Invision Community 4: SEO, prepare for v5 and dormant account notifications By Matt November 11, 2024
Vince0789 Posted June 4, 2011 Posted June 4, 2011 Hello 3.2 is looking absolutely great so far. Just one more point of annoyance. I noticed that topic titles get cut off more often that not on the board index. Hovering over these links now just pops up the 'Go to the first unread post' message. I for one find it quite annoying to not be able to read the topic title in its entirety. Perhaps this feature could be brought back? Sincerely
Biker.GA Posted June 4, 2011 Posted June 4, 2011 I didn't even notice that the "Go to Last Post" icon was MIA as well. That MUST come back.
Management Charles Posted June 4, 2011 Management Posted June 4, 2011 Hello 3.2 is looking absolutely great so far. Just one more point of annoyance. I noticed that topic titles get cut off more often that not on the board index. Hovering over these links now just pops up the 'Go to the first unread post' message. I for one find it quite annoying to not be able to read the topic title in its entirety. Perhaps this feature could be brought back? Sincerely That's a good point. Will see about correcting that. I didn't even notice that the "Go to Last Post" icon was MIA as well. That MUST come back. If you click the date/timestamp it takes you to last post.
Biker.GA Posted June 4, 2011 Posted June 4, 2011 If you click the date/timestamp it takes you to last post. Thank you. One complaint, and it's going to be mirrored on my site as well if/when I upgrade the software. While the cosmetic changes may be "pretty", there are a lot of sites out there who have a very large membership of old farts like me. While change is good IF it benefits the site, all these minor cosmetic changes are going to add up rather quickly with my membership and there's going to be a rather large uproar over the changes. And while I'm sure the majority will get used to it, there will be some that will just up and quit. And as much as I hate losing members, I hate losing members even more when it's over something that was changed with the forum software that wasn't a necessity. My users are just now getting really comfortable with the forum software one year after switching from vBulletin. Now, you're making some pretty drastic cosmetic changes that are going to have to be "relearned" by my users. Not cool You need to keep the older crowd in mind when making these changes. There are a lot of sites out there that don't cater to the younger "Facebook" crowd, and mine's one of 'em.
Aisha Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 Thank you. One complaint, and it's going to be mirrored on my site as well if/when I upgrade the software. While the cosmetic changes may be "pretty", there are a lot of sites out there who have a very large membership of old farts like me. While change is good IF it benefits the site, all these minor cosmetic changes are going to add up rather quickly with my membership and there's going to be a rather large uproar over the changes. And while I'm sure the majority will get used to it, there will be some that will just up and quit. And as much as I hate losing members, I hate losing members even more when it's over something that was changed with the forum software that wasn't a necessity. My users are just now getting really comfortable with the forum software one year after switching from vBulletin. Now, you're making some pretty drastic cosmetic changes that are going to have to be "relearned" by my users. Not cool You need to keep the older crowd in mind when making these changes. There are a lot of sites out there that don't cater to the younger "Facebook" crowd, and mine's one of 'em.If the cosmetic changes are bothering you, then make a skin to keep it all the same.
Biker.GA Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 I should NOT have to make a skin to keep something the same, nor should I have to worry about a ton of cosmetic changes with a minor version change.
Clickfinity Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 If the cosmetic changes are bothering you, then make a skin to keep it all the same. That's a very simplistic (and thoughtless) answer. You are more than aware of the changes to the 3.2 skin, many of which are simply not available in 3.1.x, so suggesting someone re-skin it is just ridiculous.Biker has a very good point about how his membership might react to the change, which will no doubt be mirrored by many site owners, myself included. Perhaps a more contructive reply, or at least an understanding of the problem and a willingness to discuss how to best overcome the issues of change might have been more useful? I also lost members when switching from vB 12 month ago, and it's taken me and my members all that time to start to feel comfortable with the IPB software. 3.2 brings about a big enough number of changes to warrant a similar planning and information campaign to my membership, and whilst I'm sure many will welcome the changes, I know I will lose members over it because it is a big enough change and will re-shape how you use the site. It's a sad, but true fact. Quite how we minimise this, would be a good topic for discussion. :wink: Cheers, Shaun :D
sound Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 a possible way to minimise would be for site owners to try and gradually bring in similar changes via skin edits, wording, graphics, layout changes on 3.1.4 am not a great fan of the way invision does these major changes either and would prefer if they had a more gradual development evolution as in at the same or quicker pace but done in a way so its more of a gradual change
Rhett Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 I would agree that the basic function changes are going to be hard to swollow from most older members, I have a few sites that are mostly 35-60 age wise and they don't like change. The few quirks that they will have a problem with are the links on niew new content... it used to take you to the first un-read post in that thread... now the links take you to the first post in the thread. I know it sounds like a little change.... but there was no valid reason to change this and my members will have a hard time with it. For me, I will change up the code to return it to the 3.1.4 way of things, but I can see how some people won't be able to do this or will be upset by such a little change.
Aisha Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 You are more than aware of the changes to the 3.2 skin, many of which are simply not available in 3.1.x, so suggesting someone re-skin it is just ridiculous. I bet you 20 bucks some idiot does it.
AlexWright Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 If you really think about it, 3.1 to 3.2 really isn't such a minor version change. 3.1.3 to 3.1.4 might be, with relatively few changes made to performance and functionality, but from 3.1.4 to 3.2, it's a relatively large step. While not being completely rewritten, it still uses the 3.x framework, so it's not a supremely major version change, it isn't necessarily minor either. There's always change, and if you or your members aren't yet ready for it, you don't always have to upgrade until they are. Make a test site, let them play around on here if you like. Try to get them acclimated to the changes before implementing them. Just my two cents. -Nowe
Pereira Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 Even after 3.2 comes out, I dont think I will use it straight away. Will probably use 3.1.4 for awhile just until the major bugs are fixed and new skins come out.
Biker.GA Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 For example, I really had to look HARD to find the "Top" button at the bottom of a thread. That's not acceptable. Fading out stuff until you mouse over it is a very bad way of designing things. It's great you want to keep the software fresh with a new look, but the way you've gone about this change is going to create a whole lot of issues with the site owners. It's obvious a lot of thought went into the design, but you failed to take into account that it's not just young people that use this software.
rsyvarth Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 I feel like fading out all of the actions until you use them make the software far better... it allows me to focus on the content of the posts rather than be distracted by a whole bunch of useless information / buttons. As everyone is going to say to you, if you don't like the default style, there will soon be a skin to suit you. I would look more into the functionality of the software because that is what you really can't change.
marklcfc Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 Great posts Biker agree 100%, the little changes and things that have been taken away won't go down well on my site either. Unfortunately I think we're stuck with it, but I will keep suggesting they make an alternative skin available because we shouldn't be forced into changing the way our forums work.
Biker.GA Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 There's a fine balance between functionality and usability. Hiding things until you mouse over it isn't very usable. My users shouldn't have to hunt all over for something by moving their mouse all over the place in order to find something.
Management Charles Posted June 5, 2011 Management Posted June 5, 2011 What are you finding is hidden until you mouse over?
Biker.GA Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 ALL the items from the "Top" button at the bottom of the page to the buttons that appear when you mouse over on a post. Unless you are really looking for it, you don't see it at all. That's unacceptable and my users are going to scream bloody blue murder about it. And rightfully so.
marklcfc Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 Close sidebar is hardly noticeable even when clicking over it.
Management Charles Posted June 5, 2011 Management Posted June 5, 2011 ALL the items from the "Top" button at the bottom of the page to the buttons that appear when you mouse over on a post. Unless you are really looking for it, you don't see it at all. That's unacceptable and my users are going to scream bloody blue murder about it. And rightfully so. The post control buttons light up quite clearly when you are moving down a post which seems intuitive to me. You can easily adjust the fade out if your users seem to be confused every time the links fade back out and wonder where the post controls went.
marklcfc Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 The post control buttons light up quite clearly when you are moving down a post which seems intuitive to me. You can easily adjust the fade out if your users seem to be confused every time the links fade back out and wonder where the post controls went. It's not ideal but why don't you use the quote buttons from blogs for the post controls, its at least more noticeable than just text.
Biker.GA Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 The post control buttons light up quite clearly when you are moving down a post which seems intuitive to me. You can easily adjust the fade out if your users seem to be confused every time the links fade back out and wonder where the post controls went. And how is this adjustment made? Is there an option in the ACP to do this? Or am I going to have to make yet another edit to the files? While it may seem "intuitive" for someone who is comfortable with technology, it is NOT intuitive for folks who are not tech savvy. Especially for my older members who get extremely frustrated when something isn't there in plain sight. I have several users who are above the age of 60, and these changes are not going to sit well with them. Hell, they don't sit well with ME and I'm only 51!
Biker.GA Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 Another example of something that's difficult to read. At first glance, the faded star looks just like a circle. For us old farts, our eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, even with corrective lenses. Subtle differences on light backgrounds just doesn't cut it. While your skin developers may be spring chickens and have no issues with seeing differences like this, older folks WILL have issues. This is unacceptable for a "default" product.
Rikki Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 It's not ideal but why don't you use the quote buttons from blogs for the post controls, its at least more noticeable than just text. http://community.inv.../#commentsStart That's actually something I have been considering myself.
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