Want to help move threads? Check in here.

[Jacquilynne]

There are lots and lots of active threads that are going to need new homes after we change the breakdown of the Chowhound boards (see: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/682188 ) and we're asking the community for help.

We tried auto-moving threads when we split the Austin board out and that didn't go well, so we want actual people to make those decisions. The moderators will be working on moving threads, but we know the job will get done faster with more people involved.

If you want to help, and you've been around the site for awhile, please post below and let us know and we'll grant you the access. If you've already got access to edit Restaurant data, you're all set.

Once the changes go live, if you've got access to move threads, you'll see a new panel called "Contributor Panel". If there's an active discussion on one of our archived or changed boards that belongs on one of our new boards, you can go ahead and move it. Your choices will be limited to new boards that were created from the current board, so you won't be able to move things anywhere on the site. If you see things that belong on topical boards like Home Cooking or General Topics, you can still use "report" to flag those for the moderators to move.

[Robert Lauriston]

How about expanding this to put all boards on the menu?

Also, how about adding a feature that would let us correct bad auto-links?

[Jacquilynne]

We've talked about the latter and would like to do it, but the former is unlikely. We might consider expanding it to all geographic boards, but we definitely don't want users policing which of the topical boards threads go on (we get a lot of conflicting flags on those).

[Robert Lauriston]

Topical, yeah whatever. The main option I'd like to have would be to move topics from the SF Bay Area board to the California board, since those get started on the wrong board all the time.

[rworange]

I don't know, That is often still a difficult call as those topics get mixed. It is rare that someone asks about a place such as Monterrey which would be California. Often it is someone who is coming to California and ask about food anywhere from SF to Big Sur. They get responses to both.

My own thought is that it happens infrequently enough that reporting them works for me. There is a good enough number that the mods don't move that make it seem I would not be making the correct decision.

[Robert Lauriston]

There are lots that are straight-up on the wrong board, people asking about Davis, Santa Cruz, Boonville, etc. Just seems like a waste of time to have to report and explain it rather than just moving it.

[nsxtasy]

Just to add a little insight (along with a disclaimer that I am not on the "Chowhound Team" and do not speak for them)...

I think the original purpose of providing the "Contributor Panel" function was merely to permit us Chowhounds to move topics from the closed "General X Archive" forums to the active forums where they belong, especially whenever topics were "bumped" with a new post. However, in the confusion regarding the revised geographical boundaries of the new forums shortly after they were created, quite a few topics were created in the wrong new forum. Fortunately, the "Contributor Panel" function permitted the movement of any topic from and to any of the forums involved in the revision. So, for example, if someone created a new topic about Seattle in the Pacific Northwest forum, those of us on the Contributor Panel could move it to the Greater Seattle forum where it belongs. When I've noticed such occurrences, I've moved topics to the proper forum, and (thankfully) I haven't been chastised for doing so. I would hope that the Chowhound Team would extend this capability to ALL of the geographical forums, under the assumption that those of us making these moves would only do so based on a good understanding of where topics belong, based on the stated geographical boundaries of the forums.

Or, to put it more concisely... +1!

[cwdonald]

Happy to help within the well defined definitioins of Chowhound.

[DGresh]

I'd like to move some threads in the old tristate... is this still the way to make this happen or is there another way?

[nsxtasy]

This is the way to make this happen. Once the Chowhound Team gives you privileges (as a result of your post here), when you bring up topics in the archive forum, at the bottom of the first post you will see a fourth option, "Contributor Panel", in addition to the usual Permalink - Report - Reply. Click on that and you will be able to move the post.

[GIOny]

We are still getting new threads that are being posted in the NY State boards that belong in the NYC boards but when I go to move the thread, NYC is not an option, am I missing something??

[Servorg]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6821...

[GIOny]

The problem is I can move the thread to just about anywhere else in the world, just not NYC, that's the part I don't get. I have access to move the thread just not to the right place.

[rworange]

That link says we can only move items from the archive boards to the new boards. Anything else, hit the report button to notify the mods and tell them where the thread should be moved.

[DGresh]

The drop down list contains the NEW boards. That's why you don't see NYC there. Just use "report" as rworage says.

[GIOny]

ok, got it, thanks all.

[smartie]

yes please

[leepinleemur]

There are still a few on PA board which could be moved to Philly. I could assist with this.

[bbqboy]

Should a thread such as this:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/121169
be left to die a slow death in Archive Hell?
I was having a merry old time moving things til this one.
Thanks.

[Servorg]

Not sure why you say this thread should be left to die a slow death? It has a plethora of recommendations (even some photos of burgers) and extends from 2002 right up into 2009. This looks exactly like the sort of thread that makes CH the great resource it is.

[bbqboy]

OK. I was more wondering if it should be reposted to the 2 splits of the former board.
I love old threads.

[Servorg]

Any threads that I wasn't sure what to do with I just reported to the Mod's and said "you make the call" and left it at that. Hey, if it's above our pay grade there's no reason to fret.

[Jacquilynne]

Unfortunately, there's really no way for us to split a thread like that. Our split function doesn't allow us to go through the thread picking and choosing posts to move as a group -- we can only select a single sub-thread and split it off. So we'd have to split that into about 30 threads, which wouldn't really help the situation any.

[bbqboy]

Oh no, I'm sorry. I just meant posting the whole archived thread to both boards of the former Midwest board. I see what your saying though.
Maybe all the archives should be renamed goldmines. :)

[Jacquilynne]

We can't do that either.

[bbqboy]

No problem. Thanks.

[nsxtasy]

I've been moving posts from the Midwest General Archive forum when they get updated. However, when a topic covers more than one of the new forums - usually because it's a question about the "best X in the Midwest" and has recommendations in the states in the Great Lakes forum as well as the Great Plains forum - I've left it in the archive forum. The same situation applies for topics in some of the other archive forums (e.g. topics in the New England General Archive forum for the "best X in New England" with recommendations for states in the Northern New England forum as well as the Southern New England forum).

[GIOny]

I just noticed today a thread on the NY state board that belongs on the Outer Boroughs board when I went to go move it "Outer Borough" was not an option, neither was Manhattan. They had the Middle East and Asia and everything else but not the breakdown for NY.

[kattyeyes]

Report it to the mods so they can move it. We (the volunteer posters) are just supposed to move threads from old boards to new--not relocated otherwise "misplaced" threads.

[Servorg]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6821...

[Dax]

Bit late to the party. I can help out on the South Board (mainly for Athens, GA) and Central South although it still irks me that Alabama is not part of the Southeast board. Southeast is mostly Research Triangle now, which maybe has enough traffic to warrant its own board. Whine, whine ...

[bigjeff]

having trouble moving a thread to "Manhattan" from "The Best"; the choice doesn't show up in the dropdown. link in question:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/684839

[kpzoo]

I'm not sure you have the option to move anything out of that particular board as it wasn't one of the boards that were split. It seems to fit there OK - why did you want to move it?

[Jacquilynne]

Kpzoo is correct, moving things to Manhattan isn't an option.

We don't mean for people with the ability to move threads to be policing our board boundaries in general, just helping out with the moves necessary as a result of the boards we split out. If something is in the wrong place for some other reason, please just flag it using 'report' for moderator review.

[Servorg]

Just a quick note to say "Bless You" to all who put SD or San Diego in the title of their posts over the years on the California board. A blessing (although smaller) to those who put it somewhere in the body of their write up. To those who gave a name of a restaurant with NO location information what so ever, a blessing to Google for it's uncanny ability to run down the location of said place in one try. ;-D>

[wandasue]

I'll move PA to Philly. Want to make sure the outer burbs don't get lost in the shuffle.

[jfood]

WARNING...WARNING...NOT WORKING TODAY

Jfood tried to move some threads this morning in Mid-west...some worked, some did not even after receiving "success" on the bottom right.

[Servorg]

Seems to be working normally for me (PC/XP/Firefox). Have you cleared your browser cache lately? Also, sign out and then back in. If you're still having trouble close your browser and then open again.

[jfood]

cleared the cache, logged out, logged in...still fubar. thanks for the idea though servorg. next?

[Servorg]

You put your left leg in / You put your left leg out / You put your left leg in / And you shake it all about... ;-D>

Next you might try closing your browser and then opening it up again and if that doesn't do it you can fall back on that old tech trick of a hard shut down and reboot...

[jfood]

OK Jfood reporting back:

1 - dosie do'ed
2 - argued with UPS (site lies)
3 - had a bagel with cream cheese and novey, a little more herring and another cup of coffee
4 - turned off computer
5 - nice chat with mrs jfood
6 - turned on computer
7 - started watching Travel channel on Hot Dogs
8 - tried to move the threads on Midwest
9 - received action successful
10 - checked and thread not moved
11 - came to this thread
12 - receive "there is a slight problem"
13 - hit f5
14 - reloaded correctly
15 - went to your post
16 - hit reply
17 - typed

gotta get another cup of coffee and go o the pool...75 degrees already

[HillJ]

Lordy, all that drama?! Moved posts myself with no issue other than a unnecessary explain box, I can't imagine why you'd have that issue-but enjoy the pool!

[jfood]

yeah, surprised jfood, moved all the ffd county threads since nov '09 to SNEW and then went to msp and poof, no mas

[HillJ]

Okay the last 20 posts I moved from one place on the MidA Board are showing up later down the line in the same MidA Board. So until I'm clear that my volunteer time is actually helping move MidA posts, I'm not continuing. Jacq, could you shed some light on this. Txs.

[Jacquilynne]

Examples?

[HillJ]

Sure. ie: While on page 8 of the MidA posts and I realized one of the posts on page 8 posts that I had already moved was now on page 13. Is it possible that what I am moving is not actually being moved or that I'm moving a thread that another CH helping out is moving back? Should I continue?

[Jacquilynne]

Can you provide a link to the thread?

[HillJ]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/586246

okay, I think this is an example of what I mean. I moved this around page 6 and found it on page 13

[Jacquilynne]

There's no sign that that thread has ever been moved by anyone. Are you sure you're getting all the way to Action Successful before moving on to something else?

If you've got more examples, I'll take a look at them, as well.

[jfood]

J

i tried this one >6 times

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/661625

[Jacquilynne]

It seems to be moved -- though it does only show having been moved once.

[jfood]

Brain cramp time. It shows up in Midwest archives on my lists after i have tried to move to new MSP board. Where do you see it?

[Servorg]

I see it on the Minneapolis-St. Paul board.

[jfood]

weird, i see it in Midwest. oy

[rworange]

Sometimes it takes search a while to catch up with the move. There is other search weirdness going on as well. I had to stop with Connecticut for a while since things didn't look moved. Then the next morning they showed up in the correct place.

[jfood]

we'll have to see if the overnights work. Did the Midwest to MSP this morning and some are very loyal to the Midwest archived boards.

[jfood]

"The Elves and the Shoemakers" by the Brothers Grimm is alive and well in CH. The thread referenced above was moved overnight and others that jfood has just tried to move have the same issue.

[HillJ]

Hmm. That's odd. As well as Jfood's example. Well, Jacq. if it comes up again in the moment, I'll zap the link over here rather than try to recall.

Action Successful is what I wait for each time. Sometimes the submit button is visually missing but accepts a click in the "area" the submit would appear and Action Successful! prompts in a few seconds. The reason for box is annoying and unnecessary in this excercise so I'm hitting a random key to bypass it. But otherwise I'm not noticing anything else odd. I'll keep on.

[HillJ]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/185877

okay now I could have sworn I moved this post earlier today...

[HillJ]

Okay I'm passing the baton! 1-122 pages I've combed thru and moved my NJ favs and memorable threads. Thanks for the opp to serve the community. J.

[Jacquilynne]

Wow -- that's awesome, thanks.

[cgfan]

I am seeing the same thing, which is that threads that I've previously move are still showing up in the old boards after a search. Not only that, but in the header for the thread the old board is also showing up. The latter part is a bit of a surprise if the delay is attributable to a slow spider for the search engine. At one time I thought that perhaps each of these moves goes through a review process, but I would doubt that too as being too time-consuming.

Please let us know that we are not wasting our time in trying to get this work done.

As time goes on it gets more and more difficult to remember which threads I've already moved and which ones I have not yet done when they both turn up in search results under the old board name.

Note: I do wait for the action complete message each time...

I did notice, however, that when I try to move some threads, particularly those that I think I may have already moved but still show up in their old board that when I click upon move thread that in the destination box "San Diego" already shows up, the destination for all of my moves (California -> San Diego).

Obviously the system somehow remembered the preferred board destination, but somehow has not yet acted upon it.

[sixelagogo]

Can we please kill the "reason" part of moving threads- at least for now....it takes my computer about 20 seconds to allow me to write anything in it...i've taken to copy-pasting the word "annoying" for each reason.

[HillJ]

six, I asks the same ? yesterday. That "box" is slowing down the works.

[Servorg]

But, really it probably is only adding a half second to the operation. As J Food notes above you only need to hit/insert one letter to satisfy the requirements of that box.

[HillJ]

Yes, I'm inserting one letter alright.... :)
half a second x 4,000 posts...but I slog on

[kevin47]

I would like to sign up for minneapolis-st. paul

[nicky63220]

sign me up for san diego

[bbqboy]

I'll help on PNW.

[Foody4life]

I'd like to help with the Mid Atlantic --> NJ move.

[royaljester]

I want to help move for San Diego. About 50 posts over the years, all on San Diego and I read most of the threads.

[fmed]

I'm in.

[barryg]

I'll move threads for PA > Philly.

[i_eat_a_lot_of_ice_cream]

Should we only be moving threads that have been active recently, or is the idea to purge the old Tristate board of everything except for ambiguous NY/CT/NJ topics?

[Jacquilynne]

The priority is moving threads that have been active recently so that those conversations don't get ended in the move.

If you'd prefer to move older threads, whether in large batches or just selectively moving posts you might have bookmarked as particularly valuable, you're absolutely welcome to do so. There's no push, however, to completely reassign all the threads on the boards -- that would be a lot of work, and it's not necessary. The threads on those boards will still be available to people via search.

[cgfan]

I suspect you did not mean to imply that some kind of batch move capability is available, or am I reading this wrong? (Having to open up each thread and assigning a new location one at a time adds quite a bit of time in doing this migration...)

[royaljester]

That's okay, you and I can split the duty and move just the ones we have time for! =)

[Jacquilynne]

No, I didn't mean that you could do more than one at once -- I just meant some people will plug away at moving a whole bunch of threads when they have an hour or so free, while other people will just move threads when they come across something interesting that they feel is worth moving, and both of those are fine.

[cgfan]

Ditto; will do whatever I can for the California -> San Diego board migration...

[Jacquilynne]

All the recent requests should have access granted, but you may need to log out and back in to see the contributor panel.

[anonymoose]

Contributor Panel option still doesn't show up for me. I logged out and logged back in, then tried logging out, cleared my cache, logged back in and nothing.

[Jacquilynne]

Sorry about that, I missed you when I was handing out permissions. Please try again.

[anonymoose]

Works for me now, thank you!

Does this mean that if I move something to the wrong place that I get to blame it on you grayelf? ;)

[Jacquilynne]

You can try, but the mods can see who moved what, so the truth will tell.

[grayelf]

Same for me, unless I'm looking in the wrong place. It's a bit weird because I have been able to edit restaurants etc all along...

[Jacquilynne]

Nope, you're definitely all set. Are you not seeing the contributor panel link at all? It's right next to the report button on the first post in every thread.

[grayelf]

Thanks, J, now I see it but nothing happened when I clicked on it so I restarted CH and it worked for a bit. I wonder if it is my browser here -- I'll try my other machine later.

[i_eat_a_lot_of_ice_cream]

I would like to help move threads from Tristate to NY! Thanks!

[lax2mia]

I can help in Miami/Fort Lauderdale if needed.

[RB Hound]

Please grant me access - sounds like a task well suited for my personality and habits. :)

[jfood]

When I click on Contributor Panel...it takes me to the top of the thread

[jfood]

Never mind...my bad...now it seems to work

[kattyeyes]

Hey there...I don't know if it was your bad or not. I just moved three threads over, now I click Contributor Panel and nothing happens...

In any event, I'm psyched to be sharing a united Connecticut board with you and the rest of the FFD county hounds. Let me know if you're able to move anything. I appear to be stuck though I've tried a few times...

[Jacquilynne]

Hrmm, Perhaps try reloading and clearing cache.

It could be just a matter of server load, though. Y'all have jumped all over moving threads, and it's happening at a rapid clip. That might be making the servers a little angsty and overworked.

[kattyeyes]

Nope, I'm back in biz now, so I suspect your second theory is correct. Glad everyone is pitching in to get things movin'...thanks, Jacquilynne.

[Melanie Wong]

Wondering if it's caused by more than one person trying to move the same thread. I clicked over to the older messages, a few months back, and have been sailing through.

[kattyeyes]

Just found if I refresh the page and try again, it works like a charm.

[jfood]

yup the F5 key is your friend

[HillJ]

The optional box, "explain," is not optional and it's slowing down progress moving threads. Is anyone else finding this?

[rworange]

Yep, it was mentioned somewhere. I'm just putting a period in it to get by the edit. Still, it would be nice to take that edit off and make it optional.

[azhotdish]

will assist on new phoenix / southwest split. shouldn't this be an easy task to auto-move threads using established place-tags? seems like a simple update in SQL.

[rosetown]

I'm willing - primarily the former Western Canada Board.

[Melanie Wong]

"Contributor Panel" shows, but nothing happens when I click on it. I've logged out and back in and enabled all scripts on the page.

Is it working?

[Melanie Wong]

Went from no action to spinning circle, but have now successfully moved a thread.

[foleyd7]

I'll assist for the CT area if you need more assistance.
I can't promise to get through hundreds of them, but I'll pitch in when possible.
If you need my help, just let me know how and when to begin.

[foleyd7]

Where should Long Island topics be moved? New Your State? Or Outer Bouroughs?

[Jacquilynne]

New York State.

[jpc8015]

I am happy to help.

[Jacquilynne]

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered so far. Anyone else interested in helping can still sign up below.

Once the changes to the board structure go live on the site, everyone who signed up should see a 'contributor panel' option on the original post for each thread. You may need to log out and back in if you aren't seeing new button. I've attached a picture to show where to look for it.

Hit the link to open up the contributor panel, choose to move the thread and which board to move it to. Adding a comment explaining the move is optional.

If you mess up move, and can't move it back because the original board is not available as a destination, please send an email with a link to the thread and the board it came from to [e-mail]. Using "report" will NOT reach us under these circumstance.

You can only move items to new or changed regional boards, not to topical boards or any of our unchanged boards. If you run across things that need moving, but aren't directly because of the board splits, please continue to flag them for the moderators.

You can only move a whole thread, not individual posts or sub-threads. For the most part, we won't be able to split up old threads to move different parts to each individual board they belong on, as we can't pick and choose posts out of a thread to split and move, we can only move a single post and all the posts that are direct replies to it. If there's a recent thread you really, really think we can and should split, you can flag it for the moderators to review.

[geekyfoodie]

How far back do you want us to go, time-wise? I know the CA board has posts dating back to quite a few years ago.

[Jacquilynne]

Up to you, really. We mainly want to see still active threads moved so the conversations can continue. If people want to move more than the active threads, they're certainly welcome to, but there isn't a pressing need.

[PolarBear]

I know you have a lot on your plate but it occurred to me since we're embarking on this effort it might perhaps make sense to have some more precise guidelines for southern California. For San Bernadino County the "southwest corner" is currently considered LA Board, and the rest on the CA Board. This is Victorville south and west of Yucca and Morongo Valleys? This appears to work fairly well, so maybe best left alone.

Then there's Riverside County, roughly the western 1/8 that includes (N>S) Riverside, Corona, Perris, and Murrieta. Posts on these were about equally split between the LA and CA boards last time I checked. It appears the dividing line is the 215 Fwy except for Hemet., The southern most burg on the 215 is Temecula, which seems to appear mostly on the CA board as do the desert cities that lie east of the mountains (Banning, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio, etc.). However, up in the mountains Idylwild is on the LA Board.

Any thoughts, or is it too much to try and deal with at this point? TIA

Dave

[The Chowhound Team]

Victorville, Yucca and Morongo valleys will remain on California. All of Riverside county, including Riverside, Corona, Perris and Murietta remains on California, Idylwild remains on California.

[GIOny]

Today is the 28th and I have logged out and I still don't see the contributor panel. Shouldn't I be seeing this by now??

[soupkitten]

i thought they said the roll out was at 2 pm. after that time you should see it-- you may have to log off and then back on to get the new format. that was my impression, anyway-- i'm sure there will be a clarification if i'm off-base.

[Jacquilynne]

Ayep -- it won't happen until we make the changes.

[GIOny]

OK thanks

[rworange]

Am I the only one where the comment is NOT optional? I've just been putting a period in the comments for the move to work. Otherwise I get a box with 'Explain your selection'

[cgfan]

The comment does not seem to be optional with me too, though I have been filling out the reason for each move.

Actually what would really help is if there was a more wholesale way of moving the posts, such as in batches. It would be nice to do a search, for instance topic titles containing "Encinitas", then amongst the result being able to check off which ones really can be moved to the new "San Diego" board. Any chance that such a tool might be forthcoming?

[jfood]

the comment box is PITA. I just type a "c" and it accepts it

[aynrandgirl]

Reporting for duty (Texas).

[anonymoose]

I would be happy to help (soon-to-be-old Western Canada board)

[Steve Green]

Glad to help (southwest & CA boards).

[scjohann]

I can help out with the Dallas-Fort Worth and the Houston boards. I live in DFW and travel to Houston once a month.

[FireRev]

I'd like to help, too.

[noreservations]

(In an Arnold Horshack/Welcome Back Kotter-like response): "Ooh-ooh-ooh, pick me, pick me". It would be a pleasure to be chosen...but not last like some kid in gym class. :)

Together we can keep the New England/Southern New England board from becoming one 'Hot Mess'. ;)

[FoodieJim]

I would like to apply for permission to move threads. I post mainly in what was the New England Board.

[kattyeyes]

Please count me in.

[Mensch71]

I'll be glad to help with the Great Lakes board. Thanks!

[catrn]

I would be glad to help the New England board

[jerryc123]

I would be happy to help with the New York State board.

[JoanN]

I'd be happy to help where I can on the Mid-Atlantic/New Jersey moves.

[sixelagogo]

i can help out with the new jersey/tri-state board

[GIOny]

I can help out on the Tri-State Boards. Will there be anymore instruction on how you want it done? What about those threads that include Westchester and Fairfield together or Westchester/Rockland and Northern NJ, there are several on the boards, what do you do with those??

[nsxtasy]

>> What about those threads that include Westchester and Fairfield together or Westchester/Rockland and Northern NJ, there are several on the boards, what do you do with those??

My suggestion would be to leave them in the General Tristate Archive, and not move them at all.

Note - I am not part of the Chowhound Team and do not speak for them. This is solely my opinion.

[Jacquilynne]

It should be pretty straight forward, but yes, I'll post some instructions early next week.

In the case of threads that don't fit on a single new board, they should stay where they are.

[LurkerDan]

I can help moving Southwest threads to Mountain States.

[duck833]

Glad to assist on the Phoenix and Portland, OR boards

[geekyfoodie]

Very excited about the San Diego board split-off, so count me in to help.

[Scagnetti]

In.

[PolarBear]

I will be glad to help as time permits. Thanks for the great job you do, btw.

Dave

[north2south]

You can sign me up.

[Frodnesor]

Happy to help on Florida / Miami-FTL

[ldkelley]

Me, too.

[bob s]

Happy to help.

[bob s]

Will it be obvious when we've been granted privileges? I haven't seen anything so far.

(Also, I'm interested in helping with the Twin Cities board - if that wasn't obvious.)

Thanks.
Bob

[Jacquilynne]

You have been, but you won't be able to tell unless you:

-- log out and back in
-- go look at a the page of a specific restaurant, where you'll see you have 'edit info' and 'mark as duplicate' and 'mark as closed' links where none were before.

You'll eventually see a 'contributor panel' on board posts next to where 'report' is now, but not until we release the changes later this week.

[Eric]

I'd like to help out also.

[jfood]

J

Jfood reporting for duty.

[Danny]

I'd be glad to help sort out the Midwest/Twin Cities split.

[nsxtasy]

I'll be happy to help!

[ambrose]

Yes, I would most definitely like to help.

[Servorg]

Sign me up (cue the theme song from "The Jefferson's" - Movin on up!)... ;-D>