Forum changes

[DinoToyForum]

I am not crazy about it either, but like all changes, I'll get used to it 

I haven't committed to it myself, yet, just testing the waters for now. What do you think about adopting this change for the ATF as well?

[ceratopsian]

Looks OK to me - but I tend to enter the forum from a different place altogether, not from the home page.  I go to "Unread posts"!

[Faelrin]

Okay glad to know it was intentional and not one of the recent browser plugins I installed messing with the site layout, lol. I do prefer the boards themselves on the top, but that's just what I've been used to since I joined here way back in 2016. At the same time I do check the recent updated topics section quite a bit so maybe this will be more convenient for me in the long run.

I do wonder if there is a way to abbreviate it or trim it a little bit? As of now if you do want to check out the boards (for any reason) themselves you do have to scroll quite a bit now.

[DinoToyForum]

Okay glad to know it was intentional and not one of the recent browser plugins I installed messing with the site layout, lol. I do prefer the boards themselves on the top, but that's just what I've been used to since I joined here way back in 2016. At the same time I do check the recent updated topics section quite a bit so maybe this will be more convenient for me in the long run.

I do wonder if there is a way to abbreviate it or trim it a little bit? As of now if you do want to check out the boards (for any reason) themselves you do have to scroll quite a bit now.

You mean abbreviate the Recent topics list? Yes, I can set it to any number of posts. At the moment it is set to 20.

[bmathison1972]

For me, I know what topics, threads, and boards I want to visit. I don't necessarily read all the most recent posts (I do more on ATF, but as part of the Admin team I feel it's my responsibility). I think people using a forum as a source of reference will want to easily navigate to the boards and child-boards of interest and not have to scroll down past all the most recent posts. But, I am sure everyone approaches it differently.

If I had any say, I would opt not to do this on the ATF honestly (especially it's not as active as DTF).

[Faelrin]

@dinotoyforum Yeah that's what I meant. Maybe just to like 15 instead? What would other folks here think?

[postsaurischian]

   I preferred the side bar. Now there's so much empty and wasted space on my screen.
Before, I obtained an overview of everything without scrolling. Less actractive page design now.
But maybe that's because I'm never using a smartphone, always wide-screen at home, I know, that's old-fashioned.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I'll admit it threw me off at first, too. I always use the sidebar to browse the forum by opening each thread in a new tab. I think it blends in a little too much with the forum index and it's harder to tell where one starts and the other ends. If we're taking votes, I also prefer the sidebar.

[Halichoeres]

@dinotoyforum Yeah that's what I meant. Maybe just to like 15 instead? What would other folks here think?

It was 15 before, right? Maybe it's just status quo bias talking, but that seems like a good number.

Like others, I often go to "unread," or on occasions I'm on mobile, "recent," so if those options remain I don't mind too much either way where recent posts go. It does result in a lot of blank space on desktop, though.

[CityRaptor]

I also prefer the old design. Having the new activities as a sidebar felt more handy to me.

[DinoToyForum]

@dinotoyforum Yeah that's what I meant. Maybe just to like 15 instead? What would other folks here think?

It was 15 before, right? Maybe it's just status quo bias talking, but that seems like a good number.

Like others, I often go to "unread," or on occasions I'm on mobile, "recent," so if those options remain I don't mind too much either way where recent posts go. It does result in a lot of blank space on desktop, though.

15 seems like a good number but I noticed that all 20 Recent Posts in the list were marked as updated 'Today' (this was so both today and yesterday). i.e. More that 20 posts are regularly being updated in a 24 hour period. In which case, 15 doesn't seem enough.

I'm not sure I'll keep this change and acknowledge the mixed reactions expressed above. I'll leave it as is for another day or two to see if getting used to it makes a difference to how we (including I) feel about it.

[DinoToyForum]

Another possibility, to avoid the wasted space I could create two central columns above the board index, with the recent posts in the left column, and something else(?) in the right column. But what would that something else be?

[DinoToyForum]

Another possibility, to avoid the wasted space I could create two central columns above the board index, with the recent posts in the left column, and something else(?) in the right column. But what would that something else be?

So, how about this: two columns of Recent Topics, one column of ten topics for the Dinosaur Collectibles category, one column of ten topics for all the other categories. That gives us a total of 20 topics in half the height, and minimises empty space. I've mocked it up so we can test it out.

[Sim]

Sorry to be so frank, but the latest change is terrible.  I just want to see which topics have unread posts and the new change makes it confusing and doesn't show all recent unread topics.  Plus the unread topics on the side has disappeared now.

[DinoToyForum]

Sorry to be so frank, but the latest change is terrible.  I just want to see which topics have unread posts and the new change makes it confusing and doesn't show all recent unread topics.  Plus the unread topics on the side has disappeared now.

There's still a link to the unread topics at the top of the page (below the title), it seemed pointless to have a duplicate link in the side bar as well. If that's what you're referring to. If you mean the list of 'Recent Topics' that was in the side bar, that has just moved to above the forum board index, and it actually shows more topics than before.

I'm still just testing it out so I welcome the feedback.

[Sim]

Thanks, I've found the unread topics link!  I thought it was something different as it says something different to what it said before ("Show unread" I believe).  Regarding the rest of the latest change, I think it would be more useful to list the newest 20 topics like before, maybe in two columns like now.

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks, I've found the unread topics link!  I thought it was something different as it says something different to what it said before ("Show unread" I believe).  Regarding the rest of the latest change, I think it would be more useful to list the newest 20 topics like before, maybe in two columns like now.

I had to divide them by category for practical reasons – I can't create a single Recent Topics list in two columns. I can add more than 10 posts to each column if that's the problem, I'll increase it to 15 now.

[Concavenator]

Not a fan of the latest update with "Recent topics" and "More recent topics", it just looks confusing to me. I'd rather just have one column with the 20 most recent topics.

I do like that the recent topics were moved to the top of the page though, saves me some seconds of scrolling down!

[Bread]

As a mobile user, the most recent change is confusing.

I can't speak for PC just yet.

[DinoToyForum]

As a mobile user, the most recent change is confusing.

I can't speak for PC just yet.

That's curious, the change is meant to make it easier for mobile users. What's confusing about it (other than being different)?