Categories

[ed b.]

I have created some categories for the posts on this forum, and I have been going through the old posts and categorizing them as best I can. Sometimes it is difficult to decide, and in many cases I have left them uncategorized. If anyone finds a post that is miscategorized, or if you have a post that you don't like my choice for, please email me and I will try to do better. Hopefully this will make it easier for everyone to find the information they are looking for. I made a special category for PMK because it is one of my favorite developers. There is probably a good case that I should just stick PMK posts under "Developers". I'm willing to listen to other opinions on the subject. I will also consider requests for further categories.

[bobatkins]

As one who has struggled with categories in the past on other forums,

it's important to have categories which are OBVIOUS - or people will

choose incorrectly.

 

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I'm a little unclear on the distinction between "processing film" and

"developers" for example. Subtle differences in categories often cause

confusion.

 

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I presume "chemistry" is for fixers, stop baths etc? (but not

developers or intensifiers?).

 

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Note that you can't change category names once you create them, nor

can you transfer posts in bulk between categories (you have to do it

one post at a time), so it's worthwile making sure you get it right to

start with, or you'll have to do a lot of work to change it!

 

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Good luck.

[david_goldfarb]

Bob has a good point. How about separate categories for developers,

stops, fixers, intensifiers and toners, reducers and bleaches, hypo

clearing, agitation, reels/tanks/trays/drums, washers, film, bulk

loading, and maybe there are some others. Maybe instead of just "PMK"

the category could be "Pyro," since it would make sense to compare

different pyro formulas in one category.

[ed b.]

I have taken some of your suggestions to heart. I transformed PMK to

Pyro, and added a category for Fixer. Ofttimes it is a tossup between

whether to categorize a thread under Developer or Film--I usually try

to choose what the poster emphasized in his title, and hopefully in

the future the posters will choose their own category. I'm going to

keep some categories deliberately vague, because of the difficulty

involved in finding a precise category for certain threads. Hence,

Chemistry and Processing Film become catchalls for things I can't

classify under Films, Developers or Fixer. I figure SOME

categorization is better than none at all, but there will still be

some threads that will remain Uncategorized. Some threads are so off-

subject that I wonder if they should be allowed to remain. So far,

though, all I have deleted were duplicates with no responses. I've

also been correcting some misspellings and clarifying some titles.

[david_goldfarb]

Another category: Zone System and Contrast Control.

[ed b.]

I added a Zone System category, as well as one for Archival

Processing/Preservation, and one for Alternative Processes. As for

the "Processing Film" category, anything involving "develop X film in

Y developer", processing problems, commercial labs, etc. goes in

there. The Films category contains articles that refer primarily to

film qualities and comparisons, rather than developing of films. The

Developers category contains articles that refer only to developers,

with scant mention of films. The Chemistry category is a catch-all

for chemical storage questions, mixing questions, stop bath, hypo

clearing baths, etc.