Community Input on Lenovo Forum Organization

Little more than a year after the last major reorganization of the Lenovo subforum, it seems Lenovo could be at another turning point of sorts. With the shift to 6-row island keyboards across the board, there's less and less distinction between "traditional" Thinkpads and the more "consumer-ized" Thinkpads. We've also seen some confusion in the last year of how the board is organized.

The Lenovo moderation team is currently discussing how best to organize this section of NBR: we don't all agree, and there's several pros and cons to weigh. Please feel free to post constructive comments and logical reasoning, but let's keep it in this thread.

Several notes:
1) As there's so many different ways of approaching this, I see little point for a poll: if there is overwhelming support for a particular option, it will quickly become clear.
2) We moderators do tend to have lives, and we do have a lot on our plates. Please realize that w e may not have the time to explain every single reason for each of our decisions, although I'll personally try my best to make our reasoning clear.

Now, have at it.

 

First, thank you for opening this thread. I think the organization now is very confusing.

I think we should have 1 major forum (ThinkPads) and two sub-forums (1 for ThinkPad Edge (and SL) and 1 for the IdeaPads/Essential).

In the ThinkPad forum, there should be all lines without the Edge branding (except SL), namely T/W/X (X with X1 Carbon and the X1xxe) and L (this is important, because L is completely displaced in the Edge forum), and all old IBM ThinkPads. The SL should be in the Edge forum, because it was the Edge at its time.

 

I agree with this

 

I think the current model works but IMO we should have the Edge subforum dedicated to Edge and SL, while the main forum is used for L,X,T,W series, and add an additional Legacy Thinkpad forum for older models (prior to the XXX0, TXX0, WXX0 name change in 2008), the consumer Ideapad/Essential forum should remain the same.

 

My suggestion: There should be three subforums for Thinkpad, Ideapad, and Essential. There should then be subforums for each Thinkpad series within the Thinkpad subforum.

EDIT: NVM, was not aware of the way this forum was organized. This would make the Notebook Manufacturers thread even more traumatically cramped.

 

These are both excellent suggestions and would likely make it easier for those new to the forum to find the appropriate section. I especially like the idea of a "legacy Thinkpad" sub-section.

And it might serve to separate Ideapad from Essential considering the direction Lenovo seems to be taking with these lines.

 

Should be how ThinkPad Forums does but you know that's just me.

 

Thanks for the constructive comments so far.

I too like the idea of the "legacy" category. The description will be important to draw the distinction, though.

So far, in my mind, a breakdown that I think would work well without making drastic changes would be:
IdeaPad/Essentials
Thinkpad Edge
Legacy Thinkpads (T61/X61/R61/Z61 & Earlier)

We don't have quite the Thinkpad-exclusive traffic that forums like TPF or Lenovo has, so it would only stifle discussion and create more of a "ghost town" if too many sections were created.

At the same time, it would be valuable to prevent threads of less-popular IdeaPad and legacy Thinkpad models from getting pushed down the page too quickly. The Essential line has little traffic as is, so I think keeping it with IdeaPads for now would probably be more prudent.

Also, moving the X1/X1C, X100e/X120e, and L/SL to the bulk Lenovo section would clear up the current rather-confusing subsection name.

Finally, not breaking apart T/W and X-series Thinkpads would allow better "sharing" of the many topics common to the lines (ie, keyboard feel).

 

I personally don't think the legacy ThinkPads generate enough traffic to warrant their own forum. I think the current set up works fine for the most part, the traditional ThinkPads in the main forum with the newer consumerish ThinkPads in their own forum and consumer Lenovo in theirs too.

 

I like this 3 subforums suggestion, as outlined by MidnightSun based on the discussion.

Separating the Thinkpad lines is not a very good idea in my opinion. As has been pointed out, by keeping them together, common features can be discussed together. I also find it that personally I am interested in multiple lines (T/W/X), so I would really hate if I needed to switch forums all the time. Currently when I want to catch up on the X1C thread, I need to switch forums and I am kind of annoyed with that.

I also like that this way the more current models - the ones most people are probably interested in - would be instantly visible in the main forums. The older models ("legacy") might interest less people and keeping that separate is a good idea in my opinion.

 

different lenovo series should have different subforums, i.e. T, X, W, Y, etc.

Lenovo did the effort to show that those are different computers that serve different purpose. Why would you want to combine the mainstream T series with the workstations for example, or the ultra portables just because they all have keyboards, lol ...... ?!?!?!!?

also should you start a legacy forum then you'll have to move loads of threads every year the new model thinkpad comes out.

 

I agree with this 100%.

 

The identical keyboard is just one example of a common thread through all the computers. Your example of the T- and W-series is a perfect example of why splitting the two may not work well in many cases: many users cross-shop the T-series and W-series based on GPU need, and the two share the exact same chassis and most parts. If there was a thread on, say, replacing the palmrest of a T530, it would be entirely applicable to the W530 as well.

With the breakdown I listed above, "legacy" would be defined as "T61/X61/R61/Z61 & Earlier," so the category would not change much, actually.

 

Alienware has 7 forums, Dell has 5, HP has 6. I'm sure breaking Lenovo and IBM apart wasn't something people wanted to consider, but it might be time. Even if that happens, it likely doesn't change anything for Lenovo structuring. They are still combined in the following ideas:

Lenovo / IBM

Edge​

IdeaPad and Essential​

Comment: What we have today but the removal of the requirement for the X Series to go into a sub forum.

Lenovo / IBM

Edge, Essential and IdeaPad​

Comment: All of the T, W and X traffic hits the root. Any Edge, Essential or IdeaPad traffic goes to the sub forum.

Lenovo / IBM

T Series​

W Series​

X Series​

Comment: This is the reverse of the above. T, W and X traffic goes to the sub forums. Everything else goes to root. My personal preference.

Lenovo / IBM

T Series​

W Series​

X Series​

Edge, Essential and IdeaPad​

Comment: Another variation

Lenovo / IBM

T Series​

W Series​

X Series​

Edge​

IdeaPad and Essential​

Comment: and yet another variation

 

I still think the best would be:

Lenovo / IBM Main forum (<- all T/W/X/L since T400)

Edge/SL sub forum
IdeaPad and Essential sub forum
(and maybe a Legacy IBM ThinkPad sub forum)​

My comment: This is the most logical organization, in my opinion. Edge is a own "sub-brand" in the ThinkPad-brand and Idea/Essential is Lenovos consumer brand. They both deserve their own forums. A legacy IBM forum would be good too, because it helps to keep the main-forum more "clean" and easier to overview.

 

The reason I would prefer T, W, and X sub forums is because it makes it really easy to jump in and see what's new, problems, and solutions for a particular series. With the three busiest series in a single forum you have to wade through a lot of traffic to spot items of interest to you.

 

Lenovo / IBM - no posting here - show up the sub forums only.
- T Series
- W Series
- X Series
- All Others

that would be my last and final suggestion. This will split the posts nicely, eventhoug the T forum would be the most populated, I bet.

 

The reason I brought up the legacy Thinkpad subforum is that people with questions about those older computers are in the minority so every time they post questions in the general forum it usually gets buried immediately, it'd be nice to have a place dedicated to those so people don't have to dig through pages to find their topic of interest. Like people have mentioned here, even Alienware has like six sub forums, if the Mods are okay with it why not having more sub forum so it's easier to find posts?

So my suggestion now would be Lenovo/IBM - only company related questions such as customer service complaints or return policy here, no product specific
- T series
- W series
- X series
- Edge/L/SL series
- Legacy Thinkpad
- Ideapad, Essential

Alternative we can have
- Current Thinkpad
- Legacy Thinkpad
- Edge
- Consumer (Ideapad, Essential)

 

I am a ThinkPad L-User. Where should I post in this organization?

I agree with that.

 

My bad, see revised list above.

 

can not have legacy forum. In couple of years every thread that we have now will have to be moved into the legacy forum.

Besides, who decides what is classified as legacy? Everything that is not current is legacy, LOL, i.e. move topics every year pretty much. No good .. batman.

p.s.

say we have a T subforum and somebody posts a topic called "check out my working T23". Heck I'd click to see it

 

The problem with that is: The L-series is completely different from the Edge Serie. Edge/SL is ok, because Lenovo the SL is a older Edge, but if you look at the current L-series, you can see that it is very different from the Edge and much closer to the T-series (same look, same keyboard, same displays). Beside of that, that would be confusing again and the Edge series is now so big that it needs a forum that is completely for the Edge-series (hope you understand my bad english ).

Maybe you should consider this way:
Lenovo/IBM (only posts about things like the support)

ThinkPad T
ThinkPad X
ThinkPad W
ThinkPad R/L/SL
Edge
IdeaPad/Essential​

Absolutely right. A legacy forum would be a big monster.

 

Which is why ThinkPad forums have it divided out by generations _60/61, T400/T500, T410, T420, T430. Yes it will add more, but at least topics won't be bumped 3 pages back just by having 1 main ThinkPad forum.

 

So you are advocating the creation of T, W and X series sub forums?

 

Yes I've been advocating how ThinkPad forums is run in terms of subforums and like other manufacturers have it (eg Alienware)

 

Cool. We finally agree on something.

 

Regardless of what scheme is decided upon, I see no sense in separating W-series and T-series discussion. The only current W-series model, the W530, has the exact same chassis as the T530, the same screen options, etc. The only differences between the two are the graphics and CPU options and the calibrator.

 

So a W530 owner that comes here for the first time is supposed to wade through all of the countless T series threads for items of interest or to solve a problem?

The challenge is really filtering the data posted here. If all of the incoming data was tagged with a forced taxonomy (through an input form), and you could filter the view based on the metadata, then what we are discussing would be a non issue. This assumes I could build a filtered view and use it conveniently. The point is moot at the moment because we can't. If we could, then each person could set there own preferences.

Since that isn't currently implemented, the next easiest step is to provide the community some sub forums. This is commonly implemented at this site, and other sites on the grid. There have been several good suggestions thus far. I suggest you let the community vote on the major candidates when you think you have some good choices and the discussion has followed all of the possible branches.

Ideation is good for the community.

 

By that logic, we should divide the T-series subforum into T530 and T430 subsections, as the T430 has even less in common with the T530 than does the W530. A T430 owner that comes here for the first time would find little that is useful to him in the T530 threads.

Dividing up a forum into subforums isn't only to separate different topics: besides, if you truly want to find threads concerning a single topic, use the (now working) search feature. Subforum-ing also provides less-popular threads with more attention, and also serves to "slow down" the progression of discussion in a busy section.

 

Well, as we have pointed out the legacy forum is for Thinkpads that's older than the current naming scheme (TXX0, etc), not only for products still in production. There is no denial that eventually Lenovo will decide to having a entirely new naming scheme and shift product lines around, but I don't see that coming any time soon, and when it happens we'll deal with it. I just don't think any changes we make today will be the ultimate permanent solution, but that shouldn't stop us from moving forward to something more organized. I prefer more sub forums because in the current set up almost all posts that haven't had updates for more than a day will disappear into the second or even third page.

 

I don't think anyone would like that many subforums.

As I indicated in a prior comment, a vote by the community will give you a better idea of what most of the community would prefer.

 

Is anything going to be done after four pages of discussion? I see some moderator has been moving all the X1 Carbon threads to the Edge forum. Is there a reason they're going there considering it's very much a tier 1 Thinkpad.

 

Moderators should get on this now and make the change before the coming deluge.

Moving X1C posts to a subforum is simply asinine.

Either:
1. Thinkpad Main Forum
a. Thinkpad Edge / SL Subforum
b. Ideapad / Essential Subforums

or
2. Thinkpad Main Forum
a. Legacy Thinkpads Subforum (Non-current generation, i.e. T40/T60)
b. Thinkpad Edge / SL Subforum
c. Ideapad / Essential Subforum

 

Was a decision reached?

 

Not yet


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

 

Ok, I'll check back next month.

 

You know I take PayPal bribes if you want a quicker vote.

 

No thanks. We'll have a new President before anything happens. Florida votes faster.

 

You might as well remove the sticky from this thread.