New Forum Design: Official Feedback Thread

[aximtreo]

On the main page you can't collapse sections like Gaming, Microsoft Extras, Wearables, etc.

Formerly those could be collapsed if you no did not regularly go into those forums. Even without the sub-forums showing in the main page (another issue, IMHO...*) the scroll time from top to bottom on the main page is way longer than it needs to be.

If the point of removing the subs from view on the man page was to decrease clutter and scroll time, then why do away with collapsing sections? Collapsing sections decreases clutter and scroll time. So the end impact of removing subs from view on the main page is more than negated by removing the ability to collapse sections and increasing font sizes. If the point of removing sub-forums from view on the main page was for other reasons, those reasons are lost on me.

*Removing the sub-forums from view on the main page makes the forum less efficient. Take HP Phones for example, this is a non-post area needed as a Forum Header. Users can not post to it as it is just a place holder. Right now it only has one sub-forum, HP Elite X3. Formerly users could click into Elite X3 from the main page. Now they have to click into the null HP Phones forum first and then select Elite X3. There are countless more examples where getting to the information you want takes more clicks than it should.

*Removing the sub-forums from view on the main page makes the main page less informative. For example, look at the Windows Phones section, Microsoft / Nokia Phones forum. You can't tell what lies within from the main page, so you click in and see all the sub-forums. Again, the main forum is null as Microsoft / Nokia Phones is a non-posting area. There is no need for anyone to click into it if the subs are on view on the main page. However, If I click into it and scroll the list, I don't see Lumia 810. Maybe that is the Nokia phone I want help with. Why isn't it there? Maybe I assume the board doesn't have an 810 section. It looks like the started with later models in the x20 and up range. Certainly the main page won't reveal that Lumia 810 is in the Windows Central Archive section under the Nokia forum.


If the changes were cosmetic for aesthetic reasons, I guess it is well done.

If the changes were for functionality, the end results are not readily apparent to me. Navigation time is increased drastically for me and I would humbly submit that I know the forum layout very well indeed. If I were a new user who had no idea where things were placed I might assume this board had very little content and I would likely give up before finding what I wanted...

^What he said. Point of clarification? Is there not a way to select which Forum type we want or is the new one default now?

 

[aximtreo]

There is no indicator in a post when an Infraction or Warning has been issued. Mind you, this would be for Moderator view only, but is a pretty good thing to have so Moderators are not issuing multiple infractions on the same post since they don't see that one has already been given...

Who are the Moderators now. The designation no longer shows who is a Moderator.

 

[RumoredNow]

Who are the Moderators now. The designation no longer shows who is a Moderator.

Shhhh...We are in stealth mode.

 

[Rinsun]

It was the amount of information I could see all at once when viewing a page that impressed me initially when I started visiting the WC site .It would be nice if this present design included all that there was in the old design.
I find scrolling down the page taking more time than in the old design.The appearance is a bit of a strain on my eyes.

 

[Rinsun]

Shhhh...We are in stealth mode.

In the AC Forum Moderator, Ambassador etc titles are showing up.
Also on clicking I can see who liked my posts in AC Forum but that is not working here.

 

[RumoredNow]

In the AC Forum Moderator, Ambassador etc titles are showing up.
Also on clicking I can see who liked my posts in AC Forum but that is not working here.

AC was the original testing bed. I believe changes are going to happen there first and then get pushed out to the other MoNa sites.

 

[Rinsun]

AC was the original testing bed. I believe changes are going to happen there first and then get pushed out to the other MoNa sites.

Thanks for the explanation

 

[Kavu2]

It's definitely different (and that's not a bad thing!)! I'm still goofing around with it, but a few gut-level impressions:
-Using it on IE 11 (yes, I still use it!) was a complete crash. Nothing lined up, or was in any sort of format. I blame IE 11.
-On Edge, so far so good. I'm going back and forth between light and dark.
-On Mobile, I'm not quite sure yet. I have the WC app and I haven't broken my habit of going there instead...YET! :wink:
I

All of the above. Now full disclosure, I didn't participate during beta so I guess I deserve all this....but real life takes precedent over all things. And it HAS been a rough couple months. So feedback now...

The MoNa style is a complete mess in IE 11 - Windows 10 PC. Unusable.

Edge is at least useable though it is scroll city to get to the forum or thread you want. Not concise at all.

W10 app similar to Edge performance. Works but scroll city to get to anything. Do we really need previews of every post???

Surprisingly, Windows Central is MOST useable....wait for it....on wp 8.1 app

Unable to make WC2012 style stick for IE11 usage. Can live with it in Edge I guess. Find myself using my ancient wp 8.1 phone to browse...b/c it's faster to get through things.

 

[camaroz1985]

Well the change today is a good step forward. Almost all of my complaints are fixed with the sub-forums being added to the homepage again.

 

[camaroz1985]

In the top info area of each page the"Advanced Search" option has been removed. There is now no efficient way to dial in a search for content on the forum

Trying to switch back to a previous style is broken. Changing it in General Settings does nothing.

If you hit the Reply button, it does not show all the previous posts in the thread... It only shows the OP. Also, the poster's information is missing from the left sidebar making it awkward/impossible to reference the member name for functions like @mention.

In the forum view when looking at thread titles, the OP name and original post date are no longer shown.

How do you search now? Seems like a major oversight.

 

[RumoredNow]

How do you search now? Seems like a major oversight.

You pretty much don't. And yes.

 

[camaroz1985]

If you go into a thread you can go into tools then advanced search, or just use Advanced Search - Windows Central Forums, but it shouldn't be that hard.

 

[libra89]

You pretty much don't. And yes.

Ahh yeah I tried to search recently and that was awful.

Edit: Someone noted that you can't multi quote anymore. Please bring this back.

 

[Guytronic]

Still unable to see where threads or replies are posted when jumping to "New Posts or Today's Posts" without clicking on them.

 

[RumoredNow]

If you go into a thread you can go into tools then advanced search, or just use Advanced Search - Windows Central Forums, but it shouldn't be that hard.

Thanks. Never saw it tucked in there. Don't know why that would be there since it is a whole site search by default and not a forum search unless selected.

 

[Guytronic]

I did want to note that the pic upload options are nice in the new forum.
Now that I have it figured out it's a very nice feature.

Well done and thank you to the forum design team.

 

[camaroz1985]

Thanks. Never saw it tucked in there. Don't know why that would be there since it is a whole site search by default and not a forum search unless selected.

It does take you to search f the specific thread or forum, I just posted the simplified link so that it xould be bookmarked my anyone for use later.

 

[Joe920]

To add my voice:

- the default theme is too low contrast for me, as others have mentioned as well
- the dark theme is better, but this reply box is still blindingly bright
- I miss seeing at a glance who liked my post. Seeing those names made the place feel more personal
- The 'new messages' (for likes, replies, etc) in the top right is too subtle. Color it, animate it, something

And a longer comment: the default avatar for people without avatar doesn't look particularly nice. Maybe copy the logic that MS uses in outlook: assign random (but nice) colors to users, and add the first letter of their name in the center of the circle. Would be a nice nod to Windows/MS.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Missing information bugs

I am assuming these are unintended because it sure should not be this way.

You no longer can see who liked any post. Okay, maybe someone thinks it saves "ink" to not automatically show the names but if you mouse over the like count, the cursor changes to the click symbol; but nothing happens if you click. I suspect a click is supposed to show the list of names. People have reputations and a like count is fairly useless if you can't tell if the likes came from people you trust or the ones you don't.

And much worse: the name of who started a thread isn't shown in the thread lists. I think its safe to say that NOBODY has time to read every thread. Who started a thread is one of many factors used to decide which ones get bypassed.

I don't have anyone on my ignore list, but tell me the logic in blocking posts by ignored members but not at least giving the ability to bypass threads from those people if they choose. You can't do that without the name of the thread starter.

 

[anon(50597)]

Re: Missing information bugs

Are speaking of the WC app?
I use mTalk and both those issues don't exist.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4