Based on recent feedback from the forum users about the way things are currently, there has been discussion going on based on this feedback with the intention of improving the forum and having happy users.
We thought we'd set up an official survey to put forward our ideas for the forum, get your opinions and also get further suggestions from yourselves. The poll will run for a week and at the end we'll work based on the feedback we get.
- Should be split F&B into Fashion and Beauty sections? Do you support this? Why or why not?
- Shall we split the forum into a male and female section? Would you support the split? Yes or no and why/why not?
- Should there be a shopping forum? (i.e. for 'find me' type threads). Why or why not?
- Do you like the mega threads? Why or why not?
- Should there be a discussion area for threads not specific to either subforum? Would you like this? Why or why not?
- Any other suggestions?
There is a poll with this survey so everyone can choose multiple options. With every vote/option made, it would be very helpful if users could explain in a post, with at least a bit of detail, what they voted for and why as it'll help us with the final decision. We need to know these are legit votes being cast so action can be made, if not results can be disregarded.
- Should be split F&B into Fashion and Beauty sections? Do you support this? Why or why not?
Nah I don't think so. F&B is easy enough to navigate as it is. It wouldn't be too much trouble if we had one, I'm just not 100% sure if it's needed. - Shall we split the forum into a male and female section? Would you support the split? Yes or no and why/why not?
No. It would segregate it too much, it's nice to have opinions from both sexes in threads and perhaps we wouldn't get this as much if it was separated. Also, I don't think men post enough to warrant a mini section really. - Should there be a shopping forum? (i.e. for 'find me' type threads). Why or why not?
I quite like this idea. The "find me" threads pop up a lot, and it would separate them from the reviewey threads. - Do you like the mega threads? Why or why not?
Some are good (e.g. the Lingerie and Bra thread) and that helps, because all questions in that topic tend to have the same replies. However I've seen some threads being moved which aren't really totally related. I made a thread about highlighter, which was moved into a thread about foundation? I was told "it's all face make up after all". Fair enough, but the two threads merged together didn't make sense. It may all be face make up, but there's big differences in it, and it is F&B. Maybe the mega threads shouldn't be removed, but maybe a bit more thought into it before threads are just merged and that's it. - Should there be a discussion area for threads not specific to either subforum? Would you like this? Why or why not?
I doubt this applies seeing as I was against most subforums, so no. - Any other suggestions?
Nope not right now.
I think it's fine to leave fashion and beauty together in one forum, however i think it would be useful to have a shopping sub forum where the threads asking where to buy certain items etc can go. In this subforum people should also be allowed to ask where they can purchase items that aren't necessarily related to fashion and beauty too as there doesn't seem to be anywhere else that people can do this.
I don't really like the mega threads because peoples posts just get lost in them, but these threads do probably attract more people that may be 'experts' on the subject so I suppose they are quite useful.
As already mentioned in the original post, could voters please answer the poll as well as post a reply explaining what they voted for and answering all the questions in the first post. This is very important!
I think it's a good idea to split the forum up. It would make it easier to ask specific questions IMO.
I also think it's a good idea to split between male and female. It would make it easier for girls to look for the girl-specific threads and guys to look for guy-specific threads. This doesn't mean you're going to have opinions from only one gender, though!
I also think it's a good idea for the shopping subforum. It would organise things better etc.
I think splitting things into 'fashion' and 'beauty' would be a really good change. Please get rid of the big threads - it's impossible to get an individual answer.
I think splitting things into 'fashion' and 'beauty' would be a really good change. Please get rid of the big threads - it's impossible to get an individual answer.
i think splitting into male/female is a good idea as well so it's easier to find threads that are helpful/that you might be able to respond to.
maybe rather than doing male/female sections you could check a box to say if it's male/female/gender neutral and then the thread title would show up in blue/pink/green. might be a lot of hassle though.
I voted to split the forum into separate fashion and beauty subforums. The fashion threads easily outweigh the beauty threads, and if I was going to browse down a forum for some beauty tips (less likely being a man, but whatever) then it'd be hard to do so in the current setup.
I think that male and female should continue to co-exist. It keeps the community together, and makes it easier for men to get female opinions on clothes and fits, and vice versa.
I don't think that there's any requirement for a shopping forum. It might create confusion as threads that start as 'do you like this jumper?' turn into 'where did you get this jumper?'
I feel that there should be a 'what are you wearing today?' thread, that is stickied and used to ask for the opinions of other forum users. This thread should be headed by clear and simple instructions on how to post a picture. Fashion isn't about what looks nice on the shop floor, it's about what looks good on people. I feel that this could really help raise awareness of what does, and doesn't look good on certain body shapes/sizes.
- Should be split F&B into Fashion and Beauty sections? Do you support this? Why or why not?
- Shall we split the forum into a male and female section? Would you support the split? Yes or no and why/why not?
- Should there be a shopping forum? (i.e. for 'find me' type threads). Why or why not?
- Do you like the mega threads? Why or why not?
- Should there be a discussion area for threads not specific to either subforum? Would you like this? Why or why not?
- Any other suggestions?
- Fashion and Beauty should be split, makes it easier to browse through what you actually want to read.
- It should be split between male/female, again so it's clearer.
- I don't really see the point of a shopping forum, that could just go in with either beauty or fashion (if you split those up)
- I hate mega threads, they're long, boring, and impersonal. By that I mean someone asks a question, and only gets two replies because 2 minutes later someone else has asked a question.
- If you had a discussion area, you would probably have a lot of people just posting in there instead of in the specific subforums, so no.
- Maybe you could have these subforums: Fashion (shopping, clothes, accessories, "find me"s), Hair, Make-up and Skin Care
- Should be split F&B into Fashion and Beauty sections? Do you support this? Why or why not?
I don't think we should split it. It's not exactly stuffed full of new topics so it's dead easy to navigate as it is. I don't know if 2 separate forums will generate enough interest to merit keeping them going.
- Shall we split the forum into a male and female section? Would you support the split? Yes or no and why/why not?
No, because it would alienate the already small numbers of men that do use the F&B section.
- Should there be a shopping forum? (i.e. for 'find me' type threads). Why or why not?
Yes, I think there should, but, instead of having a huge mega 'can you find me', it'd be the place where each individual can have their own thread. It's too confusing when they're merged into one big one.
- Do you like the mega threads? Why or why not?
No. Sometimes threads get merged into the mega threads without any explanation, so when you're halfway through a thread the topic will totally change direction without any prior notice. It becomes hard to navigate. It's also hard to keep track of people who've answered your question, when it's been merged into a thread 23 pages long and no separate 'sections' for each question and related answer. So a separate forum for the 'find me' shopping one, for example, would be great, imo.
- Should there be a discussion area for threads not specific to either subforum? Would you like this? Why or why not?
I don't think so. I think it could turn quite 'cliquey' with people only chatting and stuff.
- Any other suggestions?
I think there could be room for a sort of 'FAQ' or 'Glossary' with words and phrases used in the F&B Industry, so for example, a quick description/break down of makeup products, descriptions of different types of clothing etc. Just an idea.
Leave F&B together - F&B is pretty easy to navigate as it is, Splitting it into Fashion/ Beauty I think would only cause more confusion and sub-forums when there's no need.
Leave F&B mixed - Again, F&B is easy to navigate as it is, though maybe as a sticky, someone could compile a "mens on trend" and "womens on trend" post where the latest fashions are kept up to date? This seems to be what the majority fo questions ask and so one thread which is regularly updated would be a good reference point (also, I'd make them unable for the general user to post on to avoid it getting clogged and hard to navigate within the post)
Remove the mega threads (Now and in the future) - Do this, right now. I hate the large threads only because 1. people ignore them anyway and make singular posts and 2. when people do post in the large threads, there often isn't enough interest for people to answer their question or querie OR the post simply becomes lost within the huge threads.
Discussion area for non-specific posts - As much as I've been against sub forums, I think a simple divide between the "Help, Advice and Shopping" area and "I love _____. Do you?" kinds of threads would be welcome. It filters the threads quite well and allows those who simply want to discuss to do their thing and those who need help/want to advise to do theirs without having to read a million threads to find what you want.
No shopping sub forum - I think this would link along with the discussion thread but I don't think there should be a "shopping" sub forum but simply one that is for advice and help and one for discussion. Shopping queries would simply go in the help and advice.
I also think 'Beauty' should then have the anon feature enabled.
People have body issues they may want advice on yet wouldn't want to reveal these to anyone.
Posting about issues that are more 'beauty' than 'health' in H&R lead them to be moved to this forum. They may stay anon when moved but the OP isn't able to reply anonymously..therefore can't give feedback to replies etc.
I also think 'Beauty' should then have the anon feature enabled.
People have body issues they may want advice on yet wouldn't want to reveal these to anyone.
Posting about issues that are more 'beauty' than 'health' in H&R lead them to be moved to this forum. They may stay anon when moved but the OP isn't able to reply anonymously..therefore can't give feedback to replies etc.
- Should be split F&B into Fashion and Beauty sections? Do you support this? Why or why not?
No, I don't think it's a constructive or necessary split. At the moment, it's easy to find threads that are relevant to your interests. There are occasionally overlap threads that would be out-of-place in either proposed section.
- Shall we split the forum into a male and female section? Would you support the split? Yes or no and why/why not?
Nope. It's nice to have opinions from the opposite sex. I liked the above suggestion of having some way of labelling threads so that you can tell which gender they're relevant to, though. I don't think asking people to state this directly in the title will work in the longer term.
- Should there be a shopping forum? (i.e. for 'find me' type threads). Why or why not?
Yes, basically - although I don't think that's the most informative title for it. I like the idea of separating the 'Where can I get this?' threads from the 'Do you like this?' threads and other stuff. If someone is asking, 'Do you like this? Where can I get it?', then they can research in the opinions section, and then ask where to find it in the shopping section. If they want to know where to get it regardless of opinions, why are they bothering asking?
- Do you like the mega threads? Why or why not?
I was going to say 'no', but I've changed my mind. It depends on the thread. I don't mind very specific megathreads too much, like the bra/lingerie and bod mod FAQ ones - they're less bombarded with questions, and because they're on a narrower topic, it's easier to look back through and find things of relevance - indeed, it's easier to realise that a very specific megathread is the thread you should be posting in.
I think I'm trying to say: a megathread is good if it's for answering very specific questions, and you'll have the right crowd of people there to answer the question - or the answer will be easier to find to start with.
I do have issues with the massive opinions thread, see here.
- Should there be a discussion area for threads not specific to either subforum? Would you like this? Why or why not?
Does this mean if the forum was split by gender, or into fashion/beauty?
I think this would be good for a gender-split... For example, if you want to discuss guyliner, you could put it in either forum ['girls, what do you think of guyliner', and 'lads, will you be wearing guyliner?'], and it would possibly be best in an inbetweeny forum.
I think this could also be useful for a fashion/beauty split... for example, if I wanted to ask, 'Is yellow eyeshadow in this season?'.
However, I don't like the idea of splitting the forum initially.
- Any other suggestions?
Not at this moment... I might edit later on. I'm knackered from typing all that right now
- Should be split F&B into Fashion and Beauty sections? Do you support this? Why or why not?
Yes. I've noticed beauty advice threads tend to get lost among the fashion posts and don't get many replies, so if there was a seperate section for beauty it would make things clearer, maybe encourage more people to reply, and the people who like giving makeup/hair/skin tips could find these threads more easily.
- Shall we split the forum into a male and female section? Would you support the split? Yes or no and why/why not?
Yes, again it would make things clearer. Sometimes I'll click on a thread and then realiseI haven't any advice to give - for example if the title says "deodorant advice" and it turns out to be written by a guy, I don't know which male deodorants are any good. Though if people titled their threads more clearly it would stop this problem without having to make a male and a female section.
It's not something that really bothers me though - it only takes a second to click the back button.
- Should there be a shopping forum? (i.e. for 'find me' type threads). Why or why not?
Nah, find me type threads should just be posted in the appropriate area if we get seperate fashion and beauty sections, and if it isn't split they should just be part of the fashion and beauty forum. A lot of the threads on here are "find me" ones, so if there was a sub forum there wouldn't be many posts in the normal fashion and beauty section.
- Do you like the mega threads? Why or why not?
Don't like most of them. The bra one is useful because of Anna's advice at the beginning, and it just sticks to the topic of lingerie. The others annoy me though, because I can't keep track of what is being talked about, and if you ask for advice only a few people respond because another person comes along and asks for advice, so your post gets lost really quickly. Since the mega threads have become more common I've stopped contributing as much on here, because I don't like having to sift through all the posts.
- Should there be a discussion area for threads not specific to either subforum? Would you like this? Why or why not?
Yeah, it would be good to have a section for posts like "what's the worst outfit you've ever worn?" "guys wearing makeup - yes or no?" etc etc that don't require advice but are for discussion. I think a lot of people would contribute to it because everyone likes sharing their opinions.
I voted for a split between fashion and beauty. If I do come on to this forum I am more likely to look at the fashion treads over the beauty (Yeah, shock ) as apart from eye make up I don't generally have much interest in beauty products. It's annoying through all the beauty related threads.
I also voted for the mega threads to be gone. I don't use them that often but I sometimes like to have a look through. I have found that many people are left out as someone else will post not so long after them and obviously people have their cliques and are more likely to answer to certain people.
Also, I hate that the topics in these threads are so varied. One minute I'm reading about someone wanting to buy some boots and then some guy saying that girls wearing glasses are hot
I voted for a split between fashion and beauty. If I do come on to this forum I am more likely to look at the fashion treads over the beauty (Yeah, shock ) as apart from eye make up I don't generally have much interest in beauty products. It's annoying through all the beauty related threads.
I'm starting to change my mind and agree with the idea of splitting the forum like this. And I liked the suggestion about being able to have the anonymous feature for the beauty section.
Maybe the mega threads should be changed from mega threads into subforums. The problem i have with the mega threads is, i post a thread, it is then dumped into a mega thread and i never get any answers cos someone posts a question right after me and my question is then ignored.
Discussion of aspects of health related to beauty, and fashion.
Useful Resources:
Important Fashion & Beauty Survey
This doesn't mean you're going to have opinions from only one gender, though!
) as apart from eye make up I don't generally have much interest in beauty products. It's annoying through all the beauty related threads. 
