Tracking topics etc

[Eraserhead]

While I'm sat here making suggestions here's another Been bugging me a while so getting it out of my head and onto the forum will mean I can stop thinking about it.

There are a lot of forums to track which makes it harder to follow latest discussions, which in turn I think reduces the chances of people participating. I for one would probably find myself participating in more topics if they wheren't so spread out. There's pros and cons for having a high number of forums and I'm not even going to go into what side of that argument I fall on as the subject is decided.

I apologise in advance for the unpolite or demanding wording of any of the following, I've tried to get it out quick and from the perspective of the average internet user and what they might see/think.

Assuming everything remains as it is, keeping up to date with the latest discussion could be/needs to be much easier. Yes I know there are various pages for auto tracking latest posts but you need to be able to do it on the front page along side the chat box so I can see what's going on everywhere with minimum effort, no screen scrolling or any other unecessary intermediary steps.

My suggestions are, dump that whole massive box up the top of the forum, I don't need to see what my avatar looks like, or what % of my posts are in what forum or any of that other stuff (mod writers are full of bright ideas for shiny things that in reality aren't really that useful, I mean honestly, does this stuff really need to be the first thing in front of us when we open the forum? What are they thinking?). It's a massive prime spot that could be put to great use. Put in it's place a modified version of your current stats thing (latest posts etc, will come to that in a minute*) from the bottom of the forum and move the shout box up there just above it. I want to be able to refresh the page once and see everything I need right there straight away, no scrolling and no pointless data to pull the good stuff from inbetween (maybe keep all that stuff down the bottom).

Modified stats box*: Very similar to the one at the bottom of the forum but with pointless stuff removed and the space used for more topics/news. i.e. get rid of Newest Members, Top Posters, Top Thread Starters, Hottest Threads, Most Popular Forums. I'm sure the person that wrote that mod thought it would be silly not to include such information but in reality noone cares about it on a day to day basis and the space could be used much better. Instead, use the left hand side for a slightly expanded "Latest Posts" box which incudes a column for which forum it was posted in use the right hand side for all those news/welcome "mrnewmember"/etc and other things that are spamming up the Latest Topics box and making it difficult to track what people are actually talking about. Then we can follow current discussion and follow all the latest news stuff.

Just some suggestions that I think would make the board more friendly and encourage more participation. Glad I got that off my chest

[Eraserhead]

Something I forgot to include: move the whole forum support category away from the top and put it down the bottom. This is another large space waster that does not need to be the first thing we're looking at and is causing unecessary scrolling. Then include the latest posts that are made in those 3 forums in the right hand box in the new stats box thing I suggested. Thanks for reading my wall of text.

[Seth]

I just use the New Posts function to see what's been said since I last came. Saves me a helluva lot of scrolling.

[Eraserhead]

That's fair enough, it's a useful page but it's one that a lot won't visit or even be aware of, especially new members. Why not have a compact version of it in your face at the top of the forum as soon as you get here, for everyone to see along with other useful stuff like shoutbox. I don't know about anyone else but the first thing I do when I open TF is scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page because I can see the latest topics, latest news posts, everything that's going on in the shoutbox and who's online right in one place. It's crazy I tellsya.

While I think about that I think the whos online thing would also be better off at the top.

[Detomah]

vBulletin 3.7 is due out in the near future, so there's not a lot of point me making fundamental changes to the layouts until that point, as i'd probably only have to re-customise various bits when it is released anyway. So for right night i'm best of waiting with it, but there does need to be a lot more emphasis put on making new members feel at home.

I seriously can see what your saying, TF must at times be an absolute nightmare for new members and visitors trying to find anything and at times I think I may well have put to much emphasis on existing members, which doesn't help fresh opinions and view points when new users wouldn't have a clue where to begin.

I personally use the new posts button myself too, but a new member to the site wouldn't necessarily know about that feature or anything else like that and so to them, a long forum with dozens of sections would look confusing, so to balance it out, it does need something in the prime location to make it easier for them until they get used to the system, it is all about balance and it is something i need to address if TF is ever going to get all the new members that sign up and look at the forum actually posting.

The frontpage of TF is part way through a complete makeover (although not publically visible yet) and that should seriously help new visitors find what they want a lot easier and should also help them find their way to the forum and parts of the forum that hold an interest to them. Not only that though the new frontpage part of TF will make TF a lot nicer and website feeling for existing members too, it's something that's long overdue.

As you know though, it's all about getting it actually done and trying to juggle redesigns with adding new content, advertising, finances, keeping existing people happy and all the rest of it and again as i'm sure you know all too well yourself unfortunately it all takes time to achieve, especially when almost all of what I do for TF now means actually completely redesigning a purchased ready made script, custom building my own scripts, or a mixture of both.

I assure you though, I am listening and understanding what you've said and will be definately be trying to implement something to make things easier for newcomers and existing users alike as well as trying to keep certain current things in place too, just not until vBulletin 3.7 is released, so that I can use their latest plugs and hooks and the likes and not have to worry about doing the same thing twice.

[Laz]

The "New Posts" link is the first and only button I press when I get here. I almost never scroll all the way to the bottom. Putting the "Recent Posts" at the top doesn't make sense to me, as there are usually at least 20 threads updated in a 12 hour period. So making a big button that says "Click Here First" would be good. And even then, when Sash or Harv decide to update an entire section, there is new-post overload.

Beyond that, there are lots of features here, more than on many other forums. I would guess that each of us likes different features, for different reasons (Det, do a survey?). I doubt that there is a perfect layout. If you simplify, then some cool features get hidden. If you keep everything on the front page, then some features get lost in the clutter.

[Eraserhead]

I guess people use things in different ways. I go back and forth across various forums several times a day when I'm taking a break from whatever I'm supposed to be doing. Something to think about though is what is at the top of the forum main page right now, including that box with your avatar and the first 3 forums (support) are making the prime spot on the forum, i.e. the first thing everyone is presented with when they visit the forum, into dead, wasted space. Why not use it? Apart from the "new posts" link (which could easily be kept somewhere up top) does anyone regularly use anything in those top 2 boxes? The forum would be much more intuitive to use if that spot was put to good use.

[Detomah]

Originally Posted by Eraserhead

Something to think about though is what is at the top of the forum main page right now, including that box with your avatar and the first 3 forums (support) are making the prime spot on the forum, i.e. the first thing everyone is presented with when they visit the forum, into dead, wasted space. Why not use it? Apart from the "new posts" link (which could easily be kept somewhere up top) does anyone regularly use anything in those top 2 boxes? The forum would be much more intuitive to use if that spot was put to good use.

Personally speaking, I spend much of my time on the forum staring at the bottom bit of the page where the new posts, who's online and daily stats bits are, but I also have a slightly different view point of TF to any other member, team person, visitor or anyone else, so what I need is always going to be different to what users need, whether regular or first time visitors.

I will definately be looking into some kind of system that can embody the bits I like having up there together with making the area much more useable, functional for everyone and what is actually practical though.

The main reason the new posts bits and stats and all that tend to be grouped at the bottom at the moment, is mainly so that people can see what's going on while using the quick chat, but considering it's only registered people that can see the quick chat anyway, really that could be put anywhere on the page, but as said in the earlier post, until 3.7 vBulletin is released it's not worth doing right now as i'd probably have to do it over again due to code changes that always happen with new releases.