Time to split up CA and FL?

[fly_up_front]

With close to 200 posts in each, is it time to split FL into FL-South (MIA, FLL and Keys) and FL-North (everything else). Also, a CA-North and South?

Consolidate the Dakotas to make room?

[thereuare]

I'll open this up to the board, but my thoughts are to keep the layout the way it is, regardless of how many posts a forum receives.

The negative that i have with splitting up 'busy' states is that it adds more confusion as to whether the city i'm bidding for lies in the northern/southern part of the state. Even for an east coaster like myself, i couldn't point out Tampa, FL to you on a map, not to mention the recent post for the city of Destin (i don't say this proudly, and admit that geography isn't one of my strong points). I'm sure i'm not alone, and if Florida <for example> was split, i wouldn't know where to look first.

I assume you're not using the SEARCH feature much, if it all? This feature works very well and can usually narrow down a long state list into a concise list of only relevant topics. Things to note when using the search feature:

1) in the box on the lower left, make sure you have selected "all forums" or the appropriate state to search thru if you want to limit your search to a certain area

2) in the box on the lower right, i usually like to search further than 30 days and adjust the timeframe according

3) all search terms must be at least 3 characters long

4) don't use quotes when searching, a search for <los angeles> will only return posts where the word <los> and <angeles> are next to each other in the post, a search for <los and angeles> will return posts where both are mentioned in the post, but not necessarily require them to be together, a search for <los or angeles> will return post that contain either the term <los> or <angeles>.

Do you and others (i'm opening this up for discussion, although it may not generate much input as i haven't received many response to a board layout question i posed HERE) think that the search feature solves this issue?

[fly_up_front]

"Do you and others (i'm opening this up for discussion, although it may not generate much input as i haven't received many response to a board layout question i posed HERE) think that the search feature solves this issue?"

Not if you're searching for "LAX" or other airport codes for an airport hotel (criteria #3 above).

[thereuare]

LAX should work. The board's default used to to be that a search word needed to be 4 characters long, but based upon you post, i changed it to 3, so now airport codes should work. Did you just try it and have a problem, or basing it upon your prior experience.

I can only know if there are 'issues' if people bring them to my attention (so thank you for raising this discussion) as it hass at least brought about an improved change in the minimum search characters (where i previously did not know that there was a problem).

Let me know if it now works, and if you think this is satisfactory.

(everyone is encourage to jump in, it's your board too)

[fly_up_front]

LOL - I'm glad for your last post. I had searched for LAX again and got responses when I hadn't earlier this morning. Glad to know I'm not going nuts. A standard of 3 letters solves it. Nice job.

I'm probably the only one who would do this but I've tried searching in the past for "3*" or "4*" in Calif. and you can't do that.

I think the "figuring out location" problem would be self-solving if the two regions were clearly defined as the poster would know where the town is located (probably). I think there would be limited instances where you'd have to move one or make a call.

In CA, most of the posts seem to be in LA or SF so that would be an easy distinction and a lot of folks refer to towns as being Northern California or Southern California. In FL, most posts are either Orlando/Tampa or MIA/FLL/keys. If FL-South is clearly defined as MIA/FLL/keys, I think there'd be limited problems.

Of course, to initially set these areas up, you would have to get out your map. I'm a teacher though so getting folks to look up stuff is one of my hobbies. I do think the end result would help folks bidding in these states.

[Jacqui]

The negative that i have with splitting  up 'busy' states is that it adds more confusion as to whether the city i'm bidding for lies in the northern/southern part of the state. 

If I have bid/or am planning to bid for a location, I would have found out, at the very least roughly, where it was first. Splitting. at least the busy states, geographically would actually help as it would limit the amount of places I would need to locate on a map.

I also had no idea where Destin was and still wouldn't if another site hadn't listed it in Florida's panhandle. Without that split or if I had been reliant on text searches only my choices of journey break would have in all liklihood ben limited to Pensacola or Panama City.

[thereuare]

I'm probably the only one who would do this but I've tried searching in the past for "3*" or "4*" in Calif. and you can't do that.

No, i've tried that too :) Not really a useful search but just wanted to see what would happen, and as discussed above, there aren't enough characters in the search.

The other issue with adding more forums is that we already have a lot of them. The way the software works, the number of forums has a direct effect on the speed and stress of the server. We can certainly add a few more forums, but if we add too many, we'll probably have to switch hosting companies as we a fair amount of resources (surprisingly, it's not the amount of content at the board, but rather its layout, that places the most amount of stress on the server). We're very happy with the current hosting company, and switching to a company that could allocate more of a specific type of memory to us would require additional money on a monthly basis.

Unfortunately, the removal of the direct links to Priceline and Hotwire has had a dramatic effect on the revenue that the board generates (not that it was ever really that much in the first place). Most of us are Priceline/Hotwire users, and as a result there's not much use of the Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity links above. As well, many people are either forgetful or too lazy to type SavingsBarn in their browser and place their Priceline/Hotwire bids there.

I have received a few suggestions to put a PayPal tip jar on the board, but in my own opinion, i've always thought that they're a little cheesy. Maybe i'm in the minority on this and they've become 'acceptable', but i'd want to hear from the users of the board before i did anything like that. I also HATE pop-up ads and the like when i do my own surfing, so that's not an option.

So for now we'll stay with our current host, continue to encourage users to use the links above (and those at the SavingsBarn for their Priceline/Hotwire purchases), and ask everyone to let us know if there are other online companies that they buy from on a regular basis or think is appropriate for the board and we'll apply to become affiliates with those companies as well.

Once again, i thank everyone for their support and encourage open dialogue about the likes/dislikes you have with the board.

[fly_up_front]

If layout is a problem, perhaps a switch to regions rather than alphabetical sorting. A "Great Plains" region of ID,MT,Dakotas,NE,KS,OK,WY,CO,UT would have combined fewer posts than any divided CA or FL zone.

A "Great Plains", CA-North, CA-South, FL-North, FL-South, "Great Northwest" (OR,WA AK), NY, TX, PA, "New England" - - that's 10 zones and I bet less than 20 zones would make for a manageable number of posts and perhaps help the site operation. There's currently around 40.

On the money issue, I was thinking about that yesterday when I saw the Cancer Fund announcement (I'm very sorry about your friend and classmate). It does seem like there should be a more direct way to fund things than through SavingsBarn but it's a tough thing to figure out how. Especially since many folks feel misled about how TOBB was so cloudy/vague about asking for donations while actively seeking profits.

[thereuare]

If layout is a problem, perhaps a switch to regions rather than alphabetical sorting. A "Great Plains" region...

I can't tell you which coast of Florida Palm Beach and Destin are on, and now i have to figure out what's included in the "Great Plains"? :)

Actually, i see your point, but i think (just my opinion) that the current alphabatized method makes it easier to find specific cities and the length of the forum can be solved by using the search feature. I suspect the board will continue to change as we continue to grow, and i continue to be receptive to hearing comments regarding what others think about this suggestion or any others that you may have.

[roberthuss]

My suggestion would also be to split up FL. At least separate out the Orlando area since it is such a huge market.

Robert

[fly_up_front]

Miami and Ft. Lauderdale each have a lot of posts which is why I suggested a zone for them (and the keys).