To the Moderator : Could we have a sub-forum for CE?

[biochemist]

Dear Mr Jupille,

Just wondering if we could have a separate forum for capillary electrophoresis issues? The LC forum is huge and complex and fascinating; but sometimes the CE-related posts get lost in the mix...

Anyway, Chrom Forum is an invaluable resource and thanks to everyone who keeps it running.

[tom jupille]

I'm really conflicted on that.

It's a balancing act between visibility and fragmentation. On the one hand, something like CE of SFC can get swamped by the mass of LC posts, on the other hand, you really need a critical mass for a board to thrive; if you don't get that critical mass, it becomes a ghost town haunted by zombie posts (OK, I'm mixing my metaphors, but you get the idea). Given the large overlap in user base and applications between CE and LC, my gut feeling is that we're better off with the present setup.

Let me do the following, however: I'll set up a poll at the top of the board and ask Separation Science to email their list. After a couple of weeks, we'll look at the results and see what (if any) consensus appears.

[Carvone]

I agree CE should probably have its own subforum, and I voted accordingly in the poll.

I also would love to see a separate subforum for size exclusion chromatography (gel permeation & gel filtration), as I believe this is different enough from HPLC to warrant a distinction. Not only is the mechanism for separation very different for SEC, but it would also bring together polymer science experts to discuss issues and not have it diluted in the large and very rapidly updated HPLC forum.

[tom jupille]

I also would love to see a separate subforum for size exclusion chromatography (gel permeation & gel filtration), as I believe this is different enough from HPLC to warrant a distinction. Not only is the mechanism for separation very different for SEC, but it would also bring together polymer science experts to discuss issues and not have it diluted in the large and very rapidly updated HPLC forum.

I see your point, but that's actually the kind of fragmentation that I'm worried about. The "philosophy" of the Forum (if I may use so grand a term! ) has always focused on exchange of information and I think that having too many defined subgroups works against that. I've learned a tremendous amount of useful stuff from Forum posts that I might not have gone looking for and wouldn't have encountered if they weren't all in one place.

[Carvone]

I also see your point, but I would argue that you as a moderator are viewing this site daily. Some of us do not come on the site that frequently so having to scan back multiple pages to look for the relevant topics (ie CE or SEC) may be more cumbersome. However, if these distinct topics had their own subforums, which would not likely fill up as fast as the HPLC forum with new threads, it would be much more beneficial for those most interested in finding information about the specialized area they work on more consistently. It is all about setting the ground rules, and if people know there is a separate place to go for CE or SEC, then they can still not miss anything. Just my opinion.

[tom jupille]

The obvious smart-ass response is "So, visit the Forum every day!".

Seriously, though, you could accomplish the same thing by "subscribing" to the LC board and then setting up filters in your email client to route anything that comes from chromforum.org and contains the strings SEC, GPC, etc. to a separate folder and deletes anything that comes from chromforum.org and *doesn't* contain the string(s) of interest. That avoids the fragmentation problem and saves you from having to wade through irrelevant material.

The "subscribe forum" link is just under the "New Topic" button on each board.

[Carvone]

I really do enjoy coming onto this forum, for as you already said, there are such great, knowledgeable contributors that I learn so much all the time from reading the posts. I would love to come on all the time (Can one get paid for reading the posts one wonders, haha?), but this fast pace of life in this ever-innovating and updating world we live in does not allow me this luxury.

Thank you for the tip in regard to setting a subscription to keywords in a post. I did not know this useful option was available. Thank the Lord for this ever-innovating and updating world we live in!!

[tom jupille]

Well, the poll results support breaking CE out into a sub-forum. Separate off-line discussions have also led to breaking ion chromatography out. Over the next couple of days, I'll be moving old posts into the new categories. We'll give it a couple of months and see if there's enough activity to warrant keeping them separate.

[biochemist]

Thank you Mr Jupille! Really appreciate the effort