Home Page Redesign

Boards.ie: Nicola

flynnlives wrote: »

nice how ye are ploughing ahead and completly ignoring anyone who said they prefered the old way.

its fairly obvious that this move is to increase potential adspace and impressions.

As has been stated at least 3 times on this thread, this is NOT being done to increase adspace or impressions; the ads shown to logged in users have actually been reduced and the pagination element has zero impact on page impressions, the content is already loaded-when you click the next page of threads you are not navigating to a new page therefore there will be no increase on page impressions.

Boards.ie: Nicola

Alanstrainor wrote: »

The home page doesn't display the thread titles on Windows Phone 8 IE9. Bit of a pain. I know i should use the touch site, but i just don't like the feel of it.

Can you please report that in Site Development? Cheers.

Taltos

Not sure if this is by design - but on the My Forums page - threads I have deleted as a Mod are still visible in the results.
Could be very easy to think they are still valid.

1ZRed

I hate it. Why can't we choose whether to have it or not, like how different skins have different layouts?

I use the white skin and I get forced to use the new homepage when I don't like it.

kupus

@nicola

Well seeing as you responded to the only part of my post you can pick apart, how about answering the other points I raised then.
The ads part was only one part of my point.

syklops

1ZRed wrote: »

I hate it. Why can't we choose whether to have it or not, like how different skins have different layouts?

I use the white skin and I get forced to use the new homepage when I don't like it.

I also dislike it and am using the white skin. Its not that they are forcing you to use the new homepage, its that the white skin is not supported. If, however, instead of using "www.boards.ie", you use "www.boards.ie/?" it should show you the homepage as normal. I've changed my bookmark to display it like that.

Latest posts still works for me, but my threads and my posts are not supported. My posts can be seen with a slightly different layout by clicking CP beneath your username.

Supercell

Really don't like it. Need to use scroll bar to view more than a few posts - laptop and notebook unfriendly, i hate having to use the touchpad on mine unless necessary. It just seems clunky, like something for people who are hard of sight.
Would be nice if there was a "go back to the original template" option for curmudgeons like me.

username123

It is interesting to hear how other people use the site.

I primarily just use 2 things. User CP (where I can then see the threads and forums I follow) and New Posts.

I dont know where either of those options is on any other default than White old Beta - hence, I stay on White old Beta.

dudara

Thread is too long at this stage to read all previous comments - but can we bring back the forum column to the left? As a moderator/CMod, that helps me quickly scan through recent posts and pick out ones that interest me.

MadYaker

Ok its a bit better now. I still prefer the old layout but at least more threads are visible now. I notice the Thanks and Trending tabs are still there. I guess if you guys don't want to remove them despite what everyone has said then that's fine. I can just ignore them.

Sofiztikated

MadYaker wrote: »

Ok its a bit better now. I still prefer the old layout but at least more threads are visible now. I notice the Thanks and Trending tabs are still there. I guess if you guys don't want to remove them despite what everyone has said then that's fine. I can just ignore them.

I'll be honest, I wasn't keen on it at first, but I've used them a couple of times now.

mattser

Pathetic. Why the hell do people have to tamper with something that works well, and make a complete bolli* of it ?:mad:

hardCopy

Thanks Nicola and team.

I still prefer the old page but I can live with the latest iteration, after you've taken on user suggestions.

Might I also suggest adding "My Threads" as a default tab option if you go ahead with the idea below:

Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »

-Customize default tab from ‘Latest Threads’ to ‘My Forums’ when logged in – we reckon we can control this with cookies for the moment and at a later stage we’ll have a control in the CP

I would also like to see an option or default setting of more than 25 threads per page.

Call Me Jimmy

Well done on taking feedback so far. It can still be improved to increase readability / functionality while maintaining the aesthetic you were are going for.

jack presley

I would have thought this thread would be trending at this stage

ahnowbrowncow

The update is better than yesterday but I'm still not happy with it. It is quite inefficient in it's usage of space, the previous homepage had twice the amount of threads in the same space.

Is there some way to reduce the font size and to reduce the distance between each thread on the homepage?

token101

I like the redesign, I think it looks better but the text under the Latest Posts area (the thread titles, time, etc) is too far to the right. It needs to be padded by a centimetre or two.

Rabies

dudara wrote: »

Thread is too long at this stage to read all previous comments - but can we bring back the forum column to the left? As a moderator/CMod, that helps me quickly scan through recent posts and pick out ones that interest me.

What he/she/it/inanimate object said.
Not the long thread, but about the forum column.

Dante

May have been answered earlier but is it possible to increase the number of posts shown on the homepage? Thats what's really been putting me off.

Reginald P. DuM

^^^^ Me too.. Not impressed, no way am I flicking through 5 pages to see latest posts. Which means the potential to miss stuff is higher. Random threads may pass me by. Less time on boards and twitter gains.. Bad news for the advertisers. Can all us dissenters be Egyptian for a day and go mad. Cos we aint happy!

spix

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

The update is better than yesterday but I'm still not happy with it. It is quite inefficient in it's usage of space, the previous homepage had twice the amount of threads in the same space.

Is there some way to reduce the font size and to reduce the distance between each thread on the homepage?

Agreed, there is too much space wasted. This is the kind of layout I'd prefer http://i.imgur.com/4GvEgmO.png threw it together in paint, that thumbs up might get them into trouble though

hawkwind23

i dont like it at all , not user friendly to browse random threads.

to have to scroll so far down a front page is like something a student would design!

the spacing and font sizes are also like someone on work experience designed it.

half of the page is blank which is not acceptable on a front page

the tabbing looks square and spindly and amateurish




all very very bad feedback im afraid.
think someone needs a good talking to about this mess!

Fiskar

hardCopy wrote: »

Thanks Nicola and team.

I still prefer the old page but I can live with the latest iteration, after you've taken on user suggestions.

Might I also suggest adding "My Threads" as a default tab option if you go ahead with the idea below:



I would also like to see an option or default setting of more than 25 threads per page.

As Hard Copy says, I want the old page back. the new format sucks. I want to see the Forum, topic, the time of comment and the poster name. I do not want to see the topic, commenter and forum all bundled in a line of text.

titan18

Make it more compact, get rid of the number of thanks tab, and get rid of the post title being bold. Put announcements back to the top, instead of on the right side. The gear symbol next to ALL TOPICS in the dropdown makes no sense, that's considered to be settings and doesn't fit there imo. Put all the information on one line instead of spreading it over two. It's a waste of space and makes the site look clunky.


Also, the font colours, what were you smoking when ye decided them. It makes it horrible to read in both the light and dark versions.

Fiskar

spix wrote: »

Agreed, there is too much space wasted. This is the kind of layout I'd prefer http://i.imgur.com/4GvEgmO.png threw it together in paint, that thumbs up might get them into trouble though

Reminds me of the old page layout, bring it on I say. New format sucks.

sgb

I prefer the new lay out, it's much easier to navigate and less small print, so for someone without 20/20 vision it ticks allot of boxes for me

Zaph

Far from perfect or as good as the old version, but much better than it was yesterday, so thanks to Danny, Ronan and co. for the fixes, and the guys in the office for putting up with all our whinging.

There are still a couple of things that I find are major irritants though:

- forgot to mention this yesterday, but I don't suppose there's any chance of putting My Forums back in its rightful place in the bar at the top? It's feckin' driving me mad that I keep having to remember it's hidden away in the top right corner of the screen like the designers are ashamed of it.

- despite the additional threads on the front page, there's still too much space there. Each thread is essentially four lines of text now, instead of one. Of the 50 threads on the old screen I could see 43 at any one time. Of the 25 there now, I can see 13. It really needs to be tightened up. There's acres of space to the right of the thread title, so why does there need to be a second line of text when everything would fit on the one line?

Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »

-Customize default tab from ‘Latest Threads’ to ‘My Forums’ when logged in – we reckon we can control this with cookies for the moment and at a later stage we’ll have a control in the CP

Do you mean that it will automatically default to "My Forums" for everyone, or that there'll be an option to choose? If it's the former, bear in mind that probably not everyone has forums selected to follow. Personally I prefer to see Latest Posts first before I look at my own forums, but that's probably as much to do with adminning as it is personal preference, so I'm possibly atypical.

keith16

Much better. Still think the forum name could be more prominent, but big improvement. Well done, and thanks for taking the feedback on board.

Czarcasm

Zaph wrote: »

Do you mean that it will automatically default to "My Forums" for everyone, or that there'll be an option to choose? If it's the former, bear in mind that probably not everyone has forums selected to follow. Personally I prefer to see Latest Posts first before I look at my own forums, but that's probably as much to do with adminning as it is personal preference, so I'm possibly atypical.

A configurable first page view would be a great idea. Many of the posters here have made it clear they like to see latest posts first, but I'd work the opposite way to Zaph in that I prefer to view "My Threads" first, then I work out to reading "My Forums", then check a couple of other forums I'd read but I'm not subbed to.

"Random" just hurts my brain, and that's why I'm loving the new layout on the desktop site homepage - neat, clean, professional looking and organised logically for me anyway.

Can't abide by the Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest "I'll just throw shìt here" methodology, and reddit - forget about it, sensory and information overload extreme!

wnolan1992

Just to list the changes I'd like in an ideal world:

1. Alternating shades on the threads. Think this is on the way, but it's badly needed IMO.
2. Reduce the font size of the thread titles. Maybe reduce it specifically for Cosy Mode and leave it as it is for regular mode?
3. Give the forum names their own column to the left of the titles. Preferably remove the Thanks column to make room for this, but there's ample room to add it as it is.
4. Move the Trending tab over beside Thanks. The Latest Posts - My Forums - My Threads configuration is much better.
5. Perhaps make clicking on the "Posted by [user]" link link to their post as opposed to their profiles?