Any chance we could agree on a standard title for cruise meet threads?

[gortman65]

Hi all,

I was interested in starting a new meet thread for the 10/26/08 4-day Wonder cruise if one wasn't already posted, so I did a forum search. Turns out that it's very difficult to determine if a meet thread exists because there are so many different ways to put the date in the title. Here are some possibilities based on titles in current meet threads:

10/26/08
October 28, 2008
October 28th, 2008
28th October 2008
10/26/2008
Oct. 26, 2008
Oct 26 2008
Oct 28th 08

It appears that the forum search function allows you to "or" search strings, but it seems like a lot of work and it's possible that you might not cover all potential cases.

So I was wondering if we might be able to agree on a semi-standard way of starting a meet thread so that it would be easier for people to find the one(s) they are searching for. Maybe, as some people do, we could put two "date types" in the title (as in this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1070092). If it's something that seems like a good idea to most of you, perhaps the moderators could put a sticky at the top of the forum with some suggested guidance for starting a meet thread.

The best solution would be some forum view that automatically organized the meet posts by cruise date, but that would require some backend work that this forum engine might not support.

In any case, thanks for considering this and have a great day!

 

[tigger137]

I think this is an excellent idea. I also find it difficult to track down the threads I'm interested in, and to see if there's already a thread for a particular cruise date. Especially as the search facility seems complete wacky for me recently and doesn't come up with things that I know exist.

For the date format, I also offer another option to those listed by gortman65:

year-month-day, eg today is 2007-02-08.

We use this format where I work (although we don't put the hyphens in, I've suggested them here for clarity) so that when filed they automatically show in date order. We then add a document name, which could translate into a thread name. For example:

2008-05-10 Ship of Thieves ......

Perhaps I'm being a little OCD! But I do think some sort of standard dating for a cruise meet thread would make life easier.

 

[gortman65]

Tigger137,

That is a fantastic suggestion -- start every meet thread with the date in YYYY-MM-DD format! I know there are other standard ways to do it, and that people have their conventions in different parts of the world, but your solution seems pretty simple.

It would be nice if we could convert current threads to that format. That I'm guessing would either have to be done by a moderator or the author of each post -- a daunting task. I would volunteer to do it but I obviously don't have the required permissions.

Anyone else think this would help?

 

[pppiglet]

Sounds good...or even if it was two different areas. One for the Magic and one for the Wonder.

 

[misseulalie]

I second the idea, I hate looking for threads because they are hard to read. I've posted to wrong threads because the month and date was right, but the year was wrong!

 

[mmouse37]

I suggested this same exact idea over a year ago.....obviously the idea did not take off. I can't understand the reluctance to do it. It would take all of a minute or two to modify exisiting thread titles (by the thread starter) and if each new thread starter just used a standard date format it would make so much sense and make it so much more convenient to find specific meet threads....then they could add whatever they wanted to personalize that thread title after the date.

It is so darn difficult to find threads if they are pushed back on older pages.

Come one people....modify your thread titles to be consistent:

YYYY/MM/DD

 

[Steelblue]

How about this idea. It will require a lot of work from someone and for the moderator. Since the cruise dates are known in advance, a sticky thread can be created for each cruise date. This way everyone can just scroll down and find their cruise date and post in it. No need to create new threads, no more duplicate threads and no need to look through pages and pages of threads.

 

[AlexandNessa]

I agree. It's hard to search now. Plus, I'm sure others won't agree with me, but if the cruise meet has come and gone, I think it should be moved to the community board. We have 8 or 9 threads on the first page of the cruise meets boards whose cruises have been over for months (2005, 2006 etc). That just adds to the clutter when trying to find your cruise, given the many ways to title cruise meet threads. Or, maybe the cruise meets should be divided by year and ship?

 

[pppiglet]

How about this idea. It will require a lot of work from someone and for the moderator. Since the cruise dates are known in advance, a sticky thread can be created for each cruise date. This way everyone can just scroll down and find their cruise date and post in it. No need to create new threads, no more duplicate threads and no need to look through pages and pages of threads.

This is a great idea.

AlexandNessa idea about moving or closing out the old ones is a good idea too!

 

[lajones81]

I'm new to the Cruise Boards and think this is an EXCELLENT idea!!