Forum additions and other changes

[DerekWilson]

We really appreciate all the feedback we're getting on the new changes around here.

Please know that all this is a work in progress and we are constantly reading your suggestions and trying to figure out how to tackle everything that's broken.

As for forums, some may not stick around and others may magically appear over the next two weeks. It's your feedback and input that makes this happen. Keep us posted on what is working, what's not, and what else we need.

To address some of the concern over splitting up the forums --

We have grown to quite a large size over the past few years, and we really want to better accommodate everyone by enabling more targeted discussions. This should give people a way to find what they want quickly. We've heard many new forums called for over time, and hopefully this will improve the quality of our forums.

One of the major goals of this new direction is to try to grow our forums even larger. In doing this, we can't expect new members to just know where everything is or sort through ATOT hoping to find what they want. Organization and slitting off some forums will definitely help.

And I know many of you loved the old inline forum list layout ... but headers and sub-categories will also help people find their way around when they show up for the first time.

 

[orbiter]

Please can we have the button back to jump to the end of a topic instead of having to click three pages at a time or set our page listings to 200 or something silly like that.

Thanks

 

[DerekWilson]

Originally posted by: orbiter
Please can we have the button back to jump to the end of a topic instead of having to click three pages at a time or set our page listings to 200 or something silly like that.

Thanks

working on it

 

[Anubis]

glad to see that you guys are working on that last button

most of the new changes i like most of the stuff id like fixed/changed im sure you are working on

Fixing the Non Default themes formatting
Making us a True DARK theme
Last Button
Profanity Filter - where it will just ***** out a bad word and not kill your whole post
The Catagorie truncation IMO needs to be fixed fast
Viewed Links/threds Changing Color

 

[rolla94]

I noticed that the search feature is working better, but if there was some way to list the results in some sort of order (like chronological by the last post would be awesome) that would make it alot easier to search.

 

[Poohbee]

Yeah I liked the old category listing better. it was easier to find stuff.

 

[rhatsaruck]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson

Originally posted by: orbiter
Please can we have the button back to jump to the end of a topic instead of having to click three pages at a time or set our page listings to 200 or something silly like that.

Thanks

working on it

Related item for those of us who subscribe to threads: can the link in the subscription e-mail display either (1) the new thread message that generated the e-mail or (2) the last thread message.

Currently when you click on the link in the subscription update e-mail the system displays the first message in the thread.

 

[ThePiston]

digging the new look and design, boioioiioiiong

 

[wirelessenabled]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
We really appreciate all the feedback we're getting on the new changes around here.

Please know that all this is a work in progress and we are constantly reading your suggestions and trying to figure out how to tackle everything that's broken.

As for forums, some may not stick around and others may magically appear over the next two weeks. It's your feedback and input that makes this happen. Keep us posted on what is working, what's not, and what else we need.

.......

Black on white is terrible. Way too bright.

Whole layout is confusing and wasteful of space.

Haven't tried Search yet but don't know if I am going to be here long enough to check it out with the whole layout/scheme so hard on my eyes.

Rating of new forums ----- F+ Only gave it a plus because it hasn't crashed on me yet



Logout button is in the top right of the forums.
AnandTech Moderator


At least one Mod isn't appreciating the feedback much. Find my thread.

Scheme is way too bright! Give us some choices.

 

[bendixG15]

Still can't access PMs
All I get is a blank screen where the PMs should be.

IE6(SP1) & Win2K

I got a FS deal going and I can't send PMs

Appreciate assistance on this, previous posts got nothing.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: wirelessenabled
At least one Mod isn't appreciating the feedback much. Find my thread.

Try being less sarcastic and more constructive.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: bendixG15
Still can't access PMs
All I get is a blank screen where the PMs should be.

IE6(SP1) & Win2K

I got a FS deal going and I can't send PMs

Appreciate assistance on this, previous posts got nothing.

I've sent this post as a PM to the mods for you, asking for help.

 

[Keysplayr]

About adding a single automotive forum. I don't think it's a good idea "because" the automotive spectrum is much too wide. Far wider than the PC industry. You won't get away with just a single forum for automotive. After its creation, users will hound you to break the forum down into at least a dozen subforums.

Engines
Transmissions
Rearend/Transaxles
Electrical
Cooling/heating
Suspension
Air conditioning
Brakes/wheels/tires
Car Audio
Maintenance

etc. etc. And this could all be for just one manufacturer, one make, and one model, like a chevy corvette for example.

Toooooo Vast an industry.

Take a look at LS1.com. Dedicated to a range of F-type body style cars ranging from just 1994 to 2002. Just take a look at how many forums needed to accomodate it.

My 2 cents.

 

[vo]

But the automobile forum disappears ...

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
About adding a single automotive forum. I don't think it's a good idea "because" the automotive spectrum is much too wide. Far wider than the PC industry. You won't get away with just a single forum for automotive. After its creation, users will hound you to break the forum down into at least a dozen subforums.

Engines
Transmissions
Rearend/Transaxles
Electrical
Cooling/heating
Suspension
Air conditioning
Brakes/wheels/tires
Car Audio
Maintenance

etc. etc. And this could all be for just one manufacturer, one make, and one model, like a chevy corvette for example.

Toooooo Vast an industry.

Take a look at LS1.com. Dedicated to a range of F-type body style cars ranging from just 1994 to 2002. Just take a look at how many forums needed to accomodate it.

My 2 cents.

also, add ethnic user subgroups to each topic so people have the choice of not mixing or choosing which people they want to associate with.

 

[Skacer]

My suggestion:

Hardware
General
Video
Motherboards
CPUs
Power Supplies
Cases
Laptops
Networking
Peripherals
Help

Electronics
Cameras
Phones
Home Theater

Software
Applications
Games
OS
Programming
Distributed Computing
Security

Social
Off Topic
Politics
Relationships
Highly Technical

Shopping
Sale/Trade
Hot Deals
Free Stuff
Contests

Forum Issues
Technical
Personal
Suggestions

A lot of these are just renames. But it would go a long way towards making the side bar more readable. Some moves, some changes. I think the current group names are counter productive in that they are so long and drawn out that people can't really tell where they would need to post at first glance. A lot of the stuff listed in the names should be listed in ()'s on the forum main page not on the side bar.

 

[Mem]

I know it has been posted a few times ,but I'm going to post it again,please give us some dark colours/themes,forums are way too bright for most LCDs even with proper monitor calibration.

 

[tigersty1e]

Originally posted by: Skacer
My suggestion:

Hardware
General
Video
Motherboards
CPUs
Power Supplies
Cases
Laptops
Networking
Peripherals
Help

Electronics
Cameras
Phones
Home Theater

Software
Applications
Games
OS
Programming
Distributed Computing
Security

Social
Off Topic
Politics
Relationships
Highly Technical

Shopping
Sale/Trade
Hot Deals
Free Stuff
Contests

Forum Issues
Technical
Personal
Suggestions

A lot of these are just renames. But it would go a long way towards making the side bar more readable. Some moves, some changes. I think the current group names are counter productive in that they are so long and drawn out that people can't really tell where they would need to post at first glance. A lot of the stuff listed in the names should be listed in ()'s on the forum main page not on the side bar.

This is the worst change to come to this forum. Now everything is so spread out.

Yes, people will know where to post their topic. But this comes at the penalty of noone clicking your thread because there is no traffic in that thread. Take power supplies for instance. There is only 1 thread in there! If there were hundreds of threads just on power supplies, I would understand. But if I have a question on power supplies, nobody will look there because everyone is in other threads with more traffic.

Don't even get me started on the split of gaming into pc gaming and console gaming. Just combine them.

And then there is Operating System and Windows/PC software. Just combine them. What if I have a question on Microsoft Word working in XP, but not in Vista. Is this an Operating System thread or Pc software thread?

Bottom line: I see at least 6 different sections that can be combined into 1 or 2 sections. I guarantee you, the section power supplies will have no traffic even after 1 year. Maybe a handful of threads, but nobody will go there.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Check into your 'PM'

I'm suggesting a Wellness, Health, and Fitness for anything that isn't of a 'Medical' type concern.

 

[Skacer]

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
This is the worst change to come to this forum. Now everything is so spread out.

Yes, people will know where to post their topic. But this comes at the penalty of noone clicking your thread because there is no traffic in that thread. Take power supplies for instance. There is only 1 thread in there! If there were hundreds of threads just on power supplies, I would understand. But if I have a question on power supplies, nobody will look there because everyone is in other threads with more traffic.

Don't even get me started on the split of gaming into pc gaming and console gaming. Just combine them.

And then there is Operating System and Windows/PC software. Just combine them. What if I have a question on Microsoft Word working in XP, but not in Vista. Is this an Operating System thread or Pc software thread?

Bottom line: I see at least 6 different sections that can be combined into 1 or 2 sections. I guarantee you, the section power supplies will have no traffic even after 1 year. Maybe a handful of threads, but nobody will go there.

You realize every forum in that suggestion currently exists today with just a longer name. I was offering new names and some forum combinations. I honestly can't suggest combinations within Hardware since I barely read any of these forums / know how common they are used.

 

[Modeps]

I just want to voice my displeasure for all these new forums. Software had a hard enough time getting traffic to it and now its spread out even further. Didnt the Web 2.0 revolution teach you guy anything? Less is more.

Also, you've got an "all things apple" forum, under software. Why would I goto the software section to discuss the iphone or my new Mac Pro's configuration?

 

[tigersty1e]

Originally posted by: Skacer

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
This is the worst change to come to this forum. Now everything is so spread out.

Yes, people will know where to post their topic. But this comes at the penalty of noone clicking your thread because there is no traffic in that thread. Take power supplies for instance. There is only 1 thread in there! If there were hundreds of threads just on power supplies, I would understand. But if I have a question on power supplies, nobody will look there because everyone is in other threads with more traffic.

Don't even get me started on the split of gaming into pc gaming and console gaming. Just combine them.

And then there is Operating System and Windows/PC software. Just combine them. What if I have a question on Microsoft Word working in XP, but not in Vista. Is this an Operating System thread or Pc software thread?

Bottom line: I see at least 6 different sections that can be combined into 1 or 2 sections. I guarantee you, the section power supplies will have no traffic even after 1 year. Maybe a handful of threads, but nobody will go there.

You realize every forum in that suggestion currently exists today with just a longer name. I was offering new names and some forum combinations. I honestly can't suggest combinations within Hardware since I barely read any of these forums / know how common they are used.

Yeah, I breezed through your post.

Bottom line is that it was better before all the subsections. Even though your subsections consolidate some of the current topics, your subsections are still too many.

For instance, Home Theater and Video can be consolidated.

Power supplies, Cases, and cooling can be consolidated.

Applications and OS can be consolidated.

 

[Skacer]

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
Yeah, I breezed through your post.

Bottom line is that it was better before all the subsections. Even though your subsections consolidate some of the current topics, your subsections are still too many.

For instance, Home Theater and Video can be consolidated.

Power supplies, Cases, and cooling can be consolidated.

Applications and OS can be consolidated.

The point was to make the forums at least readable, consolidations can be done after the fact when people realize a specific forum simply won't get any traffic. Baby steps.

We have a major problem with forum names right now, someone seems to be hung up on forum names that have to be entire phrases. Like take Cases and Cooling for example, I'm pretty sure cooling is just one of the many things you can do with cases. It would be like naming a forum, Cases and Cooling and Cable Management and Lights and Window Mods. You don't need that, Cases defines all of that. Fixing the forum names should be a necessity if we ever want these forums to get used.

 

[BOLt]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson

Originally posted by: orbiter
Please can we have the button back to jump to the end of a topic instead of having to click three pages at a time or set our page listings to 200 or something silly like that.

Thanks

working on it

Awesome. I really appreciate this.

Also, I am a Firefox user and I like to open my Private Messages inbox in a new tab. However, as it stands there is only one link that can be clicked on to open Private Messages. That being above the forum navigation pane. Can you add a link at the top right of the page where the new topic, profile, help, faq, my forums, calendar, home, and logout buttons are? A link there would be middle-click-able. That is to say, instead of having only a link that will open PMs in a new window, can you add a link somewhere that will open PMs in the native window as well? This will allow for opening in a new tab with Firefox (and IE7).

Thanks!!

 

[Gorrillasnot]

I miss the old forum One thing I would change on this new design would be to have visited links change color. It's not a biggie in most areas of the forum but places like FS/FT where threads get bumped and new ones get posted frequently it makes it kinda hard to figure out which thread you've read and which you haven't.

cheers