I'm working on modifying the thread list view on the front page and other pages. Instead of just throwing the theme out there like I did last time, I figured I'd put up a screenshot and get some thoughts from all of you.
The key change is that original poster has been added to the view, and it's been changed to double-line. Oh, and I added icons.
Thoughts?
Looks nice although I am not sure what the Icons are used for. I wonder whether it would make more sense to show the number of times the item has been viewed rather than the number of posts. The number of posts you see anyhow when you open the item. Number of views gives you an idea of the interest in it or the difficulty of the subject. If a lot of people have viewed but still no answer, then you know you have a toughie.
I would agree with adding number of views as well. Number of posts is necessary, but a view count is a pretty common forum feature. Also, I like the icons. I'm assuming the icons would reflect whether a post is new or not. For some reason it's sometimes difficult for me to differentiate between bold and normal threads, so this would help.
Not directly related to this Forum page but to Postings I was wondering whether there was a facility to highlight sections or words in a posting - maybe in another color (except blue which is reserved for URL's). I am not pleading for a "color circus" but sometimes you want something to stand out to focus the reader on it. Just one more optional color or typeset.
Personally I check out threads where I only see 1 post... definitely useful.
The views wouldn't be tough to add, we're tracking them just only showing them on the topic page. Incidentally we've had about 500k total views on the forum threads so far... that's just viewing of topics alone.
The bold / normal threads is a big problem... I've been unhappy with that for a while and plan to make that more obvious. The icons are going to be for new / old, as taybay mentioned, and also separate icons for closed threads.
As far as highlighting, do you mean when you write a post? I've been considering adding a rich text editor as an option... is that something that would be useful?
I will concede to popular opinion on this one (I neither like, nor dislike the change). But, could the Latest Discussions on all Forums please be run over several pages. It's sometimes a job to find something you looked at yesterday and can't remember what forum it was connected to
On Highlighting: Just the ability to highlight a word or a phrase here and there in the posting/answer - either by different type set, bolding or color
Paging: I think this is a real problem
Different Look: I would not change it too radically. That would alienate us. The proposal looks good if some of the smaller items could be added.
I am still not sure I understand the use of the icons. Maybe they could contain the 'number of posts' and then the 'number of views' could go on the right side of the page.
If one day we will be blessed with a "rich editor" it would be nice if it were compatible with Word. Thus postings drafted in Word and pasted into the Forum would retain their setup.
This topic has been closed to new replies. Please create a new topic instead.
