Implemented Drop the "star" image for threads with new posts

[Enigma]

I feel the difference between bold thread titles and non-bold thread titles is enough to distinguish between threads that have new/unread posts in them. I would stop using the "star" image (

) for this purpose, and consider using it for a new purpose-- to designate "hot" threads (threads with lots of recent activity), like vB3 did with the normally blue thread icon to an orangish color. (

)

 

[Disjunto]

Not true Mike.

See my screenshot above.

Unless of course you mean in the normal forum view?
In which case should it not be removed from the all watched threads view?

strange, not happening here

 

[Paul B]

Yes, I've reported it as a bug.

 

[jmurrayhead]

strange, not happening here

I'm not having that problem either.

 

[Princeton]

In our original builds there was no star, but when we rolled it out to one of our test communities they complained that new threads were not sufficiently distinct with just the emboldening used.

If there is a consensus here that the star is superfluous, we can probably remove it or make it less prevalent.

Are we having a hot, popular, and/or posted into icons?

xenforo is new, fresh, and modern - it's a fresh take at what a forum software should be

Currently, there's a lot that's familiar (easy to learn) features but we also have confusing or not-so-obvious features.
(Conversations is one that is confusing - imagine introducing this system to 440,000+ members. Is this thing private?)

We want to make sure there's some familiarity with it. We want the average visitors to learn the UI in an instance - not in a day, a week, or a month.

Let me first say that...
I love how a user's avatar is associated with each thread title.
I believe this will promote discussions.
It feels more personal especially when a "real photo" is used.

Anyway, the "new" icon is something that people look for; they have "learned" it.
To a lot of people, it IS an important piece of the UI.

(the new icon looks so much better but it still lacks some uniformity - it's all over the place)

Why not place the icon at the start of the second line? ie. left of the poster's name.
You can then have the icon change colors depending on how popular or how hot it is or if one posted into the thread.

 

[Chris M]

Are we having a hot, popular, and/or posted into icons?

xenforo is new, fresh, and modern - it's a fresh take at what a forum software should be

Currently, there's a lot that's familiar (easy to learn) features but we also have confusing or not-so-obvious features.
(Conversations is one that is confusing - imagine introducing this system to 440,000+ members. Is this thing private?)

We want to make sure there's some familiarity with it. We want the average visitors to learn the UI in an instance - not in a day, a week, or a month.

Let me first say that...
I love how a user's avatar is associated with each thread title.
I believe this will promote discussions.
It feels more personal especially when a "real photo" is used.

Anyway, the "new" icon is something that people look for; they have "learned" it.
To a lot of people, it IS an important piece of the UI.

(the new icon looks so much better but it's still lacks some uniformity - it's all over the place)

Why not place the icon at the start of the second line? ie. left of the poster's name.
You can then have the icon change colors depending on how popular or how hot it is or if one posted into the thread.

Can you post a screenshot of how you think that would look?

 

[Enigma]

I don't think you're going to find an icon that everyone will agree on. A speech bubble can indicate you talking or someone else. A notepad can indicate you wrote something or someone else did...

That works for me.

 

[Princeton]

here ya go

 

[Floris]

The new icon is less heigh, which is great, and less in your face, which is great too. And isn't a star, so it doesn't look like I favorite that thread. Thumbsup.

 

[Shelley]

here ya go

I think that placement is even more hideous and throws the text alignment of the title and username (OP) way out of place and cluttering the left hand side. Anychance we can see a mockup of it on the right side of the line. As it stands now in it's current placement (kier and mike implementation) looks better.

 

[Cezz]

The new icon is less heigh, which is great, and less in your face, which is great too. And isn't a star, so it doesn't look like I favorite that thread. Thumbsup.

Agreed... It has full-filled most of what people have asked for

I do still agree on moving it either to the far left or right though... And I quite like Princeton's suggestion

 

[Paul B]

If people are going to be looking for an icon which depicts a common feature then it should always be in the same place.

Having it at the end of the title can make it difficult to see at a glance as it will move depending on the length of the thread title.

 

[jmurrayhead]

If people are going to be looking for an icon which depicts a common feature then it should always be in the same place.

Having it at the end of the title can make it difficult to see at a glance as it will move depending on the length of the thread title.

I agree, unless it is floated all the way to right as in Shelley's example

 

[Floris]

Agreed... It has full-filled most of what people have asked for

I do still agree on moving it either to the far left or right though... And I quite like Princeton's suggestion

that actually has my preference .. in front of the username on the second line, .. but that's an easy template customization i am sure.

 

[Shelley]

If people are going to be looking for an icon which depicts a common feature then it should always be in the same place.

Having it at the end of the title can make it difficult to see at a glance as it will move depending on the length of the thread title.

I agree, which is why I feel placement of the icon to the far right would be a better placement rather than cluttering up the area by the title/username.

 

[Enigma]

If people are going to be looking for an icon which depicts a common feature then it should always be in the same place.

Having it at the end of the title can make it difficult to see at a glance as it will move depending on the length of the thread title.

Yes. In UI design, it's important to remember that we have spatial memory, which means we look for things in a certain position, and moving things around causes problems. Having an icon at the end of the titles counts as moving things around, since the titles can be different lengths.

 

[Princeton]

the problem with it's current placement is that you have to look for it

we either read right-to-left or left-to-right ... I'm a right-to-left reader
if I can't see the bold on a title I will have to move my eyes to the end of the title - just imagine doing this for each title

I would call that "more work".

 

[jmurrayhead]

yup, as is it doesn't make for skimming through very easy

 

[Shelley]

I'd say remove the new post icon completely or assign it as a "you've posted" indicator instead. Placement of the indicator though would still be up for debate. Just my opinion. The bold indication that a post is new really does suffice in my opinion. I know many people have mentioned it numerous times including myself but the text bold on it's own really does work without the additional indicator.

 

[Paul B]

Sorry Shelley, I didn't see your earlier mockup.

I'm in total agreeement though - the same place all the time or not at all.

The actual icon used and colour of it is a whole 'nother discussion though

 

[welshstew]

I would prefer it floated over the top of the avatar