First there was the AOPA forum (the Red Board). It was almost completely aviation-only. It was moderated pretty well, but sometimes posters got a little intense on their opinions.
Then came the Blue Board. It was a pleasant relief from the sometimes over-moderated Red Board. And it was almost completely aviation related. It was good. Yet, sometimes people got persnickity here too. Also, some pilots wanted to talk about subjects that were tangential to aviation.
So someone created the Purple Board. It made sense at the time. It was a kinder, no-arguing, forum where you could talk aviation and aviation-related subjects. It was kind of a breath of fresh air from the sometimes too-serious Red and Blue boards.
There was something for everyone.
Then the Red Board shut down.
Now the Blue board has so many bizarre posts its barely recognizable as a aviation forum. People posting recipes, asking for advice on motorcycles, spewing poetic about their favorite beer.
The Purple board has stayed the same over the years but the Blue board is a mere shadow of what it once was as far as aviation is concerned. It is no longer a place to come and get knowledgeable advice or opinions. A majority of the responses will have nothing to do with the original post and the others will be from people with little or no real knowledge.
The general aviation community needs an aviation-only forum. I keep hoping someone will start one. Please, if there is someone out there who may have been thinking of this, I encourage you to do it. I believe there is a real need for it.
FYI - I'm bashing the board management. The forum changed organically.