS9100 forum.

Looking good!

Great! That's a big one. I'll bet you re-live a lot of memories there!You could say that, yes.... My main problem is to keep my mind on tidying up instead of getting engulfed by the old threads... :read: It's quite fascinating in its way. Fortunately, as I said, I feel that this forum is in pretty good shape already. I have been moving threads before, after all.

/Claes

You could say that, yes.... My main problem is to keep my mind on tidying up instead of getting engulfed by the old threads... :read: It's quite fascinating in its way. Fortunately, as I said, I feel that this forum is in pretty good shape already. I have been moving threads before, after all.

/Claes
Yeah - I took a cruise thru most of the forums and all in all they are looking pretty good. I spent a lot of time in the Misc forum - and still have some to do - and it was /is a bit messed up. I've spent a lot of time since last December renaming a lot of threads in different forums which I think helps. I know it helps a lot from the search engine aspect and I think it helps people looking at the forum listings of threads in the individual forums.

I have noticed on this 'major' round most of the 'bad' links I found were already caught and fixed or deleted so a lot of the work over the last 6 months has paid off in that respect.

I will be teaching a Quantitative Methods graduate level course for MBA's in the Fall quarter. That brings to mind an idea - could/should there be a discussion board area for college students (by the way, these are adult evening students)? City University does have its own discussion boards for discussions amongst the students and instructor, but the Cove could give an opportunity for them to interact with a few other folks than myself.

I have even gotten a few phone calls myself from odd places with students working on data projects and asking how to do charting and analysis, so perhpas this is an opportune area.

I could go so far as the instructor to assign that the students join the Cove and participate. Whadayathink? Good idea, or bad idea? If I do that, what should I tell the students the "rules" are so there aren't a bunch of chaff postings? Could be a good opportunity if handled well . . .

That brings to mind an idea - could/should there be a discussion board area for college students (by the way, these are adult evening students)? City University does have its own discussion boards for discussions amongst the students and instructor, but the Cove could give an opportunity for them to interact with a few other folks than myself....

I could go so far as the instructor to assign that the students join the Cove and participate. Whadayathink? Good idea, or bad idea? If I do that, what should I tell the students the "rules" are so there aren't a bunch of chaff postings? Could be a good opportunity if handled well . . .
I can set up a forum very easily and quickly. I can even password protect it or whatever.

Rules would be up to you to set - I can make you the forum moderator and youy can post the rules in a 'sticky'.

I can set up a forum very easily and quickly. I can even password protect it or whatever.

Rules would be up to you to set - I can make you the forum moderator and youy can post the rules in a 'sticky'.
Let's plan on that. The course starts the first week of October. Yes, put me in as the moderator, I'll get the course name to you for an initial title when I get back from vacation. A forum would be a good idea as it would be a place for the student's to use as "home", but I will be pushing them to participate in the regular forums. The course also includes a paper, so they me be asking Covers some questions.

I don't think it worth passwording (if there is stuff that we would need to keep private I'll use the City University system).

Thanks,

Marc, I just checked the doc board.....there are 26 pages going back 6 years...I think some of that older stuff can be pruned. Need help?

I know I could prune by date but part of the intent here has been to keep old threads in part to be able to see how some things do change and others don't. I do see I have to get in when I have a day and do a lot of thread renaming in that forum. I'm glad you brought it up.

Just for info: I'm still slogging away in the ISO9000 series forum, but my initial feeling that it was in good shape seems justified. Mainly, I have been pruning many (no, not all) of the oldest single post threads and moving a fair number to the 9001:1994 subforum.

/Claes

(I think) I'm through with moving threads. Didn't do much of re-naming (Dial-up...takes a lot of time...) but I intend to start on that next - one major motivation is revisiting Don Winton gems.

Yeah - I miss Don a lot. Atul, I didn't know you were on dialup. Maybe you said before and I forgot. I end up on dialup from time to time and it's frustrating.

Claes - My continued thanks. To even take that forum on was nice of you being as big as it is.

I've been away a bit but I'll be back on it this weekend.

As an FYI, Google did what looks like a major update recently and it appears it caught a lot of the changes. And I haven't looked closely at the numbers, but it looks like traffic is increasing a bit.

Just for info: I'm still slogging away in the ISO9000 series forumFinally....Whewwww, that took me while, but now it's done. I think I'll wear dark glasses for a while :cool: .

Jokes apart I could have done it a lot faster, but I kept getting stuck in those old threads. Some of it is so interesting...

/Claes

The evolution of the interpretations and requirements always interests me, including my evolving interpretations and overall what I have learned. I've changed my views on some things whilst better understanding things that I thought I understood before.

There are a lot of thoughts here in this database. Some good general conversation and some very interesting discussions. Admittedly there's a lot of chaff, so to speak, but there's also a lot of knowledge and experience conveyed.

Claes, I appreciate the time you've spent. I'm sorta hit-miss right now and haven't been focusing on some of the forums. I still have some work to do, but I sorta see it as ongoing to some degree. As is evident I've added a couple of forums and split off a couple of topics, including Records and Quality Manuals. I got an e-mail the other day that was rather rude saying that I don't "allow" enough discussion on Lean. I didn't split that out as there aren't that many Lean specific threads and so it's grouped in Tools. I wrote back and told the writer that no one is prohibiting discussion on Lean and suggested the writer start threads on Lean - but I haven't seen any yet.

A while back I consolidated a number of individual forums because there were so many. I've sorta gotten over my 'complexity' fear, but I still want to keep eyes open - I'm not sure 100 specific forums is the best idea. Right now there are about 45 'significant' forums.

I got an e-mail the other day that was rather rude saying that I don't "allow" enough discussion on Lean.Really? I cannot remember any of us trying to prevent anyone from posting Lean threads??? A while back I consolidated a number of individual forums because there were so many. I've sorta gotten over my 'complexity' fear, but I still want to keep eyes open - I'm not sure 100 specific forums is the best idea. Right now there are about 45 'significant' forums.Well, I prefer fewer forums with wider scope instead of lots of very narrow ones. That way we can be pretty sure to see a reasonable level of activity in them.

/Claes