What do you think about XF's decision to hide user info in postbit?

[AndyB]

Who cares if search engines index post counts? :|

Many forums such as mine have lots of additional information below the avatar which is a problem when search engines index it along with the post content. I think it's very important that content below the avatar be easily added as well as hidden from search engines.

 

[Erik]

Would it be possible to insert the data below using javascript? I understand that Google does not index content which would be displayed using javascript.

Yeah, but then users without JavaScript enabled won't see it, and it's really more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Enigma]

Modern search engine spiders now index Javascript-produced content as well.

 

[AndyB]

Modern search engine spiders now index Javascript-produced content as well.

Thank you Enigma.

Looks like all we can hope for is that Google will exclude content that has robots-nocontent in the class.

 

[Kier]

Why would they ever do that? Google's aim is to index the web as users see it. I can't imagine a time when Google would ever support tagging to prevent indexing (apart from entire pages), it's contrary to their stated goals.

 

[Been Told]

This minimalistic postbit is way overdue and just looks SO much better! All the additional info is just one click away. And the popup organizes that extra data so much better than a postbit EVER could.
This is the perfect solution IMO.

 

[Peggy]

I wish people would vote not how it looks here because of course it looks great, but vote more if there's a small chance they might actual use additional things on the post bit on one of the many forum boards we all plan to have

I do believe that the vote on the poll indicates how people plan to use XF on their own sites, since that is a condition in the first question on the poll.

I completely agree with it and will keep it that way on my own (XF) forum(s)

 

[Peggy]

IMO, users are not going to be nearly as put off about having to click on the avatar to see other users info, as some of you might think they will be.
Most people adapt to change fairly easily, and this will be no different. It is only one click to get to it.

 

[Grover]

At first. I wasn't to keen on the postbit data being hidden but the longer I browsed and remained here the more I thought this decision was justified. The benefits I find right off is that it reduces bloated data in an area where content should be the first focus point, content being key and being the content. Secondly, the idea of bloating the posting area just attracts your eyes to data which is not that important which can otherwise be hidden or one click away (membercard). I would class the data in postbit as "curiosity data" because in most cases, people glance towards it wondering how many posts that member made, where they are from, whether they are online. Normally, and I can only speak for myself. If a posting has interested me and I've read what I have to read I then commence in viewing the member card where otherwise I'd normally glance mid-reading if the postbit data was there present in the postbit which I feel disrupts your reading and in some case can be the prominent focus point when it shouldn't be.

I would say it gets some getting used to with the data being hidden but it doesn't. It was actually a very smart and brave move which worked out very well.

Nothing to add to this.

 

[Russ]

I do believe that the vote on the poll indicates how people plan to use XF on their own sites, since that is a condition in the first question on the poll.

Worded it wrong haha I guess what I'm trying to say I don't see the harm in making it optional. Do any of you that will choose not to use it?

 

[Gerry5039]

I think we should have a choice, if it stays this way then I will stick with what I have.

 

[Peggy]

Worded it wrong haha I guess what I'm trying to say I don't see the harm in making it optional. Do any of you that will choose not to use it?

Only for the reasons that Kier gave.

This sort of thing is likely to be a template edit issue - all the data is exposed, so it's not going to be a difficult thing to achieve, but adding admin options for this sort of thing really only serves to make the base product more subject to bugs and unexpected behaviour, not to mention the performance penalty of carrying around so many options and having code to support them.

 

[Lawrence]

I like the simplicity of the Posters block. It is refreshing, and really, how often do people take the time to read all the info displayed about each poster in a thread? You may for a new member, but after that, do you notice that info any more?

With that said, I'll be making a small change to the poster information block. I'll be adding Grovers avatar to every post on my forum, he just looks:

 

[Kerry-Anne]

I think it is great. I personally don't care how many posts someone has, where they are from, what their favorite color is, or any of the other junk that gets shoved into postbits. All I want to know is who posted the post. Simples.

Of course, I know that most of the forums I oversee will completely disagree with me, but then they just love their super cluttered postbits and nothing will ever convince them to do it differently - not that I've not threatened with taking it all out on more than a few occassions!

 

[0ptima]

Right now, the poll shows 72% or responders like the data where it is(n't), so it may not be a good candidate for an option, but should it arise that there are significant numbers of people who want the info and equally significant numbers who don't, then it would become something for which we'd look at providing an option.

IMHO, it may look nice but is not practical. Im curious to see how many forums will actually keep the default postbit.

 

[Peggy]

I think that quite a few will. I know I will, since the member card is one simple click away with all that info.

 

[Kim]

It's actually very liberating, imho. The lack of bumph about a poster actually creates an atmosphere of true equality.... no one persons post is more important than anothers based solely on the visible amount of posts or awards etc.

...Of course not every one is going to like this, there are many who are invested heavily in their post count, or their awards etc, who gain perceived power and status from these things, not always in a good way either no doubt there will be mods to bring back that stuff for those who care about it greatly.

The very day someone directed me to xenforo and I first laid eyes on this wonderful software, I had literally been staring at a post that was one line long, however all the bumph about the poster made it take up my entire screen.... and believe me that one line wasn't worth that amount of real estate LOL it blew my mind when just an hour later I saw this sleek and sexy UI

 

[Dean]

IMHO, it may look nice but is not practical. Im curious to see how many forums will actually keep the default postbit.

Could you elaborate on the word practical? Fiscal implications?

 

[Peggy]

It's actually very liberating, imho. The lack of bumph about a poster actually creates an atmosphere of true equality.... no one persons post is more important than anothers based solely on the visible amount of posts or awards etc.

...Of course not every one is going to like this, there are many who are invested heavily in their post count, or their awards etc, who gain perceived power and status from these things, not always in a good way either no doubt there will be mods to bring back that stuff for those who care about it greatly.

The very day someone directed me to xenforo and I first laid eyes on this wonderful software, I had literally been staring at a post that was one line long, however all the bumph about the poster made it take up my entire screen.... and believe me that one line wasn't worth that amount of real estate LOL it blew my mind when just an hour later I saw this sleek and sexy UI

I could not agree more!

 

[0ptima]

Could you elaborate on the word practical? Fiscal implications?

I brought this up before, here are my comments.