I added several. I can’t do a sub of a sub category - at least not at the moment. So I color coded them. Feedback appreciated, I haven’t taken an exam in 20 years!
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A few suggested changes:
Exams P, FM, and IFM are still “shared” between the two societies. After that, the two societies diverge.
For CAS, you’re missing MAS-I and MAS-II.
I would also suggest maybe trying out a CSPA sub-forum. While there are 3 exams plus a project, I think that a single repository would suffice and allow threads to delineate discussions.
TIA! 
I think the SOA side of things is fine. It will be a little annoying that the categories for FSA exams don’t get more detailed that the exam track, but it will probably be fine.
Thanks for getting all of that set up!
Thanks VA, missed that. I’ll correct it.
In terms of subdividing within a category, I’m going to enable tags. That’s apparently a better system anyway.
I was thinking that for the Exams, could it be “set up” so that we have the following three broad categories (with current sub-categories grouped) as a way to help folks navigate?
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General/Joint Exams – SOA General; CAS General; the 3 “joint” exams (P/1, FM/2, IFM/3); perhaps include other related credential processes (e.g., CERA, CSPA, etc.)
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SOA Exams – self explanatory
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CAS Exams – self explanatory (but needs MAS-I and MAS-II)
We only have available top level categories (exams), and sub categories (P, FM, Cas general, etc). we don’t have the ability to further subcategorize.
We can combine subcategories as you’ve suggested (joint exams, CAS ACAS level, SOA ACAS level, or some other structure that holds multiple exams in one subcategory) and then the threads can be sorted/filtered by tags.
Discourse (the software) encourages tags over subcategories. However I’m not sure whether the community will accept tags as common practice. The AO didn’t have tags, so they may be unfamiliar. OTOH, exams are frequented by younger folks who are likely to be used to tags. Currently I’ve no particular preference, other than I agree that the exam section is a bit overdone and even if we keep it as is, it still needs some cleanup.
Input is welcome, I’m willing to take this to Serena and the mods ( 
) t
One issue I see with Tags is consistency in tagging. And by consistency, I mean that we won’t have 1/2 dozen different versions of a tag meaning the same sort of thing.
But I think that once the system gets developed and some momentum behind it, things should progress.
I read VA’s suggestion as not having just one “Exams” main category, but 3 main exam categories.
The AO did have tags, at least in the professional part of the forum. They just weren’t used all that often.
The mods did watch them though, since the only infraction I ever had on the AO was from an inappropriate tag 
Oh, good point. I’ll mention it to Serena.
This. I know that learning new terminology for a (very) different platform can sometimes elude me.
I noticed the orange prelim exam section (P/FM/etc) doesn’t have exams SRM (Statistics of Risk Modeling) or PA (Predictive Analytics). Given SRM is a pre-req for PA they could potentially be looped together as one, but I think it would be helpful to have. PA doesn’t have as much support as other exams regarding prep material. There’s currently a PA thread in the SOA General subcategory.
It’s possible to set up a list of tags that one can select from. I don’t know whether that applies to the whole forum, to a category, or to a thread.
If the whole forum, you need to think carefully about what to include, v so as not to have an unmanageable number. I agree that there’s a risk of having “exam 5”, “CAS exam 5” and “CAS 5” all refer to the same thing, for instance, which would be a bad outcome. (And could happen if there list is so long that the user doesn’t quickly find the relevant tag.)
I might create 4 top level exam categories:
- SoA prelims (there are no joint exams. The SoA stole them. Yes, I am still bitter.)
- SoA Other exams
- CAS exams
- IFoA exams
Under CAS exams, i would have subcategories for
- On-line courses
- MAS 1
- MAS 2
- Exam 5
- Exam 6US
- Exam 6Can
- Exam 7
- Exam 8
- Exam 9
- CAS institute exams (or whatever the body that does the data science stuff is called.)
No opinion for the best way to cut up other segments.
Honestly, i think tags are most useful when you have multiple relevant “dimensions”. So, for instance, if you had a forum for cancer patients where people with adrenal cancer were discussing a potential new drug, you might want to tag a topic for the cancer, that it’s about treatment, and the name of the drug.
Or… In the coronavirus category, we might tag topics for whether they are about treatments, vaccines, data, personal choices, masks, etc. Or maybe we have too much thread drift for that to work. (Or did on the ao, anyway.)
I don’t really think they are ideal for the exam sections.
Let’s strike back and simply call them “Prelims”. Why do we need to identify the Society managing them since the CAS still gives credit for these?
Technically, the CAS also gives credit for the IFoA prelims, as well as the prelims from the other countries that follow essentially the same model. (Australia, South Africa, India.) But sure, just call them Prelims, that’s fine.
@Serena - Could you add a subcategory (or whatever you’re calling them) for the Retirement Benefits FSA track?
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I’m going to bump this to point out that there still aren’t CAS MAS-I and MAS-II subcategories.
Got 'em
Thanks, Serena. I’ll get some directions about posting on Exam material (as in, DON’T) made in them by sometime on Friday.
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Unless I’m mistaken, there still isn’t a topic set up for SRM. If it’s housed elsewhere, that’s fine, but it’s not immediately obvious.