Post New Thread should open a dialog box on forum home, without even another page load...

[Neutral Singh]

With the advent of social media, new age members/posters simply love to perform a single click operation!

Most of my decade old members, simply hate to start a new thread, the way it is set-up in forums... they are so much addicted to copy paste a link on a box and it populates itself with content including images just like on Facebook, press publish and boom you are done!

The saving grace for forums is that the content on social media websites is of perishable nature and impossible to retrieve later on for a future reference..

i would love to see an option to create content on the fly, all-in-one step! where you don't have to venture through a big list of forums to go through an appropriate forum.

Something like:

Right at Forum Home > Create New thread > Opens a popup > Choose a thread prefix (drop-down) > Choose an appropriate forum (drop-down) > Thread heading > Type in the content > Publish > Done!



@Chris D @Mike @Kier

 

[Martok]

Just to note that this suggestion was raised last year (in a slightly different format):

https://xenforo.com/community/threads/create-new-thread-from-homepage.99557/

but was closed due to lack of interest.

 

[Martok]

Just to note that one danger with an option like this is that some people wouldn't bother looking to see if there is an existing thread on a topic already to contribute to, so there would end up being lots of duplicate threads on the same subject.

If something like this was to be implemented, you'd need a very good 'suggested threads' feature to go with it to minimise the number of duplicate threads (though that wouldn't be foolproof and there's likely still be duplicates). In addition there'd need to be the 'familiar' forum layout for those people who prefer that format (and a way to switch off this suggestion for those who didn't want it, of course).

 

[Digital Doctor]

I dare you to make a mockup of this.

for Xenforo.com

LOTS of forums !

and to top it off ....

Show me a mockup for Xenforo.com on a smartphone !

...

 

[James]

It's an interesting idea for smaller forums. One way to limit the amount of forums in the drop down is to suggest a prefix then only show forums relevant. Obviously this wouldn't work if there were more prefixes than nodes.

A similar threads function will need to be developed for the reasons above.

Perhaps having auto complete fields so you could begin typing a category and it'll give you suggested categories based on text entered.

 

[Dad.]

We have an add-on that does something similar. Not quite the entire form, but we could build that fairly easily I'd say. https://xenforo.com/community/resources/ad-quick-thread.4622/

It supports user permissions, auto-complete, all kinds of things.

 

[Russ]

We use this free one: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/xfa-new-thread-from-index.5156/

I like the idea of the form though... although some users potentially have a lot of options when creating threads which could be messy for an overlay (polls/options/status ect...)

 

[Digital Doctor]

I think the idea can encourage posting by having a

button on the forum home.

I saw someone with a [Ask a Question] button on the forum home and I felt it worked well for their site that wants alot of participation.

To me, if you want to encourage participation that much ... the threads created in this matter should just go to a central location forum and be moved to other forums where appropriate (manually by staff), especially if you have a fair number of forums.

 

[Neutral Singh]

Furthering my suggestion, why just have this option only at the forum home? This option should be made available within every forum... where it automatically populates the prefix, forum fields based on the forum where the member is currently navigation... but with still with an option choose any more appropriate forum. This will come handy, if the member is reading a message, has a new through and quickly wants to start a new thread...

 

[drastic]

Let's get this rocking.

This could literally spark so much more interaction on our forums.

We have to remember that the average web surfer is kind of an idiot sometimes.

When we put the form to post something RIGHT in front of their face, then they're gonna use it.

If they have to look for it or can't figure it out, then we lose activity.

One of my own friends used to type GOOGLE.com in the browser location bar, then go to google and type my site in.

I had to show him that he can type any website url in the location bar and didn't have to use google to find our site.

Great guy, but a dummy with technology.

If anything, I need this for my own friends LOLOL

 

[drastic]

I think the idea can encourage posting by having a
View attachment 138650
button on the forum home.

I saw someone with a [Ask a Question] button on the forum home and I felt it worked well for their site that wants alot of participation.

To me, if you want to encourage participation that much ... the threads created in this matter should just go to a central location forum and be moved to other forums where appropriate (manually by staff), especially if you have a fair number of forums.

You could also have a single node that is categorized using prefixes. Click on a prefix to see everything in that "category" kinda thing.

To me, prefixes ARE categories. They work the same way in most cases.

What I wish we could do is have a single node that loads all of our posts on the main forum page, so users could visit domain.com/forums and see everything. Not have to see a single node on the forum list, then click the node, then see the content.

 

[Alpha1]

Just to note that one danger with an option like this is that some people wouldn't bother looking to see if there is an existing thread on a topic already to contribute to, so there would end up being lots of duplicate threads on the same subject.

Good point. This can be solved by serving up similar threads after the title is typed in.

Show me a mockup for Xenforo.com on a smartphone !

We have hundreds of forums, so a drop down would not work optimally. Yet, every day we see new threads posted in the first forum node. Which means that we need to move these misplaced threads daily. This is a manifestation of the mobile age.

Forum nodes as we know them are no longer compatible with mobile browsing.
People just post their thread or reply at the first possible location. Regardless of how forums 'work'.

We need a solution for this so that members are forced to select a forum node.

As a drop down may not be optimal for sites with more than a few forums, a filter or a suggested nodes function would probably work.
A filter similar to how you can filter template names in admincp.
A suggestion based upon the thread title. For example if the title contains a word that is also in a node / node description, then suggest this node.

To me, prefixes ARE categories. They work the same way in most cases.

No they dont. Prefixes do not have permissions.

Just to note that this suggestion was raised last year (in a slightly different format):

I would not want that function, but I would like to see the current suggestion implemented.

 

[drastic]

What if we had a single forum node broken into categories?

When users get to the main forum screen, they see the top threads or new threads.

The categories work like the prefixes in the sense you can click on one to see more of that topic.

This could technically remove the need for users to pick a node, eliminating the chance they put it in the wrong place.

However, they'd still have to select a category. The word category is familiar to most users, so shouldn't be too hard for them to grasp.

 

[drastic]

Just to note that one danger with an option like this is that some people wouldn't bother looking to see if there is an existing thread on a topic already to contribute to, so there would end up being lots of duplicate threads on the same subject.

If something like this was to be implemented, you'd need a very good 'suggested threads' feature to go with it to minimise the number of duplicate threads (though that wouldn't be foolproof and there's likely still be duplicates). In addition there'd need to be the 'familiar' forum layout for those people who prefer that format (and a way to switch off this suggestion for those who didn't want it, of course).

Doesn't Reddit have something like this, that checks for similar content? Or maybe it's Fark...

 

[Robust]

I dare you to make a mockup of this.
View attachment 138639
for Xenforo.com

LOTS of forums !

and to top it off ....

Show me a mockup for Xenforo.com on a smartphone !

...

That's easy, because you can expand in XenForo's core using the quick nav menu.
https://puu.sh/qMv4h/13cb8620bc.png

Just open that up as a popup.

(not that I support or do not support this idea).

 

[James]

That's easy, because you can expand in XenForo's core using the quick nav menu.
https://puu.sh/qMv4h/13cb8620bc.png

Such a forgotten feature! I completely forgot this even existed.

 

[The Sandman]

What about an option for the Post New Thread button on the forumhome where the thread is created in a single "New Threads" forum and later moved to the appropriate forum by staff (or, held in moderation until moved to the appropriate forum by a staff member and then made visible)?

 

[Robust]

What about an option for the Post New Thread button on the forumhome where the thread is created in a single "New Threads" forum and later moved to the appropriate forum by staff (or, held in moderation until moved to the appropriate forum by a staff member and then made visible)?

Way too manual. A forum software should never depend on staff interaction for major day to day usages. It would also confuse the hell out of members.

 

[The Sandman]

We have hundreds of forums, so a drop down would not work optimally. Yet, every day we see new threads posted in the first forum node. Which means that we need to move these misplaced threads daily.

What about an option for the Post New Thread button on the forumhome where the thread is created in a single "New Threads" forum and later moved to the appropriate forum by staff (or, held in moderation until moved to the appropriate forum by a staff member and then made visible)?

Way too manual. A forum software should never depend on staff interaction for major day to day usages. It would also confuse the hell out of members.

My comment was specifically for Alfa1, who's already having to move misplaced threads daily (also a manual process). My point was that if this many of his members are having this issue, there may yet be others who aren't posting threads at all because they're not sure where they should go. A dedicated catch-all forum for threads from unsure members may improve posting rates *on some forums*. If that was the case on TAZ I'd rather that my staff and I move some threads manually rather than lose those threads altogether.

 

[Alpha1]

What about an option for the Post New Thread button on the forumhome where the thread is created in a single "New Threads" forum and later moved to the appropriate forum by staff (or, held in moderation until moved to the appropriate forum by a staff member and then made visible)?

I dont think that is feasible for an active board.