• Aug. 8, 2013, 3:54 a.m.

    Hey!

    As you can see, appearance of threads lists in forums has changed again. This redesign is going to stick around for few weeks to give everybody chance to get used to it.

    Primary goals I'm hoping to achieve with this redesign are:
    1. More graceful handling of long thread names (thread name length was bumped from 75 to 150 for testing period)
    2. Changed information density on threads lists for faster access
    3. Simplification of threads lists markup

    As with any changes, it takes some time to adapt, so while feedback is extremely important for me and I'm hoping to hear other's opinions on redesigned lists, I'm asking for you to use them for few days, maybe week, before you'll turn them into posts.

    Thanks!

  • Members 28 posts
    Aug. 8, 2013, 8:22 a.m.

    Damn it, I had written a post for you and the browser went to another page.

    I think its useful for you to get instant feedback as this is how users will react to the solution. As with everything, it looks very clean and modern, and fairly self explanatory.

    I am finding myself a little overwhelmed with the statistical information (who started the thread, when, last reply, when), and I wondered if you couldn't apply the same logic as you have on the front page where if you hover over the thread the statistical information pops out. I thought it was a nice touch on the front, would be nice see it brought further down.

    What do the circles, bookmark, star icons represent? I like them, but have no idea what they mean as regards the thread.

    I miss some more prominent navigational breadcrumbs to go back to the category view. Whilst it is there on the top, it felt too understand compared to the page and I got a little confused how you wanted me to go back. Feels like a big icon which you can click to go back to the frontpage wouldn't go amiss.

    Lastly, it feels to me like the thread view is taking up, more space than it needs to. I miss something on the right to keep it consistent with the frontpage. What about a list of the most liked/most popular threads to take up some of the space on the right side to keep it looking the same?

    Those are my immediate thoughts, and if it changes after a few days' usage, I will update my reply accordingly. :)

    Thanks!

  • Aug. 10, 2013, 11:29 p.m.

    Redesign was used as new watched threads list.

    Threads list will see upgrade in coming days. I have some cool ideas I would like to try.

  • Members 28 posts
    Aug. 11, 2013, 3:23 p.m.

    I think the updates are good! Definetely cleaner and clearer!

    I still feel there's a bit too much of a change from front page (in terms of what happens on the extreme right side) in the subsequent levels and if there's anyway to make it a bit more consistent throughout I think the software would be better served for it.

    I also half take back what I said about breadcrumbs as I realised that you have/had this sustained throughout and it's just cause we were asked to look more specifically at one part that it jumped out at me. I still think there's scope to think about the breadcrumbs at the top to make it more visible, perhaps doing something similar to the breadcrumb at the bottom? That seems an elegant, understated by very clear way to present the breadcrumb.

  • Aug. 11, 2013, 5:07 p.m.

    I don't see what issue is there in different layouts between index and other pages. Each page uses layout most suitable for its "message" and this approach to forum design is well tried and proven in other big solutions (Blizz forums, xF, Lithium).

    Even if I was convinced that this is indeed an issue, how would you solve it? What useful would you put in sidebar on those other pages?

    As for breadcrumbs, I'm thinking about it. :smile:

  • Members 28 posts
    Aug. 12, 2013, 12:36 p.m.

    Believe me, it's definitely not a 'I will die if I don't see it' feedback :smile: It looks too good for that. To be honest, I'm not sure what could go on the right. The only reason I bring it up is that I remember the side bar on the frontpage having a real impact on me, it just made so much sense and was so powerful there, that I can see it develop into a signature of Misago.

    Maybe (but I'm talking out of my head), on the topic view it can give you information about other topics which could be of interested, or a list of the sticky notes and announcements.... On the thread view it could be giving you some information about the thread itself or who has posted on it... something like that?

    Like I said, it's not a I will die if I don't see it comment, so if you'd rather it be left to the side, that's cool too, some ideas are OK to stay at idea stage :wink:

  • Aug. 14, 2013, 12:51 a.m.

    Popular and new threads lists moved to redesigned theme.

  • Members 3 posts
    Aug. 21, 2013, 9:07 p.m.

    Hi, Im new here.
    First off, I like what I've seen so far. I'd like to contribute with a little idea on how I'd improve the thread list, since you asked for it :smile:

    thread list 2

  • Members 28 posts
    Aug. 21, 2013, 9:17 p.m.

    I needed to go back to see what you changed, I do like the proposed amendments though. :smile: hope rafalp agrees :wink:

  • Aug. 21, 2013, 9:25 p.m.

    I don't recognise icons pack used, are those glyphicons from Bootstrap 3?

  • Aug. 21, 2013, 10:08 p.m.

    That's unfortunate, default theme uses Font Awesome which has more icons available. Reasoning is more icons in default InterFace for extensions/aps, tradeoff is awful "message bubble" icon different from glyphicon one.

    I appreciate suggestion but I have some issues with it:

    Current state icons are bolder and don't need color to convey information. If you are color blind you will still differ read from unread threads because latter one has filled icons.

    I've didn't use icons on righthand side because I've decided to gamble on users willingness to learn new interface and avoid adding redundant information, after all those icons will be there on every row and you already have avatars/usernames as reference point for those informations with first one being last response date and next one being number of replies.

    I will experiment on threads lists again once I implement attachments and polls, so those icons will make appearance, for test but if I'm convinced, I'll keep em.

    Thanks for input!

    ps. I've fixed not-generating alerts list for new users, it should work now too.