Okay, so I've noticed that there have been a few good almost ideas mentioned on here, that kind of go together, but never really got off the ground.

I'm referring to these threads:
A Love and Relationship Section?
Suggestion for a new board. Advice Board anyone?
Debate Board? Maybe? no...

I agree that these sorts of things should fall under 'Random' for the most part, but I don't think that it should just be in Random proper, amidst all the other more lighthearted posts. They all sort of go together, so maybe just have one sub-board under Random for 'Discussions' or 'Advice'.

I've seen people responding on these other threads, saying things like:
"This isnt a guidance office, take it to help.com"

To me, I can't believe the above quote came out of a fellow Dollar!
I thought that the whole point of the Dollars was to help people, whenever and however possible.

I understand that, opening a place for people to pour their hearts out will undoubtedly attract trolls. Trolls love to eat emo, it's like crack for them. There will be flames, bad advice, stupid fake posts asking for help..... But sometimes you need all the garbage as camouflage for the others to come out of hiding.

There may actually be some people here on the Dollars that are actually looking for real advice, real community, real friends, real help.
Even if it's only a tiny chance, and they're the minority, I have a strong urge to help these people.

It's easy to get forgotten nowdays, and it's easy to disappear on the internet.
It's easy to see why so many people think they're alone when faced with a sea of Apathetic Anon.

Again, I'm not saying give each of these areas their own board. I'm saying consolidate all the "Serious" Random, and give it a subsection. That way it's only seen by the ones who have something to say, or the people that want to help. (yes, and trolls, but trolls are everywhere and can easily be ignored, might as well rename them 'oxygen' 9_9 )

I, for one, would do my best as a Dollars member to help my fellow Dollars.
I don't have much money, but I have an ear to listen with and a shoulder to cry on for anyone who needs it.
I'll be disappointed if I'm the only one who feels this way.

I'm willing to deal with emo kids and trolls, as long as I can help somehow.
Even the people we don't like are still people too, and deserve to be treated that way.

Serious debates actually belong on Main - Hence "Actual topics of discussion". It's a long running battle we've fought to get people to understand what's supposed to posted there and what isn't.

As for advice, the question comes down to the demand. Making a new board because a few threads would better fit there is fine - But do we have enough demand (quantity of threads made) to keep that board alive and healthy? Worth making it?

I may be wrong, but so far we've just had a few threads here and there in Random that took up a thread and were resolved in said thread. Do you personally believe we have had enough to warrant an entire board specifically for the few advice/romance threads we've accrued?

Sub sections of a board are actually a board - They just fall under more broad topics. IE: Games has a subsection for Visual Novels.

I do agree that these things don't seem to have a very defined location for them to be put, but they also haven't really reached the quantity where sectioning them off is an issue. It seems like, as of my understanding right now, they're kind of floating between "not a problem" and "why is this here? We need a place for it".

Now, should these things pick up in quantity? I think a sub-board would be nice for them. But until then, we can simply channel it all into a single thread dedicated to it... which I think we have somewhere in Random already. The problem then is reminding people its there, which is troublesome considering we rarely even know they have an issue until they've poured their heart out to us in the OP of yet a new thread.

>>2
This may just be me asking a stupid question, but..... How do the threads come up in quantity if they're being consolidated?
Is it really right to treat every 'love' question the same?
I think if people had a safe place to post that type of stuff, it'd be surprising how much would pop up.

I personally have been wanting and waiting for something like this, because that's the type of Dollar I'd like to be, but....
Even I wouldn't post asking for help on Random proper.

I honestly believe that the reason there aren't many threads for it is because there's no real place. No one wants to be the one out of place. If you go to Random right now, most of the threads on top are Memes and Jokes..... Who wants to post serious stuff ontop of all that? You'll just get flamed for being an emo kid or a killjoy.

I'd have a MILLION things to post on a forum like that. In fact, I doubt I'd use many of the others on here.

But, until there's a place for it, I'm not gonna go broadcasting my emotional/life problems all over Random while people are trying to have a good time. That's social suicide. :/

You do raise a good point. Whether or not it's just a subjective matter, the fact does stand that there really isn't a place for posting personal problems other than consolidated threads. The only issue I'd find with having a board filled with topics that would ultimately be rendered obsolete over the course of time is that, without regular cleanup, it would get messy fast.

It does somewhat bother me that we do quite a bit of shooting-down of topics, whether or not it's justified or in accordance with the organization of the site. Really, the way this site was made, it doesn't have any place for topics that aren't long-lasting.

But I don't suppose it would necessarily be a bad thing, as long as it's messy within that one board. Introductions board is no better, after all. What would this new board be called, though - Personal? And where at, a sub-board of Random?

Kind of want to see what others have to say on this before jumping to conclusions though, but it is a decent idea the way you've phrased it.

I like the sound of a "Personal" board, so long as we don't mix up the connotations of "personal issues" and "personal ads".

And Girl A raises a valid point - Unless there is a designated place for it, this type of subject isn't really one that just 'crops up' for no real reason. My concern is that we're making a location for a topic that may or may not have a demand; but its very nature is that which we can't really judge until its happened.

So while it has its merits, I'm still hesitant to endorse this personally.

>>5 I will endorse it, though I will not be a fanatic of the option. I truly love the idea, but I can still see pitfalls.

I'm beginning to lose track of all the personal cries for help left on Main and Random that end up getting three types of posts:

• Reply criticizing OP for lack of grammar, improper posting practices, lack of info, or general derp etc.


• Reply taking OP's situation as serious (though sometimes with great caution) and offering legitimate advice.


• Reply that "passes the buck" to another post. Generally something severely vague or a statement unrelated to the situation at hand.

While the creation of a space for personal entries may not keep the first and third from happening, I foresee a definite increase in the second.

>>2 & >>3 Anyone who's lurked the BBS for at least a week has seen what we do to trolls here. Even the most well-worded and detailed requests for advice have been known to come with a fearful stipulation that they "understand that this really isn't an overarching issue" or they "looked all over but couldn't find a place better to post this." It takes some courage to trust anons with your real-world problems, but it takes even more when you think that by posting it, you're doing someone else wrong. Now I understand that there are other places on the internet to try and seek help, but as a person I really DO want to help people if possible. Even if that means simply guiding someone to the answer that was in their own head from the start, so why should the Dollars not be a medium for this?

>>4 At the sake of sounding more foolish than usual, this kind of forum being messy actually seems to have it's advantages. If you think about how a personal issue stands up next to interpersonal philosophy, societal issues, and bulletins about the most perfect ways to make sure that your post is relevant it's quite stretch to put something like that there. Now change these posts to others about personal issues and the insecurity that comes with posting shrinks dramatically. Once the issue has it's time it can be saged, deleted, or sit as a piece for personal encouragement/insight or whatever have you. It just seems almost too valuable to try and create a section that doesn't reek of total misanthropy, as many around here do from time to time.

>>1 I've always regarded this site as a location for a mental forum to encourage and provide counterpoint for physical and mental actions. After all, no one here can really tell you what to do, everything comes back to you in one way or another. Because of this I've always thought about how ironic it is that there's really no place here for generally ideological thought. Some feel this place is logically the Main forum, but experience quickly teaches one about that taboo.


Overall, these are all thoughts it a given instant. Be they insubstantial enough to not provide any purpose as to why such a place should exist, then leave this to no more than one more thinking member that supports it.

Define idelogical thought? If it's philosophy or the like, then it actually does belong on Main - Though it gets put in Random from time to time.

The main issue is that when most people try to present it, they don't really leave any room for "discussion" in their post - Or it is horribly vague/generalized. Or, in the case of the recent one on Main regarding mistreating people, it is literally something that's been gone over and over so many times before that broaching a new topic of discussion is like having left overs for the sixth day in a row.

Well made ideological threads such as the "is man essentially good or evil?" thread tend to be received well and take off. It's the ones where the OP can't be arsed to put any effort into it that get shunted to the side and forgotten.

I can understand if you mean that most people end up with a self-ingrained "taboo" regarding posting on Main - Since the majority of threads that get shot down are posted there.

+Bump+

>>7
But, see, it sounds like you're trying to lump everyone in together again. Does everyone's problem HAVE to be a discussion? Does it HAVE to fit into a norm? I, personally, think that if we're having philosophical/ideological discussions and such, sure, put them on Main or Random.... But that's not really what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about 'general' life issues, I'm talking about 'personal' ones.

I don't just want to see a "Boyfriend Trouble" thread or an "I'm Depressed" thread, where everyone just gets on there collectively and bitches on the topic.... How is that helping the individual? I honest to god want to be able to help people with their problems as individual people and instances, not just quantify them into the masses and sweep them under the rug.

I don't care if the board is messy, that's why it has it's own board and isn't all over Main or Random proper. I think it SHOULD be messy. WE are messy, as people, as a group, as a species. Why shouldn't a board about us personally be messy as well?

I'm going to state this again: I would NEVER post anything along these lines on Main or Random proper. However I learned it, I was taught that it's not polite to air your dirty laundry in public. There's a time and a place for everything. I'm shy. I'm vulnerable. Most people who would be coming to a Personal type board with serious issues would be the same: Scared, nervous, afraid of being judged or not taken seriously. We don't want to just hold our bleeding hearts out there for everyone to see, especially when not everyone here is okay with that or receptive to it.

Some of us see Dollars as being a type of surrogate extended family.... We hope that by coming here, even if we have no one to talk to or support us IRL, there will be someone here. I'd like to be the first volunteer to be that someone, in the hopes that in offering to be there for people, they might eventually be there for me too.

>>6 Indeed.


(( Also, as a side-topic, since it was mentioned >>5 here, I'm actually quite amazed there's no 'personal ad' area here for Dollars to try and hook up and meet friends or date.... Or is that the countries board? XD;;; ))

I think we'd laugh away a personal ads thread :V

And you make several good points regarding the nature of the issue and the board itself.

Though I'm still dubious as to how effective it will be, I'll endorse the idea of a board for it. The question now is what to name it (personal?) and where to put it?

Sub-board of something? a main board? How does the placement work out?

I think a sub board would be fine for it, considering the only people who'll be posting there will be the people who'll be looking for it, anyway..... As for where to put it... I keep wanting to say Random, because alot of the posts concerning things like that before have been put there, and Main has so many sub-boards as it is..........

As for a name.... Hmn.... I guess just labeling it as 'Advice' would be a bad idea? I mean, I'm attacking thesaurus.com and most of the words connected to 'help' and 'advice' are either too specific of terms, too general, or visually/socially unattractive. :/

It's about finding a way to label it to convey that it's serious without embarrassing the people using it.
Tactics, tactics..... x_x;;;

Now that I've read through everything here, I think it's safe to say that most points here have already been addressed and agreed upon. And, I'm in support of the agreed upon.

Now that my own support is in the open, I'll move on the the "where should we put it?"

IMO, we should put it close to main, as a Primary Board. Why give it such an important spot? Well, it's not because it's in huge demand.

Again, IMO... Fuck demand. Mind the language, but I couldn't think of an appropriate word strong enough to convey that message. Topics like this don't exist out of demand, they exist because of importance. But that's an entirely different argument, and I'd hate to debate yet another point when we've come to the general conclusion that this is a good idea.

Anyway, I think it should be placed as such a large board, and so close to the top, because that's where most people look first. If it's not on top, then it goes on main, regardless of what it is. Sometimes we do get people that go to random, and it's generally safer there, but not nearly as noticeable when someone is crying out for help.

This is ignoring the idea of "neatness." As this is a serious topic, it should be kept with the more serious boards. IE: Main and News.

As for a title for this thread... I think something like
"Personal Help" would be good. It's a bit longer than other boards, but it is clear and concise for the viewer. It doesn't use any fancy words, and I think it is very obvious what that board will be about.

Also, Reltair, how difficult would it be to add another board to this site? I understand that sometimes making changes can be time consuming and occasionally costs money to do because server hosts are probably dicks, and I would love to hear what it takes to make an addition like this.

I can see it easily being VERY beneficial, and could quite possibly save lives. So, if such a thing were not absurdly difficult or costly to do, I see no reason not to.

Also, *bump* :P

I am entirely opposed to "Personal Help". Every board but Visual Novels is a single word, I like that theme. We should keep it. I doubt it will save lives, but it may be helpful.

As for adding boards - It's not difficult. Especially if you have a skeleton page ready - all you need to do is fill in the pertinently changed information and then add in a link to it on the other boards.

And while I don't think we have a good place for it to exist as a sub-board, I think putting it up near Main is blatantly a stupid idea. The two topics up there relate to over-arching issues and world-wide news of varying importance. We'd add a board that will most likely consist majorly of teen problems?

It may be immensely important to that person, but to the rest of us it's not that important. Or, most likely, that unique.

I'd say somewhere around the Animation - Film range, if anything. Our goal isn't to make a place to pour out their heart easy to find - It's just to make a place for them to do it at.

>>13 Allow me to clarify.

1) Thank you for your opinion about "one word boards," but I don't see how that really matters for anything other than looking pretty. I'm going for content here, not flare.

2) I didn't say it will save lives, I said it could save lives. The board would exist for people to come to for help.

Say, for example, a suicidal person makes an appearance. We may not ever know that they are seriously considering suicide as an escape, yet our words could bring them out and away from that. There, one life saved. Is that not the purpose of this suggestion in the first place? To offer this option to people who need it?

3) Glad to hear it wouldn't be difficult. I'm sure Reltair gets enough action just saging things.

4) I can see where you are coming from with this not being an over-arching issue. But here's another take on it:

I see topics come up on Main every now and again, (occasionally in missions, too), asking for help or for personal advice. A prime example from this week is the thread that asked about joining the Army, looking for support from fellow Dollars.

Now, it was pointed out that it probably didn't belong on main,>/i> and should have gone elsewhere. Yet, "elsewhere" doesn't currently exist. Random is the only other place I can think of off of the top of my head.

Misplaced threads. Isn't THAT an overarching issue? That was my primary reasoning for placing it towards the top: It's easy to spot, so really, any idiot can find it. This is with the understanding that there will still be people who fall through the holes, and post on main anyway... But, considering the already low number of posts it gets (especially since about 50% of them go to random anyway), those kinds of misplaced threads would become essentially nonexistent, a real rarity.

5) I don't find half of the threads that end up in Main to be important, but clearly someone does, hence why it exists. I've only seen one thread on Main (save for the little "interview" thing that is up there right now) that has been worth my posting in.

Quite simply, if it isn't important to you, don't look at it.

Rarely do I see topics (that aren't misplaced) appear on main, that actually help people. It's mostly opinions and things of that nature, alongside the FAQ's that essentially tell people not to post stupid things on Main.

~~~

If you still disagree with the above, I'd love to see some more right and proper points that I failed to address, or other things that influence this decision.

Damnit. I messed up my italics code in there somewhere... Just pretend it doesn't exist.

Looking back, I missed one more point I would like to make about the placement of this board.

If it were to be placed under News, and above Animation, where is the problem in that? Last I checked, Animation didn't have heart-to-hearts with people... Therefore, I consider this board, made to help people, more important than the ones underneath.

I don't follow any logic that says that talking to people about their problems is less important than anime. I just don't.

>>16 >>14 Agreed.

>>13 "We'd add a board that will most likely consist majorly of teen problems?"
I feel like it's exactly this type of attitude that makes people afraid to look for help. Of course the only ones you see blatantly asking this stuff are teens, they're the only ones that haven't been around long enough to know how harsh you get treated when you do. But what about the people who aren't teens, who still have issues?

If someone says they're depressed, or they're having trouble with their boyfriend, do you automatically judge them and sort them into a 'whiny emo kid' category? What if that person happens to be 35, and their depression is based off of long-term abuse and threatening to push them to something serious like addiction or suicide?
I remember having a conversation on here before about how on the internet, grammar means nothing. The person writing the post might be 5 or 55, they may speak well, or they may type liek a tr0ll, but all in all.... They're still a person and deserve to be treated as such.

And, again, I'm totally willing to sift through all the ridiculous 'teen drama' to look for the real issues. Hell, sometimes, if you can bother to try to fix the teen drama, you save the adult they become afterword a hell of a lot of trouble later in life. Actually, if helping the whiny teen in turn helps create a better adult.... WE COULD SAVE THE WORLD!! :D

>>17 Whether it's the type of attitude or not - It's logical and blunt. The majority of the issues will be teen issues. While there will be other ones crop up that deal with other demographics - Those aren't what I for-see being the primary content.

>>Reilyx Aesthetics matter. We already know what content is going in the board, and adding "help" on to the end of "Personal" isn't going to make it that much clearer what it's for.

The board itself will have a description on it, like every other board, dictating what's supposed to be posted there. It will most likely be added to the FAQ as well.

As for easy to find, I repeat: Our goal isn't to make a place to pour out their heart easy to find - It's just to make a place for them to do it at.

Keep in mind that the its already agreed the board should be made/suggested directly to Reltair, and we've decided on asking for it to be a main board rather than a sub-board.

You are now essentially pushing a pointless matter of where it goes. If someone can't be arsed to look down a navigation link, then there's really no helping them.

The usual procedures for adding new boards is to put it at the bottom of the list, above random. So it would normally just go beneath Technology. I completely disagree with the intent to treat this matter specially just because it's an interpersonal subject. You could argue that since Animation (formerly Anime) was so near the top, that we wouldn't get as many threads on main about "OMG who loves DRRR!? :DDDD", but that's a complete fallacy.

If people can't be arsed to look for it at all, then making it easier to find will be pointless. It's like pointing a blind person in the right direction.

My personal belief is that we should just suggest making the board to Reltair and let him put it wherever the hell he wants to - If he wants to make it. I only commented on your placement desire because it felt inherently wrong to imply "oh hey, lets make this more important than World Wide News!", not because I had any particular care about where on the nav-column it should go. Because as, again - let me restate it a third time

Our goal isn't to make a place to pour out their heart easy to find - It's just to make a place for them to do it at.

The fact there is a link with the word "PERSONAL" on it in big bold letters should make it easy enough to find on its own, and we can redirect the misplaced threads to it - Just like we do for every other board that gets a misplaced thread.

In short: We all seem to agree this is a good idea to make, but I see no point in treating this as a special matter. Content will come on its own, misplaced threads will happen regardless. The only thing stalling me from emailing Reltair regarding making it right now is that we apparently don't agree on where to put it on the nav-bar.

If you feel it absolutely must be treated with kiddy gloves and special treatment to make it so much easier for people to spend several fractions of a second less time looking down a single bar with big bold letters, then putting it under News seems acceptable.

And I say that reluctantly, because I still feel it's silly and pointless in the long run.

1) I would like to thank you for making me aware that there is already a process for the placement of new boards. Had you noted that in the first place, then everything I just stated could have been diffused one post sooner.

2) Please, please, please, in the future, include that kind of factual information in your first response. Saves you some arguing with people. That's off topic, but I just thought it might be helpful to you in the future, when dealing with people dumber than myself.

3) There was an entire counterpoint here that gave a rather nice explanation to why I disagree with the board title, but I reached a different conclusion and decided to delete it.

Go ahead and email Reltair with what you wish, I'm in support.

Just understand that I brought up these points in an attempt to save us some headache with idiots that are sure to come, or at least help make it less common. I'm not arguing for or against aesthetics, I just believe that aesthetics is not the proper way to be looking at the title.

It's not a magazine, it's a help board.

Anyhow, toodles ^_^

Noted, I'll shoot him a message now - And hopefully we'll hear his reply sometime soon.

Awesome.
Thanks guys.
❤

I'm snickering to myself about this now, because one of my points was about how I don't see many meaningful threads in Main...

And I'm now the author of one of them. HYPOCRISY!!! xD

Sometimes, I wonder, why doesn't anyone go beyond that first 10 ish threads and beyond the wall of sage, since beyond that wall is like... Tons of discussion threads. Good lord.

>>23 A lot of those discussion threads have said everything needed to be said though. While keeping a discussion active is good, after a while, it becomes difficult to do so without being repetitive. I guess that's one of the reasons why.

Eh. I guess. But then, there's like a couple that haven't even reached the 100 point, it's just been completely ignored.

And we're constantly getting new crop of people, meaning hopefully new crop of perspective, unless they're all like minded individuals...

Sorry to jump in so late, but I like the idea of a personal board right under main honestly, probably just me though

>>25 Oh..

Well I don't know about that then. Perhaps people are just afraid of necroposting or something.

>>27 mfw people STILL DON'T READ THE FAQ because I damn well know I addressed necroposting in the FAQ.

>>28, people still get paranoid and self conscience about necroposting

>>29 And to that, I call them pussies. I mean shit man, all you need is to have a reading ability above grade 3 or something and you'll do fucking fine. Read the thread to see if shit has been said and done, if it ain't, you can post. If it has, then I dunno, don't post. I mean date is fine and all, but it's a damn discussion thread. You talk. No shits given about dates.

Know what? Fuck it, I'm not waiting until someone else bumps a damn discussion thread, I'll be the change that I expect others to fucking do, I guess. Whatever.

>>31 I see youre having a wonderful evening.

If this kind of board is created, I'd use it and try help maintain it. I personally think it'd be interesting, something new/fresh. I didn't read this entire thread (You expect me to read this wall of text?) So, i'm sorry if I get to points already mentioned.

Although many of the people on this site may laugh of the idea of a "Advice thread" ---With the many pitfalls of trolls and such. I believe that many people would use this board. There's lots of problem people face where people are seriously embarrassed to ask help from their peers. And asking random anonymous people who don't know them will give them honest opinions while saving them the embarrassment of whatever problem they have in mind (I believe ANYTHING should be ask, relationship problems to sexual problems) to which I believe everyone NEEDS and HAVE to be mature if a board like this is to be made. And like Girl A said, there will be problems with people trolling on the problem kids. I really think people should treat these problems on this board, if it's ever created, with sincere seriousness and If things get out of hand, we could always close on this idea. But for now, I believe we should try it out and see where it takes us.

I want this to happen bump!

I read through this thread a few days ago and will add a "Personal" board under the Music board. Hopefully this weekend...

The Comics board also needs to be moved below the Art board as well (since it's in alphabetical order excluding Main, News, and Random).

>>35 thanks for the heads up

>>35 Awesome. Thanks in advance.

❤ Thanks Reltair!

I was gonna pop on and suggest that, if people are worried about 'personal ads', another name option might be 'Opinions' -- but since you're already on it, it's a super late suggestion, so don't mind me. ^^;;

>>35 I'm glad this is pushing through ^_^

Much love to you, Reltair!

>>35 Oh neat. Thanks man.

Also I totally misunderstood >>35 at first... I read, "...will add a "Personal" board under the Music board." And I thought, what the fuck was said in this thread to convince Reltair to make a Personal sub-board under Music?
:|

Well in any case... Nicely done.

>>40 this.

>>40 Misinterpreted that too at first lol

It also didn't occur to me that they were in alphabetical order (aside from Main) at first, before the renaming of the animation and comics boards.

bump for not having technically concluded.

>>43 Still got 9 minutes by my clock...

i need a counseling :))

bump for same reason as previously used.

PERSONAL BOARD HAS FINALLY BEEN ADDED. REJOICE.

/SLOW CLAP.

>>48 Doesn't that render this thread obsolete, and sageworthy?

Why sage any thread that's done? Just let it sink. And if it comes back, ask the mods to close not sage.