Implemented [Suggestion] Sub forums placement

[Shelley]

IMO should be placed underneath Discussions and messages. Atleast for me this should be located along a new line to keep the data clutter free.

 

[Princeton]

the first thing one has to be aware of is that people are inpatient

when surfing the net looking for something specific they are on a mission...
they will move from one site to the next quickly scanning each page they are directed to - when something grabs their attention that's when they decide to move the cursor, play closer attention to sections, dive into other pages, etc

 

[Shelley]

the first thing one has to be aware of is that people are inpatient

when surfing the net looking for something specific they are on a mission...
they will move from one site to the next quickly scanning each page they are directed to - when something grabs their attention that's when they decide to move the cursor, play closer attention to sections, dive into other pages, etc

Couldn't agree more with this comment. I've done this myself, if it's within my attention time frame that a thread interests me I'll then take a looksy. I can see a few potential members being lost due to this.

 

[Grover]

the first thing one has to be aware of is that people are inpatient

when surfing the net looking for something specific they are on a mission...
they will move from one site to the next quickly scanning each page they are directed to - when something grabs their attention that's when they decide to move the cursor, play closer attention to sections, dive into other pages, etc

Couldn't agree more with this comment. I've done this myself, if it's within my attention time frame that a thread interests me I'll then take a looksy. I can see a few potential members being lost due to this.

Me too. I hope that with a simple template edit (just like the mouse-over forumdescription I want to change in static always-visible text) this can be changed by ourselves.

 

[Dean]

I can easily see how the drop down could be incredibly helpful. For instance a regional discussion, or even a classifieds forum with (for example) 50 states listed. Or especially nested subforum (maybe?) where people can select 'for sale', 'wanting to buy', 'wanting to trade' and then select 5 regional areas. I could also envision much greater uses

Whereas if there were a few subforums that people need to navigate quickly & often it would be better to have them show up on the main page. I also hope theses things can be adjusted in a template.

 

[Grover]

I can easily see how the drop down could be incredibly helpful. For instance a regional discussion, or even a classifieds forum with (for example) 50 states listed. Or especially nested subforum (maybe?) where people can select 'for sale', 'wanting to buy', 'wanting to trade' and then select 5 regional areas. I could also envision much greater uses

Whereas if there were a few subforums that people need to navigate quickly & often it would be better to have them show up on the main page. I also hope theses things can be adjusted in a template.

Indeed.

 

[ArnyVee]

I agree with Peggy. With WDBoards.com I went with a different layout than the norm on the forum home and it caused a little confusion at first only because it was different. But, it was adjusted to very quickly.

Let's blaze new paths and not just follow someone else's footsteps

 

[Brandon_R]

I like it like this and i click the drop downs even more often now.

 

[Andrew B.]

I can't judge how the subforum popup works because you only have one subforum. But was thinking of another way to do this. Maybe a "tray" could slide out underneath the forum name, similar to the way you have thread display options slide out.  Except it would be less wide and would have links to all the subforums.  I'm also wondering about an option in the user panel where they could set it so the trays stay open until closed. That way you could keep the clean look except for users who don't care about trays staying open until closed. What I have not figured out is how to deal with the tray obscuring the next forum down, unless the whole area expands.

 

[Stuart Wright]

This thread is about where subforums are displayed when viewing the equivalent of the Forumdisplay template. (Not the Forumhome template - /forum/).
With vB you have the sub forums of the current forum displayed at the top followed by the list of threads in the current forum.
Kier wanted the subforums to be displayed at the bottom underneath the list of threads.
I strongly objected to this because of the problem of people posting their threads in the wrong forum.
If someone is looking to, for example, post a new thread about their 3D LCD TV, and the 3D LCD TVs forum is under the 3D TVs forum, then if that subforum is displayed at the top, the person will see it there, realise it is the most appropriate forum for their new discussion and drill down to it before creating their new thread.
If, on the other hand, the 3D LCD TVs sub forum is at the bottom of the page, then that person is not going to see it is there and create their new thread in the 3D TVs forum where it is not as appropriate.
Then, the 3D LCD TVs forum will get hardly any traffic unless your moderators spend lots of time moving LCD related 3D TV discussions down into it.

So from my perspective, there was never any question that the sub forums should be listed at the top of the threads.

 

[Kier]

This thread is about where subforums are displayed when viewing the equivalent of the Forumdisplay template. (Not the Forumhome template - /forum/).

Actually, given Shelley's original wording...

IMO should be placed underneath Discussions and messages.

...I think this thread was supposed to be about the sub-forum popup, not the location of sub-forums relative to the thread list. But it seems to have turned into that, so carry on.

 

[---MAD---]

I like the way it currently is at it keeps the front page clean. If users miss the drop down menu they will always see the sub forums once they visit the parent forum as the sub forums are listed at the top of the parent forum.

 

[Andrew B.]

So much for my effort to post to an existing thread.

Okay, IMO, the forum messages should never appear along with a list of subforums no matter where they are placed. Either way, someone misses something. Although putting subforums below is worse.

When subforums are used, I prefer to set is so the forum level does not allow posts and does not show buttons for posts. And instead just serve as a container for subforums. So the admin should have the ability to set it up this way.

Anyway, I still like my idea of a slide out tray.  

 

[khurt]

I like the way it currently is at it keeps the front page clean. If users miss the drop down menu they will always see the sub forums once they visit the parent forum as the sub forums are listed at the top of the parent forum.

Agreed.

Generally speaking, if every feature of the forum is designed with the idea that the first-time user MUST notice it, you wind up overwhelming the user with options. The subforum dropdown seems like a great thing to let the user discover as they become more familiar with the interface. And, as you said, when they miss it, they will still notice the subforum(s) at the top of the subsequent page.

Perhaps they never discover it ... in which case, the feature probably wasn't important to them anyway.

 

[Netsultants]

I would like to see the subforums have the option of listed links or the pulldown.

Personally I just upgraded a VB board to test XF and I missed seeing the pulldown menu. I think it's easy to miss.

 

[Grover]

I would like to see the subforums have the option of listed links or the pulldown.

Personally I just upgraded a VB board to test XF and I missed seeing the pulldown menu. I think it's easy to miss.

I don't like the drop down list as it is not easily seen or known as a "standard" used with other forum software and after all our users don't like going to a place where things are different and having to learn something that is different from all the other places they visit. They need to see what is available otherwise they won't think its worth staying.

I believe I will lose sign ups if the sub forums are not listed

Amen to both. It is actually one of the very few 'big' things that I think should be improved in XenForo.

 

[raytrails]

Reviving this thread in the need for easier access to subforums!

 

[Jeremy]

This is in 1.2, @Shelley! Optionally, of course.

 

[Shelley]

This is in 1.2, @Shelley! Optionally, of course.

Yeah i think this can be marked up with 5ml of "implemented" prefix. @Brogan