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New Forum Pros/Cons Compilation
rattler2
Member, Star Trek Online Moderator Posts: 58,669 Community Moderator
As we all know by now... we've had a surprise forum migration. And... it wasn't exactly well received. After adding my own 2 ECs into a couple threads, and with a rather surprising suggestion by @keepcalmchiveon, I have decided to make a thread to allow people to post what they like and don't like about the new forums so that we can pass this information on to AmbassadorKael to use as ammunition in hopes of improving the forums.
And I fully expect the Cons section to be a lot longer.
Also I would appreciate it if people would do so as clearly as possible, maybe actually using the list feature so that we don't have to try and sort things out.
And so... I'll kick things off myself. And if possible I would like others to follow a similar format to keep it focused on the details.
Pros:
Cons:
And I fully expect the Cons section to be a lot longer.
Also I would appreciate it if people would do so as clearly as possible, maybe actually using the list feature so that we don't have to try and sort things out.
And so... I'll kick things off myself. And if possible I would like others to follow a similar format to keep it focused on the details.
Pros:
- (overheard) Easier to browse on mobile devices
Cons:
- LOTS of wasted space (can't just hit end key to see last post without scrolling halfway up again)
- Unable to see who posted last in a thread
- [New] notification is black on dark background
- No clear separation between posts and sigs
- No clear indication on where text fields are
- Mod frustration (leaving this one vague but Mods and CM know which is the cause via outside contact)
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)Yang Xiao Long wrote:I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
Post edited by rattler2 on
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Massive amount of dead space at the bottom of the page. If you drop down to the bottom of the page you have to scroll way up just to get to the last post.
The 'New' icon is very hard to see, as stated before, but clicking 'New' should also take you to the newest post in the thread. Right now, there is no way to just jump straight to the most recent reply.
You can, though - it's right next to the name of the topic starter as 'Most recent by %forumname%'.
It's just hard to see, since it's pure text with no accompanying avatar.
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
1. the Layout looks bland and amateurish, official forum like this should not look an intern made in 5 mins as unpaid work, it leaves a bad image.
2. While the darker color is an improvement the UI and layout for the forums is still confusing and wastes space and honestly even on a phone it doesn't look that great compared to the old version.
3. removal of useful features like certain links or functions
4. The reply text box is extremely difficult to notice due to being the same color as the background.
5. There's no clear distinction between sigs and the body of a post and thus it can be hard to see what people have said sometimes.
1. Lots of wasted space on it.
2. No thread history.
3. (Trolling comment moderated out - BMR)
4. Difficult to tell where one post ends and next begins.
5. Overall in appearance, looks like <expletive>.
Mission Accolade sorting also included.
https://desilu4957.wordpress.com
I would have thought Gearbox, would have been wiser to migrate to what Cryptic / PWE uses to be honest.
I know some say the color is black, well it is for the current color; previously however it was Dark Navy as shown by the sides.
Still I don't know many who use it on mobile who don't view in Desktop mode. Those are just my thoughts, as most have provided some good CONS: & PROS: already.
I certainly vastly preferred the OLD forums, as do the vast majority; which in a rare case includes practically everybody in agreement!
Mission Accolade sorting also included.
https://desilu4957.wordpress.com
Not just a step down from the previous forum.....it's a fall down a massive canyon! Looks like my 4 year old kid nephew put it together and threw it at a wall. Sorry. As I mentioned in a prior thread, this looks like it was made by a Reddit fan.....and Reddit ain't known for it's professional look either.
Preferred the old posts in their own boxes. Being seperated by a simple line, blended with the lack of distinction of what is the signature or post means you easily can mistake who's posted what.
- clearly responsive, which is appreciated;
Cons:
- the responsiveness mentioned above is done... badly; I haven't had time to check the code, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that the media queries are not set properly, (starting with the font not scaling down/up);
- lack of pagination on the threads listed in the categories, which means that we cannot skip directly to the last page (especially annoying if it's a thread you've been keeping up with and so are already aware of what has been discussed);
- signatures takes way, way too much space, especially on shorter posts;
- massive waste of space on higher resolutions - currently writing on a full HD screen and almost 2/3 of the page is blank;
- the right sidebar with the category list, while somewhat useful in the sense that you don't need to go back to the forum's index to go to another category, is simply adding to the waste of space mentioned above;
- total lack of customization - yes, it was absent in the previous forum's version too, but since you're going for a new look entirely, adding the functionality should've been a big priority, even more so when we're (finally and thankfully) moving toward a way more accessible internet for everyone;
- the dark theme is appreciated, but there's no differentiation between one post and the next except for the slight border; a different background for even and odds posts would work wonders.
Will think of more.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
I am with you on the RIP. It is so terribly sad what has happened, and continues today.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
That said, any major unexpected difference between what you're used to and something new often triggers a negative
first reaction. I don't expect my reaction to this design to improve much over time, however.
This appears to be "change for the sake of making a change" rather than achieving anything constructive.
Cons:
- The Black-on-White ovals for tags are way too visible and distract from the rest of the content.
- Cramming the "Views Contents Reactions Started By" etc. all onto one crowded line makes it hard to pick out any
one piece of information.
- All the extra, bright white lines simply add visual clutter to the page.
- Putting the avatar icon in front of each post creates an irrelevant visual distraction that draws your attention
away from the thread topic.
- Each individual post and sig appears to take up way more space now, which makes for major scrolling and less information
available per screen.
- Forums used to have thread titles in bright white, with the frame lines in narrow, light grey. This made the
titles stand out and the separation frames fade into the backgroud, exactly as it should be. The current format
of bright lines and grey titles makes it look like the lines are more important than the topics.
- Previously a lot of negative space was used to separate and differentiate various parts of the thread info. That
made it feel like a 'menu' from which you could distinguish and select choices of interest. Now that it's all
crammed together with little negative space, it quickly feels like a "wall of text" with little variation between
choices.
- In the previous format, 13 topics that I could easily distinguish and scan fit on my browser window. In the exact
same format browser window, the new design fits 9 topics. In the previous design, I could easily distinguish the
topics with more views, or new content, or a topic of interest. New design simply gives me a "TL;DR" impression
and I frankly can't see myself using it for casual review any more.
Pros:
- Still looking. Maybe the bookmark thing will prove useful? Atm it's just more visual clutter though.
- Now that I'm inside the thread, I can't really distinguish where one post ends and the next begins. I also can't see at a glance which sigs and pictures are part of a post and not the next post. It seems like a bunch of paragraphs strung one after the other than discrete posts with a separate sig section at the bottom.
Given that Cryptic is also trying to get people to head over to their new, non-ARC website, I wouldn't be surprised if part of the design criteria here was "something that won't compete with our new website". (That's the diplomatic way of phrasing it.)
I'd rate this current design about a 3.5 out of 10, their new website design about 5.5, and the previous design around an 8, at least for the main page of topic listings. As for functionality once inside a thread and posting, the old forum has had it's ups and downs over the years and I haven't have much chance on the new ones yet, so will have to save that for later.
Still it seems they've made at least a slight revision recently, now showing who last replied to each thread; even if it's slightly different.
If they used this color at least it look a lot closer; the dark navy is easier on the eyes, maybe it's just me though?
Always got to remember a tag BR in square brackets to add a space before the line.
While I don't think there's a "Trek as a whole" color scheme/theme that could be used (each series seems to have their own color theme), what I'd love and suggested even on the other thread is to use those series themes to color the forums.
If people want to see it I could give examples of what I mean, though it might be better to make a separate thread for such suggestions to not crowd this one with things that are neither pros nor cons.
I'll consider it, granted it'll take some time since even though it would be "it might look something like this" concept, I would have to put some time into it due to professional pride (since if I'm gonna say "I could do better" it better be something that has proper effort put into it).
EDIT:I want to keep also vague enough that if it looks good enough Cryptic can use a version of it.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode