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This topic has moved here: Subject: Forum changes
  • Subject: Forum changes
Subject: Forum changes

Posted by: Recon Number 54
If there were a way to mark a thread as "viewed" or "new content since last visit" and the topic icon could show the status of that change. I would consider that to be an improvement. For example, dim or make transparent if there are no new posts or edits to the thread and it has been viewed, and bold/full color if there is new content or edits to any content.

An expansion to that would be to allow members to collapse the frame if all stickies are "marked as read", but that any bold/color icons in the frame would auto-expand it and the option to collapse it would require reading the new content.

Or, I wouldn't mind if stickies were classified into two groups; "must read" and "should read". Must read would be limited for rules and official posts, "should read" would go under the "top forum topics" and make it widely known that a personal bookmarking of a thread is like a vote to "make this a member nominated sticky".

I think that all could be accomplished using the icons on the left side of the thread titles. Do all the threads in the "pinned" box need the "pinned" icon next to them? It might be better to use a "new content" icon next to the ones that have said new content. The "rules" icon ("pinned and locked") should stay, but doesn't need any changes, since nobody's allowed to post in the rules threads except mods, right? Bright, bold text for unread threads and faded colors for read threads could help too.

The "must read"s and "should read"s might be derived from this as well. Pinned and locked "rules" threads, and popular threads stickied for good information or to reduce duplicate topics.

The only problem with a "mark as viewed" button would come from stickies that get a lot of replies. If the only way to collapse a box was if all of the sticky threads had been viewed, you'd have to "mark as viewed" and collapse the box every time somebody replied. Maybe if the rules threads had been viewed, and the sticky topics' OPs had beed read at least once, then the box could be collapsed, but with a "new content in sticky's" notification next to the "pinned topics" header. It might be counter-productive to stopping duplicate threads though...

I see that the reason for the box to be there at all times is to prevent "bad" threads from happening, but I'll keep thinking about plausible ways and criteria to collapse the box. At the very least, it would be nice if the posts below the box got the full width of the black area, as well as the reply workspace. The second part might not work as well, considering the only time the workspace would be below the sticky box would be if you're replying to an unusually long thread.

On a side note, is there a way to exclude locked threads and stickies from the "hot topics" box? I mentioned this in the bug thread, but I don't think it's a bug, just an unintended consequence.

  • 01.31.2008 8:20 AM PDT

This sucks balls.

  • 01.31.2008 8:21 AM PDT

Hi I'm RT and I like to argue!

Posted by: Recon Number 54
Here's an odd idea/suggestion or thought.

The double-right arrow that takes a member to the last page? Since it is an apparent request to get to the last page, can it be changed to send to the last post on the last page instead of the top of the last page?

That's just a personal idea/preference. What do others think of it?

Great plan, IMO.

  • 01.31.2008 8:29 AM PDT

I say a few things need to change. But overall it's pretty tight.

1) PMs are smaller now.
2) No Last Poster shown.
3) Signatures are hidden a lot more.

But everything else is cool.

  • 01.31.2008 8:43 AM PDT
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So now I'm a beta tester. Let's see where this goes.

I think it would be better if the signature button actually said "signature" instead of just being a drop arrow.

  • 01.31.2008 8:50 AM PDT

Throwing in my own vote with the following gripes:

-Remove the Pinned Topics/Top Posts bar from the actual thread pages and leave them to the main forum pages, they take up far too much room and as the thread pages already have huge blue sidebars with no content on them they're just making space for actual content even smaller.

-Add page counts to the Pinned Topics/Top Posts, especially for pinned topics. When a page gets above a certain size you're just adding more clicks to get to the end of the thread.

-Need a "viewed thread" indicator somewhere.

[Edited on 01.31.2008 10:11 AM PST]

  • 01.31.2008 9:21 AM PDT

I like the new forum update but i think it would be better if you could see how many times a topic has been viewed and who was the last person to post.

  • 01.31.2008 9:56 AM PDT

I have given the new forum layout a chance and want to add and second my opinion on some things:

Pinned & Hot Topics should only be on the Forum Index page. I agree on the whole force it down your throat approach but quote pyramid's build much quicker with the sidebar's on every page.

Pinned Topics should be omitted from the Top Topics box in the sidebar.

I like the font size reductions but we need a page number link and last post by integrated in the sidebar topics. I am using the reply date/time and number of replies on the index page but the sidebar topics need something so I know if there is recent/new activity in those posts.

Also, since there is additional space in the sidebar when viewing the forum index, it would be cool to get a list of our saved threads for that forum. Even if it is dynamic and opens up when we click it and it shrink the Top Topics box.

The table sizes should be dynamic so if my browser window is wider than the minimum table size, the main table containing the actual posts widens. Yea, it will jack up some of the banners and menu but just throw some black space there or something.

Locked threads should not be included in Top Topics but this will probably work itself out after a little while.

  • 01.31.2008 11:48 AM PDT

Tom Achronos
Bungie.net Overlord
twitter: http://twitter.com/Achronos

"I have no words that would do justice to the atrocities you commit to the English language, as well as your continued assaults on the concepts of basic literacy and logical reasoning."

Possibly, but this leaves the problem of too much space on the right even more so than now. Let me explain - while we're satisfied with the look of the topic and create post pages, we're not on the actual posts page. We don't want to widen the post area to the entire width - it looks horrible. Furthermore, your current width is actually very close to what it was before, minus about 90 pixels or so. We've played around with adding that amount back, and it looks good, but obviously the empty space is a big issue in that style because we can't have the top forum topics or the stickies there anymore. Even so, those two boxes are not really that relevant on the posts page, they are currently there because we have nothing else to put there. Most forums use that space for ads, we don't have ads to put there. It is a challenging problem. We've even toyed with the idea of making the forum 1 level threaded - where replies to replies of the OP are listed under their parent, and then listed in a flat view from that level on. That's a significantly more complex change that we're still hesitant to make, but should give you an idea of the scale we're thinking of here.

The point is that we're trying lots of different things. I think we got it how we want on the topics page and the create post page (minus a few little things like the missing pager on the right and the last reply author, which are being added back). The posts page is still a work in progress, so feel free to keep suggestions and comments coming. This change was not made lightly, and we still have more work to do to get it completely right, so please continue to be part of the process - focus on the posts page, because that's where we are focusing attention on.

Posted by: Spottedkitty
Throwing in my own vote with the following gripes:

-Remove the Pinned Topics/Top Posts bar from the actual thread pages and leave them to the main forum pages, they take up far too much room and as the thread pages already have huge blue sidebars with no content on them they're just making space for actual content even smaller.

-Add page counts to the Pinned Topics/Top Posts, especially for pinned topics. When a page gets above a certain size you're just adding more clicks to get to the end of the thread.

-Need a "viewed thread" indicator somewhere.

  • 01.31.2008 11:53 AM PDT

Don't send me group invites.

Posted by: Achronos
We've even toyed with the idea of making the forum 1 level threaded - where replies to replies of the OP are listed under their parent, and then listed in a flat view from that level on. That's a significantly more complex change that we're still hesitant to make, but should give you an idea of the scale we're thinking of here.
Are you talking about the comment system that digg.com uses? If so, I really really don't like that comment system, it's far too complex and IMO takes too much work to see comments. I think the quote system works quite well right now.

[Edited on 01.31.2008 12:02 PM PST]

  • 01.31.2008 12:02 PM PDT
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Ad Astra Per Aspera

Experienced In Life's Little Drama

Posted by: Eight Oh 8 State
Posted by: Achronos
We've even toyed with the idea of making the forum 1 level threaded - where replies to replies of the OP are listed under their parent, and then listed in a flat view from that level on. That's a significantly more complex change that we're still hesitant to make, but should give you an idea of the scale we're thinking of here.
Are you talking about the comment system that digg.com uses? If so, I really really don't like that comment system, it's far too complex and IMO takes too much work to see comments. I think the quote system works quite well right now.

I agree with 808 on this. It would take the style of digg.com, would it not? So, threads would be promoted upon elitism rather than content? Then again, there will always be some form of elitism on any site, but I think that a forum type similar to digg.com comment system would promote elitism.

  • 01.31.2008 12:30 PM PDT

Don't send me group invites.

I've also found a small glitch or bug whatever you want to call it.

Example. I know that this will probably only happen in cases of spam, but I just thought I'd point it out anyway.

  • 01.31.2008 12:33 PM PDT

Well, I'll just the time here to show my appreciation for the new layout we have here. People did have to spend time and money to do this; it wasn't done by robots.

Thanks for creating such a great website. You've kept me glued here for nearly 4 years. Much appreciation towards Tom, and the rest of the dev. team. Yes, even Stosh. <3

  • 01.31.2008 1:04 PM PDT

Tom Achronos
Bungie.net Overlord
twitter: http://twitter.com/Achronos

"I have no words that would do justice to the atrocities you commit to the English language, as well as your continued assaults on the concepts of basic literacy and logical reasoning."

What? Elitism? Uh, no. Stop saying that word, I don't think you understand what it means.

No, the idea is to group sub-conversations. But that'd be months away and probably would just be an additional view for the forums. I know some people prefer the straight flat view.

Anyway, we are going to try a small change that I think makes a big difference. Stosh screwed up the navigation and put it on the right, so we're going to put it back on the left like the rest of the site and see if that helps. I know I like it better.

Oh, and by the way, the area you have for the post is about 4 characters smaller than the old width, so whatever your problem is with this layout, it isn't that you have less space for your content. There just isn't a significant difference. I think that's why when I moved the right column to left it made things much better on my dev box. We'll see... I know it doesn't sound like much, but it seems more natural reading it, and has similar blank areas as the last layout (with the space underneath the old avatar box).

Posted by: Ada Astra
I agree with 808 on this. It would take the style of digg.com, would it not? So, threads would be promoted upon elitism rather than content? Then again, there will always be some form of elitism on any site, but I think that a forum type similar to digg.com comment system would promote elitism.

  • 01.31.2008 2:12 PM PDT
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has their still been any recent changes you guys have made after the update? Like today or tomorrow? or maybe next week?

But for some reason on the optimatch forum. I think you guys took my idea :) If not then this must be a huge coincidence. you should be able to see what I originally said in that link. Sorry for some of the mis spell. I sometimes miss the keys I hit and not notice it.

-=[Ep!Dem!c]=-

  • 01.31.2008 2:19 PM PDT
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Stosh's fault again!

Anyways if you hit the date on the last reply it will directly take you to the last post in a thread.

Anything on the search feature? (Please don't kill me.)

Also thanks for being active in a thread that were participating in as "partners".

  • 01.31.2008 2:20 PM PDT

Tom Achronos
Bungie.net Overlord
twitter: http://twitter.com/Achronos

"I have no words that would do justice to the atrocities you commit to the English language, as well as your continued assaults on the concepts of basic literacy and logical reasoning."

Yes, several images and stylesheets have been updated. Probably a new build next week.

And no, the optimatch thing wasn't your idea... or at least, we didn't do it after seeing you post about it.

Posted by: EpiDemic 1
has their still been any recent changes you guys have made after the update? Like today or tomorrow? or maybe next week?

But for some reason on the optimatch forum. I think you guys took my idea :) If not then this must be a huge coincidence. you should be able to see what I originally said in that link. Sorry for some of the mis spell. I sometimes miss the keys I hit and not notice it.

-=[Ep!Dem!c]=-

  • 01.31.2008 2:41 PM PDT
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Any chance of getting a button that goes directly to Bungie employee's posts?

Hard to find posts when theres 15+ pages and its in the middle for example.

  • 01.31.2008 2:57 PM PDT

One nation, under God I 2012 NBA Champions Miami Heat
1/20/2017 Four more years of hell
___.............._______/```````````````:::--.
|.==,-.~;. ____:._______ __’__’__’_ _ _\===
|................--:---:--:--‘---:,, ,,, ,,, ,,,:---: /=
`-.,.__._._,,...---:::"

I don't know if you guys know this yet, but when you report someone's post as spam, part of the bar thing overlaps "reply" button. It's a small thing but it's kinda annoying.

  • 01.31.2008 3:10 PM PDT

I think I just realized why the forum index looks so jumbled to me. Didn't the thread info (OP, last post info, pager) used to be spaced out? With the OP info aligned to the left and the last post info aligned to the right? I don't remember where the pager used to be.

Am I alone in thinking that it looks much better if the thread info is spaced out?

By the way, the new layout has already grown on me. I like it, I just need to sit further back when I'm on this site (because of larger text, maybe?). Good job web team!

  • 01.31.2008 3:26 PM PDT

#2 Supporter Halocharts, #11 other account.
"Ordinary love is selfish, deeply rooted in desires and satisfactions. Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change."
You are all loved beyond measure.
I, like you, am a light-sound-vibration complex that resonates with others. I have hopes and dreams and ambitions, just like you! I AM, and so are you! Yes, we are one and the same, you and I.

Thank you for adding page numbers <3

  • 01.31.2008 3:58 PM PDT

R.I.P☺CovanatSlayer117☺
-Ninja Assassin and Lord of The Pies-

04.04.2006-10.25.2009

"Still skyraining noobs in his grave"

Posted by: elmicker
OH GOD MY EYES.

Change them back, please.

I agree with you. This New Hawtness just sucks. While I like the new themes, everything else just sucks. Please change it back. It was far more simpler before....

  • 01.31.2008 4:22 PM PDT
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Posted by: I Naku I
Thank you for adding page numbers <3



I'm lost?

  • 01.31.2008 4:59 PM PDT

Only Becausae I'm Awesome

Forum Tutorials --- WATCH THEM AND LEARN

I have a few requests I'd like to make, to help make things a little easier.

Firstly, I would very much appreciate the old visited link css to return. Too many times I've entered into a thread I've already been to because I haven't been bothered to remember the title from the last visit. After visiting dozens of threads in multiple forums, it gets quite difficult to remember each thread.

Another thing you could put in the new right column is a forum rules/guidelines panel. Just have it present them like they're listed in this thread.

Also, for a specific Opera feature, some proper code for our fast forward/next page button would be nice. A simple <link rel="next" href="next page url"> for forums and threads would be very handy for navigating.

[Edited on 01.31.2008 6:25 PM PST]

  • 01.31.2008 6:05 PM PDT

One nation, under God I 2012 NBA Champions Miami Heat
1/20/2017 Four more years of hell
___.............._______/```````````````:::--.
|.==,-.~;. ____:._______ __’__’__’_ _ _\===
|................--:---:--:--‘---:,, ,,, ,,, ,,,:---: /=
`-.,.__._._,,...---:::"

I do tend to like the stickies and such on the left more. After that widen the comments just a little bit, then fix sigs and I'd accept the new layout. Just my opinion.

  • 01.31.2008 6:40 PM PDT