Few suggestions....
05-24-02, 12:43 AM
#1
Mod Emeritus
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,325
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Few suggestions....
1. Can you make the happy smiley with his tongue out usable under both lower case and upper case "p". So :P = 
2. The search feature is a pain in the ass to use. No only do you have to search for it on the screen when you need to use it, you also need to specify what forum you want to use it on. I have seen other vBulletin forums have a single search text box that says "Search this forum". So that kills two birds with one stone. I think it would result in less redundant threads since people will use the search engine more. Put it above or below the Price Search Engine (which I have never used, what exactly would I be searching for? very ambiguous search engines go unused).
2.5 In the vein of suggestion 2, could you make the "User CP" (my first though is what the heck is that?) "Register", "Members" (a cute utility but very useless, maybe it doesn't need to be there?), "FAQ" (FAQ for what topic? needs to be less ambiguous), "Search", and "Home" buttons iconic + textual in appearance instead of the same look. I think that would make them more user friendly.
This may come across as complaining, and I'm sure some people won't agree with me (probably Twikoff and/or Joshhinkle ), but after having studied several web usability books, primarily "don't make me think", these suggestions come from that experience. I think the second one especially would make a big impact on the forum. The first one is no biggie, just makes sense, and 2.5 is probably not that big a deal, it just comes down to making your forum easier to use. The little ideas such as "FAQ for what?" and "Price Search for what?" would be a little effort but go a long way in terms of usability.
Tell me what you think Geoff. I am a web site developer/designer so I have experience with this sort of thing.
2. The search feature is a pain in the ass to use. No only do you have to search for it on the screen when you need to use it, you also need to specify what forum you want to use it on. I have seen other vBulletin forums have a single search text box that says "Search this forum". So that kills two birds with one stone. I think it would result in less redundant threads since people will use the search engine more. Put it above or below the Price Search Engine (which I have never used, what exactly would I be searching for? very ambiguous search engines go unused).
2.5 In the vein of suggestion 2, could you make the "User CP" (my first though is what the heck is that?) "Register", "Members" (a cute utility but very useless, maybe it doesn't need to be there?), "FAQ" (FAQ for what topic? needs to be less ambiguous), "Search", and "Home" buttons iconic + textual in appearance instead of the same look. I think that would make them more user friendly.
This may come across as complaining, and I'm sure some people won't agree with me (probably Twikoff and/or Joshhinkle
), but after having studied several web usability books, primarily "don't make me think", these suggestions come from that experience. I think the second one especially would make a big impact on the forum. The first one is no biggie, just makes sense, and 2.5 is probably not that big a deal, it just comes down to making your forum easier to use. The little ideas such as "FAQ for what?" and "Price Search for what?" would be a little effort but go a long way in terms of usability.Tell me what you think Geoff. I am a web site developer/designer so I have experience with this sort of thing.
05-24-02, 12:54 AM
#3
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Texas, our Texas! All hail the mighty state!
Posts: 12,842
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Re: Few suggestions....
Originally posted by Gallant Pig
2.5 In the vein of suggestion 2, could you make the "User CP" (my first though is what the heck is that?)
2.5 In the vein of suggestion 2, could you make the "User CP" (my first though is what the heck is that?)
05-24-02, 12:57 AM
#4
Mod Emeritus
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,325
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by X
1. :P
2. Look harder. Try the bottom of the page of threads where it says "Search this Forum:"
:P
1. :P
2. Look harder. Try the bottom of the page of threads where it says "Search this Forum:"
:P
In that case, it should defintely be displayed more prominantly. It's a great feature.
Looking at it further, I think I see why I never noticed it. On site header, the "Forum Jump" is balanced with the "Price Search" on the other side. I think my brain natually assumed this to be the case for the page footer. Now looking at it though, it isn't in that bad a spot, it's just kinda hard to notice. I still think it would look fine directly below the price search.
X, aren't you a web developer, any input?
05-24-02, 01:01 AM
#6
Mod Emeritus
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,325
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Re: Few suggestions....
Originally posted by Static Cling
User Control Panel. Not sure if you knew that already or not, though.
User Control Panel. Not sure if you knew that already or not, though.
I'm just thinking aloud.
05-24-02, 01:05 AM
#8
Administrator
You're probably right about the search going on the top of the page. The problem I see is that most people will still not bother using it before creating new threads and will and let the mods sort out the repetitious ones. Not that I really use it a lot myself, it's more of an I-know-it's-here type search for me.
