Topic-posting usability

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

This sounds silly, but I have gotten multiple emails from members who can't figure out how to post a new topic on my forum. They register intending to ask a question (it's a science forum), but can't find the button to post a new topic. Presumably these are members who have never used similar forums before and just don't know how they work.

It may lower the barrier to entry significantly if there were a way to post a new thread from the forum index. For example, you could press the "Start a New Topic" button and it'd give you a list of categories to choose from for your topic to go into, then let you make the post. It explains itself better than having to pick the forum first, and it's far more obvious for new members to notice. After all, we want to encourage new discussions, and putting a big fat button on the front page would go a long way toward that.

(One member even emailed saying he and a reference librarian couldn't figure out how to make a new topic...)

[augenj]

Looking for a simpler process for my new members also. They're Facebook oriented and can't upload pictures either. Too many steps. Yes, I've suggested this elsewhere. :)

[Jυra]

How did they learn how to do it on Facebook?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Facebook puts everything right on the front page. Want to add a status, a photo, or a video? It's at the top of the front page. Adding photos is just hitting the Photos link on your profile and hitting the big button to make a new album.

Similarly, I think adding a new topic on IPB should be a matter of a big fat button or link right on the front page.

[Hunting insects...]

This sounds silly, but I have gotten multiple emails from members who can't figure out how to post a new topic on my forum.

"Gobsmacked!" is I think the correct term. Having been involved in running forums for more than a decade, I have never once encountered this issue. :blink:

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I've had it happen several times, mostly among members who want to register, post a quick question, and leave.

Besides the usability benefits, I suspect a streamlined topic creation process would stimulate more discussion and posting on forums, since members would be encouraged to start discussions when an idea strikes.

[Hunting insects...]

I've had it happen several times, mostly among members who want to register, post a quick question, and leave.

Ah well, "hit & run" members are not the type I am looking for. ;)

Besides the usability benefits, I suspect a streamlined topic creation process would stimulate more discussion and posting on forums, since members would be encouraged to start discussions when an idea strikes.

I disagree.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Ah well, "hit & run" members are not the type I am looking for. ;)

Also among retirees who came to ask some questions but weren't able to figure it out.

We're a science forum, so a large portion of our audience is people who want to ask science questions. Getting them from registration to posting quickly will help us greatly.

In any case, usability improvements benefit everyone.

[Jυra]

You could skin in a big new topic link on the index yourself if it's for a single specific forum like "ask something" or maybe put a new topic link each of the forum's description areas?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

True. I wonder if it'd be easy to add a button or link in the theme -- although forums with subforums would be kind of messy.

Hmm. I'm envisioning a small button labeled "Start New Topic" under the forum description, and in forums with subforums, it acts as a drop-down to select the forum to post in. Wonder how hard that'd be to code...

[KT Walrus]

You could add a Fast New Topic to the bottom (or top) your board index and forum view (like Fast Reply at the bottom of this topic). The Fast New Topic could have a forum selection dropdown next to the Post button that only contains postable forums in it. I would think this would be an easy mod/hook for someone to do.

[Jυra]

That would be an awesome hook if there was a way to select the forum.

[Mat B]

I've had it happen several times, mostly among members who want to register, post a quick question, and leave.

Besides the usability benefits, I suspect a streamlined topic creation process would stimulate more discussion and posting on forums, since members would be encouraged to start discussions when an idea strikes.

This is just my personal opinion, and not reflective of IPS as a whole, but I suspect this would result in a lot of topic duplication, as no one would search prior to posting a new topic - essentially fragmenting discussion.

[augenj]

This is just my personal opinion, and not reflective of IPS as a whole, but I suspect this would result in a lot of topic duplication, as no one would search prior to posting a new topic - essentially fragmenting discussion.

Yes, Mat. That's true for veterans but for newbies? Searching is alien, not to us but them. How about at least considering an interface (skin?) that makes things simple? You see, we live with people who don't mingle with technical types that frequent this board. :)

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

This is just my personal opinion, and not reflective of IPS as a whole, but I suspect this would result in a lot of topic duplication, as no one would search prior to posting a new topic - essentially fragmenting discussion.

Nobody does anyway, so the only thing you miss out on is people seeing the last ten or twenty topics in a forum.

You could do Bugzilla-style search integration in the New Topic page if you really wanted to go all-out...

[Pfeiffer]

What I see a lot of, for newbies, is badly formatted replies, with qoute but no text of their own, they have their text in odd places, etc.

I have suggested this elsewhere - I would like to see a simpler Post reply form. All the optional extras like Poll, Post Options, File attachment, etc. should be moved to the end (under the POST button). These are used in so very few occasions anyways, and the veterans will know where to find them. Newbies just get confused with this clutter. And maybe a way to show what is being Qouted where in a more WYSIWYG form, so newbies understand the layout.

[Jυra]

This is just my personal opinion, and not reflective of IPS as a whole, but I suspect this would result in a lot of topic duplication, as no one would search prior to posting a new topic - essentially fragmenting discussion.

That seems to happen anyway on some forums. You can view a forum, but it doesn't mean you'll look for anything similar before posting.

[blair]

This is just my personal opinion, and not reflective of IPS as a whole, but I suspect this would result in a lot of topic duplication, as no one would search prior to posting a new topic - essentially fragmenting discussion.

Just show similar topics on the post screen after they enter a title. This will result in many more searches before posting a new topic, not fewer.

[Mat B]

Just show similar topics on the post screen after they enter a title. This will result in many more searches before posting a new topic, not fewer.

Interesting idea. It would require a pretty giant overhaul of the search/index system to handle maintaining the "related topics" indexes, and quite likely cause a not insignificant increase in resource usage (especially for larger boards) but I can kind of see how it might work. I can't speak for whether or not it could happen though.

[crabpaws]

"Gobsmacked!" is I think the correct term. Having been involved in running forums for more than a decade, I have never once encountered this issue. :blink:

You can never underestimate how much people may be confused by an interface.

This is just my personal opinion, and not reflective of IPS as a whole, but I suspect this would result in a lot of topic duplication, as no one would search prior to posting a new topic - essentially fragmenting discussion.

I agree, this would result in a lot of topic duplication. However, from what I've seen, general users don't use search to find pre-existing topics. They just don't think of it.

To keep topics from proliferating and fracturing discussion when you have a less adept audience, moderators have to be active in consolidating topics. There's no getting around it. Experienced members will help newbies get in line, but some will never get the hang of adding to pre-existing topics.

Cap'n Refsmmat's users may be confusing the forum index for a list of topics. They may not grasp the hierarchy right off. This is pretty common, especially among people who visit only occasionally and haven't gotten acculturated. It can take some exposure to develop a mental model of how the content is organized.

As for adding a Start Topic button on the forum index page -- I don't know if I would do that. I might add a notice above the forum index telling visitors to click on an appropriate subject area, check out the topics, and start a topic within that forum.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Cap'n Refsmmat's users may be confusing the forum index for a list of topics. They may not grasp the hierarchy right off. This is pretty common, especially among people who visit only occasionally and haven't gotten acculturated. It can take some exposure to develop a mental model of how the content is organized.

As for adding a Start Topic button on the forum index page -- I don't know if I would do that. I might add a notice above the forum index telling visitors to click on an appropriate subject area, check out the topics, and start a topic within that forum.

Indeed. I'm not sure, however, that we should design an interface that requires explanation instead of making the interface more intuitive.

Take a look at reddit as an example. The "Submit a link" button is on the right in big letters on the front page, and it lets you decide where to put the link.

(Incidentally, the other thing reddit gets right is encouraging long titles. My members love to write short titles that are meaningless and don't attract views, rather than just putting a short question in the title.)

[crabpaws]

...I have suggested this elsewhere - I would like to see a simpler Post reply form. All the optional extras like Poll, Post Options, File attachment, etc. should be moved to the end (under the POST button). These are used in so very few occasions anyways, and the veterans will know where to find them. Newbies just get confused with this clutter. And maybe a way to show what is being Qouted where in a more WYSIWYG form, so newbies understand the layout.

Could not agree more. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to turn off Fast Reply, it adds even more complexity to that area. This is what appears above the Fast Reply box:



To users, there will appear to be 4 confusing topic reply options: the Reply, Multiquote (A), Add Reply (E) buttons PLUS the Fast Reply box. (Still say the Reply button should be labeled Quote, users would be able to make sense of it next to Multiquote.)

Then there are other distractions. "Change threshold" (B) -- that's going to be way too sophisticated for my users. It's something I would never use; the utility seems very specialized. The drop-down with the jump links to other places in the forum © and then the redundant nav links (D) further interrupt the user's intention to post.

I suggest replying to the topic is the golden path, and would optimize design accordingly. The B, C, and D elements are for people who are simply reading the topic. They should be taken out of the path of topic reply.

As Pfeiffer points out, the area under the reply box is also confusing, as it is in Start Topic -- see

I can just imagine what will happen when my users try to figure this stuff out.