What do you think of the forum categories?

[Nathan Gesner]

I'm asking this as a fellow forum user, not a moderator. About four months ago, someone within BiggerPockets split the Landlording & Rental Properties forum and created multiple subcategories. The image below shows what we currently have:

It seems more difficult to track down previous questions because a particular subject can now fit in one of several categories. Did John Q. ask about application screening in the main forum, the Tenant Screening forum, or the Landlord Problem Solving forum? Some of the problems I'm seeing:

• There is a forum dedicated to Tenant Screening, but people still ask screening questions in the primary forum. In fact, screening questions can fit in Tenant Screening, Landlord Problem Solving, or Managing Your Property. To make matters even more confusing, the "Ultimate Guide To Tenant Screening" is still a sticky post in the primary forum!
• What's the difference between Landlord Problem Solving and Managing Your Property? If I find an unauthorized occupant in my rental or the kitchen catches fire or a tenant wants to break their lease early, where do I post my question or search for answers? There are at least three categories that apply to each of these scenarios.
• There are only 147 posts for Marketing Your Rental and 291 for Tenant Screening after four months. The general forum probably gets that many posts in one month on those same subjects.
• The same questions are repeated over and over. That's an indication the information is not properly categorized and easily accessible. If we organized the forums based on what users are most often looking for, I think we could dramatically reduce the number of repeat posts.

If we have to break things out into sub-categories, we should be very specific in defining those categories to avoid cross-posting, simplify the user's ability to search past posts, and to help moderators maintain some semblance of order by moving discussions to the correct forums. An example:

• General Landlording- Anything that doesn't fit into a sub-category
• Property Management (Should I use a PM or self manage? What does a PM do? Why is my PM charging X? Why do all PMs suck?) This would include a very helpful sticky detailing how to screen a property manager, which is one of the most common requests.
• Landlord Software and Applications (Which software should I use? How do I accept online payments?) This would include two sticky posts: one could be a simple guide on how to evaluate software, the other for user reviews
• Tenant Screening (Screening software reviews or recommendations. What am I looking for in a credit report?  Which of these applicants would you choose?). This is an appropriate place to post the Ultimate Guide to Tenant Screening
• Maintenance (who's responsible for this repair? How do I fix my leaking fridge? Should I add a second bathroom? How do I track maintenance? Where can I find a good handyman?)
• Finances and Taxes (how to track, budgeting, is this expense tax deductible)

Final thought:

• I don't like the Renters Discussion. It's the second most-used sub-category and is supposed to be for renters to ask questions about their Landlords. However, it seems the vast majority of discussion is actually from Landlords or Property Managers, not from renters. And why would Biggerpockets create a specific category for Renters when it's supposed to be for investors? That's like creating a forum for contractors. If a renter has a question, can't they ask it within our existing categories?

What do you think? Are the current categories working for you? Is it easier or more difficult with the current setup? Don't care? 

If you have any feedback, please share it here!