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Homepage Redesign Part 2

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    #62
    dr.bollocko
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,943 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    nesf wrote: »
    No, we're going to be forced to use this. They already removed the working version of the old homepage after only a couple of days.

    I had mine until, like, today. But only through the boards.ie logo button.

    It kinda ruins the flow. I have a theme one way for threads / indiv forums and that bleary eyed new thing when I'm looking at what's going on right now.


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    #63
    Boards.ie: Nicola
    Closed Accounts Posts: 732 ✭✭✭Boards.ie: Nicola


    If we put the forum in its own column we're heading back in the direction of it looking like a spreadsheet again which is what we are trying to get away from.


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    #64
    Sarky
    Closed Accounts Posts: 31,967 ✭✭✭✭Sarky


    Big improvement separating the rows with background colour, certainly easier to read what's on display. I really wish there was MORE on display though. Less vertical padding, more stark delineation, I think having to scroll on the front page to see everything is a very bad idea. Should be able to take in all the information at a glance, no searching or scrolling required. Still, I think you're certainly heading in the right direction, so keep it up.


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    #65
    Sarky
    Closed Accounts Posts: 31,967 ✭✭✭✭Sarky


    Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »
    If we put the forum in its own column we're heading back in the direction of it looking like a spreadsheet again which is what we are trying to get away from.

    Thing is though, when it comes to displaying information clearly and neatly, spreadsheets work. Please don't get too far away from them.


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    #66
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »
    If we put the forum in its own column we're heading back in the direction of it looking like a spreadsheet again which is what we are trying to get away from.

    That would be my point.


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    #67
    Boards.ie: Nicola
    Closed Accounts Posts: 732 ✭✭✭Boards.ie: Nicola


    Sarky wrote: »
    Thing is though, when it comes to displaying information clearly and neatly, spreadsheets work. Please don't get too far away from them.

    I don't disagree with you at all, we love spreadsheets! I had actually said that in my post but didn't want to get too off topic.


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    #68
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »
    If we put the forum in its own column we're heading back in the direction of it looking like a spreadsheet again which is what we are trying to get away from.

    In the quest to blend functionality with design, having the forum name right beside the thread name really drops functionality imo. It's not 'neat', & there is a lot of eye-darting going on for me trying desperately to find the information my brain expects to have on hand.

    I really think a column for Forums is needed, & while I understand the spreadsheet look might be off putting & something you're looking to get away from, there has to be a compromise between the two? I can't speak for everyone, but for me, the homepage is now more difficult to read than the old one. I do still like it, & I get where it's going, but it can be improved. A forum column would really help :)


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    #69
    spix
    Registered Users Posts: 2,577 ✭✭✭spix


    Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »
    If we put the forum in its own column we're heading back in the direction of it looking like a spreadsheet again which is what we are trying to get away from.

    Looks shouldn't take priority on a forum homepage, especially one as big as boards.ie. Easy usability should.

    All forums look like spreadsheets to some degree as spreadsheets = organized data which is an important factor on forums.

    The only way to make it not look like a spreadsheet at all is clump all the data together in an unorganized way, which is a nightmare to use and infact looks worse than something that is neat.


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    #70
    wnolan1992
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 14,009 Mod ✭✭✭✭wnolan1992


    Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »
    If we put the forum in its own column we're heading back in the direction of it looking like a spreadsheet again which is what we are trying to get away from.

    :(

    But... there's a column for Thanks... just get rid of that and replace with forum name which would actually be useful.

    Don't sacrifice usability for the sake of making the site look pretty.


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    #71
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    wnolan1992 wrote: »
    :(

    But... there's a column for Thanks... just get rid of that and replace with forum name which would actually be useful.

    Don't sacrifice usability for the sake of making the site look pretty.

    I'm more worried that this hatred of "looking like a spreadsheet" spreads to the forums themselves when the wheel is reinvented and we get the inevitable redesign.


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    #72
    Slutmonkey57b
    Registered Users Posts: 5,560 ✭✭✭Slutmonkey57b


    I think a lot of people would probably be happy to give up the "thanks" column in favour of a "forum" column. I can see at a glance which one I find useful.

    Having said that, my bookmark for boards has been "subscribed threads" in the user cp for years, and I can't see that changing...


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    #73
    Taltos
    Registered Users Posts: 20,830 ✭✭✭✭Taltos


    Cheers guys.

    Find this a large improvement on the last version. Looking forwards to seeing the changes that come next.
    Not going to ask for anything - will just repeat what has come already - so instead - just a simple cheers - for the patience and for listening.

    T


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    #74
    spix
    Registered Users Posts: 2,577 ✭✭✭spix


    http://i.imgur.com/QpQ1tpV.png

    Possible way to reduce the spreadsheet look while having the forum list in its own column.


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    #75
    Boards.ie: Nicola
    Closed Accounts Posts: 732 ✭✭✭Boards.ie: Nicola


    Thanks again guys for all the feedback, we'll be wrapping up shortly for the weekend here so will catch up again on Monday.

    Hope everyone has a nice weekend :)


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    #76
    Rabies
    Registered Users Posts: 15,258 ✭✭✭✭Rabies


    When i click on my threads, i always end up on the first page instead of last viewed.

    What am I doing wrong, or it it broken? :)


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    #77
    wnolan1992
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 14,009 Mod ✭✭✭✭wnolan1992


    Rabies wrote: »
    When i click on my threads, i always end up on the first page instead of last viewed.

    What am I doing wrong, or it it broken? :)

    Click the postcount number, not the thread title and it'll send you to first unread. :)


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    #78
    Rabies
    Registered Users Posts: 15,258 ✭✭✭✭Rabies


    wnolan1992 wrote: »
    Click the postcount number, not the thread title and it'll send you to first unread. :)

    Cheers.

    that works :)


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    #79
    WIZE
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    Spreadsheet FTW


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    #80
    Tar.Aldarion
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,091 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tar.Aldarion


    Great changes with the alternating colours and also the forum name before the thread name, much easier on teh eys and easier to navigate now.

    Only really annoying thing is being brought to the first post in every thread now. Some way to get to where you read last or simply to the last post would be great.

    I also wish that if you are on a tab and click the tab again it would refresh the page but I suppose f5 will do, however it would be nice.


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    #81
    spix
    Registered Users Posts: 2,577 ✭✭✭spix


    Tar.Aldarion wrote: »
    Only really annoying thing is being brought to the first post in every thread now. Some way to get to where you read last or simply to the last post would be great.

    It's meant to bring you to the latest post when you click on the post count. Doesn't seem to work properly though, most of the times it dumps me at a random post in the thread.


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    #82
    Masked Man
    Registered Users Posts: 2,546 ✭✭✭Masked Man


    spix wrote: »
    It's meant to bring you to the latest post when you click on the post count. Doesn't seem to work properly though, most of the times it dumps me at a random post in the thread.

    It's not meant to bring you to the last post. It brings you to the first new post.


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    #83
    Tar.Aldarion
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,091 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tar.Aldarion


    If it is meant to do that it is not intuitive, so that should change.


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    #84
    spix
    Registered Users Posts: 2,577 ✭✭✭spix


    Masked Man wrote: »
    It's not meant to bring you to the last post. It brings you to the first new post.

    Ah.. well I clicked on a thread I've never read before and it brought me to page 30 :/


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    #85
    Masked Man
    Registered Users Posts: 2,546 ✭✭✭Masked Man


    The thread was probably started a while back and eventually older posts no longer count as new. It looks like posts made in the last 10 days are counted as new.


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    #86
    Zaph
    Registered Users, Subscribers Posts: 47,294 ✭✭✭✭Zaph


    A definite improvement, so thanks again to the guys in the office for taking on board many of the suggestions that have been made. That said, it's still far from ideal, and as I reserved the right to moan, and especially as my old home page has been taken away from me today, I'm gonna moan (in a constructive manner, of course :):

    - Having the forum name in front of the thread title is a big improvement, but as has been stated many times already, it doesn't go far enough. There's not enough difference to delineate between the two and it really does need a column of its own. But as this is may be discussed in Boards Towers next week there's not much more needs to be said about it right now.

    - The wasteland in the middle of the screen needs to be dealt with. There's just far too much emptiness there, which is both a waste of space and pretty ugly design (sorry designer guys!) at the same time.

    - The little arrow that brings you to the last post you read in a thread needs to be brought in from the forum view. I know clicking on the post count does the same thing and people will get used to it, but it's far from intuitive for a newbie to the site. At least the arrow has the "I wonder what happens if I click on this" element to it so people could happen across the functionality. A post count just looks like a post count.

    - There's still too much vertical spacing on the home page. It was mentioned the other day that this was being reduced, but tbh I can't see where. There are still only 12 threads visible when you land on the page, as opposed to 43 on the old screen. Fair enough if you don't want as many as 43 because you feel it was a wall of text (an opinion I'd disagree with tbh, I thought the old page was very easy to read), but what's wrong with having say 30 threads visible when you open the page?

    - The forum name and thread title look the same so it's hard to distinguish where one ends and the other begins, particularly with longer forum names. The | in between really doesn't cut it. If it's decided not to give forum names a column of their own, then this is something that should be looked at.

    - Good job on making the tab order customisable. I'm happy to land on Latest Posts, but I know people have different preferences. I actually didn't understand the hatred for the tabs (well apart from Trending, but I just hate that word anyway, it's so American. :pac:), especially considering we had them on the old screen.

    - For the subscribers among us who have ads turned off, there's another big gaping void on the page where the Talk To links appear for everyone else. I suspect I know the answer to this already (that it's designated ad-space regardless of whether they're turned on or off), but is it possible to do something for subscribers in that space (no idea what, but there are lots of smart people around here who might have an idea)?

    - The Thanks Column. You know it's not right and is about as useful as the nipples on my chest, so why persist with it? Total thanks for a thread is meaningless. A thread with 40 posts could have 200 thanks. Is that 5 thanks per post? 4 posts with 50 thanks each? A single post with 200 thanks? Who knows, and you'll never know from that figure, so what's the point in having it there?

    - The shading of every second line is good, thanks for that. But it is very subtle, any chance of making it a shade or two darker?

    - Pagination. Has anyone ventured onto page 3 yet? Or even page 2 for that matter?

    - I know the argument has been made that the old screen looked like a spreadsheet, but so what? It worked, and worked well, so why sacrifice function for form? Knowing a few of them myself, I do think that developers see screens differently to regular users, and what looks good or functional to them doesn't necessarily look good or functional to everyone else. I'm not entirely sure why this is, possibly it's something to do with them being smarter than most of the rest of us and therefore being more concerned about how things work rather than how they look.

    - And the longest shot of all. I know how much you guys love my wife's brownies, so if I got her to drop another batch or two into the office do you think you could see your way to moving "My Forums" back to the middle of the top bar like it was on the old skin? I reeeeeeeeally hate it over on the right hand side, it's just not natural to have to move my mouse all the way over there. Pretty please? :)

    I think that's it. For now! But thanks again to everyone for putting the effort in to making the first batch of improvements.


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    #87
    spix
    Registered Users Posts: 2,577 ✭✭✭spix


    Can't believe I just read all that :D I agree with all your points though.

    What screen/browser are you using to see 12 threads when you land on the page? Before this mornings update I saw 9, now its 10.


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    #88
    Zaph
    Registered Users, Subscribers Posts: 47,294 ✭✭✭✭Zaph


    spix wrote: »
    Can't believe I just read all that :D I agree with all your points though.

    What screen/browser are you using to see 12 threads when you land on the page? Before this mornings update I saw 9, now its 10.

    Firefox, on a 22 inch widescreen monitor with 1680 x 1050 resolution.


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    #89
    kaimera
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,396 ✭✭✭✭kaimera


    Cosmetic:

    Far too much whitespace between the end of thread title and the number of posts in said thread.

    Looks well poxy at very high screen res, even at sub 1080p res it's quite noticeable.


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    #90
    Boards.ie: Rónán
    Closed Accounts Posts: 382 ✭✭Boards.ie: Rónán


    spix wrote: »
    It's meant to bring you to the latest post when you click on the post count. Doesn't seem to work properly though, most of the times it dumps me at a random post in the thread.
    Masked Man wrote: »
    It's not meant to bring you to the last post. It brings you to the first new post.
    Tar.Aldarion wrote: »
    Only really annoying thing is being brought to the first post in every thread now. Some way to get to where you read last or simply to the last post would be great.

    The thread title link will take you to the first post of the thread.

    IIRC the post count link will take you to whichever of the following is the most recent:
    - Last time you visited the thread
    - Last time you marked the forum the thread is in as read
    - 10 days

    I'll double check the code when i can and update any innaccuracies, but pretty sure thats the logic behind it.
    Tar.Aldarion wrote: »
    I also wish that if you are on a tab and click the tab again it would refresh the page but I suppose f5 will do, however it would be nice.

    That's a good idea, we'll definitely look into that.


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    #91
    L5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,951 ✭✭✭L5


    Change for the sake of it.

    Really annoying that we can't use boards.ie/? anymore.

    I've found myself visiting boards a LOT less since these changes came in as its just too hard to use the site the way I want to (scanning the homepage for interesting threads). It would be interesting to see if there's been a drop off in traffic to the site.


This discussion has been closed.
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