Implemented The position of key buttons next to the breadcrumb

Grover

Grover

Well-known member
I am gonna to have a break from XenForo in the time to come. I just want to put the following in the limelight, because I feel it is or will become an issue when using XenForo. I think XenForo is (almost) perfect when it comes to the UI/UX, but I feel this could need some attention before XF becomes Gold.

I am talking about the position of key buttons like [Post New Thread] or [Search Threads and Posts] next to the breadcrumb. I believe this is a fundamentally wrong position and I will show why I think that.

[Search Threads and Posts]
First, there is this example about the [Search Threads and Posts]-button:
http://xenforo.com/community/thread...ics.2082/#post-30259

The [Search Threads and Posts] button there is more or less unrecognizable as a button that should be pressed to get more search options. It gets overlooked, very understandably, by endusers. To prevent it from being overlooked, it has to be put more into the viewpoint of the enduser. And that means... as close to the information-area as possible, there where the eye-focus of the enduser is. Meaning: in the center of the screen (right above the search input fields for example), not somewhere in a corner where it is not visible/clear/intuitive enough.

[Post New Thread]
The same problem occurs when users need to post a New Thread, as pointed out by Shanj in the following discussion where a visual example is posted in:
http://xenforo.com/community/thread...ead.2538/#post-41403

Needless to say that this can become obviously problematic. I don't know how XenForo displays multiple subforums underneath each other, but I could imagine it would be like this:

wrong position of key buttons in XF.webp

I believe a good UI should make it as easy/intuitive as possible to post a thread. Posting threads is THE BASIS of forums in the first place. That's why I find it a bit remarkable that XenForo puts the KEY button for this in a really counter-productive and non-intuitive position. A button with such an importance should be placed right there where the focus of the endusers-eye is, the moment he/she wants to post a new thread. And that is as near to the existing threadtitles as possible.
Click to expand...

Those are my last constructive suggestions I will put out for a while (XF is near perfect in it's UI/UX for me). Hopefully M&K can share a part of this vision and re-think a bit the positions of those key buttons. I believe it will make XF better.

Keep up the good work (developers + community) and see you again after XF Gold's release!

Grover.

Please do [like] this first posting if you think it is a good feature suggestion for XenForo
 
Upvote 15
This suggestion has been implemented. Votes are no longer accepted.
d7-s.png


Looks a fair bit better with no border or padding.

But I'm still not too keen on the dark blue gradient.
 
I actually really like the button and how it behaves like, well, a button.

I think though that the dark blue looks slightly out of sync with the rest of the style, even though it is part of the colour palette.
Additionally, on hover, as the button background is only 20px, the light gradient at the top conflicts slightly with the white text. The menu bar is 25px which is why the white text there works better.

Could you perhaps mimic how the secondary menu bar items work, with the darker text on hover?
button.webp
 
Brogan said:
Could you perhaps mimic how the secondary menu bar items work, with the darker text on hover?
Click to expand...
The text is a bit lost in that version though, isn't it? These are supposed to be call-to-action buttons after all.
 
In regards to styling the button, would it make sense to make it look like other buttons used on the site? As I type this quick reply, I'm looking at the "post reply", "upload file", "more options" buttons. Maybe try that style to see how it feels...

Having said that, people are likely to restyle everything anyway for their own install. So, it might be better to address the issue with different placement. I like the way the top of the threadlist is structured, so I hesitate suggesting a change to that. However, the "post new thread" button also appears at the bottom of the page. Simply swapping this for the page navigation at the bottom of the page might be enough to help the people that only scan the left side of the page for such a button.

Another idea would be to add something to the bottom of the threadlist similar to a quick reply. I suppose this would be called "quick startnewthread" :p. Maybe that's overkill, but it would definitely be hard to miss.
 
I have tried before and I know that it is very difficult to design proper and nice looking buttons.

I guess you need somebody to help out on the re-design of all buttons, including a re-design of the blue-colored "New"-flag.

Probably start a small contest here, there are some designers at this Forum......
 
I do not understand why this is "insulting" ?
Maybe it´s my non-native english which didn´t come across......?

Kier said:
The old button didn't look like a button. What would you suggest?
Click to expand...

I was thinking of common brainstorming, rather than insulting anybody here on this forum.
 
erich37 said:
I do not understand why this is "insulting" ?
Maybe it´s my non-native english which didn´t come across......?



I was thinking of common brainstorming, rather than insulting anybody here on this forum.
Click to expand...
It might be lost in translation, but you basically implied that he wasn't capable of designing.
 
sorry, my fault.

I love the general design of XF very much.

I have to adapt my previous statement:
Actually the buttons are fine overall, just the design for the 2 buttons "Reply to Thread" and the "New"-label are not of my taste.
 
I think what bothers me about the current implementation used here is that the drop shadow falls below the edge set by the breadcrumb and the button doesn't quite align with the upper edge set by the breadcrumb. The result is that the button seems a little out of place. Nitpicking.

The developers should absolutely do what they think will be best for the default style. Personally, I liked the way the button originally looked. I will probably change the style for the button on my own install regardless (or irregardless :D) of what the final design choice is.

khurt said:
... looking at the "post reply", "upload file", "more options" buttons...
Click to expand...
For grins, I mocked up what this would look like. I hear pink and comic sans are what all the cool kids are using ;), so I hope you don't mind my note on the image. I don't think this is any better than the other choices presented ... it's just something different to look at.
ss.webp
-----------------------------------------------------------

Here's a mock of "quick startnewthread":

ss2.webp

This is just another way of attempting to solve the problem brought up by Grover. Could easily be a terrible idea. :)
 
khurt said:
I think what bothers me about the current implementation used here is that the drop shadow falls below the edge set by the breadcrumb and the button doesn't quite align with the upper edge set by the breadcrumb. The result is that the button seems a little out of place. Nitpicking.
(...)
This is just another way of attempting to solve the problem brought up by Grover.
Click to expand...

I like nitpicking, because that will contribute to the excellence of XF's interface. And I agree with your remarks. But the bottom-line is that what is bothering about the current implementation is that the position of those buttons is still fundamentally wrong, as I've shown in my first posting: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/the-position-of-key-buttons-next-to-the-breadcrumb.3066/

Go to http://xenforo.com/community/search/ and although the button is more visible now (because it indeed looks more like a button now and isn't lost in 'the overall design' like it was before), it is still positioned too far out of the context of the functionality of that screen. What is the benefit of putting it way up in the upper right corner next to the breadcrumb? It doesn't make much sense, does it? I mean, imagine the [Search] button in that same screen positioned all the way in the bottom right corner : that doesn't make much sense either. That's why it is positioned in the context of the search-fields: in other words: right below them. So why not position this [Search Threads and Posts] right above those search-fields? Then, you do not even have to change it's colour/design anymore... just make it a nice [Tab] or something! I just do not quite understand why there is a button stuffed away in the upper right corner to access a completely new Search screen: it is simply not intuitive enough. Not quite in line with the otherwise excellent intuitive UI of XenForo in my view.

Changing the colours is a nice touch and indeed a welcome improvement over how it was. But... it still remains a workaround for a problem that has everything to do with positioning, instead of colouring.
 
where to put those buttons instead, Grover ?

the other issue I have with that buttons now is that the text is very hard to read.........
 
erich37 said:
where to put those buttons instead, Grover ?
Click to expand...

Read my posting above. We don't even need a button in the example I gave... a simple [Tab] would do.

...the other issue I have with that buttons now is that the text is very hard to read.........
Click to expand...

Yes, that's another reason why I keep stating that the key solution is to position them as near to the user-processes/context as possible, so we don't have to bother with the colours/design. The colours/design is not the real issue.
 
One is the non-js direct loaded page for the frontpage popup, the other one is the full advanced stand alone page.
 
erich37 said:
well, for the "Search" I anyway do not understand why there are 2 different search screens ? The "Search" and the "Search Threads and Posts".

It seems there are only a few search-options added when hitting "Search Threads and Posts".
Are those 2 different search-screens required to be separated or can those be merged into just one "Advanced Search"-page ?

http://xenforo.com/community/search/
http://xenforo.com/community/search/?type=post
Click to expand...

I don't understand it either, Erich: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/suggestion-search-boxes.2669/#post-67814

Hopefully XF's Search functionality can be made more intuitive indeed. Internet Brands vB4 did a terrible job on this part, XF only needs a little improvement and it will be all good.
 

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