collector wrote on 2020-07-03, 18:38:Or just read the forum descriptions and stickied posts like the one in this forum entitled "This forum is for running old windows games on NEW (supported) versions of Windows".
All I see as a description at the moment is "Getting old Windows games working."
After clicking that link, a new user may or may not notice the sticky thread called "This forum is for running old windows games on NEW (supported) versions of Windows."
But thread titles are not where a new user is going to be looking. They clicked a link on vogons.org to a forum that was clearly labelled "Getting old Windows games working" and the next thing they'll do is look for a link to make a New Post, not read all possible forum topics.
Your current arrangement clearly doesn't work as intended.
I think more than half your (Collector's) posts must be about people posting in the "wrong" forum.
Maybe instead of having the Marvin forums almost halfway down the vogons.org page you can have clear headings under the The Guide section at the top of the forum list:
The Guide
"Getting old DOS games and other software working on modern hardware"
"Getting old DOS games and other software working on vintage hardware"
"Getting old Windows games and other software working on modern hardware"
"Getting old Windows games and other software working on vintage hardware"
... and the 2nd and 4th links would take them to the Marvin links, or possibly directly to the Marvin Software forum since that includes games.
Most new members who come to this website will be wanting help with an old game. So all four possibilities should be at the top of the forum list where they are quick and easy to spot.
It's very important that these four links are right next to each other if you don't want people posting in the wrong place. Make getting to the proper forum as quick and easy as possible.
Try to put yourself in the mindset of the new member who has never seen this forum before, doesn't know its quirks, and just wants some help with their game as quickly as possible. They're not going to want to scroll halfway down the vogons.org page, reading every forum description. Even if they try, they'll probably give up before they reach the Marvin section and just post in the forum with the closest-sounding description to what they want that's near the top of the webpage -- which tends to be either the DOS or the Windows forum where we get all these "wrong forum" posts.
collector wrote on 2020-07-03, 18:38:The reason for keeping it separate is that different solutions are required for dino hardware vs modern systems.
I understand the reason for keeping separate forums for vintage hardware and that is not the problem.
What I do not understand is why VOGONS has continued to have such a confusing arrangement of forum headings, and then complain when people post in the "wrong" place.
Of course if you enjoy complaining about new members posting in the "wrong" forum then keep doing what you're doing and remember what's often quoted as the definition of insanity.