Hi Ben,
I reviewed the link and service you setup. It does not show what I described, but that is my fault for not describing well. My last message was created when I was in a meditative state... Trying to understand it may be hazardous while operating heavy machinery --could make readers drowsy! =)
I'll restate:
Using the board system, a user can choose to be notified of any activity in a forum or message thread.
What if the person only wants to view messages most directly relevant to their current user-type tasks (end-user, admin, developer)?
Case1: If there is only one forum (and multiple categories), then...
there is no easy way to limit message threads to those most directly relevant to the user. For example, if an admin only wants to track admin related discussions, the person must subscribe to all forum discussions and then turn-off alerts relating to discussions of no interest, or using the search function, regularly find admin-related discussions and set alerts "to be notified of new messages on this thread". This case is burdonsome for anyone who wants to limit message notification to the most relevant (directly connected) to their situation.
Case2: If one forum for each user-type: end-user, admin, developer, then..
A person sets alerts (subscribes) to the forum of their user-type. By setting the alerts at the forum level, they will be notified of all ongoing discussion (and new threads) within the forum automatically. No additional work needs to be done by the user. An admin will be alerted when admin-related issues develop in the forum. An end-user will be alerted when other end-users have problems (and can help describe how to solve problem in language other end-users understand [few jargon]. A developer can focus on developer-related issues when immersed in coding a package without distractions from other discussions.
Anyone can always subscribe to all forums. In case 2, the ones who want to have only directly relevant messages will be catered to also. There is no burden on users to limit messages to the most relevant ones.
Let me know if this is unclear.
Again, 3 forums, with multiple categories per message/discussion thread, should cater to most everyone's needs.
