[Droid Incredible Android Development] chad0989:
You pretty much hit the nail on the head with this:

My current issue is that this thread is a complete mess. Its over 300 pages long and the search function yields few useful results the majority of the time. So when a new user comes in and asks the same question that was just answered 10 pages back, those who follow the thread, myself included, end up getting frustrated. But at the same time, I cant can't really blame new users for asking the same questions over and over again because its nearly impossible to find the answers without reading the entire thread. I do plan to remedy some of this by creating an FAQ.

With having a separate forum, things are supposed so much more organized. If I start a thread asking for an opinion, I can generally be assured that the responses in that thread are providing me with opinions. If I ask for an opinion here, I have to search for them between 150 posts about batteries. I sometimes get so frustrated with this thread that I've debated abandoning it all together multiple times.

With that said, I agree completely on the absolute absurdity of the "hybrid" posting you mentioned. I don't want users to keep posting responses from threads over there in this thread. In fact, every time I see someone do it I cringe. I agree though, that I am to blame for it. I keep linking to threads over there. The reason I've linked a couple threads though is because I want to let everyone know about something that I know everyone will be interested in and excited about (e.g. IncrediControl) but my intention is to not clog this thread further with discussion that is not related to the original post. However, clearly it had the opposite effect. The only other option I have is to continuously post new threads on XDA when I need an opinion or release a new beta or app. I don't feel the mods or users would be too pleased with that.

Ideally what I want is for this thread to stay for stable releases and stable discussion only. I'm not trying to migrate users away from this thread for that. I'm trying to get users away from this thread for all the other semi-off topic discussion that goes on in here. While the control app and betas are somewhat related, this thread really isn't the place to discuss them. It only makes it obfuscated. I've been branching out my development and one thread is no longer enough, but I also don't want to clog this forum with tons of new threads.

In addition, the IncrediControl app is going to be extended to multiple devices and I plan to eventually put it in the market. So if someone finds it in the market and googles it, I don't want them to end up wading through posts in a kernel thread. I want to have a site they can go to and easily find answers.

Lastly, I will admit, I do want to pull some ad revenue as well. I can only sustain the development model of working on something for 100s of hours total, giving it away, providing the best support I can, while also being at school 40+ hours a week and then working at a pizzeria on weekends so I can afford groceries, for so long. I was honestly hoping I could hopefully pull enough ad money doing something I actually enjoy doing, to not have to work at the pizzeria anymore. If users just use your site as repository for downloads, you get to pay your host or isp, but earn little or no ad money. So at that point you're paying so that you can give away something you've worked lots of hours on (even if you enjoyed working on it, it still stings a little). If users actually stay on your site for more time than just clicking download, you can potentially earn a little bit, or at least enough to pay your hosting bill.