Having too many subforums creates the problem where people don't know where to post new threads, and people don't know where to look first for relevant topics. If and when we have 10k posts per day here, we'll certainly need to have more subforums to control and segregate data but now is not that time.
A forum software switch is a great time to change the organization of forum groups, so we move forward with a fresh look and organization.
Folding Forums
I'd recommend breaking up the first group of forums into three groups: team/admin, general help, and specific help. I've placed all the team-related stuff at the top as one of the primary goals of this site is to promote a sense of community and team spirit. Group names should be short so they're easily parsed, and groups should contain only a handful of relevant subforums.
Don't repeat words in forum names. It makes the "breadcrumb trail" at the top difficult to parse. Compare the current:
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Team MacOS X's International Forums » Team MacOS X Folding Forums » Official Announcements
to my proposed:
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Team MacOS X's International Forums » Team-related » News and Announcements
We know these are forums, so we don't need to say it twice. We know what team we are, so we don't need to say it twice. The major group gives context to the subgroup, so repetition is not necessary as long as organization is sufficient.
Below, parenthesized text are comments and aren't meant to appear on the actual web page. Subforum descriptions are given when different, current descriptions can be used otherwise.
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Team-related
-- News and Announcements (previously Official Announcements and Member News)
Official announcements (stickied) and announcements by members
-- Introduce Yourself
-- Competitions and Congratulations
-- Suggestion Box and Feedback
General News and Help (no need to keep on repeating Team Mac OS X, too verbose and redundant)
-- Folding News (previously General/Misc and other subforums, should be much more prominent and near the top than it is now)
Client upgrades, project-wide changes, etc.
-- Help Central (recommend lock so new threads can be posted in appropriate subforums below)
-- FAQs and Guides (previously FAQs)
In-depth introductions and wide-ranging FAQs
-- Tips and Tricks
Post your folding tips and tricks for others here!
Platforum-specific Folding Help
-- Intel/SMP Macs OS X (keep these names short and consistent. No need to say folding, as the forum group makes that clear)
-- PPC Mac OS X
-- Linux
-- Windows
-- GPU
-- PS3
-- Increase
-- DIY Computers and Folding Hardware (previously Hardcore Folding and Technophilia, drooling at fancy tech should not go here. only questions about hardware recommendations, configuration, etc.)
So we end up with three forum groups with more relevant subforums and shorter names that provide context without repetition. Hopefully a win for overall ease of use and organization.
Off Topic Forums
The real world has many opportunities for largely stagnant subforums to be combined. For example:
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The Real World
-- International Forum (minus the s, as it's one subforum)
-- Apple and OS X News (previously OS X Updates and Security Issues / Apple Bits n' Pieces, Software updates, news, rumors that do not directly impact folding should go here)
-- Shiny Toys (more serious name is fine, but the latest graphics cards, desktop supercomputers, and other tech/gear should go here. our very own engadget/gizmodo)
-- Hardware and OS X Help (previously Hardware and Upgrades, GeoPort, OS X Help, etc. it's hard for end users to know whether a problem is caused by an OS or hardware issue, but it should be clear where they should post)
-- OS X Tips and Tricks (For those offering vs requesting help and tips, our very own macosxhints, also encompasses Sources and Resources)
-- Art and Entertainment (previously Arts, Lit, Entertainment / Music / Graphics and Design. We could pigeonhole endlessly, but the current traffic suggests that separation isn't necessary. Now we include everything from music to movies to photography to graphic design)
-- Humor and Leisure (why not combine? We might even want to throw it in with A&E above, after all a lot of leisure posts are games, which certainly go with A&E)
-- General Discussion
Thus we've combined a sprawling list of low-traffic subforums into 7-8 relevant subforums. Combining traffic also makes the boards look more active, as there are more active threads!
