To organize the site better for future growth, we have implemented topics (sub-categories). There will be nested sub-topics as well.

What we want to do is decrease the # of channels overall and instead let users post into those fewer channels on a wider range of topics. Users interested in those topics will be able to delve deeper and deeper into that category by going to a particular topic.

Let me give you an example:

Let's say you're really into history. You click on the history forum or channel and you see ALL the articles that are of the category of history. But maybe you feel overwhelmed by hundreds of articles ranging from the Fall of the Roman Empire to weapons used in World War I. Let's say you want instead to just talk about the Civil War.

You would go to History::Civil War and see just posts that are of that topic.

Eventually it could get even deeper:

History::Civil War::Gettysburgh

What most sites do is have very seperate forums with each forum being exclusive. On JoeUser, we'll be taking the opposite path, each forum is inclusive with the broader the category/channel, the broader the articles/posts. Anything that shows up in a sub-topic will also show up in the parent topic and the parent channel/category.

Here's what we have so far.

Personal Computing

Hardware
    Desktops
    Monitors
    Laptops
    Video Cards
    Printers
    Hard Drives
Software
    Development
        Longhorn
        .NET
        XAML
        C++
        Visual Basic
        .ASP
        SQL
    Operating Systems
        Windows
        Linux
        MacOS
    Customization
        Skinning
        Icons
        Tutorials
        Help
        WindowBlinds
        DesktopX
    Internet
        Usenet

Entertainment
    Books
    Movies & TV
    Gaming
        PC Games
            Strategy
            Adventure
            Action
        Console Games
    Music

Politics
    Republican
    Democrat
    International

Blogging
    Welcome

History
    Current Events
    World War II
    Civil War
    Europe

Personal Relationsips
    Home & Family
    Pets & Nature
    Adults Only

Philosophy

Business
    Consumer Issues
    Work Reports

Hobbies & Recreation
    Gadgets & Electronics
    HDTV
    PVRs
    Photography
    Sports & Leisure

Home Improvement
 

The next step is to consolidate the existing articles into this structure. Feel free to suggest changes or additions.