[Please Read] Bargain Alert Tags - suggestions / feedback required?

Basq

As you may now notice when you post a thread in the 'Bargain Alert' forum, you can prefix them with a tag depending on the category the particular bargain relates to.

The categories, and some suggested items they may apply to, include:

• Entertainment - for CD's / DVD's / Books etc.
• Home - for any homeware items - shelfing units, furniture etc.
• Travel - for travel-related such as flights, holidays, train, bus, ferry etc.
• Clothing - speaks for itself really. Any clothing items / sales in stores.
• Finance - any bargains related to banks / credit cards etc.
• Kids - could be toys, kids books or clothing
• Computers - computer hardware and software etc.
• General Deals - anything non-specific to other categories
• Mobiles - for specials on phones, or the operators having new offers
• Electricals - spotted any good deals on TV's etc.?
• Groceries - spotted some Haribo for cheap in Tesco etc.?!
• Nonsense - anything a bit silly. Prime example!

You can now filter by tag in the search box at the head of a forum so if you're only interested in Entertainment related deals, you can choose to only view them.

We would encourage you to use the tags when posting a Bargain Alert (EDIT: Apologies.. just after getting notified by CuLT that only the mods can apply tags for the time being, but that may change in the near future depending on how well it's recieved and utilised).

I'll leave this thread open as both myself, Ruu and CuLT would like some feedback and suggestions such as:

• are there any categories we should add in? Is there any we should weed out?
• should be get rid of the Expired tag, and just lock the thread instead? Or should it leave it as it is for feedback on a product (i.e discussion of the product / recommendations etc) in an 'Expired' thread.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.. it's always appreciated. And many thanks to CuLT for adding in this nifty little feature

Random

The different colours are wrecking my head. Try having them all the same colour maybe? Or using darker colours. (I'm using the standard theme).

johnny_adidas

+1

Monotype

Although extremely useful for searching and the occasional user, will there be an option to hide them as they clutter the topic titles a bit and can make them hard to read for members who like to drop by regularly?

The Sparrow

Yeah I think the colours are a bit light. They just kind of fade into the light background and are difficult to read. Also I think marking threads as expired is better than locking them as it allows for discussion of the product afterwards which is a good resource if you are looking to buy the same product.

Good job so far on the improvements!

Oafley Jones

Random wrote: »

The different colours are wrecking my head. Try having them all the same colour maybe? Or using darker colours. (I'm using the standard theme).

+1



It's a good idea, but the implementation is very distracting.

magicEye

+1

Magic

sedohre

I don't like the colours at all.

I like having "Expired" added to posts.

AlmightyCushion

Leave the expired tag, locking a thread prevents updates on the product. Eg. issues about delivery/someone spots it cheaper elsewhere etc. Not crazy about multi-coloured tags to be honest.

Basq

Yeah.. having added a couple of tags to existing threads, the colours are a bit off. Have asked CuLT to remove all colour formatting from tags.

But to put the tag in bold and / or square brackets. Like so:

[Entertainment] Shameless Seasons 1 - 5 for €40 - Zavvi

EDIT: Seems CuLT has implemented my suggestion already. Better?

Davy

Making them all the same indent size would help, so all the titles would line up regardless of what tag it was
..............Kids: thread here
Entertainment: thread here

I would like the 'expired'

Random

I'm not sure I'm keen on having any tags other than "Expired" really ... but am interested to see what else yourself and cult can come up with in terms of color / format for the ones you seem to have implemented now.

AlmightyCushion

Yeah the bold and square brackets work better I think. They look really good on the cloud skin. The white tag works well with the black background but separates it nicely from the thread title. Kudos, CuLT.

mcgovern

Not a big fan myself, what it is should be apparent from the thread title anyway.

snubbleste

The thread titles now looks really cluttered. You can generally see what category the post falls under from the thread title.

Anyway of making the tags invisible?

AlmightyCushion

I think it's mainly for filtering. If I'm looking for a new laptop or whatever I can just filter the thread based on that.

Onikage

My eyes, they burn.

I'm perfectly capable of reading a title and determining if it's interesting without the need to add an extra, differently coloured word thankyouverymuch.

I'm all for the filtering though.

beolight

dont like the tags ...too big... too distracting

do we really need them isnt the very essence of bargain hunting to just stumble upon them

why categorise?

if you have to go this route how about small icons?

RobertFoster

Nice idea, but small icons like beolight might be easier on the eye.

If the text tags remain, any chance of the font weight matching the thread title? All the [Bold Tags] make me think there's a load of new threads when there's really only 3.

Kur4mA

It's a brilliant idea but tbh it's stretching the thread titles too much and makes things look a little messy. Would it be possible to shorten everything to 3 or 4 letter? For example:

Entertainment - Ent
Finance - Fnc
Kids - Kids
Computers - Comp
etc.

Kintarō Hattori

mcgovern wrote: »

Not a big fan myself, what it is should be apparent from the thread title anyway.

snubbleste wrote: »

The thread titles now looks really cluttered. You can generally see what category the post falls under from the thread title.

Anyway of making the tags invisible?

Onikage wrote: »

My eyes, they burn.

I'm perfectly capable of reading a title and determining if it's interesting without the need to add an extra, differently coloured word thankyouverymuch.

I'm all for the filtering though.

I'm inclined to agree with these posters and the others who have mentioned it. While they'll be great for filtering they just make the forum look very messy now and somewhat difficult to read.

It was easier to read what the post was about but these are akward.

Grawns

If it's not broke....

By the by. I'm still not happy with the bargain request departure. Some of the best bargains were to be found by everyone throwing in their 2 cents worth and remebering bargains long fortgotten. This has gone right down since you created the request sub forum.

Thanks for all your hard work.

sedohre

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I'm inclined to agree with these posters and the others who have mentioned it. While they'll be great for filtering they just make the forum look very messy now and somewhat difficult to read.

It was easier to read what the post was about but these are akward.

+1

suppafly

I think its a good idea and looks great when using the cloud theme. They stand out really well and I definetly done thing they make it look cluttered or make the thread title names really long. Its only an extra word

Murt10

Grawns wrote: »

If it's not broke....

By the by. I'm still not happy with the bargain request departure. Some of the best bargains were to be found by everyone throwing in their 2 cents worth and remebering bargains long fortgotten. This has gone right down since you created the request sub forum.

Thanks for all your hard work.

+1. Personally, I don't bother readind requests too often, whereas if the request is in the middle of alerts, I'll add my 2cents worth, if I have anything to say

by8auj6csd3ioq

Could you put an option in the User CP so that individual users can decide to turn the tags on/off in the same way they can decide to have email notification of a reply to a post or thread they posted in?

Rsaeire

Lucy Rapping Bazooka wrote: »

Could you put an option in the User CP so that individual users can decide to turn the tags on/off in the same way they can decide to have email notification of a reply to a post or thread they posted in?

+1

I appreciate what is being done with the tags, but I don't particularly care for them. An option to turn them on/off would be preferable.

snappieT

Its a really good idea, but the colouring and moreso indentation make reading difficult.
Perhaps standard-sized images (posticon size, like used on SA of 200px wide) would work better. Easy to scroll down, everything is at the same indentation, and you can quickly pick out what you want.

sxt

Onikage wrote: »

My eyes, they burn.

I'm perfectly capable of reading a title and determining if it's interesting without the need to add an extra, differently coloured word thankyouverymuch.

*nods head in agreement*.Scrolling quickly through the threads hunting for bargains was easy and a bit of fun.The bold headings are a bit of a distraction

snubbleste

[Get rid of the tags please] Are the tags staying or going?

311

It's not very easy on the eye. Makes a choar of the forum me thinks.:(

bazwaldo

Can't really see the point of them here. Most people who look at bargain alerts aren't looking for anything in particular other than a good bargain. I would still only read the thread title and not the new tag. The new tag just makes it harder to do so.

As for using a filter, well theres already a Search Forum feature.

I vote to get rid of them.

Basq

Might advise CuLT to try some small images as an indication instead. I think we're gonna try a few alternatives before we ditch it.

311

Would it be possible to have them to the right of the collumn.

That way if you look to the right you can go through the titles that way ,if you choose.

podgeandrodge

don't like them either...searching for bargains most of time but not in any particular category...it just slows you down.

Placebo

too many tags

General
Food
Computers
Entertainment

TVDX

I too am not a fan of the tags.
It is way too cluttered.

johnny_adidas

is it possible just to put them under the thread title next to the user's name in small text, very difficult to quickly glance at the offers at the moment

Basq

Tags now have been revamped and relaunched..

I await your feedback.. which we'll pretend to heed and take on board! :P

Har-de-har-har..

Rsaeire

basquille wrote: »

Tags now have been revamped and relaunched..

I await your feedback.. which we'll pretend to heed and take on board! :P

Har-de-har-har..

I prefer the new tags as they are what I initially requested when the old tag system was launched. Then again, what do I know, it's not like my opinion matters around here, eh basquille...? :cool:

Basq

Rsaeire wrote: »

I prefer the new tags as they are what I initially requested when the old tag system was launched. Then again, what do I know, it's not like my opinion matters around here, eh basquille...? :cool:

Pfft... quiet down...

Ah no, any suggestions are welcome. I quite like them how they are now anyways..

Rsaeire

basquille wrote: »

Pfft... quiet down...

Ah no, any suggestions are welcome. I quite like them how they are now anyways..

I do agree, they look well. Was the update down to you? If so, I like how you're obviously subtly looking for praise for a job well done.

Ruu_Old

*man enters with lopsided mustache with sellotape* Ahem, hello there. I find these new tags absolutely brill! Job well done! I am not Ruu by the way!

Basq

Rsaeire wrote: »

I do agree, they look well. Was the update down to you? If so, I like how you're obviously subtly looking for praise for a job well done.

No, all praise and kudos should go to CuLT.

We've been meaning to implement them sooner but only got around to it now.

Rsaeire

basquille wrote: »

No, all praise and kudos should go to CuLT.

We've been meaning to implement them sooner but only got around to it now.

Good stuff. Well done to CuLT so!

No doubt other users will be as forthcoming with their praise as they were with their feedback.

Random

I still think the only tag required is "expired" .. and perhaps a "hot" one for things like pricing errors and shockingly good offers.

Davy

Random wrote: »

I still think the only tag required is "expired" .. and perhaps a "hot" one for things like pricing errors and shockingly good offers.

I would agree, liked the way they weren't compulsory before.

Zaph

I think the colours need to be stronger. Other than the expired tag they don't stand out very well on the default skin.

bmaxi

Maybe colour the brackets as well or lighten them. I still find them distracting.

sedohre

I'd prefer not to have them at all, except for the expired tag. I looks over crowded to me

brettmirl

Do we really need to have those prefix tags before each thread in Bargain alerts?

I think it's fairly easy to figure out the contents of the bargain from the thread title without the need for the prefix.

It makes the overall page look very cluttered and more difficult to read.