<![CDATA[ The way the Forum works... - My Forums]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/?thread=24156 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122933
I also want to add one more thing though, while posting a reply, I always have a habit to re-read the last post that was made to that topic. While in this mode, I’m having a hard time to find the author and the date for the specific post. It seems that there is no line separation between each post, on reply post view. So it will be better if we have color background alternation on the post list or maybe a line or break to make it clearer to the eye.

Just my two cents, while we are revamping the current forum design as well wink]]> wendy Jan 27, 2006, 06:33 PM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122933 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122932
Great post, and very well thought out with actionable (I think) positive suggestions. Thanks for taking the time to analyse it! laugh]]> rethrash Jan 27, 2006, 09:11 AM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122932 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122931
Thanks for responding. I like the responsiveness of everyone here and it’s great to be able to discuss things without getting flamed.


I don’t want to devote more time than is necessary on this topic so I’ll just explain my views a bit more completely and then let it rest.

I’ve really spent a lot of time trying to understand why it’s so hard for me to make sense out of the way the forums operate.

Just this morning and right after reading your post, I looked at the forums, stared and stared and stared, then mused on them, visited a couple other forums, came back and and looked some more at MODx forums.

Here is what I came up with...

When you first enter the Forumss, the discussion boards are summarized in the left most column. The information that can be gleaned from this list is the Board name, the Sub-Board name and the number of topics in each sub-board. (I hope my nomenclature is accurate) It would help me to also know at this level either whether there were "new" messages since my last visit in each sub-board, or maybe the date/time of the last message in each sub-board.

So instead of just "Announcements > Important News > 28 Topics"
maybe it would show "Announcements > Important News > 28 Topics > New"
or perhaps "Announcements > Important News > 28 Topics > Today at 07:47:27 AM"

I know I can use Forum Tools to view all unread messages since my last visit, but still, this view is sorted by date/time and it’s a jumble. If it were first sorted by Forum, then by Topic, then by date, it would be more sensible to me.

In the center column is the Recent Topics and Recent Posts. This too is jumbled because it’s being sorted by date/time. If this were to be sorted alphabetically by topic and sub-sorted by date/time, that would make it much easier to comprehend and also give a better indicator of the "hot" Topics because they’d all be grouped together instead of being scattered amongst other Topics.

I guess to me it’s more important to first know what sub-board I’m viewing than to know the "subject" of the message. So for me, I’d rather see more emphasis visually on the sub-topic, rather than seeing a bold-typed subject.

Once you get into each Thread, things are fine and my scrambled brain can now feel at east knowing where I am and that everything is sorted by date/time.

I know that everyone has their own preferences of how they like to work and view things and one size doesn’t always fit all. Sometimes prefs can accommodate some of these differences, sometimes not. I just wanted to give one last stab at trying to more clearly express my view of the forums.

I love MODx no matter what the forums end up looking like. smiley

Michael]]> cnymike Jan 27, 2006, 09:06 AM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122931 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122930
To be honest it’s hard when you first started with MODx forum structure. Fortunately, I’m used to it by now, you can see it from the amount of time that I spent in this forum. But a clearly look, which maybe a lot easier to look, just like to oldies style, it will serve the purpose much better.

Whichever it is, I’m ok. I thik we can find the middle way, where both the old-style folks and the new-style folks can be satisfied together wink

Just my two cents]]> wendy Jan 27, 2006, 08:37 AM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122930 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122929
For me, Simplicity is a lifesaver in time and energy in working with the forums. If I were to not have it, it would slow down my participation and ability to keep a pulse on the community. This is very important – critical almost – to me as a founder of the project!

However, given that, the community is in hyper-growth mode and I’m going to acquiesce to a traditional forum structure as most folks don’t literally "live" MODx at this moment like I do. wink]]> rethrash Jan 27, 2006, 07:38 AM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122929 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122928
Wait for upcoming skin, I hope it will be fit to the tastes of "oldies" and "newees" laugh

Thanks for throwing light on this topic, much appreciated smiley

best regards,

zi]]> zaigham Jan 26, 2006, 04:33 PM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works?page=2#dis-post-122928 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122927
For instance, the topics in "Recent Topics" are scattered within the list. If similar topics were grouped together, that would be much more user friendly than having them scattered haphazardly down the long list. They aren’t even alphabetical...they’re just a jumble.

The same can be said of Recent Posts.

This is counter-intuitive to the way I want to see information organized. I actually prefer to see the top-level categories and be able to see when the last post was made. I can quickly navigate to the sub-topic that interests me most without having to scan (which slows me down) a long list of subjects in bold, with the category in a much harder to see font style.

I guess we just disagree on how we like to view things. My way is not wrong, nor is your way wrong. We’re different in our expectations.

I like it the "old" way. smiley

This is way more confortable for me to make sense of...
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/support/

It probably repulses you, but for me, it is much more logical in organization, but admittedly does not convey as much "upfront" information as you might like to see. Oh well, I guess I can deal with whatever it ends up being, but I’m just expressing my views. Time to move on.]]> cnymike Jan 26, 2006, 04:23 PM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122927 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122926 Quote from: cnymike at Jan 26, 2006, 09:15 PM
For me, change for changes sake is not always the best course. Just to change so as not to be like the "typical" forum may or may not make sense. Useability should be the guiding light, not just the desire to change because you don’t want to be seen as the same as something that came before. Does that make any sense?

Hmmm, let me bring to the table some consistent reasons why I think Simplicity is better (in some cases) than classic forum.

The classic table layout presenting all boards has the following information :
- top level boards title (always)
- second level boards (sometimes)
- a little summary of the board purpose (sometimes)
- number of post and replies (always)
- link to the last post (often)

The board overview has relatively few informations, and the information takes up the whole width of the page. Simplicity has a different take and uses a third or even a fourth of the space to display the very same information, plus some others :
- the last X topics (from all boards)
- the last X post (from all boards)

It has some advantages :
- for those who come often (like every two hours grin) : always have an overview of the activity, at first glance. This mean less click to access information.
- you can find things that you were not looking for (beauty of the web : serendipity...) : an interresting thread can come up in a board you normally would disregard given your personnal interrest]]> davidm Jan 26, 2006, 03:34 PM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122926 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122925
For me, change for changes sake is not always the best course. Just to change so as not to be like the "typical" forum may or may not make sense. Useability should be the guiding light, not just the desire to change because you don’t want to be seen as the same as something that came before. Does that make any sense?

I’m all about good design, but also useability. If I have to look for longer than I feel I should have to look at something, just so my brain can assimilate and make sense out of what I’m looking at, then to me that’s not a good thing. But if I can look and instantly get my orientation, then that is good design.

I’m sure not trying to stir things up or step on any toes... I’m just trying to gain an understanding as to why I seem to be having such a hard time sorting out the forum topics and posts in my brain so that it makes sense to me.

I think the main site is more to my liking... so if a new skin is in store for the forum, perhaps it will supply the visual cues to the forum that seem to be missing... at least for my brain anyway.

Keep up the great work team. This is a great CMS and I’m really excited what the future development will bring to this most excellent platform.

]]> cnymike Jan 26, 2006, 03:15 PM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122925 <![CDATA[Re: The way the Forum works...]]> https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122924
IMO, Simplicity is not that simple tongue ...

The main thing to focus is, make something different but try not to brake overall usability.

"I could be wrong" laugh

regards,

zi]]> zaigham Jan 26, 2006, 03:13 PM https://forums.modx.com/thread/24156/the-way-the-forum-works#dis-post-122924