Split the forums ?

[Jonathan D]

Would it be possible to split the forums into two: One for Designer and one for Photo?

[justwilliam]

I can definitely see how that might be seen as an improvement for those who only use one or the other of the two programs  -  but some use both. (Would it then need to split again when Publisher arrives?)

 

Or, perhaps you mean that there should be separate sections in this one forum? I can understand how some might want that.

 

To garner support for something such as you are asking you may want to be more specific in exactly what you are asking..

[Jonathan D]

Yes - one forum but 2 (to become 3) separate "branches". For example there would be separate road maps for Photo and Designer, separate bug reports for Photo and Designer etc.

 

It would make searching and finding previously reported issues a lot quicker. I've found that I've been searching for an AP issue, thought I'd found it but it was an AD issue with similar problems. I only use AP but realise that many users have both.

 

No forum cross-posts unless there was an issue that affected both (or ultimately all 3) products.

 

Jonathan

[Hokusai]

Jonathan D,

 

That is the way it was before. I don't remember when it changed over and became one but 3 or 4 months ago (and before) the threads were divided into Designer/Questions/FeatureRequests/Bugs and Photo/Questions/FeatureRequests/Bugs. The funny thing is, it was confusing because people would post things about Photo in the Designer threads (probably because the Designer threads were on top). It hasn't been that long ago that changed to how it is now.

 

Hokusai

[justwilliam]

Jonathan D,

 

I can imagine that even with separate sections there would still be a lot of 'cross-posts'. Some might be in error. Some might be about a topic which affects both (all three). A project on which I am presently working uses both Designer and Photo; where would I post were it such that I was having difficulty doing something that requires them to work 'together'? This could also possibly present some issues/difficulty for the developers/moderators who are being so active here.  Imagine how often it could happen that someone might ask a question only to have a number of people tell them that they posted in the 'wrong' section.

 

I, for one, am exceptionally pleased that Photo and Designer were designed to work 'together' and do so quite well; this will become even more apparent (and important) once Publisher goes live. I also generally like how the forum is set up; as I use both apps and thus have an strong interest in both, I would not want the forum to become over-complicated and difficult to use.  I especially would not want to see the Share Your Work section being split in two.

 

However, we do already have one section, Affinity Beta Support, which is composed of two parts: Affinity Designer Beta and Affinity Photo Beta. Were there to be two additional sections under the heading of Support, would that be what you had in mind? I guess what I am asking is, are you thinking of splitting the entire forum or do you just want two separate sections for support of the individual apps.

 

Searching need not be an issue for anyone even with the current system in use: One can simply 'google' the terms they wish to search for and then append "affinity forum"; a google search done in this manner can often be more effective than using the forum's built-in search function. Separate sections wouldn't really be of benefit when it comes to 'search'.  (I just queried Google typing "split the forum affinity forum" and your thread was the first 'hit'!)

[Jonathan D]

Thanks both - I didn't realise that the forums were originally split. I'm a (relative) newcomer.  :)

[Shmoo]

+1 for splitting... Just like the beta section each app gets its own branches of categories, beta, news, general, questions.