Could I suggest that it is time to review the list of subjects available in the subject list, or to let tutors add subjects to the list. eduFire has become much more than a language site, but the list of ‘Other’ subjects here does not reflect this. I requested (via the ideas board) that Mathematics (which is pretty main stream here) and Ancient Greek (which is after all as much of a language as Latin and is separate from Modern Greek) be added to the Subject lists about a month back, but see no signs of progress yet :(

I agree, Mair, and I voted for your idea. For my own area there is no Creative Writing, or even Writing, as a subject area. So, I get stuck into the English area. While I do conduct my classes in English, that doesn’t make it the subject of English.

Agree with you Tony – Creative Writing is a different thing altogether – I conduct my Maths classes in English, but I wouldn’t like to have to advertise them as English :-) It seems very strange to me that we have say Calculus as a subject but not Mathematics …. as if the site started adding subjects and then somehow lost interest?

Biology is in the “Other” category, yet Physics and Chemistry are not :(

I have voted for Mair’s proposal on the idea board and I have the same problem myself with my astrology classes, sessions & flashcards ( I had to include to TOEFL subject:p).

The easier way is to let us add subjets to the list.

Thank you in advance for your prompt help :-)

Where is it in the board?

Marco, my original request for Maths and Ancient Greek is
here
but I think what we really need is an ‘idea’ suggesting tutors are allowed to add subjects to the lists themselves. New subjects could be added within existing categories – language, test prep and other, or we could review these headings too. Anyone want to post this idea or shall I do it?

Do it! Go :)

Hey guys,

You actually can add your own subjects (for example, I added a social marketing subject). You can do this in the section where you’re editing your profile. Just choose “other” and then the link that lets you add a new subject!

Now, if you’re talking about what gets featured and listed on the main pages, that’s a little different. If enough classes / teachers are in one subject area, we’ll add it to the main subjects pages – otherwise we’d have subjects like “$20 Japanese for first time learners” and so on, which of course, wouldn’t work too well. So, until a subject gets enough popularity, it won’t make it on the main subjects listings, but people will be able to search for them in the search bar in the meantime!

We’re talking about what gets featured :/

When I do a search in the search bar on Mathematics (which does not appear as a featured subject), I get 56 hits for Tutors. I only get 10 hits for Raw Food (which does appear as a featured subject). Are you sure that is how it works Koichi?

Other things we take into account are the popularity of the subject – there are more classes on Raw Foods with more people in them than mathematics classes (which also often tend to be GMAT and SAT classes rather than pure math classes). So even though there are more tutors in that section, we haven’t seen much activity there (and lots in raw foods).

We are working on something that will make the organization of classes and subjects much better, at which point I imagine (just guessing, don’t actually know for sure) you’ll see more classes up there.

so currently in the general search, there are zero classes and 9 students for raw food and 9 classes and 12 students for Mathematics …. how often do these things get reviewed / updated?

It’s mostly when we notice a buzz for a category – I think (if I remember right) raw foods had quite the peak for a little while mostly thanks to one tutor who did a lot of classes and had a lot of students.

I’ll tell you what, I’ll send out an e-mail to everyone else in regards to adding mathematics and Ancient Greek, and see what I can do for you.

Please, do the same for astrology.

Thank you in advance for your prompt help :-)

Katja

P.S. We are 10 members in my astrology group ;-)

I have the same issue for Holistic Nutrition. If I don’t specifically tell someone where to find me they will not know right away they they could find any nutrition classes on the site. Maybe even a section that featured some of the non-language classes.

So this is a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that if we allow people to create subjects (which is good) and add them to a list automatically (potentially good) we quickly end up with lists of thousands of subjects (probably not good). We have a list on the back end of every subject that has ever been created and it’s very, very lengthy.

To date we’ve been selectively “promoting” certain subjects based on # of teachers, # of students, # of classes, etc. It’s a balancing act no doubt. Perhaps there is a better/more formulatic way to do this. I don’t know. What we’re trying to find is a happy medium between allowing people to show off what they are teaching and not ending up with a site that has thousands of subjects that people need to wade through to find what they are looking for.

So in short, we’re listening. And thinking about it. Keep giving us your ideas!! :)

Why not try it and see?
Give people the power to add subjects for a month, but restrict viewing on pages where subjects are displayed to the subjects which have earned most paid income that month in each category (Language, Test Prep and Other). If there are too many subjects at the end of the month, remove those that have generated least income…..

I completely agree with Mair …. once again ! Easy, reasonable and feasible :-)