My Sharona Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 I don't know if we have a dedicated area for suggestions to v5.x.x, so I'll just drop this here. If there is a better space for it, feel free to move this, there. Thanks. I suppose being a builder by trade is why dead space bothers me so much. Whenever I see some, I want to fill it with something to make use of it, otherwise I consider it wasted. I like a degree of balance that creates a symmetry. When the thread sidebar was introduced, this created such a condition that I hope can be rectified with an out of the box installation. Once you scroll down the page and get past "x" posts, all you are left with is dead space that is just begging to be filled with something. Of course, this is a uniform condition once you get past those "x" posts on the first page, until you get to the last page. One solution to this would be the ability to have a block become a "sticky" when placed in the sidebar position, that sticks once it comes into the viewport. Additionally, it might be wonderful to have the ability to have a block, that when placed in the sidebar, given the ability to adhere to the bottom of the page and when that comes into the viewport, it would then force the "sticky" block up, and out of the viewport. It is probable that some might not utilize sidebar blocks in thread, so giving this ability to the topic summary, would make the out of the box installation, in this mode, better by default. Please don't get me wrong here, I know I can disable the thread sidebar, but I love it so that is not the point of this posting. The point it to make use of the created dead space. Thank you for your consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedric V Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 That seems like a perfect space to place an advertisement and monetize your community. 😉 My Sharona 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Stridgen Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 There is no specific place for v5. A suggestion is a suggestion. We would choose the version it was released in. If indeed its added 🙂 My Sharona 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Management Charles Posted October 18, 2023 Management Share Posted October 18, 2023 You might want to wait until v5 exists before giving feedback on it 😉 Robert Angle, Marc Stridgen, My Sharona and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Sharona Posted October 18, 2023 Author Share Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Charles said: You might want to wait until v5 exists before giving feedback on it 😉 Lol. If I'm understanding you correctly here, you and me... we're on the same page (I hope anyways). Edited October 18, 2023 by My Sharona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Stridgen Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 56 minutes ago, My Sharona said: Lol. If I'm understanding you correctly here, you and me... we're on the same page (I hope anyways). Time will tell 😉 My Sharona 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel R Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 This post was recognized by Marc Stridgen! Joel R was awarded the badge 'Helpful' and 5 points. I know you posted in Feedback, but some creative suggestions for the creative community managers out there: - You can reduce the # of posts that appear per page in a topic. Really! Most admins rarely change this number (and why is 25 posts the magic number anyways??) but if you insist on symmetry, reduce the # of posts to match your sidebar length. - Add relevant blocks for users that help with self-promotion or content discovery. In other words, utilize all of that emoty sidebar space! Add your guest sign in widget, newsletter sign up widget, Community Hive widget, popular content widget, our picks widget, recent comments widget, etc. to inspire and grab your user deeper into your ecosystem. - If the Topic Summary is the only item of your sidebar, think about switching to the Compact View that layers the Topic Summary into the posts. That will eliminate the sidebar completely and give you clean aesthetics. Ramsesx, Marc Stridgen, Jim M and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Sharona Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, Joel R said: - You can reduce the # of posts that appear per page in a topic. Really! Most admins rarely change this number (and why is 25 posts the magic number anyways??) but if you insist on symmetry, reduce the # of posts to match your sidebar length. You think users would want to click to a new page after 5 posts? I don't. 8 hours ago, Joel R said: - Add relevant blocks for users that help with self-promotion or content discovery. In other words, utilize all of that emoty sidebar space! Add your guest sign in widget, newsletter sign up widget, Community Hive widget, popular content widget, our picks widget, recent comments widget, etc. to inspire and grab your user deeper into your ecosystem. Not every block works for all communities. 8 hours ago, Joel R said: - If the Topic Summary is the only item of your sidebar, think about switching to the Compact View that layers the Topic Summary into the posts. That will eliminate the sidebar completely and give you clean aesthetics. All this does is spread the dead, empty space around. As stated in my OP, I love the sidebar. I am wanting to make better use of the dead space it creates. The sidebar is a fantastic idea, it just needs to have better utilization. Edited October 19, 2023 by My Sharona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikki Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 I think personally I would dispute the idea of 'dead space' as a concept. You don't have to fill every pixel of a page with content, and doing so could actually have a negative effect by taking focus away from the actual content people are trying to find. Facebook doesn't do it, Reddit doesn't do it, Instagram doesn't do it, so that should be a good indicator I think. FanClub Mike, Askancy, Jim M and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedric V Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 2 hours ago, My Sharona said: You think users would want to click to a new page after 5 posts? I don't. Well, I think Joel's remarks are good ones. Especially the new page one. If you think of it, having less replies per page, will increase your pages per topics and that can reflect on your activity. Your topics could seem more active and users could assume that topic has more replies because we all the idea that a topic has 20-25 replies standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel R Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 I want to add for @My Sharona my ideas are not meant to reduce or detract from your specific feedback to IPS in any way. IPS reads everything. Sometimes people get defensive in the Feedback forum when other users chime in with alternate workarounds, but suggestions from the community are meant to be just that: helpful and friendly suggestions, as imperfect as they are. I just want to be clear that your suggestion has merit on its own, and it also opened up areas of opportunity and learning for clients to consider other creative approaches. My Sharona, Randy Calvert and Cedric V 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Sharona Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 20 hours ago, Rikki said: I think personally I would dispute the idea of 'dead space' as a concept. You don't have to fill every pixel of a page with content, and doing so could actually have a negative effect by taking focus away from the actual content people are trying to find. Facebook doesn't do it, Reddit doesn't do it, Instagram doesn't do it, so that should be a good indicator I think. Thanks Rikki. The blank sidebar area looks to me to be about 20%/25% of the displayed page. That just seems like an awful waste of space that might be better utilized. Blocks are optional, as is the sidebar. All I am saying is, it would be nice to have certain out-of-the-box options, to help make use of that space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsesx Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 4 hours ago, My Sharona said: All I am saying is, it would be nice to have certain out-of-the-box options, to help make use of that space. There are, called widgets. Be creative. Charles 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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