New Forum Format?

[mach10]

Okay I like this forum enough to offer any ideas.

Alternate formats for viewing threads.

I don't know if you want to make this forum more friendly than it already is, I read of problems arizing with the influx of new members. Maybe the format is already too friendly....

But anyway, thinking in terms of user interface, and the different way people prefer scrolling and clicking and reloading and not.

Would this be an area worth exploring?

If so, people can offer ideas of forum formats that they like or prefer.

Personally, I'd prefer the exact same info, but in a less click and scroll type of interface. More like a game, that moves quickly through the forum where you can stop and type or read much faster.

There are programs that can handle this type of information to be played at game speeds.

 

[Splitz]

 

[JayP146]

This is vBulletin, not your iPhone. You can only do so much to improve the interface.

FWIW this is one of the better implementations of vBulletin I've seen on the internets...

 

[theSTEREO.]

So.... you want RCF to be more like..... an arcade?

I'm confused.

 

[mach10]

Okay, I've figured out what I mean.

Forget all the video game talk. For now...

I like the way this forum is setup, so it's not necessarily the format that could be changed.

What I think could be improved is the reading of the forum.

There seems to be a lot of blank space. By that I mean I am constantly scrolling to read posts, when in fact the content (if text) of about 10 different posts could actually all fit onto one page (on my screen without scrolling).

Maybe the personalities thing is a big part of the forum, so I don't want to knock it. But if you scroll up on this very page (post #3 for example), the actual content of what is written makes up a very small percentage of the space taken up by the posts.

While the info on the left is interesting, like name, status, join date, posts, location, rep power, favorite cav, fav past cav, thanks, thanked, rep power, and energy meters and golden peni, that info along with the avatar creates a big gap of space in the text portion of each post.

It might be more user friendly showing just the name of the poster (so the height of the thread could be severely reduced). This would allow more text from different posts to be read all on the same page. At the same time, that info could be more efficiently displayed width-wise rather than height-wise. OR, like a VIDEO GAME (for lack of a better metaphor), maybe you could scroll the mouse over the person's name and all that info instantly pops up.

Part of the charm of this forum is the avatars and golden peni. But when just trying to read a bunch of posts and get folks' viewpoints quickly, it feels like constant interaction with my keyboard. I scroll or page down just to read two lines of content in some cases. Then there are page numbers to click on, which is fine, but I feel like we could fit so much more on each page and each screen.

I know this is coming off as just a personal request for my own preference. But maybe some other people feel the same way, so I'm putting it out there. If enough people would like to make the content more concise, perhaps having an alternate be an OPTION that could be set as a personal preference could be a possibility.

I don't know if the forum must be displayed the same way to every reader, or if computers are advanced enough to give people options on how they view what they're reading.

In fact I offer very little in the area of solutions to my request. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if this is something anybody has considered.

Either way I just want to say the forum pretty darn good. Mods do good work putting things in the right places. The categories keep things focused, which I like.

I'm not focused right now though, so my apologies if this is all incoherent rambling.

 

[mach10]

oops...

 

[Aussie]

 

[TheAdmin]

You have two options to help you get rid of the "blank spaces" your talking about.

1) User CP> Edit Options> uncheck avatars, signatures and images. This will reduce blank space by 75%

2) Use the RCF Mobile Skin 2 which can be located by scrolling to the bottom of this page.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

For every person that wants less white space, I can show you someone that likes the breaks in type.

 

[mach10]

Thank you Ben!

I tried both options, and like the first one most. Also, the display # of "posts per page" is something I maximized that will save me some reload time as well.

Fantastic that these are all options for us users. Heck of a Cavs forum...

Thanks.

 

[Jon]

Yep, I've had the avatars and sigs disabled for years. It might also help if you get a wider monitor and one of mice with the smooth scrolling, fly weight action, scroll wheels like the Logitech MX Revolution.

 

[DougHeil]

Yes indeed.

I learned years ago that one must check out everything involved with a new forums you may wish to contribute to. That means everything. Check your control panel. Check all the options, etc. Wonders never cease to amaze the vast amount of information you can find, and even info that answers lots of questions, if only you just take a few minutes to check first. Read the FAQ section as well.

I love new threads and love questions as well. I guess I'm an old fart at VB forum software, so I've "been there done that" a few times when it comes to threads like this.

I do agree with a post above; this is certainly one of the nicer implementations I've seen with the VB software. Now if I could get the admin responsible for all the graphics, etc, to do my forums as well. lol

 

[mach10]

Yes indeed.

I learned years ago that one must check out everything involved with a new forums you may wish to contribute to. That means everything. Check your control panel. Check all the options, etc. Wonders never cease to amaze the vast amount of information you can find, and even info that answers lots of questions, if only you just take a few minutes to check first. Read the FAQ section as well.
]l

While in theory I agree with this, and feel it would save other people time from my questions, no.

That would be like reading the directions every time I got a new Transformer as a kid, or played a new Nintendo game.

I got them cus I wanted to play. Not because I wanted to read.

"If I wanted to read, I'd go to school." -Butthead

In fact that's why I'm glad Eyenga hasn't had a translator there the first few games. Let him figure some stuff out first. Then add to it with instructions later.

 

[DougHeil]

While in theory I agree with this, and feel it would save other people time from my questions, no.

That would be like reading the directions every time I got a new Transformer as a kid, or played a new Nintendo game.

I got them cus I wanted to play. Not because I wanted to read.

"If I wanted to read, I'd go to school." -Butthead

In fact that's why I'm glad Eyenga hasn't had a translator there the first few games. Let him figure some stuff out first. Then add to it with instructions later.

Oh, I'm not knocking you or this thread. Just making some observations from one who has been on the admin side of things for years and has answered your question maybe a thousand times, that's all. And yes, I understand the example of the game you get as a kid, and just want to play it. What's ironic however is the fact members have to read the posts in here anyway, so reading a few more things like your control panel is no big thing.

Don't mind me; I'm just a grumpy o'l man.

 

[mach10]

No, I was just joking (except for the Eyenga part).

Reading the ins and outs of the forum would be the responsible thing to do, I agree.

Thanks for the input btw. I agree with you more than you know.

I'm really impressed with how many options we have on this forum. It's not common, as you know, so I never guessed these options would be here before I asked for the change, or options to change.

This forum is ahead of the class.