Urggghhhh...

bompington

I'm a bit taken aback by some of the reactions: perhaps a few people need to go and read Who moved my cheese?
It really isn't that ugly, hard to read, or unuseable: it definitely does need a few tweaks.
I've been thinking of installing the "CommercialStopper" Chrome plugin* for a while, and the annoying ads on this site very quickly made me do it, and I am delighted with the results - not just on this site of course.


*not its real name. What is the problem with **Nobody likes ads so we do indeed have the class not to whine about them, we just install a d bl0cker** anyway?

bompington

josnor wrote:

I'm a bit loathe to implement opening links in new tabs/windows as it's generally considered bad usability/accessibility practice.

By whom? Have you tried asking your users?

Pseudonym

josnor wrote:

Did you know you can open links in a new tab by middle-clicking on a three-button mouse?

or just hit the 'ctrl' key while clicking....

I've come down with a cold in the last 24 hours, which I blame firmly on the new forum software...

josnor

bompington wrote:

josnor wrote:

I'm a bit loathe to implement opening links in new tabs/windows as it's generally considered bad usability/accessibility practice.

By whom? Have you tried asking your users?

By one of the foremost experts on web usability, Jakob Nielsen

Pseudonym

josnor wrote:

By one of the foremost experts on web usability, Jakob Nielsen

does he ride a bike though..?

willhub

I'd argue that Nielsen's page on usability is abit dated (1999), times have changed, we have tabbed browsing. I'm sure I'm not the only person that prefers some pages to open in a new window.

josnor

willhub wrote:

I'd argue that Nielsen's page on usability is abit dated (1999), times have changed, we have tabbed browsing. I'm sure I'm not the only person that prefers some pages to open in a new window.

I went on a Nielsen Norman usability conference about a year ago and they were saying exactly the same thing based on much more recent data.

EDIT: If you want links to open in a new window, force them to by middle/ctrl-clicking

--Darren--

josnor wrote:

Did you know you can open links in a new tab by middle-clicking on a three-button mouse?

I'm a bit loathe to implement opening links in new tabs/windows as it's generally considered bad usability/accessibility practice.

Yes, knew about using the middle mouse button.

Quite a few posts on here have links to external sites, from a users point of view find it easier just opening a new tab and viewing that page, sometimes will click on a link on that page, and can still have the original BR page open in a tab if I wish to continue browsing, just find it easy navigating. Purely a personal view, but have seen some best practices which favour it....

MattC59

josnor wrote:

bompington wrote:

josnor wrote:

I'm a bit loathe to implement opening links in new tabs/windows as it's generally considered bad usability/accessibility practice.

By whom? Have you tried asking your users?

By one of the foremost experts on web usability, Jakob Nielsen

1) To reiterate the question above; "Have you tried asking any of your users?"
2) Does Jakob Nielsen use this forum ?
3) Does he have any info which is a little more up to date than 1999 ?
4) Is point 2 of Jakob Nielson's 'top ten' somewhat out of date a d subjective ?
5) When I follow a link, then navigate through a few pages from that link, do I want to have to press back several times to get back to BR ?
6) Has BR then logged me out when I return ? Yes (I know I can set it to log me in automatically, but you're not making life easy for your users)
7) Did I just follow the Jakob Nieslen link, then close the window to return here, only to find I'd inadvertantly closed IE ? Yes.
8) Are we having a go at you personally ? No
9) Should you have read point 10 of Jakon Nielson's 'top 10'; specifically: "it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements".

The main thing I noticed which isn't good, is the layout of the forum home page. This is exactly the sort of layout which puts me off when I'm looking for info on other forums. It's not conducive to attracting new members.

ps: is it possible to type 8 ) together, as per the above list, without getting a smiley ?

Cleat Eastwood

nielsens talking about opening a new window, which is a bit rubbish. tabbed browsing is now the default for most IDEs so why not implement its usage on here. Interestingly (well to me anyway), I went a=to a digital conference yesterday at FACT and one key speaker spoke about the need to keep info tabbed so quick comparisons can be made; it makes new webby ideas easier to sell to clients. I use another forum which opens the new page in the parent page and like matt said its nearly always the case of having to back track or inadvertently closing the page which can be a right bum nut.

Anyway the new scheme is growing on me. I looked at the page through safari with no Ad Bolker installed and the ad across the messages is really off putting, I know it pays the bills, but if loads of forumites exit BR exactly what do you sell to advertisers then?

I'm just disappointed there are no new smilies of girls in knitwear. :P :!: :x :evil: :twisted:

josnor

MattC59 wrote:

1) To reiterate the question above; "Have you tried asking any of your users?"

No, we haven't done any usability testing of our own on this

2) Does Jakob Nielsen use this forum ?

You're implying that this forum's users behave unlike any those of other website out there. It's entirely possible this is true, but it's much more likely it's not

3) Does he have any info which is a little more up to date than 1999 ?

See my post above

4) Is point 2 of Jakob Nielson's 'top ten' somewhat out of date a d subjective ?

Obviously some of it comes down to user preference, but his judgements are based on huge amounts of data: the conference I went on alone was based on observing 3,830 people using 1,314 different websites, and his company does this at least every few of years.

8) Are we having a go at you personally ? No

I realise this

9) Should you have read point 10 of Jakon Nielson's 'top 10'; specifically: "it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements".

I think he's talking about designs which aren't meant to be advertisements that look like advertisements I'd dearly love to have some better looking ads on the site, but unfortunately I have zero control over that, and neither do the editorial team.

The main thing I noticed which isn't good, is the layout of the forum home page. This is exactly the sort of layout which puts me off when I'm looking for info on other forums. It's not conducive to attracting new members.

What exactly is it that you don't like? Please feel free to suggest constructive improvements. We aren't a complete autocracy!

Jeff Jones

Ginjafro wrote:

Am I missing something? The "Forum" bit/tempter/teaser with the headings on the bottom left of the Home page, to grab your interest, has now gone. So instead of a funny/obscure/provocative/weird/igorant thread title to grab my attention, nothing, niet, nada! Instead, it seems I have to trawl a bland index to find my BR gold, what a load of Sh1t. Come on BR lets have the forum tempter/teaser back where it was.

I noticed that yesterday. It will be reinstated

--Darren--

3) Does Jakob Nielsen have any info which is a little more up to date than 1999 ?

Soooo last century...

MattC59

josnor wrote:

The main thing I noticed which isn't good, is the layout of the forum home page. This is exactly the sort of layout which puts me off when I'm looking for info on other forums. It's not conducive to attracting new members.

What exactly is it that you don't like? Please feel free to suggest constructive improvements. We aren't a complete autocracy!

For me, I think it's the way it scans. ie:the pic below of the menu forum home page is just a lot of words, the format doesn't scan well. As per point 4) here: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html but that could just be me :?

rick_chasey

@MattC59 - Disgaree. That's the best bit.

Straight to where you want to go.

rolf_f

bompington wrote:

I'm a bit taken aback by some of the reactions: perhaps a few people need to go and read Who moved my cheese?
It really isn't that ugly, hard to read, or unuseable: it definitely does need a few tweaks.

Who moved my cheese is always good advice. In my case however, it is a case of 'who moved the thread I was about to post in which vanished along with at least 50% of the threads when I logged in!'

I can see lots of big blue squares and if I scroll down a mile or so, some of the threads with gaps where the missing ones were. I could live with the appearance if the functionality was still there!

schweiz

MattC59 wrote:

josnor wrote:

The main thing I noticed which isn't good, is the layout of the forum home page. This is exactly the sort of layout which puts me off when I'm looking for info on other forums. It's not conducive to attracting new members.

What exactly is it that you don't like? Please feel free to suggest constructive improvements. We aren't a complete autocracy!

For me, I think it's the way it scans. ie:the pic below of the menu forum home page is just a lot of words, the format doesn't scan well. As per point 4) here: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html but that could just be me :?

It was this Board Index page together with the scrolling pink icons next to the thread titles that caused me to start this thread. I still haven't worked out why some are scrolling but I'm guessing it's got something to do with whether it's the thread is being read/replied to at that moment. The only thing that I need to know is if the thread contains new posts which is covered by the icon turning pink.

I do think links should open in a new tab. Using style guidelines from 12 years ago is not a good reason to justify the way links are opened seeing as our user interface (i.e. tabbed browsing) has changed in that time. The BBC are still claiming following these old 'rules' too and it's just as annoying.

garrynolan

Jeff Jones wrote:

Ginjafro wrote:

Am I missing something? The "Forum" bit/tempter/teaser with the headings on the bottom left of the Home page, to grab your interest, has now gone. So instead of a funny/obscure/provocative/weird/igorant thread title to grab my attention, nothing, niet, nada! Instead, it seems I have to trawl a bland index to find my BR gold, what a load of Sh1t. Come on BR lets have the forum tempter/teaser back where it was.

I noticed that yesterday. It will be reinstated

Asked this before - any chance of putting the Forum section with each bit/tempter/teaser? You know - is it in Road, MTB, Commuting etc. Would be helpful - if I see someone looking for help with say, What tyre? - I click on it to assist and it's an MTB tyre (of which I know nothing), I've wasted my time. Not a huge issue but every little helps.

Kaise

well then, nobody likes change, this is for certain!

I can live with the adverts, the header page means it is actually easier to navigate and the site loads twice as fast on my iPhone 4** when i'm sat in trap one at work which is always useful!

The addition of uploading attachements is easier and looks cleaner as the resize to fit when someone decuides to stick a 3000x4000 picture on the forum meaning you have scroll bars (left & right) mid thread which is more annoying than adverts.

Remember this site is given to us free, gratis, the ask you for nothing in return other than to obey the t&c's so the addition of adverts to the site to help keep the site running in the light of the inevitable drop in magazine sales caused by t' interwebnet isnt suprising.

**Other smart phones are available

I think the BR team have done a great job so far and it'll only continue to grow in its membership as the wealth of knowledge held here is second to none, the membership provides advice and comment on any topic and there is always someone out there to help.

so i think peeps need to chill out and give it a bit of time instead of shouting "i dont like it mum, i want something else" whilst throwing their toys out of the pram.

garrynolan

--Darren-- wrote:

Seem to remember that when you clicked on a link, it would open in a new tab, this version seems to open in the current tab

Can this be fixed?

Yes please to this request - keep closing the page - not happy and definately not an improvement on the old style.

Frank the tank

I prefered the old style forum.

Kendal Black Drop

josnor: if you are going to cite Jakob Nielsen perhaps you could see point 3 from his 2005 list and get rid of the scrolling lines in the circle on the left hand side of the list of threads.

Don't make your pages move. It doesn't increase users' attention, it drives them away;

I'm using Firefox and pressing Esc stops the movement (a technique that works for well 'freezing' animated smilies). Can you tell us what the scrolling signifies?

DIESELDOG

@ Kaise...

What adverts?

Love n hugs

DD

Cleat Eastwood

DIESELDOG wrote:

@ Kaise...

What adverts?

Love n hugs

DD

if you havent got any kind of ad bolker installed theres a whopping great banner across the centre of the page which cuts across the amusing and often interesting posts on here.....which is fine on a thread about 'help me with my uni survey', but it's a real distraction in the girls in lycra.

Also what happens if you put a member (ooer missus) in the foes list and they put you in the friends list- does the internet break?

jimmythecuckoo

Any ideas on when the big blue box that covers half the page will be removed when viewing on IE?

It seems to be ok until you log in if that helps the team.

Kaise

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Any ideas on when the big blue box that covers half the page will be removed when viewing on IE?

It seems to be ok until you log in if that helps the team.

if you have this button;


click it and the blue box should disappear...........

hope that helps

EKIMIKE

Is it me, well it must be because i don't see it mentioned previously but:

The combination of blue and pink/pink hue is mortally offensive to my eyes. It's giving me a headache. No, i'm not exaggerating.

Is there any way to change this? I honestly can't spend more than 5 mins on here without feeling dizzy.

thepeopleschamp

EKIMIKE wrote:

The combination of blue and pink/pink hue is mortally offensive to my eyes. It's giving me a headache. No, i'm not exaggerating.

Is there any way to change this? I honestly can't spend more than 5 mins on here without feeling dizzy.

I'd give InjuryLawyers4u a ring if I were you. Remember, where there's blame there's a claim.

jimmythecuckoo

Kaise wrote:

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Any ideas on when the big blue box that covers half the page will be removed when viewing on IE?

It seems to be ok until you log in if that helps the team.

if you have this button;


click it and the blue box should disappear...........

hope that helps

sadly the version of IE we run at work doesnt have compatability mode

DavidBelcher

noiseboyfeetman wrote:

Bang! And the ads are gone, that's better!

You are Barry Scott, and I claim my £5.

David