I think that DAW World still provides a valuable service to our members, but it needs an overhaul...
There are some forums here that are dead in the water, but others that continue to be a fountain of information.
Having a computing forum on both RO and DAW world is not necessary. I would leave the DAW World Community where it is, and either discontinue or merge the computing forum from RO.
The preset plug-in exchange has barely been used in over a year of existence, so it is safe to say that it is not a feature that the users want or need...dump it.
I took a look at DAW World, and it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. The companies that have over 50 postings are pretty active and continue to add value to the site, the others do not. It would be best to delete all of the companies with less than 50 posts, and add a forum titled something like "All Other Companies"...or whatever.
I've had an overwhelming feeling here that Computing is outgrowing itself, is getting confusing to follow, would benefit from organization, and rightly deserves the attention. Instead of just a computing forum, I think that a computing section with individual "issue" forums would be of great help and future importance to our members. With the continually building exponential growth of computer technology, it gets increasingly more difficult to learn how all of this new hardware and software works specifically for audio apps.
A new Computing section could include...
*Mac OS--
*Macintosh Hardware
*Windows
*AMD...CPU & Motherboard
*Pentium...CPU & Motherboard
*Graphics Cards
*Sound Cards
*Harddrive
*CDRW
*IDE, SCSI, USB, Firewire, RAID
*Input Devices
*Compatibility Issues
Since I've suggested dumping almost half of DAW World, this new section could be a great way to replace the useless areas with a new, useful feature for our members!
It's been quite a while since there have been any major changes on our sites, and from the looks of activity, this is the way to go.
audiokid...do you have AIM, MSN Messenger, or anything like that? If so, let me know which one, and give me your user name. If you don't want to post it on the board, email it to me at my Netscape addy. If you want to talk on the phone, let me know and I'll email you my phone number. It's been a long time since we chatted, and if you want to consider this idea, perhaps we should hook-up. If you want, we could even set-up a chat where any or all moderators could participate. Let me know!

I think Smawg has something there...I saw this post but was kind of waiting to respond until I truly though to of something..right now I'm all messed up on Triptophan(ya know that chemical from too much turkey and puts you to sleep!) to post something indepth on ideas...
Smawg..are you on Mirc at all? Recording.org is the channel we chat on. I'm on MSN Messenger as well as ICQ too..
my MSN messenger contact is gbrenner71@hotmail.com
ICQ # is 13313525 with knickname Opus(of course!!)

While Smaug raises some good points, my personal feeling is to leave the individual daw forums where they are (with a few minor changes*). The fact that some daw manufacturers are fully supportive of the forums we have given them, and others have been the model of neglect, speaks volumes. Part of the reason for starting DAWWorld in the first place was to give everyone a level playing field on which to strut their stuff and show prospective buyers their products in context with everyone else's. If we dump all the inactive companies into one forum, that would send the message that we "endorse" certain companies and "shun" others. I would prefer to let everyone see for themselves which companies are shunning their customers, while still giving those companies an opportunity to jump in and participate - a chance to mend the error of their neglect.

*changes - I would like to see daw's by the same manufacturer under the same forum. ProTools & 001 = Digidesign, Cubase & Nuendo = Steinberg, HDR24/96 & Soundscape = Makee, etc. Just "Korg" since oasys is not the only daw they make. Akai should be represented, and any other daw manufacturers we've forgotten. I think we should split radar off to iZ and Otari, since they are now separately manufactured, marketed, and supported products.

Well, that's my $0.25, your thoughts?

Merging the MDR/HDR forum with the Soundscape forum sounds like a good idea to me(if a question should come up concerning the Mackie-branded gear, I'd make my best effort to get some information.) Since the line is now known as "Soundscape by Mackie", calling the forum that or "Soundscape/Mackie" could cover the bases (and Soundscape does have more activity here anyway! ;) )
Thanks!

Here's something more I'd like to share:

DAWorld gets about 40 thousand page views per month. A large % of new members hit DAWworld before Pro Talk, can you believe that! ....... maybe 80 posts per month come from all that traffic (guessing), what's with that?

:cool:

I'm thinking that two Computing sections is redundant...close the one on Pro Talk and combine it with this one..kill Plug in Preset forum..is cannon fauder mate!
The heavy hitters should be listed on top instead of scattered about..I know alphabetizing is cool and all but..WTF?!! we're audio freaks and musicians!!We dont need no stinking order!!!
ok, enough foolishness!!
I definately think one computing forum would be good..this way it would draw computing q's to only this page...
Also lets do a Projects Forum..Rotate moderators monthly and make them start onscure projects or something..you know..like the one I propsed and never followed thru with?!! Oooops! :p
I think that would help bring people in...exposure and creativity
Opus

I don't think that combining some of the forums, as has been suggested, would be in any way beneficial. Even though the same company manufactures the mentioned products, they are as different as apples and innertubes. The mentioned products hold enough weight on their own to warrant their own forums. Combining these forums would only add confusion, complicate navigation, and force people to sift through the information harder to find what they're looking for.
I still believe that deleting the companies' forums which have less than 50 posts is a good idea. This action on it's own sends a sort of message. This does not mean that we are shunning these companies, it simply means that the thousands of people who visit RO/DAWW have very little interest in them. Those forums have been there for a long time, whether supported by the company or not, but very few people have chosen to use them. Now, if we were to take the companies/products out of alphabetical order, that WOULD infer favoratism or partiallity, which is something that we have avoided like the plague from the start, so we should not do that.
I'm curious to hear your reactions to my ideas on categorizing "Computing". Since this IS DAW World, I think it would be very beneficial to our users to have a better organized way of finding the answers to their computer probs, especially since host-based systems are getting closer and closer to becoming a real contender.