Forum Changes under Consideration

[jsteele]

Just a quick response to some of the posts above:

1) What will be considered adult and will that forum attract peeves? Basically, if something is sexual in an erotic sense it will to in the adult forum. Discussing breasts for breastfeeding will not, but discussion breasts in a sexual context will (and breast enhancement will go into the beauty forum). Peeves are welcome as long as they stick to the proper forum.

2) How about expanding travel to travel and entertainment ? Not a bad idea. I want to create a food forum for recipes, cooking ideas, etc. I thought restaurants would fit with that. Maybe restaurants goes better with travel. Please provide more input!

3) How about a marriage/relationship forum? I'll give that some consideration. I'd also like more input on this idea.

4) Step-parenting? I'm not sure what to do with that one.

5) Separate schools forums. I've been amazed at how school-related topics have become so popular. I initially only created a DC public schools forum because DC had special issues with its schools. Now, I think there would be some value in MD and VA public school forums as well. If not, I can always remove them.

6) Daycare search? That can be done in the Daycare discussion forum (soon to be daycare and pre-schools).

7) What is wrong with women in the Dads forum? If women are posting and women are answering, it is no different than any other forum. The purpose of individual forums is to be different. That one did not achieve that goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't join daycare with preschools. They are very different. Other than that, no opinion.

It's your forum, but since you asked, I think they mostly make sense, but--

1) I'm not sure what the point of an "adult" forum is. Is it to prevent people from having their sensibilities shocked? If you've received a lot of complaints along those lines, then I can see it makes sense, but it does seem like there's a risk it would backfire.

2) Personally, I think there are a bunch of other established sites that are pretty thorough and helpful on DC restaurants, so I am unlikely to use/contribute to a new restaurant forum. I could see the "Food" part of it (recipes, strategies for eating together) etc., but I am not sure you need a new forum for that.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't join daycare with preschools. They are very different. Other than that, no opinion.

What do others think about this? I see lots of cross-posts between the two groups and neither one is all that heavily used. Even though daycares and preschools are different, they are close enough that the topics could co-exist, don't you think?

[Anonymous]

On combining preschool & daycare -- UGH, UGH, UGH.

Those really aren't the same things. If you are trying to consolidate -- it would really make more sense just to fold "preschool" back into private/independent schools. Then the daycare would be daycare discussion as well as daycare search.

[Anonymous]

I'm still not convinced I would combine daycare and preschool. I agree there are some cross issues, particularly as many parents use full-day preschools as daycare, but a lot of the discussion on the daycare board has to do with other issues relating to daycare and other forms of daycare like in-home daycares, nanny and nanny shares, and so on which have nothing to do with the structure and function of preschools.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

1) I'm not sure what the point of an "adult" forum is. Is it to prevent people from having their sensibilities shocked? If you've received a lot of complaints along those lines, then I can see it makes sense, but it does seem like there's a risk it would backfire.

2) Personally, I think there are a bunch of other established sites that are pretty thorough and helpful on DC restaurants, so I am unlikely to use/contribute to a new restaurant forum. I could see the "Food" part of it (recipes, strategies for eating together) etc., but I am not sure you need a new forum for that.

1) The adult forum is basically a recognition that we are adults and occasionally want to discuss adult topics. I have received complaints about some of the posts in existing forums. Moreover, some of these topics are currently being duplicated in multiple forums. I think it would probably be better to consolidate them.

2) Again, the main goal is a food and cooking type of forum. I put restaurants in to broaden the topic a bit. We wouldn't be aiming to replace other sites, but there is some usefulness in discussing the family-friendlyness (or lack thereof) of restaurants. That's something that is probably missed elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't join daycare with preschools. They are very different. Other than that, no opinion.

What do others think about this? I see lots of cross-posts between the two groups and neither one is all that heavily used. Even though daycares and preschools are different, they are close enough that the topics could co-exist, don't you think?

yes, definitely. Most of us see the two as synonymous, even though some people clearly have a visceral reaction to this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm still not convinced I would combine daycare and preschool. I agree there are some cross issues, particularly as many parents use full-day preschools as daycare, but a lot of the discussion on the daycare board has to do with other issues relating to daycare and other forms of daycare like in-home daycares, nanny and nanny shares, and so on which have nothing to do with the structure and function of preschools.

Is this a DC thing (as opposed to MD or VA)? I am in close-in Mont. Co., my child attends a full-day preschool (goes from ages 2-5) and that is our child-care situation. It's definitely a preschool and some kids only attend in the mornings b/c they have a parent who stays at home with them or they have a nanny pick them up. So...it certainly makes sense to combine to me. In DC is there some distinction that I am missing?

[Anonymous]

I think an Adult/Explicit forum--at least named as such-- is a bad idea--would attract lots of non-parent types. Maybe with a more benign name--e.g. Sex and Relationship Issues? Other than that, wouldn't mix preschools and daycare--very different.

[Anonymous]

What about a college forum? Please oh please oh please!

Please do not mix Travel and Entertainment. Please! I get something out of the Travel forum.

Stepmothers/fathers: That is tricky. Some post on the Single Mom forum. Personally I don't think a separate forum makes sense. I'm sure there are stepparent websites out there.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I think an Adult/Explicit forum--at least named as such-- is a bad idea--would attract lots of non-parent types. Maybe with a more benign name--e.g. Sex and Relationship Issues? Other than that, wouldn't mix preschools and daycare--very different.

I like that idea. That satisfies the request for a relationship forum as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think an Adult/Explicit forum--at least named as such-- is a bad idea--would attract lots of non-parent types. Maybe with a more benign name--e.g. Sex and Relationship Issues? Other than that, wouldn't mix preschools and daycare--very different.

I totally agree! "Adult/Explicit" sounds so raunchy. Relationships and Sex may end up catching the marriage issues, too and would probably attract fewer perverts.

[Anonymous]

There are preschools that are preschools and then there are preschools that are more like daycare. The preschool only places do not offer extended day, etc. They are just schools. That is why the reaction. To me nanny and daycare go together better than preschool and daycare.

Off of the top of my head I can think of only one, possibly two, preschools in DC that offer some kind of all day option. The vast majority don't. So you choose your preschool much like you would a private school. Maybe preschools that are just schools go in the private school forum and preschools that offer all day could be in daycare and all day preschools?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think an Adult/Explicit forum--at least named as such-- is a bad idea--would attract lots of non-parent types. Maybe with a more benign name--e.g. Sex and Relationship Issues? Other than that, wouldn't mix preschools and daycare--very different.

I like that idea. That satisfies the request for a relationship forum as well.

Perfect!

On the daycare and pre-school combo -- I agree that they can be very different -- but then again, sometimes they are very similar. It makes sense to me to combine. I don't see a problem with addressing two similar topics in one forum.

[Anonymous]

To me nanny and daycare go together better than preschool and daycare.

Wow, IMO, there are SO many nanny issues that have nothing to do with anyone who doesn't have a nanny or au pair. Please don't make those of us with daycare venture into the scary, scary nanny forum. I think preschool and daycare can be combined, but I was one of those moms who had a full-day preschool.