New layout on forum homepage

[boffer]

I'm trying to get more forums listed in the same space to keep navigation easy. Let me know here if there are issues. I've added 'compost' and 'pests' forums. I have not removed anything.

There have been some requests to categorize recipes. I've put in fillers to show how that could be done. I guess everyone has their own idea of how they like to see recipes organized. Speak up and let me know what you prefer. I think it would still look OK with 8 additional food forums.

I'm all ears-so to speak!

[camprn]

NICE!

[Wyldflower]

Looks good to me, Boffer!

Anyone have recipes for the 'new' subforum in Food.... the 'cotton candy' forum???

[pattipan]

Love the look, boffer!

However, I'd like to see the usual course categories for the Food/Recipes section. That way you won't end up having to add every veggie or fruit we like to grow in our SFGs!

• Breakfast
  
• Appetizers & Beverages
  
• Main Course
  
• Vegetable & Side Dishes
  
• Desserts
  
• Canning & Preserving

pattipan

[boffer]

I was thinking of you when I wrote that, Patti! The more general the categories, the easier it all is.

I think we could use a canning forum too. The 'canning' thread is 10 pages long!

[pattipan]

Anyone have recipes for the 'new' subforum in Food.... the 'cotton candy' forum???

Hmm. I was thinking of trying to find some seeds for that cotton candy NEXT year.

Speaking of cotton candy...this weekend is our town's annual festival and I have a smorgasbord of hi-carb foods right down below my SFG in the town parking lot. It's raining hard now though, I'll have to get a picture of our SFG with the food trucks in the background! Nothing like a view of tomatoes and bloomin' deep fried onions!

pattipan

[camprn]

Looks good to me, Boffer!

Anyone have recipes for the 'new' subforum in Food.... the 'cotton candy' forum???

Maybe...

[Megan]

Looks GREAT, Boffer! I likey!

Two comments:

1. I third having a canning/preserving subtopic for cooking. (And I agree with pattipan's suggestion.)
   
2. The green leaf marking an unread topic is there for the main topic only, so you have to hunt through each subtopic to find the unread one (assuming you haven't already found it in the latest topics list.) I don't think this is a deal-breaker at all... but is a good reason for keeping large/important divisions (such as the regional forums) to their own main header.

[Retired Member 1]

New layout looks great.
Thanks for all your hard work, Boffer. I too echo the comments about the recipe section. I have several dishes that use many different veggies, and there'd be no way to classify using individual veggies as a subsection. Under canning, perhaps four subsections: general/ instructions, pickles, jams/jellies and other. That should catoregize well enough.

[ander217]

Hmm. I was thinking of trying to find some seeds for that cotton candy NEXT year.
pattipan

You might want to rethink that, Patti. I googled for cotton candy seeds just to see what came up, and the first five hits were for medicinal marijuana plants.

Love the changes, Boffer. I agree with the simpler recipe headings.

[quiltbea]

I first noticed the changes when I was looking for seeds being offered and had to hunt. Once I realized there was a new format, I found it easier.

Thank you for the hard work you do for us, Boffer.
I appreciate it.

[pattipan]

Did you change something to make the forum scroll inside the background? It's not working for me. Text and images hang over at the bottom and I don't care for the way it cuts things off at the bottom. I'm using Firefox 3.6+. I think I prefer that the forum scroll along with the background. Hope this makes sense!

Anyone else see this???
pattipan

[boffer]

The background has been stationary for more than a week. The background image across the bottom of the page is preliminary for something new that may or may not happen. Here is what I see. For some reason, the profile info for everyone is displaying on top of the bg image at the bottom-not good.



update>> profile overlap fixed

[boffer]

In the next few weeks, some threads/posts will be getting moved to more appropriate forums. If you can't find a thread you've been following, it's still here, but it's in a different location.

If you just can't find it, let me know, I'll help look too.

[boffer]

Meat
Vegetables
Casserole or One Dish Meals
Appetizers
Beverages
Desserts
Egg based

Cookbooks are not my favorite reading material!

9 categories would look nice! If I'm cooking for myself, I eat 'breakfast' for other meals frequently. 'Main Course' is veggies when the garden is producing and meat when it's not. That's why those don't work for me, but if I'm in the minority, I"ll include them.

Opinions needed! :tiphat:

[pattipan]

How about this? I'm still not sure what you had in mind for Food Discussion and Canning...are they staying under Food/Recipes too?

• Food Discussion
  
• Canning & Preserving
  
• Appetizers & Beverages
  
• Breakfast & Breads
  
• Main Dish & Casseroles
  
• Vegetables & Sides
  
• Desserts & Sweets

IMHO, I don't think we need to separate meats, one dish, casseroles, egg-based. If you do that then if we have a recipe with fish...or meatless dish...we'll be wondering where to put them. There will be gray areas no matter how you categorize, but keeping categories broader will make it easier in the long run. If you need an extra slot to make it look good, add Miscellaneous to the list.

pattipan

[chexmix]

I like Pattipans list.

The only other one I could think of would be condiments for gravies, pestos, jams, relish and marinades

[ander217]

I like Patti's list, but I made a few changes to it for comparison. I added Soups & Salads and Miscellaneous categories, and I removed breakfast as its own category. (Personally I see problems with having a separate breakfast heading - are doughnuts a bread or breakfast food? Are smoothies breakfast or beverage? Are grits breakfast or a side dish? Do muffins go under bread or breakfast? What about people who eat pizza for breakfast? IMHO breakfast is about the timing rather than the food.)

Here is my own tweaked version of Patti's list:

Appetizers & Beverages
Soups & Salads
Main Dishes
Veggies & Sides
Breads
Candies & Desserts
Canning & Preserving
Miscellaneous
General Food Discussion (for things such as cooking techniques, trends, cooking shows, favorite cooking gadgets, "where to buy", etc.)

I changed Patti's "Sweets & Desserts" to Candies & Desserts because I thought some people might put jams and jellies under Sweets, and I think those belong under Canning and Preserving.

[Megan]

I like it, Ander. I also like the Misc. section, it might get some use for gluten-free, etc. I also agree on not using a Breakfast section, because I have been known to eat just about anything for breakfast!

[Megan]

I like Pattipans list.

The only other one I could think of would be condiments for gravies, pestos, jams, relish and marinades

I think there'd be a lot of overlap here with canning & preserving... but those that are not actually canned could go into the Misc. section. (And thank you for mentioning pesto.... I need to freeze mine still!!! )

[quiltbea]

I, too, often eat breakfast for lunch or even supper.

How about Slow Cooker, or do you consider casseroles for that category?

[Megan]

I, too, often eat breakfast for lunch or even supper.

How about Slow Cooker, or do you consider casseroles for that category?

I think Slow Cooker would just go where it needs to go? I do brisket in the slow cooker, baked beans, and also candied pecans that way, and none of those are casseroles. (And not tried it, but I hear you can make oatmeal in a slowcooker, too!)

[quiltbea]

You're right Megan. There are more things than main dishes from a Slow Cooker. I wasn't thinking. Thanks.

[Megan]

I think it's a good point, though, quiltbea. I think the most important part about this is just to make information a little easier to find. It will never be perfect, because it's a forum and not a database. But we will learn as we go!

I started a Google document with canning recipes that I have actually made (as opposed to ones I want to try). Maybe something like that can make a good adjunct resource somewhere down the line.

[boffer]

Just to play devil's advocate:

This is a vegetable gardening forum. My mindset during a summer day is: "I have vegetable X that is ripe and needs to be picked-I wonder how I should cook it?"

How does Mel's cook book lay things out?

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