Implemented Replace Members Page with...

[Princeton]

vBulletin users, check your memberlist.php stats (pageviews, visits, etc). The same applies to those who operate other forum software - go check your member listing page stats.

You'll find that the numbers are really low.

The Members page on xenForo is no different. Isn't this a waste of valuable space? Are we missing out on an opportunity here?

The #1 rule when placing a link on the main navigation is to add links to sections that the visitor frequently visits. In other words, sections that have a lot of traffic. More than likely these are sections that you want people to visit - sections that have fresh content.

What if the Members page was a central hub for member activity such as Groups, Photos, News Feed, Online Members, etc? How much more valuable would this space become?

We currently don't have a Groups or Gallery addon but these are features that will definitely come either by 3rd party or by xenForo themselves. Wouldn't it be cool if we can add these features to the Members page via hooks?

Another issue I have with the Members page is that it lists all members by default. In time, everyone will be introduced to members with funny looking names - all starting with non-alphanumeric names. 99.9% of the time these members are not even active.

With a central hub, I recommend listing Online Members (avatars). The thinking behind this is that we promote those who are currently active - the more active you are the more exposure you get.

For those who are visual learners, here's a mockup of what I described above...

Remember the goal is to create a section (page) that is "valuable" to us (individually). The central hub can be different for everyone.

I call it Community Central ) I didn't know what to call it)

 

[Walter]

I love your mockup Princeton!

 

[Crazyfruitbat]

I really like the look of this - a lot of my users always say that there is not enough ways to access users photos and a central hub page to tell you what is going on. So this is pretty much spot on. Reminds me of JomSocial for Joomla

 

[Shamil]

I support this

 

[Alex]

I really like the mockup in the first post, hope something like that is either integrated as part of the core or available as an add-on

 

[Sejper]

I like this idea alot but I think that the memberlist should still be kept since it can be useful sometimes.

 

[Kim]

The more I think about this the more I love it.. it could quite easily become like (but better obviously) the "wall" on FaceBorg -

[thinking out loud] Is there any way... or would it be worth looking at the idea of xenforo's being somehow linkable much like the Evil Empire in someway.. so you could have member Betty who is a member of GardenersDelight (a xenforo of course) somehow being "friends" with Susan who is a member of CookingClassForums (another xenforo of course) and that they could comment or friend etc mutually????[/thinking out loud]

 

[Erik]

[thinking out loud] Is there any way... or would it be worth looking at the idea of xenforo's being somehow linkable much like the Evil Empire in someway.. so you could have member Betty who is a member of GardenersDelight (a xenforo of course) somehow being "friends" with Susan who is a member of CookingClassForums (another xenforo of course) and that they could comment or friend etc mutually????[/thinking out loud]

Hmm... It might be possible, but it would take some pretty complex programming on Kier and Mike's part to get the two sites (servers) to communicate reliably and securely.

 

[Kim]

Might start a new topic on it

split that thought out to a new topic...

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/idea-open-to-brainstorming-xenforo-social-network.3050/

 

[dutchbb]

Interesting idea. We actually already sort our memberlist page so that members with the highest posts are placed above. This creates a more static and at the same motivates members to post more. It's the same principle you are using for showing the online members.

What you could also do is show the most active members from last week and/or month for example. This would also stimulate more posting/activity and make the page more interesting.

I also think the layout you made is a little too much for the memberlist, but I like the way it is presented, and I like this whole concept of making more of the member list. Good thinking!

 

[Anth]

That's one snazzy mockup! Looks like it unifies about half a dozen separate pages of your typical forum. I like it

 

[Princeton]

I like this idea alot but I think that the memberlist should still be kept since it can be useful sometimes.

Interesting idea. We actually already sort our memberlist page so that members with the highest posts are placed above. This creates a more static and at the same motivates members to post more. It's the same principle you are using for showing the online members.

The memberlist still exists - it's just not the default. If you look closely there's a View All Members link next to the Browse Members Online section.

If the script is well thought out the page will become a favorite for many. The whole idea is that it will empower everyone to create something unique. It will also provide XF a central location for all the community features - instead of having them all over the place.

3rd-party developers will have a great time creating new features for the section.

 

[Sejper]

The memberlist still exists - it's just not the default. If you look closely there's a View All Members link next to the Browse Members Online section.

If the script is well thought out the page will become a favorite for many. The whole idea is that it will empower everyone to create something unique. It will also provide XF a central location for all the community features - instead of having them all over the place.

3rd-party developers will have a great time creating new features for the section.

I missed that link so I guess I agree fully to this idea then

 

[Accreal]

I like the way now. the idea is not like.

 

[dutchbb]

The memberlist still exists - it's just not the default. If you look closely there's a View All Members link next to the Browse Members Online section.

If the script is well thought out the page will become a favorite for many. The whole idea is that it will empower everyone to create something unique. It will also provide XF a central location for all the community features - instead of having them all over the place.

3rd-party developers will have a great time creating new features for the section.

I'm actually sold for a page like that, on top of the old school memberlist. Put the memberlist in a less important place of the main navigation, make that 'community page' a summary of stats etc. (or what you are proposing) with a link to the memberlist, so people can still sort users like tabular data.

IMO that would be the best of two worlds.

 

[x3sphere]

This looks amazing, way better than the bog-standard memberlist.

 

[Shanj]

... 'community page' a summary of stats etc. (or what you are proposing) with a link to the memberlist, so people can still sort users like tabular data.

YES! oh YES! please. Though the guys may be too b usy to get this into 1.0 so it'll be a prime candidate for a good mod.

 

[erich37]

Princeton,
what happens when you click on a certain Group-name ?

Will this show all members of a certain Group, or will it show a Group-Forum or something else ?

 

[Jose Amaral Mota]

This would be nice to see in the next version of this software, as the current members page is a bit plain... Actually alot of scripts fall in the same look and never did like that page. I do hope members here start making more mockups to help Dev's/Mem's to decide on a look.

 

[Kier]

Mike and I have been talking for some time about doing away with the alphabetical members list. It seems completely pointless and redundant to todays online world.

 

[James]

Mike and I have been talking for some time about doing away with the alphabetical members list. It seems completely pointless and redundant to todays online world.

Did you consider this as an alternative? It seems like a logical approach in making the forum more social!