I just posted this in the topic about ticalc.org and thought we might be able to implement it here at Cemetech. But first, let me explain.

We have the n00bs, the little guys, the new programmers. They've moved up from "playing games on my graphing calculator" to "ooh, I can make if blocks and display text on the graph screen".

And then there are the big guys. The people who dabble in Asm, the people who actually work in IT, the people who know what they're doing.

Both kinds of programmers are essential to the future of TI-BASIC. But they can't just be thrown together. The new guys are irritating, what with their naive questions and elementary programs. And they need to have someone help them, someone tell them what they're doing right and wrong, someone to keep them interested in coding. Obviously, the big shots would be able to help them with this. But they aren't always interested in sitting around all day explaining what lists are. Sure, they can help out every now and then. But not constantly.

My solution would be to have the boards divided into the "Minor League" and the "Major League". Minor League would be for learners, it would be a place to ask questions and talk to other people learning TI-BASIC, get help from experienced coders and mosey around at their own speed. Major League would be for program releases, discussions about structures and other advanced things.

Of course, there wouldn't be a clear line. The poster's discretion would be the key deciding factor. Sometimes a topic would clearly fit in one place or another, and it could be moved. But for the most part, individual users could decide where they belonged.

I think that if we were to do this, we could still do our big-league programming (assembly, Doors, etc.) without discouraging or confusing the minor-league programmers (what does Archive mean). Because they're eventually going to become the big leagues.

Not a bad idea...

I do quite like that idea. I've recently been bothered by the increased number of 'n00bly' messages in more serious threads which add little to no value. If you don't know what's going on, don't say anything, or ask. Pretending you know what people are saying is a waste of everyone's time.

Nothing against any new users in this, I'm just stating how I feel. Please stay, but make an effort to learn.

I don't know if I completely understand this idea. Are you proposing reorganizing the categories on the forum index, perhaps duplicating the calc/comp open topic in the programming section, or breaking the programming section into beginner and experienced sections?

Well there was the basic elite but there dead now. Could there be a basic elite 2.0?

Well, stupid posts inside serious threads are really annoying...
So I think that Basic Elite 2.0 is a very good idea!

Sure, a BASIC Elite 2.0 would be an excellent idea, and I'd be happy to support that if some other people would help in designing the (realistic) goals of such a group, but you guys still haven't answered my questions. Throw me a mockup of categories and subfora each category would contain based on the current forum setup.

This is a not a very good idea. Why would anyone ever support such a short-sighted idea of "different tiers of boards?" Nobody would ever help anyone, nothing would get done, and it would kill off the forum. But that's your goal... right?

Yea, if you seperate the 'noobish' from the 'pros' then the noobish won't get exposed to the higher level ideas to even inspire those questions, and the pros will stay out of the noob threads.

basically, you'd be setting up a wall between noobs and pros, even more than the knowledge, or lack of, allready creates.

Perhaps there could be a entry test just a few questions proving you have a basic knowledge of grammar,spelling and most importantly TI-basic.

I'd fail the test if it asked about TI-Basic. There's more to the community and calculators than programming.

I can see that raising issues; Grammar & spelling should be a mandatory requirement.

If this is for the Basic Elite "2.0," the requirements are going to be significantly higher. You had to have above par TI-BASIC skills, with highly optimized code. Among other things I believe~

Just a hint: semicolons don't make you look intelligent, but in fact have the opposite effect and make you look like you're trying too hard.

IMO, there _is_ no good way to segregate the boards like that, especially given Netham's note that you can effectively kill the noobs' ability to lose their 'noob' status if you allow experienced users to easily ignore them.

Perhaps what is in order is something more along the lines of a bit of 'required reading' for the forum before people are allowed to post.
For example, How to Ask Questions the Smart Way is a great way to help the noobs gain respect. If you do a little research and ask your question in an intelligent manner, people will be more willing to help you.
Even just a page after a user registers urging them to read the above, and reminders elsewhere (say, on the message composition page) that asking questions (and discussing in general, even) intelligently and with proper spelling and grammar (side note, I don't mind minor spelling/grammar errors in mediums such as IRC, where you typically need to type quickly, but for such things as forums, there is no excuse) is not only recommended, but it can get your question answered much more quickly, and in a more respectful manner.
I wouldn't even be adverse to something like tempbans for users who don't heed those recommendations.

I'll try and remember that while I'm passing English.

How about just implementing mail goggles, except with grammar, for every post? It would be like a capcha that filters out both spambots and idiots... Of course, what would we do about intelligent non-English speakers? Maybe we would have different versions for every language we can come up with, and the user gets to select their default...

Ok, this is way to complicated.

Actually, this is even a better idea than Basic Elite 2.0!
Good thinkin' Tari!

Interesting, I like how this is evolving. Any more details you guys would like to add on that idea?

How about a "for begginers" section in your site where you have links, tutorials, demonstration programs... ?

Well, the whole premise of my idea hinges on transparency. The "big league" boards wouldn't be exclusive, you wouldn't need any approval or post count or whatever to get in. You could post and read wherever you wanted, and the board would sift itself that way. What might be interesting is to have a "post vote" system where, upon reading a topic, you can vote for "this topic belongs here" or "this topic belongs in the other forum", if the net vote was over 5 to move it would be moved to the other forum.

But yeah, having passwords and such and openly being divisive would ruin the forum.