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New Forum Structure

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Jamie, 29 Jun 2007.

  1. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    I do think there are some good improvements... but the fundamentals have changed - and it's not good.

    On balance, I'd forfeit the new trappings that I like to go back to the old forum. I'm not against change, but not change for the sake of change.

    To much of this wasn't thought out properly. Add rather remove the Bling and improve usability and function.

    A poll sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure how it would be accomplished. We need more than an old vs new. I'm sure we'd all like some of the new features to remain, but we need a way of determining which features proved a hit and ehich didn't.
     
  2. Rocket733

    Rocket733 Austerity - It's the only way

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    Having gone through the whole "I like the old style better" thing with the last forum change I'd just like to ask everyone to give it a shot with an open mind for a week or two. Being on top requires change and Bit-tech realizes this so give them a chance so they can keep being number one.
     
  3. Fr4nk

    Fr4nk Tyrannosaurus Alan !

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    Tbh, you all need to lighten up ! Instead of saying "I don't like it, bla bla bla" give it a chance for a couple of days, try and use the new features instead of bluntly saying "Zomg Change it back..." I came on this afternoon to find a completely new forum layout, (heck, I thought I was on a diff' site ) but I like the concept I've already started posting in places I wouldn't usually.

    Though I do agree on the tags, they need to be more uni-form and a the yellow glow, ewwww, maybe there could be different types of tags eg; image set 1, image set 2 and text ?
     
  4. cool_dude

    cool_dude Minimodder

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    My only argument, is why the all of a sudden cramming of all the topics?

    Why couldnt bit-tech just upgrade the style, and leave the entire layout on the main forum page the same?

    Thats what I cant see, its too crammed to see anything, and navigation is a nightmare.

    Otherwise I dont see anything wrong with the actual upgrade, just some new stuffs etc. The main problem for me (and quite a few) is the weird idea of cramming! Like the For Sale section, bring back the UK and USA sub sections - WHAT IS THE POINT in putting the two together? Just to use them fancy new little icons? Cant you make the sub-directories and still use them if thats the case, its really annoying... just little stuff like that !
     
  5. ChriX

    ChriX ^

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    Any chance of the old style being a choice in user CP as per last time? I really don't get the benefit of cramming things together (e.g. US and UK for sale in one place as above).
     
  6. oddball walking

    oddball walking ...!

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    Just us the filters.
     
  7. SteveyG

    SteveyG Electromodder

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    The filters should be visible at all times instead of having to expand them every time you enter a forum.
     
  8. dragon2309

    dragon2309 techie

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    Exactly, in my opinion the staff have tried to put too much into one space, when it was fine the way it was... ESPECIALLY the electronics and the general modding forums... they dont go together at all... The old style, even if you did have to scroll for 2 minutes to reach the end of all the sections on the forum index, gave everything its own place and it was easily "usable" because you could tell where everything is... With this new one, you have to sort of guess for the first couple of times as to where the section might have been placed. Then you have to sit there reading through some badly designed images (obviously in a rush to get this update out the door?) filter the mass gathering of threads you have found down to which ones you want to see... and then go and scroll through and find the one you want...

    IMO there was no need for such a drastic change, and expecially no need for one that goes backwards in terms of development of usability, an interface that works but was a little outdated has just been replaced with one that doesnt work how you would expect it to but looks a bit prettier... The staff could have cut down a lot of work and bother if they just tidied up the sections a bit (not nuked a whole lot of them) and then applied a newer up to date forum theme, a bit like this one but without all the added crap.

    I know I'm not alone if i start speaking about usability and efficeincy, people are in a rush these days, they dont want to search and filter through thousands of threads to find what they want, they also dont want to have to learn a new system if they come here for the first time through google, they want to point, click, open and read, then be away and gone in just as quick. First rule fo systems development "You don't ever have to reinvent the wheel" guess what BT... i think you just tried to

    dragon2309
     
  9. ch424

    ch424 Design Warrior

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    Ooooh, it's all web 2.0 and tagged rather than using folders as it was before. That's great if you know what you're looking for, but if you're just browsing it's terrible. I like all the quick quote features etc. but this is another vote against the cramming of forums. Also, regardless of if it was a community effort or not, the icons are ugly, inconsistent and hard to read.

    Someone here has "if it's not broke, fix it 'til it is" as their signature. That's what this looks like.
     
  10. Shadowed_fury

    Shadowed_fury Minimodder

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    Wow, free delivery at Scan. Nice :D
     
  11. Fr4nk

    Fr4nk Tyrannosaurus Alan !

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    Imo, the concept of "cramming" the forum together is stimulate and give you, the poster a larger varitity, over my time at Bit, I've found myself break away from hardware and overclocking, moving into video cards and then mainly lingering in the (very quite) extreme cooling forum, cramming these forums together forces you to view the other threads/forums you may not usually look into, which helps to broaden our forum views, creating a larger community atmosphere. I believe this is what the staff at Bit were looking to achieve, rather than having us all in our own forum, secluded from the rest...

    After all variety is the spice of life ^^
     
  12. Smilodon

    Smilodon The Antagonist

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    i just noticed the icons used under this sub-forum. They look good. Simple, and easily recognizable.

    I'm starting to get used to this new layout now. Still think the general section could be more divided. (especially electronics.)
     
  13. jezmck

    jezmck Minimodder

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    bit-tech staff (Jamie?), I guess you just did something (the forum was offline for a while), what was it?
    EDIT: other than using my new version of :hip: ?
     
    Last edited: 29 Jun 2007
  14. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    Fr4nk... I know where stuff is... If I want to take an interest in extreme cooling I can do it without BT ramming it down my throat.

    The whole episode just smacks of Olympic logo, except that no-one is even £400,00 quid richer...
     
  15. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    Actually, we have plenty of data to say that the old style was broken. Things were far too diluted and that meant there were some sections of the forum barely getting a hundred posts a month. That, to me, is a waste of space on the forum index, no matter how interesting the topic might be.

    What I can say now is that we're taking feedback on board regarding the number of forums but those changes won't just happen overnight. Also fwiw, multi-filtering is a feature that several of us have requested in the office too.

    Finally, having a vote right now won't really solve anything because people aren't even giving the forum a chance. It'd be the same as if we'd had a vote for reverting the site back to its old design when we changed that - those frightened of change would obviously vote against it. However, some of those people that were very vocally against the new site have actually said that they really like the design and everything made sense... it just took them some time to get used to.

    Of course, there are some flaws right now, and yes are aware of a lot of them now thanks to your feedback, but the changes aren't just going to happen at the click of my fingers. We'll be drawing up a list early next week and then decide on the next course of action then.
     
  16. Firehed

    Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match.

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    Egads, too bright! I was using Bit classic and was almost blinded by the sheer color change.

    But I got that sorted quickly. Now to reorient myself...

    AJAXey edit is nice :)
     
  17. Nath

    Nath Your appeal has already been filed.

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    How dare bit-tech make you come to their forum and read their content. HOW DARE THEY.

    Everyone said this sort of thing when bit v4 was launched and the site went all pro, yet the same people love the site as it is now. The same thing will happen within a fortnight imho.
     
  18. JADS

    JADS Et arma et verba vulnerant

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    This is awful can we at least have the option to have it as it was?

    Truly dire, so bad I am thinking of quitting the forums.
     
  19. yodasarmpit

    yodasarmpit Modder

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    Things change, some for the good, some for the bad, but I don't think the bad is worth leaving for.
     
  20. boiled_elephant

    boiled_elephant Merom Celeron 4 lyfe

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    This is very true - my knee-jerk reaction was, indeed, "Zomg! Change it back!" but thinking about it, I WAS spending way too long rutted into one particular forum or another. Maybe this'll make it easier to browse, rather than harder.

    But finding threads you've posted on before is horrible now.
     
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