This is the place for suggestions about streamlining/cleaning/beautifying the TAR forum area on TWoP. Please tell me what you like and what you hate, what should change and what will stay the same.

This doesn't mean we'll all get what we want, but your opinions will be considered.

Please change the title of Good Times, Good Times. It's outdated as it is now saying TAR10 vs Previous Seasons when we've already had TAR11. Perhaps it should be Current TAR vs. Previous Seasons so it won't have to be changed every season. Thanks.

The only other things I can think of would be to move the threads of "Current Racers" back to "Previous Seasons" where they came from since this last season was "All Stars." The Questions for the Amazinbg Racers/About the The Amazing Race" thread, I think, might be better in General Gabbery. (There used to be two threads, then they got merged since Racers and Tarflies would post answers in both threads. Thanks for listening.

The FAQ is wildly out of date. Somebody might do something about that.

I changed the title of "Good Times, Good Times." Hope that works.

I moved the Current Racers back to Previous Seasons but left a link for them in Current Racers, too, since they're the MOST current racers. It's the same thread, but you can get to it from either place for now.

Same with the Questions for the Amazing Racers thread (should it also be called "About the Amazing Race"? Right now it just has the one title). I left a link in the "Previous Seasons," but moved it to General Gabbery.

As for the FAQ, I'm not sure who would handle updating that -- probably the recapper -- but I know they're working on updating the site FAQ, so maybe show FAQs will be part of that. Maybe Miss Alli knows.

I just want to thank you for asking for suggestions. In the past couple of weeks, some other TWoP Cops have rubbed posters the wrong way with their reorganization, and your pleasantness is much appreciated! So, I guess you are rubbing us the right way, which feels nice.

Wow, that sounds dirty.

I like the title "Questions for the Amazing Racers" because it lets any racers posting know there might be questions for them there, but as long as there's a place to ask questions about the race in general or a specific season, I don't really care what it's called or where it is.

I don't think she asked about the FAQ, smart-ass.

Yes, that would be my job, I think. Certainly not the mod's.

Not strictly TAR-related, but can I ask where the Print this Thread and the other things that used to be with it went?

(First person to say PH gets a cream pie in their face.)


If it's possible, could we come up with Race-related subforum titles that suit a little better than "Amazing Whimsy"? I'd suggest "Taking A Detour", but my suggestions are rarely taken into account around here. (Sure, if I made some they might be considered, but this has just been annoying me after going into some of the other show forums.)


And it's nice to see a refreshingly kind-hearted Mod here. There don't seem to be that many anyway (in the way they moderate, not necessarily how they are as people), and with the TWoP Cops, that got even worse.

I am fine with changing the names as long as they make sense. So, something like "Taking a Detour: Amazing Whimsy" might be good? I think we should keep the Whimsy thing in there so it's clear to everyone -- even newbies -- what's what.

Oh, and I have no idea about "Print this Thread." Might be a good question for the Forum Questions thread.

That make sense. For those of us who used to go there, remember how undescriptive the OC's titles were?

I'll go take that over to Forum Questions. But thanks for at least not ignoring it.

I wanted to tell everyone that I am mulling over your ideas -- and consulting the wise Miss Alli, most likely; she'll be so tired of me by the time this is said and done -- but I wanted to mention something:

I am glad you guys like me -- really, I am. BUT I don't want and won't allow anyone to attack other mods on the forums -- in much the same way I won't let you attack other posters. (It's against the rules, anyway.)

All of us mods are doing our best and most of us are trying to learn the ropes of moderating, so ... try to be patient if you're frustrated with anyone and take into consideration that they really are trying to make things better for all of you. And in the meantime, please don't post anything negative about the mods in your praising of me.

(This doesn't mean you can't praise me. That is fully allowed, and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.)

Sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way, necessarily, what I meant to say (not that this will probably come out any better) is that you seem to be easing your way into Modding (if that isn't a word, it is now) a lot better than the other new Mods are.

One thing I noticed was often a problem last season is that at the end of each epsiode, multiple threads would often be started to discuss the ep and then mashing them back together was a problem. I'm wondering if it's possible to have a thread ready to go that would be unlocked at the end of the show?

Yes, that will definitely happen. That's kind of the standard way things are done now. I'll have them created and locked a few days in advance.

I've been a TWOP reader for years but never really came to the forums. One of the main reasons I'd stay aways is that threads are so looooong. When I see a thread like "Timeline" or something and click on the first page, it brings me back many seasons. It's tough to find when the discussion begins for the current season, especially since there is no "Jump to page: X" option and some of the threads are hundreds of pages.

I don't know - if this was a wish list, I guess I'd like to archive old seasons and start new threads for each season (media thread, timelines, etc). I may be in the minority, but I know that it has kept me away from the forums in the past.

Edited to add: Nevermind about the "Jump To Page: X" thing - I figured that part out.

I agree with that one too, especially for the spoilers thread. I don't want to spoiled in advance, but sometimes I'm curious what got spoiled during the most recent season (or to see spoilers that ended up being wrong!), but depending on how close the seasons are together, the Spoilers thread could be a minefield of spoilers for the past seasons and the next season.

Another idea: is it possible to make further subfolders within the Previous Seasons forum? Right now it's a big mixed up mess of old racer and episode threads. Ideally I think having a subfolder for each season would be cool - if nothing else maybe a separation between old racer threads and old episode threads?

I'm leaning toward, once the season starts, having separate spoiler threads for current season and upcoming seasons. I'm still figuring out the logistics of how I'll do that, but I think it's a good idea for keeping people who just want to read spoilers about the current season -- and those who want to know what's coming in the next season(s) -- in separate places.

But we won't be separating everything else by season.

A tip for jumping to the recent stuff is NOT to click on the first number when you go to a thread. If you are logged in and you click on the title of the topic instead of a number, it should take you to everything that's new since you last read that topic.

Any chance there could be an alphabetical listing of abbreviations, acronyms and nicknames?
It do get confusing sometimes!

Chenille, I'm not opposed to this, but I don't feel like there are that many names/acronyms/etc. used here. I'm happy to put together a list, but I wouldn't want it to get out of control.

I allow one in the "Smallville" forum, but there are so many strange usages over there that I sort of needed that one myself.

So, if it's something that would help, I'm glad to do it, but keep in mind this wouldn't be an opportunity to make up nicknames (that's whimsy and already exists). This would only be a helpful list of stuff that's already commonly used.

Thanks for the consideration, Mars.
I find team nicknames to be at times impenetrable and past season's teams are often referenced in current season conversations. Team Nuance? Team Who's the Boss? It can be tough.
Sorry, I don't have any quick examples of acronyms etc. at hand but I remember scratching my head over a few more than once.

I think it would be a good idea as well - I visit the SV board on occasion and I know it's helped a great deal - I'd pare it down to the commonly used and/or confusing (to Bald Snark, mugging, HoO, etc) but I think that, especially when the new season rolls around, it might help people.

For the record, Nuance = Freddy/Kendra (from their comment about understanding the nuances of the airport) and Who's the Boss?/Danza = Frank/Margarita (from Frank's "quiz" in the first episode about who led the team)

OK, I'm good with this. I can see how some people might not know Bald Snark = Ken and Gerard. So, I'll open a thread for it like I did in "Smallville," where you can tell me what the ones in common usage are (I don't want this to be a place where you suggest new ones, though; that is whimsy and I believe there's a thread for that there).

Miss Alli, if you're reading this, you can feel free to help, as you're the expert. Thanks!

Wow! Thanks everyone!
I've watched and loved TAR since the first season and have followed along w/ the recaps and in the forums but still go "Huh?" once in a while.
I just checked the new thread and the nicknames had been even more confuzzling than I remembered. Hopefully I can add something over there.
And at the risk of boards-on-boards: thanks again!

Chenille, you're welcome. (And this thread is kind of designed to talk about the boards on the boards, so no apologies there either.)

I think it's a great idea. I stopped nicknaming teams at some point (for the most part), because it seemed like it got to be an overdone thing, but people have always been inventive about it. As was mentioned elsewhere, the only reason I discouraged it after a while was that (1) it got very confusing as different people wound up using different names; and (2) it got very competitive with people trying to kind of wedge nicknames they liked into common usage.

I still don't want to encourage it, other than in the whimsy thread, but for the organic names, or the ones that already are used, it's nice to have a guide for those who aren't familiar. But I don't want it to be confusing or competitive, definitely.

Just so everyone knows this isn't a change in policy at all -- just a way of making everything already in place easier.

In the "Previous Seasons" subforum, might the "Scheduling on GSN" thread be renamed to also reflect the fact that the Fox Reality channel is now airing TAR 9, 10 and 11? If nothing else it would encourage scheduling information for the Fox Reality TAR repeats to be put there and it would make it easier to find that information.

Definitely, theschnauzers. I'll do that now.

This isn't a big deal, but can you change the title of "The DVD that Isn't (Yet)"? This topic was created prior to the release of Seasons 1 and 7 on DVD, and there are obviously some DVDs out there now. I guess the title still applies to the rest of the seasons, but perhaps a more generic "TAR on DVD" topic might be more applicable?

Done, blackwing. Thanks.

The nicknames I find helpful are the ones that the players call each other on the show. "Kentucky", "Bama", "Blondes", etc. Next would be the ones used in the recaps. Names made up by forum members, not so important (although they can be funny).

ITA with this, b/c it's hard to find threads about specific episodes or teams from the past in the Previous Seasons thread.
Thanks

It's even more complicated than that, because "Bald Snark" is not just a team nickname, but a verb now. It means to give up on one Detour and switch to the other.

So, might we need a Glossary as well as the Nickname List? The show FAQ answers a lot of such questions, but it hasn't been updated in a while. It's as if Miss Alli has been, I don't know, BUSY or something (love ya!).

I don't think this is possible. And I know that it's at least not something that's possible for ME to do. We already have four subforums, though. However, if it would make threads easier to find, I could add the season to the team name thread, such as: Chip and Kim: TAR 5 and Reichen and Chip: TAR 4 if that would help.

As for the nicknames stuff: I'm not sure I want to get into putting verbs in there, etc. And I will put in all names that are semi-official. Which means: used on the show, used in recaps, used WIDELY on the boards. But not just names that have been used by one or two people. There is a whimsy thread for that.

I could have sworn there was a thread for TARminology buried somewhere in the Whimsy section. But it may have been lost in the Great Purge of '04. Or only existed in my mind...

There was info of that sort in the show FAQ, now gone.

With TAR back on Sunday nights and subject to football overruns, is it possible to have something either in the FAQ or on a sticky to tell people to pad their recordings on their DVRs/VCRs? It seems like last season, everytime there was an overrun there were a handful of people in the middle of the episode thread complaining "My stupid TiVo didn't record the beginning!" No, the TiVo is not stupid, it can't actually watch the channel for you. An hour of pad time at the end of the recording usually covers any delay.

It is also now possible to sign up for an over-run ALERT from CBS:

http://www.cbs.com/eye-lerts/?source=cbshp

While I certainly don't want an influx of "my TiVo screwed up!" posts, I'm not going to pin a new topic or anything just to remind people of something they should really already be aware of. Football overruns are not new, after all.

auntieB found a great solution. What I will do is refer people to that website in the Mod Announcements thread. It is required reading, so we won't have any TiVo complaints. Right? Right.

Someone should alert CBS to remove the Viva Laughlin photo from the page linked above, and replace it with one from TAR. That does not bode well for them sending announcements on time.

Let's try to keep this thread on topic, shall we?

I couldn't find it, but I think we need a basic Q&A thread which includes the answer to "Is there anyplace to watch TAR online/other legal outlets?" Every season it comes up several times.

And for the slightly more shallow, a fashion thread. (Hey we need to discuss the overuse of bandanas SOMEWHERE. Heh.)

The subtitle for the "The Racers" subforum is way out of date. It currently reads, "Couples, dentists, hippies, nerds, and a heck of a lot of That Guy." That describes the Racers from Season 9. Can that be updated or made generic?

A basic Q&A thread is fine--a thread solely dedicated to the "where can I watch?" thing is not.

Feel free to start a fashion thread.


As is, it's still pretty generic. I think "dentists" is the only one we don't have this season. I don't see the need to change it.

I'm wondering if we could consider putting the Season 12 threads together, in a Season 12 sub-Forum.

Specifically that would include -- but not be limited to -- The Episode threads, The Team threads and the Speculaton thread.

Not that I'm advocating for an "if they jumped off a bridge" approach, but it seems to work well this way for the Survivor Forum. Now that TAR has started and I'm actively posting in both Forums(es), I find the inconsistency a bit confusing.

Survivor is actually (I believe) the only forum on the site that's organized in that particular way; TAR is more in line with the organization of other reality shows at TWoP. I'm not sure why Survivor developed a different layout, but I suspect that it has something to do with the history of that series and its various changes over the years. In any case, I don't find the difference confusing, but I suppose I'm enough of an old-timer to be used to it.

We won't be making any changes in the near future in regards to adding extra sub-forums. If traffic does become a problem, we may reconsider, but our TAR forums will stay the way they are for now. Thanks.

From time to time it would be nice to be able to post clear tabular data, such as team rankings, and so forth. A monospaced font would be helpful in that regard. The BB Code Help shows that one of the recognised BB Codes is "code" which might help. Alas, it is disabled. Might I ask why? Can it be enabled? The BB Code "codebox" is enabled, and I don't see why the latter is acceptable while the former is not.

A thread for Amazing Quotes might be nice. Gems like "my ox is broken" with attribution could live on in infamy and not be changed by people like me who only remember half of the right quote. It might be fun to just have the quote and then the author to keep it short.