A couple of ideas based on stuff I admin at another site. However, this site is for lighting equipment but it still applies.
I think YYE should clear out their current “Coming soon” thread of anything other than announcements. The chatter is distracting and makes it difficult to sometimes find the information. This thread should also be stickied.
On the lighting site, in regards to the DMX control software, we make a new thread each month for fixture profiles to keep things under control. Let’s use October 2012 as an example. October 1, we make the new thread and sticky it. November 1, we lock it, un-sticky it and then make an November 2012 thread and sticky that. Since these threads REQUIRE user input, we cannot lock these threads during the “available period”.
Since the Coming Soon thread is for announcements, it shouldn’t have conversation. It should be unlocked for announcements and then re-locked after posting a new announcements.
Depending on how much new stuff and re-stocks YYE cares to announce, this thread might need to be replaced annually or monthly. I’m fine with announcements for 2013 releases being in the 2012 thread, because the announcement was made in 2012. It should also be restated in 2013’s thread. Having one easy to find and uncluttered thread should help people quickly find the information they want regarding new releases, re-stocks, new products, product drops(such as CLYW just as an example) and new colorways, it helps people like myself find the information I want faster and able to schedule and budget purchases.
Right now, I want to know release dates for the Puffin, Cliff and Y-Factor, along with what colors are available, and even price ranges so I can budget accordingly.
I’m approaching this from the position of a serious buyer and am basing this on stuff in other trade forums I participate in. I can track a thread and if there’s any announcements I need to see, it’s right there with nothing else to distract. I realize yoyo isn’t as formal as stuff like Cisco equipment or firmware updates and things of that nature. I just know my idea here works, but it’s not my original idea.
Thank you for your consideration.