Not being a prolific poster here, due to time constraints rather than lack of interest, I hope I’m not being too forward airing my opinions about this.
Perhaps a separate section for tattoo requests, where posters can just ask for translations, and more importantly I think, can see other requests being answered. Also adding a separate section for grammatical and general questions about the language would probably attract more beginners and intermediates.
I don’t think the “One Big Forum” umbrella really works. As Redwolf says, it puts newcomers off if they see really long threads with people slagging one another off, so why not yet another section where access is restricted to members with an arbitrary post count, 20, 50, whatever, where the abstract and technical threads can remain out of the way until the new members get a feel for the place, and a thicker skin.
Just a few thoughts, hope they don’t sound too silly.

The thing is, I can tell you from my experience with other forums (not just IGTF -- I ran my own discussion forum for many years), subdividing a forum such as this will be the death of it, especially as it's still so small and struggling. In my opinion, based on that experience, what we need to be doing is building community...that's what made the other forum work.

We actually had that discussion often at IGTF, and the consensus was always "subdividing us will destroy our community."

Ironically, it was the desire to retain that sense of community that drove several of us to start a new forum (this one) where it could be retained when IGTF inevitably fell apart after its sale. But that isn't what's happening, and I'm trying to figure out what we can do to bring it back.

Of course, if people don't want that kind of community, that's another story...but I think if that's the case, we're never going to grow, and we will continue to have a less-than-pleasant association with new learners and teachers.

Redwolf

When I joined up here, the forum was divided into too many sections, and I think the current format is working better. It's really only a problem when you have a heated debate getting repeatedly bumped to the top of the forum.

So could we have a Debate Section where moderators can move a topic off the main forum whenever it gets a bit crazy? The Tigh Degheibh section could be incorporated into that. I never really understood why Deghebh has his own section anyway. He ain't the only one who likes a good debate.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Maybe we could ask people to tone things down a bit when comments begin to verge on personal attacks.
But im not sure how you can really police it, If i went and said, I dont think product X is good for learning Irish as the grammar is very poor , the author could take that as a personal attack on his or her ability.

The other option is to restrict or ban certain topics, but then we end up ignoring important debates to do with the language.
The only other alternative I can think of is that the regularly users try and make two interesting posts on another topic before diving in ,fists swinging, to what ever heated debate is going on.

Personally i think the forum is great, I cant see why people dont use it more. If they find a topic divisive they should avoid it if they are not up for it.

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

I just looked at the posting guidelines again, and I have a few suggestions. As now written, they seem a little bit bossy, and might be off-putting to some. They're polite, but I think some re-ordering of things would be helpful. I suggest that we:

-- take all of the disclaimers and put them at the end (few people pay attention to such things anyway)
-- get rid of the smilie that is being used there, because it looks a bit like a frowning man who frowns over and over again (I know that's not what the smilie actually portrays, but it looks odd to me as used)
-- open with some sort of "welcome to all" introduction
-- after the intro, and before the disclaimers, introduce the various codes etc. with something like: "While none of these are required in order for you to post here, here are some ideas for ways to code your subject heading to make it easy to spot, and which could attract the attention of those who have particular expertise in the subject area". It might also be good to add, before the dialect codes, something like: "If you are not interested in how to say something in a particular dialect of Irish, then it isn't necessary to specify one, but if you are interested in a particular dialect, please use these codes to indicate so".

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I like these suggestions.

I'd like to revisit the idea of a product review section that's NOT set up as a discussion forum as well. People can still post negative reviews...in fact, reviews aren't at all good if people aren't honest about their opinions! But there wouldn't be all that back and forth that is what tends to get nasty.

If you go to a place like TripAdvisor or Yelp, for example, you'll see a wide range of experiences and opinions with hotels, attractions, and restaurants, but because the reviewers are simply posting reviews and not getting into personal discussions, it seems more objective. We did something similar at IGTF for product and dictionary reviews, and I think it worked well.

Redwolf

I think it depends on what you want out of a forum. Do you want to create a community? I get the impression that regular posters have a history together somewhere else and that there may be a desire to create a community. That's not always interesting for other people, who may just be interested in the Irish language per se. Maybe games and suchlike should be considered part of the community aspect? In other words, you won't get many learners joining in as they have to get back to their books and vocab lists!
I don't see why you can't have a sub-divided forum - just look at the opening page of this forum, it's already got several different sub-sections (some of which seem a bit obtuse). I would definitely put tattoo requests in a section all on their own. Am I alone in thinking these are not learners? Don't want to offend anyone by this, but I don't think it's the same kind of enthusiasm as people trying to learn the language.
I look in here regularly, mainly looking for grammar points. I also look at the Gaeilge forum on Boards ie. I don't know how the numbers of users compares but I find their site usually more to my taste. It seems more open and to the point somehow.
Just my tuppence worth...

What sections of the forums seem obtuse to you nuala?

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

You would be surprised, Nuala. It's often we've had someone wander in for a tattoo translation (or for a translation for something they're writing), stick around for the craic, and eventually begin learning Irish. At least that was the case on IGTF (the forum we created this forum to replace when it was sold to an English company that turned it into an ad-ridden wasteland).

Often the impulse that drives someone to seek a tattoo in Irish comes from a deep interest in one's Irish heritage. People tend to think that Irish is "dead," or "impossible to learn," but they come to a forum seeking translation help and discover that this is far from the truth...their interest is piqued, and they decide to give it a try.

One of the reasons we've always done tattoo translations (most Irish forums won't) is that they're a good way for us to practice, learn, pick up pointers about the subtleties of word choice and dialect variations. You'd be surprised how much you can learn by reading how people approach a translation for "None but God may judge me" (at one time the most common tattoo translation request on IGTF) or "Live, Laugh, Love" (the most common tattoo request among women a few years ago).

If you look at the games, we typically gear them toward beginners. One of the reasons we like Fiche Ceist, for example, is it's a fun way to begin to grasp the difference between "tá" and "is"...something that new learners often struggle with. We've also played games that help demystify the Irish phonetic system...something that, frankly, really freaks new learners out!

The problem is, you can't build a forum on people "looking in." For a forum to thrive, you need active participation. You have to engage people. That's a thing that subdivided forums tend to inhibit, at least in my experience.

Redwolf

I'm interested in this comment. What do they do that we don't that appeals to you?

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