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Should we separate forums for the different S3-versions?

One thing that would go a long way to providing some relief would be to require carrier/service provider in the members info. That way I could quickly decide to not post irrelevant answers that might be Verizon specific.
 
While I would think that a second set of prefixes might be an interesting experiment, I don't see it happening in the near future considering our recent security breach. I'm just saying this so no one acts like we're not listening. We are. We just have a small web dev team and they're very busy right now.
 
jerofld said:
While I would think that a second set of prefixes might be an interesting experiment, I don't see it happening in the near future considering our recent security breach. I'm just saying this so no one acts like we're not listening. We are. We just have a small web dev team and they're very busy right now.
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I had mentioned dual prefixes in another forum merge thread and I guess it is far easier said than done. That being said, in the forums that have been merged, or ones that have not been separated as the request is here, the minor differences in the general forum become less of a hindrance once folks get used to it. I think that this is accross four major devices so far:
  • Gnex - merged
  • Razr / Razr Maxx - merged
  • Galaxy Note - kept as one
  • there was another, but for the life of me I can't remember.
 
breezex said:
One thing that would go a long way to providing some relief would be to require carrier/service provider in the members info. That way I could quickly decide to not post irrelevant answers that might be Verizon specific.
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^ This.

I missed this post when I read through the thread, so I decided to completely change my previous statement. I totally, completely, wholeheartedly, 100% agree with the above statement. Id like to add to that as well; require Device also.
 
Personally I would like to see the forums split into ones for each US carrier and then an international version.

Reasons are simple....

I find it harder to find threads I can actually help with when the forums contain loads of questions about LTE and American carrier questions. I'm sure others feel the same in reverse.

I don't think repeating questions in each forum is a problem. A lot of the time people don't search for answers before posting anyway so it wouldn't make a difference whether there's one or four forums!

Having regularly used the Galaxy S2 forums and now GS3, I think the Galaxy S2 forums seemed a lot more orderly and it was easier to get and give help.

My 2p. :)
 
I have come to appreciate the setup we have now. 90% of questions can be answered by anyone with the same device in the know, splitting up the forums means fewer eyes on the issue, longer time to an answer, neither one of which is a good thing for a support forum such as AF.
 
matttye said:
Personally I would like to see the forums split into ones for each US carrier and then an international version.

Reasons are simple....

I find it harder to find threads I can actually help with when the forums contain loads of questions about LTE and American carrier questions. I'm sure others feel the same in reverse.

I don't think repeating questions in each forum is a problem. A lot of the time people don't search for answers before posting anyway so it wouldn't make a difference whether there's one or four forums!

Having regularly used the Galaxy S2 forums and now GS3, I think the Galaxy S2 forums seemed a lot more orderly and it was easier to get and give help.

My 2p. :)
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I appreciate your concern about how it's harder to sift through some of the posts. Specifically because they're LTE or specific to certain carriers (namely Verizon).

I'm still going to maintain that, once the Verizon and third party retailer storm settles down, that posts will probably go back to the more generic TouchWiz and WiFi problems, with carrier-specific problems only coming up randomly.

I definitely do not support splitting each carrier into it's own subforum. The US has 5 carriers I know of that carry the phone. US Cellular, T-Mobile USA and the Sprint sections would be relatively quiet. AT&T get a few specific threads, but not enough to really justify being in their own forum. The Canadian carriers (there are 2 or 3 that have S3s) are also quiet. It's just Verizon, really, that's the concern here.

Here's how I see things unfolding: In a month, or maybe less, the Verizon storm will have settled. Just like how the International, Sprint, T-Mo, and AT&T storms have also settled. Then, when the International version gets Jelly Bean, there's going to be another storm of posts and people will wonder about splitting it, again. That will settle and then a month or two (or three or four) later, the North American carriers will start rolling out their updates, generating another storm of problem posts and "where is my update!!!" threads, etc etc. But the pattern will be established that there will be a relative quiet. Then a wave for Int'l threads, then a wave for NA threads, then a wave of Verizon threads, then more quiet, generic threads.

Again, I'm speculating all of this, but it is why I support having 1 forum. There will be a lot of common questions. Specific questions will come and go in waves, very likely (with some specific questions along the way). But overall, easier to track everything.
 
No. We need a way to identify everyone's device by a mandatory measure, without cliquing it up. All the Yanks together, all the Limies together etc. That just makes me ill.
 
Just need a response so I can move on. Is this issue still being discussed or are things staying the way they are ?
 
treb1797 said:
Just need a response so I can move on. Is this issue still being discussed or are things staying the way they are ?
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Yeah I understand. A decision was made before this thread. There have been several of these threads since too.

Without putting words in the admins mouth but this topic has been done to death. There are compelling arguments for both sides of the coin, however not separating has more advantage.
 
jerofld said:
I appreciate your concern about how it's harder to sift through some of the posts. Specifically because they're LTE or specific to certain carriers (namely Verizon).

I'm still going to maintain that, once the Verizon and third party retailer storm settles down, that posts will probably go back to the more generic TouchWiz and WiFi problems, with carrier-specific problems only coming up randomly.

I definitely do not support splitting each carrier into it's own subforum. The US has 5 carriers I know of that carry the phone. US Cellular, T-Mobile USA and the Sprint sections would be relatively quiet. AT&T get a few specific threads, but not enough to really justify being in their own forum. The Canadian carriers (there are 2 or 3 that have S3s) are also quiet. It's just Verizon, really, that's the concern here.

Here's how I see things unfolding: In a month, or maybe less, the Verizon storm will have settled. Just like how the International, Sprint, T-Mo, and AT&T storms have also settled. Then, when the International version gets Jelly Bean, there's going to be another storm of posts and people will wonder about splitting it, again. That will settle and then a month or two (or three or four) later, the North American carriers will start rolling out their updates, generating another storm of problem posts and "where is my update!!!" threads, etc etc. But the pattern will be established that there will be a relative quiet. Then a wave for Int'l threads, then a wave for NA threads, then a wave of Verizon threads, then more quiet, generic threads.

Again, I'm speculating all of this, but it is why I support having 1 forum. There will be a lot of common questions. Specific questions will come and go in waves, very likely (with some specific questions along the way). But overall, easier to track everything.
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You're right in a way, the topics have kinda gone back to normal now. Also, browsing on a tablet rather than my phone helps somewhat too :p
 
I have been with the Phandroid community since around the G1 days, so appreciate the site and the community. Still, when something seems wrong, the same community should discuss- in the spirit of a forum.

The reasons for lumping all GS3 versions in the same forum do not appear to fit reality as time progresses. Different chips, carriers, networks, firmware, bloat, OS updates etc. Factor in the amount of devices out and about and the result is a growing mess and getting a tad frustrating to sift through.

Both Androidcentral and XDA now have seperate forums and they are far more orderly and provide clearer focus for users and their versions. Seems a case this time where good intentions are not having the intended results.
 
The problem is a software issue or a hardware issue, irrespective of the hardware version or software version, will 95% be the same.

If there is a bug where contacts keeps force closing, this could well affect all you verizon users and all us international users.

If you posted a fix to it in the "verizon" forum, I may NEVER know about it. I will create my own thread which frustratingly may need the help of several members, not knowing there is already a fix. This is more detrimental than everything being in the same place.

That said as someone previously mentioned, a separate sortable filter that would mirror the ATR forum titles would be very useful.
 
I had wondered about that too after seeing some of the posts like someone with an international phone asking for help with his fm radio app (my model doesn't have that) as well as other small differences. But overall, our phones are generally the same carrier to carrier minus the obvious difference of no SIM versus SIM.

In the ATR, it would never be doable to merge the forums together. And from my observation, some ROMs won't work with some carrier's SGS3 like one Verizon one won't work with a Sprint SGS3.

I think that the forums are fine the way that they are. I think it should really be the responsibility of the poster to post which carrier they have their model through and post information such as an AT&T SGS3 unlocked and using on the T-Mobile network or something like that to help other users of the forum to decrease the number of mistaken identity or issues that may not pertain to this version or that version.

Luckily, more mods, guides, and other regular users of this site have expressed their opinions on this thread and seem to think that the forums are fine how they are and I'd agree with them as they'd be the best ones to know.

Sorry to bring up a dead thread lol I almost posted this thread up. Good thing this popped up so we wouldn't repeat the conversation :)
 
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