Forum upgrade wish list

I would like to be able to save particalar posts whose advice/insight is great and I want to remember. Instead of copy&paste job into a notebook file, it would be better to have an area on my uncommon account, "favourite posts", and I just need to click a button at the bottom of a post to add it to "favourite posts". Also this could be browseable by other members, as it would be intersting to see what others have collected on their travels through the forums.

14th

I like this one 14thRoad - I used to use it a lot on a forum I frequented. I am having problems finding a mod / hack for it though. Does anyone know of one?

Hi Roger,

I hate to say this, but I really, REALLY don't like the cosmetic changes you've implemented today.

Beef #1: The sidebar on the left takes up way too much room at the expense of the threads. The restrictive new margins on the posts make long posts seem even longer.

Beef #2: It used to be that the "infolinks" on certain keywords in posts only appeared if you weren't logged in--once logged in, the pop-up bubbles on the "infolinks" disappeared.
However, now those infolinks are there whether you're logged in or not, and so are those annoying pop-up bubbles. On top of that, the keywords for those infolinks are in a distracting colour that completely disrupts the readability of people's posts.

Sorry, but so far, the changes are NOT an improvement.

Roger Elliott wrote:I like this one 14thRoad - I used to use it a lot on a forum I frequented. I am having problems finding a mod / hack for it though. Does anyone know of one?

It looks like this is a feature that comes with phpBB3, under 'posting' "Post Drafts" http://phpbb.com/about/features/

Hi Brainiac

Heck, I hope the guy who worked on this doesn't see this post, after all the hassle he's had he might give up for good! I think I'm going to have to invoke the old reliable "You can't please all the people"

However, you're quite right on the Infolinks, they shouldn't be showing for those who are logged in, and the techs will be working on fixing that today.

Roger Elliott wrote:Hi Brainiac

Heck, I hope the guy who worked on this doesn't see this post, after all the hassle he's had he might give up for good! I think I'm going to have to invoke the old reliable "You can't please all the people" ...

Hi Roger,

Well, TBH, I know I'm not the only one who doesn't like the new margins--I read a couple of posts in a thread in the Psychology forum complaining about it as well.

IMO, the problem is that the new look is using a "double sidebar" now: there's the new sidebar you've added, plus the fact that our usernames and stats have always been in a sidebar.

While I have seen other forums use something similar to the new navigation sidebar; on those forums, the usernames/stats are arranged differently (usually as a horizontally-oriented header and/or footer on the post) so as not to further narrow the margins of the posts.

Me, I have a reasonably sized monitor, so I can compensate by cranking the window size to full-width at least. However, what if someone's using an older monitor with a max resolution of 1024x768 (or worse)?

I don't know if that's something you can address this late in the game but I'm a little surprised that this wasn't put into consideration ahead of time.

brainiac wrote:I'm a little surprised that this wasn't put into consideration ahead of time.

Och you know Brainiac, sometimes one just runs out of consideration juice I don't have all (or many in fact) of the answers on web design, we're just trying to improve the forum experience for our members while ensuring that the business receives some benefit as well - hence the sidebar containing Uncommon Knowledge resources.

I do know something about readability though, and most of us are used to reading fairly short line lengths, as this article illustrates:

http://www.usability.gov/newsletters/pu ... 6news.html

We can read longer lines onscreen though:

"Her results showed that passages formatted in the longest line length (95 characters per line or 10 inches) resulted in the fastest reading speed."

I reckon we've got about 120-125 characters per line with the new layout, so as far as ease of reading goes we're still a bit too wide. But I guess it's a personal preference thing.

However, I have learnt after 10 years of running websites that opinion is unreliable - especially mine. I recently ran a test I was convinced would improve conversion rates on HypnosisDownloads.com and it caused an immediate 5% drop sitewide. I was not a popular MD that week.

So how about we give it a couple of weeks and see if we get a significant change in the amount people read on the forum and adjust accordingly?

All the best

Roger

Hi Roger,

Just one last comment on the new margins and I'll leave it alone:

Out of curiosity, I sized my browser window to approximately 1024 pixels wide. The two sidebars combined take up close to 50% of the useable visual space. If a post is even moderate length and positioned lower than the navigation/links on the new sidebar, all that visual space on the left is basically empty.
While I also don't have any formal knowledge of web design, I do know from a graphic design standpoint that that's a lot of wasted empty space.

While I understand your points about wanting to keep the new sidebar, you may want to investigate the possibility of reformatting the username/stats sidebar to address this.

Hi Brainiac

Thanks, that's valuable feedback, there's obviously a flaw in the layout design. I'll ask the developer to take a look at it.

Cheers

Roger

Hi there!

I love the look of this Forum overall, however i've noticed that
some people have edited their info like where they are from,
interests etc. and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to
fill out this info for myself.....

Also, I think Avatars and Signatures would be really nice, as
everyone loves expression and personalisation.
I'm a graphics boffin and would be very happy to make users personal
avatars and signatures by way of a request board if that would help.

Just a few thoughts...... LOL!

Just getting back on the points from brainiac earlier in the thread. The left column problem should be fixed now - do let me know if you see any more problems here.

Regarding the readability issue, our Google Analytics stats show the following changes since the new design was implemented:

1) Bounce rate (the number of people who hit the back button straight away): Down 1.53% - this is a good thing, although not a huge change.

2) Average time on site -1.82%. This is a bad thing, although again not a huge change

So good and bad here, but happily nothing that requires massive action. We also see seasonal fluctuations in usage patterns, so these numbers may change.

As promised, we'll be moving on with functionality upgrades soon, including things like an improved search and BBcode (hopefully!).

All the best

Roger

Hi Roger,

I've noticed since the changes have been made that there's a new bug somewhere with formatting the quotes. I've seen on a few posts where people have entered the correct coding to use quotes but instead of being formatted, I see the actual code itself.

For an example of this, see the post by "Ruby88" on the bottom of this page:
http://www.uncommonforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=51974&start=30

The post is very difficult to read because of the failure to format the quotes properly, especially since Ruby88 was trying to incorporate multiple quotes. As you can see, her coding is correct.

There's also a leftover bug from before the changes in the same area. If you are the first post on a new page of a thread and you start your post with a quote, it doesn't format properly either. Being aware of the bug, I've always circumvented it by typing in an unobtrusive character (such as a period) before the quote.

Thanks brainiac - we've had some requests for a better quotes function so hopefully this will fix this problem too.

Roger,
- I am wondering what the legality would be of copying a conversation in a thread, in part or whole, into a book. I am writing a "self help" book based on many stories from my life and since I have posted much of my own material on this site, I am wondering if it would be legal for me to use my material ver batem.

On another forum, an admin explained it that the original poster maintains ownership of anything they post, however, the site can refuse to remove any material.

Also, what if I wanted to use someone else's post? Would I need their permission or is that infringing upon the proprietors of this site?

Specifically, I really like this recent post and my response: http://uncommonforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... highlight=

What processes can I go through in order to use this material?

Avatars and Signatures?
I still can't fill out my "About Me" either.