Webmaster : would it be possible to add Albania?

You might try private messaging Andrew directly, just in case he misses this post. https://community.ricksteves.com/users/1000

I keep wishing for Forum topics at least for the countries in Europe! I would add Romania and Bulgaria (and Ukraine for the future) to this wish list.

TTM, actually Bulgaria is on the forum, which I think is strange given that Romania is not. I would also like to see Serbia and Albania on there.

Just double-checked and Bulgaria is there. In fact, I found the post that mentioned it being a new forum. So it looks like it can be done relatively quickly. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/bulgaria/new-forum

ETA: I found the original post asking for a new Bulgaria forum, but the reason was that Bulgaria was added to Rick's tours. So I checked and it looks like the individual forum countries are the same ones visited on RS tours. Right now there is no Albania, Romania and Serbia tour on there, so I have a feeling that it won't happen.

So every time all these request for the webmaster come up I have a question. Are you willing to pay?

We get what we get for free because it’s advertisement for Rick and unlike a lot of other forums they are not even advertisements on here.

But the more topics to moderate, etc. it gets the more expensive it becomes for, the sponsoring organization are you willing to pay for all the stuff you want?

I’d also like it if there was an Albanian forum, particularly as it appears to be a growing travel destination.

Carol, there is certainly no harm in asking and I don’t know why you are so upset about it. This website is a perk, yes, but people here spend a lot of money with Rick Steves, not just by buying guidebooks and travel equipment, but also purchasing tours. So why should it be so terrible just to ask for something? All they have to do is say no. :-)

It makes good sense that they concentrate on the countries they arrange tours to.

actually Bulgaria is on the forum, which I think is strange given that Romania is not.

Good catch, Mardee! I either missed it or just assumed there wasn’t one.

But the more topics to moderate, etc. it gets the more expensive it becomes

I guess theoretically having separate country forums for what currently has to go into “General Europe” might cause more posts, thus more to moderate. But people are either going there or not and are either already posting questions or not. They just have to do it (and then search for it) from the pile of General Europe. It seems to me all it would do is make things a bit more organized. I am not all hot and bothered - just seems logical.

I think the more the better. And he should update the platform with some RS product and tour marketing.

In looking at the Bulgaria page there are approximately 50 posts since December of 2019. How many would Albania have? is probably the question they ask themselves in HQ.

They have a Beyond Europe, maybe they should have "Other European Countries".

"...should update the platform with some RS product and tour marketing."

Yes. Wouldn't surprise me to hear those are being worked on now. They seem much more like the early Rick Tours.

Threadware, at one time, not long ago, most all of Eastern Europe was under Eastern Europe. Maybe "The rest of Europr" ?

maybe a Balkan forum, including Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Kosovo, N Macedonia, etc. would cover a lot.

In looking at the Bulgaria page there are approximately 50 posts since December of 2019. How many would Albania have?

TripAdvisor has an Albania Forum, which currently has about 6,000 topics. Bulgaria, about 29,500. Just doesn't seem to be a lot of Albanian action.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ListForums-g4-i11-Europe.html

maybe a Balkan forum, including Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Kosovo, N Macedonia, etc. would cover a lot.

That's a good idea, stan—I like it! I remember when they had the "to the East," "to the West," etc. forums. Interestingly, they are still there and you can find them with a little searching, but there are strict instructions not to post there.

Hello, this question comes up a few times each year. I know it isn't obvious, but the countries that have their own sections in our forum reflect what we cover in the Explore Europe section of our website, which in turn reflects areas we cover in our guidebooks.

General Europe is meant to be the catch-all for European countries that don't have their own section.

We learned when we expanded the forum 10 years ago that over-expansion is a thing. It does no good to create a new section if it doesn't have enough life to it. More people will see it and answer questions for Albania, Romania, etc, if it's posted in a place that gets a lot of eyeballs like General Europe.

Moderation capacity is not a limitation. Aka, we're not making decisions to limit engagement. Quite the opposite. And while it's quite easy for me to add a new section, retraction of a section (due to lack of engagement) is quite difficult. As such, we need to feel reasonably assured that a new forum section can be successful before we add it.

Cheers!

That makes a lot of sense, and I do remember you saying on another thread that it was difficult to delete specific forums. Thanks for the response!