#5

I personally prefer seeing the recent discussions that come up on the forum. I think categories would more than likely benefit in a organizational sense(like you mentioned), but I also think categories are really catering to the niche group of people on here who want to focus on one aspect of information or another. I mean you do have the search function on the top right of the page…
At the end of the day I like what you have done with the forum over the years. Regardless of the changes you decide to make, I will still support you and this site.
Maybe do a trial run with the ideas you talked about for “categories” and get feedback after.

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#6

I’ve had trouble using tags. When attempting to add a tag I’m informed by the software it doesn’t exist, even commonly used subjects and phrases on this site.

Perhaps if tags were more functional categories wouldn’t be necessary, as you’d just search for the tag.

Or maybe I’m just doing it wrong lol.

I do agree that the text search has worked for me most times.

#7

When I go to the bookstore, it is usually to browse. If I wanted a specific book, I could order it online, and go and pick it up. Same with visiting the NYPL. Searching limits your interests. Browsing presents you with books that you may not have been interested in, initially, but catch your interest with the title. So you read the back cover, and the first few pages. Browsing expanded my interests, which a zeroed in search could not produce.

Same experience with age reversal forum. I did not know about GDF11, but it is presented as a category. So I click, and poke around. I did the same with AMPK activation. The latest post directs you to the most recent interest, which may not present you with other topics, if they had been discussed fully, long before you became a member. Senolytics is one such example at age reversal forum. There is a post there that run (is running) for three years, but has now had no new input.

There is a section there, on latest posts. So there is the benefit of both features – categories and latest posts. Latest thread, running, is not about aging. So I can just go to the categories, and not have to scroll way down.

I concur with your proposed categories. I would add testing though, because there have been posts about various tests, their price, and value in biological age calculation [Bryan Johnson belongs there, because their efforts (Johnson and Zolman) are more abut testing and the Zolman clinics. There is little info about rapamycin or other aging strategies].

I would also add a section on buying, because there have been queries about where do I buy this and that, so new members can just go to that category if searching for places/websites to buy from.

The categories can evolve, and new ones added, as members post new topics that generate responses. Single posts with little interaction can go to “Miscellaneous”.

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#8

I don’t see a need to change the format, and the search function works well. Also, there is so much overlap in topics that categorization will become a time-consuming task.

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#9

‘Topic restriction’ as a form of website life extension.

I like the ability to come here and read about rapamycin-related info, and then in the process learn about some of the other healthspan/lifespan related drugs. And the skin-restoral thread has been very enlightening and helpful.

But do ‘fitness’ and ‘general health’ topics belong here? Is it a good idea to expand the scope of what the website covers?

JMO

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#10

I’m not trying to expand the scope of what the website covers - its always going to be rapamycin and other longevity drugs as the primary focus. But some people occasionally bring up fitness topics, and I need somewhere to put them if they’re going to be categorized. But perhaps those are the types of things that are just left uncategorized. I guess we can’t expect to have categories for everything…

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#11

That is one of my concerns. Figuring out what “category” a post goes into is not that easy in many cases… as it could fit in many. Just look at the forum topics over the past week and try to categorize them… its going to be a hit or miss sort of situation in many cases.

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#12

The only separate category I would put in would be for prescriptions, purchasing and logistics.
Everything else stays the same.

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#13

There can be more categories, I just don’t think most would use them. It won’t make a difference for those who just read among the latest posts. And people who lurking which is the majority of users. Those who start new threads will have more categories to choose from. So it doesn’t have to mean more work for RapAdmin. Except choosing new categories. Maybe it will help search results with more categorization.

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#14

Tags are more useful and more flexible than Categories. Tags will give you the best of both worlds (categories and no categories). Does this software support tags?

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#15

Yes, when you create the title of the post you can add tags.

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#16

I’ve found this site hard to use for a long time, and I think it’s the lack of categories or sub forums. I think this has led to attempting to split off threads, ie., the canagaflozin part 1 and part 2. In that case, the discussion happened in part 2 for a long time, before switching back to the original thread for some reason. At other times, parallel threads pop up that have similar names, but if someone is reading an older thread (like canagaflozin part 2) they may be unaware of the new discussion. If there were a SGLT2 sub forum for example, it would be easier to see current discussion topics happening in that category.

Second, some of the threads get very unmanageable, which could be related to the lack of sub forums. The cardiovascular thread is a good example, which has about 1500 posts in it currently. I feel like people add to that thread rather than starting a new post related to that topic because there’s no sub forum.

Another related point is the lack of pages for organization. Like the main forum page, each thread is an continuous scroll of discussion. The smaller scroll bar is somewhat useful, but then I feel challenged to remember what month and year something was said if I’m trying to go back and find something. It’s easier to remember what page something was on. Again, imagine the cardiovascular thread having pages: this would be anywhere from 30-75 pages on other forums, if say, there were 50 or 20 posts allowed per page. I have to believe a 75 page thread would get broken off into the other side discussions that happen.

Ultimately I feel like the people who designed this forum software wanted to reinvent the wheel to make something that looked different from traditional forum software. Even after using it for about five months, I still do not find it intuitive.

#17

Thanks for the thoughtful response and considerations. I’m still thinking about adding categories, but as I look at the main forum thread (e.g.

> https://spotify.localizer.co/latest

and think about how I would put all these threads into said categories it gets a lot more complex. There are so many threads that don’t fit neatly into a single category… if a post is talking about using rapamycin and acarbose does it go in the rapamycin category or the acarbose category? Does a thread about Joan Mannick and mTOR go in rapamycin, or some other “Rapalogs” category? Where does a thread on " Aspirin while taking Rapa and Acarbose? go - Rapamycin or Acarbose?

And the issue is not so much what you or I would decide - its that everyone is going to make a different call, so you’re going to have stuff “misidentified” compared to how you or I might categorize things… as you can see, in discussions people frequently meander off topic onto other things. I’m not into heavy moderation, and spending a ton of time reclassifying things, so that is also a constraint.

My question to myself is do the categories provide any benefit over and above just searching on key words you are interested in?

Here is a draft of the categories I’m still considering:

  • Rapamycin
  • 17-Alpha Estradiol
  • SGLT2 inhibitors
  • Acarbose
  • Fitness / Exercise
  • ITP Program
  • Ordering / Shipping / Etc
  • Fitness / Exercise
  • General Health
  • Supplements

Suggestions for improvements on this list are welcome!

The paging aspect is something I’ve never considered, but each message is identified by a number and has a discrete permalink - so I kind of see it as similar.

Some threads do get very long - e.g. the 17 alpha estradiol thread was getting long and when discussions started to shift from the science and papers to implementation - I created a new thread focused more on use and experiences. The Rapamycin and Cardiovascular thread is so long and meandering it was hard to see how to split it up into subdiscussions once it got going…

The “part 1, part 2” are kludges I use to get around the fact that I’m using forum software for both the forums and the home page “blog” aspect. I perfer having a single piece of software to use rather than a wordpress/forum software mashup, as it simplifies my management tasks (mostly) but it does have some downsides.

I appreciate the thoughts and input. Ultimately I’m going to continue to try and improve what we have (not throw it all out and go back to the old school forums that admittedly many people may be more familiar with).

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#18

Yeah definitely not advocating going clean slate, but there’s probably a way to organize a bit better. Here are a few ideas I had:

  • Rapamycin
  • 17-Alpha Estradiol
  • SGLT2 inhibitors / Acarbose / Metformin => Glucose control
  • New/Emerging Drugs/Therapies (maybe once something gets a critical mass, it can be split into its own category)
  • Topical drugs/skin + hair issues
  • Fitness / Exercise
  • ITP Program
  • Ordering / Shipping / Etc
  • Fitness / Exercise
  • General Health
  • Supplements

You might also consider a category for people’s logs, as there seems to be quite a few of those posts.

Personally, I see rapamycin as the backdrop for everything on this site, so anything that’s “rapa + X” would go in the category of X.

I can also definitely see moderation and moving stuff around taking up time, so minimizing that is crucial. In theory, if there was a uniform system of tagging stuff, you could look up by tag. But many people either don’t tag properly or at all. So maybe if people go to a certain category/sub forum to create their post, they’d be more likely to get things categorized somewhat more correctly.

Either way, I’m super glad this place exists and I found it!

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#19

It’s never going to be perfect. I really think this forum is far superior to most other forums I visit. Personally, I mainly use “News” to keep abreast of what is currently going on. If I have a question or want to post on a particular topic, I just use your search function to find answers and an appropriate place to post.

Nothing is really broken and I wouldn’t be in any great hurry to fix it. The occasional tweak will do.

I have nothing but kudos for this forum.

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#20

I enjoy the current format and see no need to change. I definitely agree with a previous post that mentioned stumbling across topics that are new which I know nothing about which expands knowledge in this field. Rarely am I looking for something in particular except to hear about other’s opinions and new research or ideas.

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#21

I also think current format seems like its working well. I see no problem having longevity news/discussions or even health news in general as well as RAPA. As we can see most of the discussion are about RAPA with people branching out on other topics as it relates to RAPA. So, I do think there is benefit in any discussion as long as the topic is health and longevity related. As an example, I’ve learned quite a bit just by reading posts in here, and not just rapa related.

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#22

Apologies but as a new member to this forum, I’m still going through all the unread posts.

I don’t think this forum needs categories yet, the search function works great, and a lot of the posts would be a nightmare to categorise.

Ive said it once but I’ll say it again, I love :two_hearts: this site.

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#23

I also joined the group after this discussion started (and ended?). I admit to feeling some confusion over the limits to subject matter when I was new. Is it only about rapamycin or is it about longevity? Rapamycin is quite specific while longevity excludes little that is related to health.

I think the real value is the people. The regular people who provide (data based) information is the primary value to me now. Of course the database of FAQ about rapamycin was amazingly useful at first. But there isn’t much new to talk about after a while if the conversation is limited to rapamycin.

I have landed on the longevity side of the scale. I figure people can ignore (use the notification settings) whatever they are NOT interested in and they can block me if they don’t want to see what I post. I will do the same.

My 2 cents is I do not think more structure would make the forum better but would make the forum more intimidating for new users (especially the rule followers).

Bonus question: why so few “likes” on posts? Do people not want to commit to a like that will go on the official record even though they are using a made up name? My rule is: if I got value (including simple entertainment) from a post, I “like” it unless I completely disagree with the content.

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#24

I am a new user who has struggled with the logistics of this excellent site. This thread caught my eye so I read all of the comments, and I understand that most replies like things the way they are. As pointed out, I can use the search if I have something specific in mind I want to read about and I think overall that for that purpose it works well, thank you. I also scanned the Discourse guide.

However, I find the forum overall daunting. I like to browse in topics I have not thought about so the search does not work for that approach. I would love to comment more but it is difficult where there are hundreds of posts going back years in a single thread (e.g. How to Reverse Skin Aging). I found one post 40 posts back to which I wanted to relate my own experience. I had to read the replies to that post, and then scan the current 40 posts for any other relevant post not a direct reply, then I scanned back a bit in time. During my perusal I noted posts on SPF which I might have found interesting or even contributed to if I could have read them without skipping all about. Perhaps I could have searched for “SPF”? I’ll try now. Some SPF threads and posts come up, including the entire giant one. The advanced filter gave me one post (maybe I’m doing something wrong). Are search query strings allowed? I tried “SPF in:seen” and I pull up 2 threads only, so I am not sure if it is working or if I really have only looked at 2 threads which contain “SPF”. I see there are tags but I did not find SPF but of course you cannot include everything. I am not requesting an SPF tag, just using as an example.

I don’t have any great suggestions, just a wish list. It would be nice to have a category for specific personal questions so they are not lost in General or Supplements or wedged into some giant impossibly long thread that is only adjacently related to the question. It would be good for tags to be used, perhaps a way to encourage their use could be found, like a tag sidebar. Sadly the Discourse site has few to no customizable tag options. Personally I think long messy threads should be truncated or broken up. The How to Reverse Skin Aging thread, for example, has so many different internal topics it is not possible to assimilate it all in a helpful manner. New agents come along and some are later discarded, but if one did not read the entire thread one might get the wrong impression about something if only going from earlier posts. Maybe you need a moderator to help you parse long threads like that one so that when an internal topic becomes popular you can just make a thread for that topic, like SPF, for example, which is certainly longevity-adjacent.

Perhaps you might consider having more categories too. Longevity can be systematically broken up into general categories. As a first approximation I come up with General Aging, Medications, Supplements, Food, Environment, Personal Questions, and perhaps Technical Research instead of “Doctors”. A category like General Aging might then have threads based on topics such as: Cellular senescence, Epigenetic changes, Fibrosis, Genomic Instability, Inflammation-chronic low-grade, Intercellular communication alterations, Microbiome dysregulation; Mitochondrial dysfunction, Nutrient sensing dysfunction, Progenitor cell exhaustion/dysfunction, Protein homeostasis dysregulation, Telomere changes (again, a first approximation list). And so forth. But that is a lot of work and perhaps it is better to be more informal.

All that being said, I very much appreciate the information and comments on this site and I commend the effort it must take to keep it going in whatever manner you prefer.

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