Forum changes

[RobinGoodfellow]

The "Recent" posts button on the linkline has disappeared since the changes made yesterday.  Will it be restored?  Its the easiest way to catch up on the latest posts ...

...I miss the "Recent" button too.. 

[Ravonium]

In that case...testing @Ravonium and @dinotoyforum

Can confirm that this worked for me.

[DinoToyForum]

The "Recent" posts button on the linkline has disappeared since the changes made yesterday.  Will it be restored?  Its the easiest way to catch up on the latest posts ...

...I miss the "Recent" button too.. 

I'm trying to restore the old menu.  Bt the way, the recent page is still there, it is just the menu link tnat is missing: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?action=recent

[DinoToyForum]

OK, I've re-added the following buttons to the top menu:

Rules
Recent
DinoToyBlog
Links


Are there any other buttons you'd like to see added to the menu?

[DinoToyForum]

I've added an RSS feed for the Animal Toy Forum to the front page. Hopefully it will encourage members to drop by the ATF every now and again.

[DinoToyForum]

What if I changed the front page of DTF to look like this? http://animaltoyforum.com

[PumperKrickel]

deleted

[Jose S.M.]

I prefer the current look honestly.

[ceratopsian]

That suggested look is a great deal more cluttered and less easy to navigate quickly.

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks for your comments. Just to note, as I didn't make it clear, that such a page hasn't replaced the forum page, which is still there (just not on the front page any more e.g. http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?action=forum). If that makes any difference.

[ceratopsian]

Ah, I see.  The old look is still there under "Explore the forum".  That is a rather different matter.  In that case I'm much more neutral on the suggested change.

[DinoToyForum]

Any other comments on the new look front page?

[Ravonium]

I'm not a particular fan of the new homepage either.

[Dilopho]

I wouldn't like it, the DTF to me has a much neater and organised front page, and I have trouble reading when there' a lot of different links and words all over the screen...

...and i love those lil' dino heads

[ceratopsian]

...and i love those lil' dino heads

Now you mention this, so do I!

[DinoToyForum]

Technically, there were more words and links before. Far more. Maybe, as forum veterans we are just used to it the old way.

The new look is more like Reddit. Just a list of topics. Do Redditors have the same complaints about that site? If not, why not?

Anyway, I also prefer the old look, and I'll probably revert ATF back after I have some visitor stats, and won't adopt the change here any time soon. I'm just experimenting for the reasons I give on the ATF Forum Changes thread. 

[Dilopho]

I use reddit a lot and I did prefer the older version of that, too. Nowadays I like how customisable everything it is, but I still find myself using the older version as everything is a lot easier to read- each comment and reply is divided into a coloured box, like on these forum threads.

It works for reddit because each link on a subreddit page is pretty distinctly separated from it's neighbours.
Idk, the new ATF homepage just doesn't have that nice, easy feel to it. 
I probably don't make a lot of sense right now, sorry.

[DinoToyForum]

I use reddit a lot and I did prefer the older version of that, too. Nowadays I like how customisable everything it is, but I still find myself using the older version as everything is a lot easier to read- each comment and reply is divided into a coloured box, like on these forum threads.

It works for reddit because each link on a subreddit page is pretty distinctly separated from it's neighbours.
Idk, the new ATF homepage just doesn't have that nice, easy feel to it. 
I probably don't make a lot of sense right now, sorry.

I think I know what you mean, thanks!

[Simon]

I'll chime in here because this is touching on one of my REAL "pet peeves" with what I call the new "mobile-device friendly" Internet (which in my view has largely destroyed the enjoyment of "surfing").

First the diatribe portion of my post: 

Coming from a generation that grew up reading newspapers and using "The Index" to find things in libraries and books, I prefer having a large amount of information spread out in front of me in a predictably organized fashion with clear headings and subheading.  That helps me to get around and find the directories/topics/threads that I am looking for or interested in.  (I use a 17" laptop to surf the web, and at home I hook it up to a 30" (inch) TV screen.)

Anything that "dumbs down" this format in order to make the "viewing experience" more compatible with the tiny screens on "mobile devices" AKA "idiot phones" has the unintended side-effect of - QUITE LITERALLY - destroying an individual's ability to see the "entire picture" and thus to figure out where next to go.

Contrast the DTF type of web forum layout with Facebook, for example.  Facebook is maddening because YOU CAN'T FIND ANYTHING on it unless you ALREADY KNOW IT EXISTS.  There is no index or directories to individual "Group pages" that are coherent, make sense, and can be easily followed topic by topic, or by date. (Scrolling down for 3 hours in order to review every single post that everyone has posted over the past 5 years on a single Facebook Page is not my definition of a "user friendly" layout).

Now the substantive "on-point" comment (apologies if the above went too long): 

I briefly glanced at the new ATF front page, and while it wasn't nearly as bad as the worst of the "mobile-device-friendly" software nightmares that will show you one paragraph on the screen at a time, I still felt a bit lost at not having the "INDEX" (as I would call it) of the different directories spread out in front of me.

So my vote would go to keep the current layout of the DTF unchanged. 

[DinoToyForum]

I'll chime in here because this is touching on one of my REAL "pet peeves" with what I call the new "mobile-device friendly" Internet (which in my view has largely destroyed the enjoyment of "surfing").

First the diatribe portion of my post: 

Coming from a generation that grew up reading newspapers and using "The Index" to find things in libraries and books, I prefer having a large amount of information spread out in front of me in a predictably organized fashion with clear headings and subheading.  That helps me to get around and find the directories/topics/threads that I am looking for or interested in.  (I use a 17" laptop to surf the web, and at home I hook it up to a 30" (inch) TV screen.)

Anything that "dumbs down" this format in order to make the "viewing experience" more compatible with the tiny screens on "mobile devices" AKA "idiot phones" has the unintended side-effect of - QUITE LITERALLY - destroying an individual's ability to see the "entire picture" and thus to figure out where next to go.

Contrast the DTF type of web forum layout with Facebook, for example.  Facebook is maddening because YOU CAN'T FIND ANYTHING on it unless you ALREADY KNOW IT EXISTS.  There is no index or directories to individual "Group pages" that are coherent, make sense, and can be easily followed topic by topic, or by date. (Scrolling down for 3 hours in order to review every single post that everyone has posted over the past 5 years on a single Facebook Page is not my definition of a "user friendly" layout).

Now the substantive "on-point" comment (apologies if the above went too long): 

I briefly glanced at the new ATF front page, and while it wasn't nearly as bad as the worst of the "mobile-device-friendly" software nightmares that will show you one paragraph on the screen at a time, I still felt a bit lost at not having the "INDEX" (as I would call it) of the different directories spread out in front of me.

So my vote would go to keep the current layout of the DTF unchanged. 

Good websites these days are responsive so they present a desktop-friendly version when you're on a desktop, and a mobile-friendly version when you're on a mobile device. Many sites also provide an app for mobile users, which is essentially a specialised browser. You shouldn't be encountering a mobile-friendly version on a laptop screen, ever, even if the website does have a mobile-friendly version.

Anyway, I hear you. The fact is, mobile views are growing and desktop views are not. The scales may tip eventually whether we like it or not.

In any case, the reason for my experiemental changes to the ATF were not to make it mobile friendly, which it certainly isn't!