Poll: How do you browse TL? (Vote): I use the 5 topic tabs on the left side bar. (Vote): I click on the forums tab on the top bar and use the index. (Vote): I'm confused and don't realize those are the only 2 ways to do it.
There has been a lot of talk about this between staff and many of us are very distressed at the fact that people don't use the forums index.
The best topics are rarely just in the top 5 threads in the left side tab. Start using the forums index (click on "forum" on the top bar of the site) and enjoy everything that the site can offer.
And one final poll, just out of curiosity.
Poll: How would you feel if the forum tabs on the left side were taken away? (Vote): I wouldn't really care either way. (Vote): I love those tabs dearly, and would cry if they left me. (Vote): I'd love to see something else there. Get rid of em!
I use the forum page to see what's new, but the tabs on the left are good to see when someone replied to a certain thread without having to go back to the forum page. I use them both equally I guess.
On January 27 2007 12:26 Beyonder wrote: I use both Index & the left side, and I would die without the tabs on the left.
qft
i have it set to view last 20 posts, so if i see an interesting topic that just updated when i'm on TL i use the stuff on the left for easy access to the last page. ditto if i want to create a new topic (click tab => new topic)
otherwise i go to the forum index page. some people who don't do that don't realize that they miss out on certain, uh, relaxing forums
but i wish website feedback/closed threads were also expanded on the left side
On January 27 2007 12:28 greatmeh wrote: i use both, if there is no interesting thread to look at on the left, ill click the forum button and see slightly further :p
Same more or less I use the forum index when I want to see the latest people that were banned too
On January 27 2007 12:28 greatmeh wrote: i use both, if there is no interesting thread to look at on the left, ill click the forum button and see slightly further :p
index only (also my tl.net bookmar is set on the forum index), because it's much more practical. first of all you get a way better overview this way and you also see all the forums. I don't use the navigation on the left ever, except for news and replays.
The nav bar at the left side shows some of the most rescent threads and everything. It is by far the most useful(not best) thing on this website. Wayy better than search function.
I fucking hate the serach function! It sucks soo bad T_T
Im aware that not everything is displayed on it and i usually use the index to reach the two extra forums, but being able to shift betwen threads whilst being inside a thread is vital. I also often click the subforum overviews for progress on threads i saw earlier on. Anyway the side bar definitely needs to stay
Also, if its space that is needed then the same could be acheived by designing the website for a 1280 horizontal resolution or making it resize automatically like liquidpoker does. The tab makes just casual browsing much more pleasant.
Things that are obviously time-intensive updates would be collapsing sections on the left and and option to show more threads than currently. Replay section could also go on the right-hand side
I almost always use the left side if I want something interesting to read here. The only time I use the links on the top is when I'm looking for a recent thread I was reading that got moved out of the top 5.
Usually I'm just drifting through here so I only check the tabs on the left. If I want to view a whole forum I'll still use the tab to see all the topic in that forum rather than going to the forum index. So I'd definitely hate to see them go.
I actually use all of the above, tabs, forum index, search, etc. More options would be a good thing, but deleting the tabs or the forum index would be disastrous.
Just to clarify, we're not going to change the site's design. Ideas are always being thrown around and I was just curious as to how people felt about it, that's all.
When I'm browsing around, I use the index thing, but if I'm short on time, I'll just click on one or two of the ones I follow (if they aren't on the top 5, I'll likely close my browser and go off to wherever I need to be)
How I browse TL.net actually depends on how much time I have.
If I'm short on time, I only use the tabbed five topics on the left margin of the page.
If I have more time I go to the forum menu which lists the top ten topics for every forum.
If I have a lot of time to waste, I visit each forum and get a full page of topics to browse.
I think the tabbed forum menus at the left margin should stay, because they provide you with a way of quickly checking what topics are hot when you're short on time.
whywhywhy, there is zero advantage in using the left tabs. They have much less information than the forum index and if you want to see whole of one single forum you have to click once anyway - whether you use the tab overview or the forum index. Not to mention the top5 threads are often enough not the best/most popular/most interesting threads.
On January 27 2007 13:27 Carnac wrote: whywhywhy, there is zero advantage in using the left tabs. They have much less information than the forum index and if you want to see whole of one single forum you have to click once anyway - whether you use the tab overview or the forum index. Not to mention the top5 threads are often enough not the best/most popular/most interesting threads.
Well, let's say you're in forum A and then suddenly wants to check forum B (happens pretty often to me).
If you want to check the hot threads only, you don't even need to click anywhere (and I personally don't care about all the additional info except maybe who started it... which I'll discover by reading it the first time anyway).
Now if you want to see the whole forum (or more than the first few active ones), why bother going through the index when you've got a direct link anyway? :o
In both cases there's one less click needed. Which is a lot of clicks when you're browsing kinda randomly (as I personally often do).
I always used the tabs on the left. I middle click all the forum headings there to open up tabs of each of them in Firefox. I never noticed the Forum index link before this thread.
I like the left tabs when Im just casually browsing, and then go through the index if Im bored and want to see beyond the first five topics for each forum.
On January 27 2007 12:55 DTDominion wrote: Usually I'm just drifting through here so I only check the tabs on the left. If I want to view a whole forum I'll still use the tab to see all the topic in that forum rather than going to the forum index. So I'd definitely hate to see them go.
Yeah, clicking on "Forum" even when you're looking for a topic not in the top 5 of that category is slower because you need to scroll down if it's not in the featured or general.
I don't think I clicked the links on the left side more than like 3 times EVER in my life.
The Forum index gives you so much more info - you know if someone has posted something new, you know how popular a topic is at a glance, you get to see more recent posts, you can see the 4 forums that are not listed on the left side, etc etc... Why settle for less if you can have more?
That would actually be extremely useful if it was updated in real time, because you could just make a script that would parse the thing and make your own version of tl.net. The problem with it is that it updates really slow and it doesnt have the forum category next to each thread.
I click on these when i'm scrolling through tl.net.
General Brood War Tourney Strategy Sports & Games
That way I see more than the top 5. I thought I only use the top bar to click on "Forum" when I want to see if there's any cute closed threads that look interesting.
People are saying you can't see the entire forum from the tab views, only the top 5 threads. This I don't understand because if you click on the name of the tab you go directly into the forum, allowing you to skip the forum index page altogether and yet still get all the info you need about that particular forum.
On the left tab are links to News, Featured Threads, General, Broodwar, Tourneys, Strategy, Sports Games, Replays, Website Feedback, and Closed. In the Forum index are Featured Threads, General forum, Brood War, Tourneys & Leagues, Strategy, Sports & Games, Website Feedback, and Closed. The Forum index has longer names for General, Broodwar, and Tourneys, but lacks a link to News (which doesn't matter as it is listed in the top left, below the banner).
Unless you count the Site Map, or perhaps some hidden moderator forum, I see no difference. What am I missing?
In response to Bockit, that is how I browse the forums. I open a tab for the major forum sections linked to on the left.
Most polls in our community are for entertainment, or a way of manipulating public opinion. Poll making, when you want accurate answers is very tricky business. You have to try and leave no uncertainties in the choices; they have to be dead simple and leave little to the imagination. If you want no bias you need to make every option as neutral as possible. Emotional or catchy phrases must be avoided and the order of the question is always critical. There is a lot of research and method behind good poll taking. Also note to that people in general oppose change regardless its intrinsic value if there is not previous debate. Also no one is immune to poll bias; I just voted for options that I did not agree with! Duh!
Just spoilarize everything, and open more space up for more front page one click content! Those left tabs are useful, but mainly for new users or less active users - but if you spoilarize them you can shrink them to merely one inch of vertical space, leaving more free front space. One thing I do know, if you remove the direct, one click, access to top 5 main threads from front page - forums will hurt. It always results in less participation. That is why spoilarizing them is such a sweet solution, because you get best of both worlds, more space for more variety in content, and you still have that one click welcome into the forums!
On January 27 2007 13:01 zdd wrote: I actually use all of the above, tabs, forum index, search, etc. More options would be a good thing, but deleting the tabs or the forum index would be disastrous.
Yeah, what he said. It's nice to be able to see at a glance which threads have been bumped without having to open up the forum index, but I use pretty much everything. Well, everything except that one link up top that says "Logout".
You know how on LP.net you can collapse a section of the forums. Well make a button like that that would extend one of the forums in the left bar.
So say instead of showing 5 topics, it unfolds to show 15 topics from that section. Then when you are done with that forum, you just collapse it again to show only 5 topics.
I don't click just the topics that are in top 5, I just use the sidebar to go to specific forums, I'll click the general bar and scroll through general, etc.
I rarely click the 'Forum' Index at the top but I do click on the Indexes on the left (i.e. General, Broodwar, Tourneys etc). I don't miss many threads in those 5+2 Forums but I don't see any other Forums (normally just Lounge - wtf? just saw that - and Feedback).
On January 27 2007 12:32 Carnac wrote: index only (also my tl.net bookmar is set on the forum index), because it's much more practical. first of all you get a way better overview this way and you also see all the forums. I don't use the navigation on the left ever, except for news and replays.
I almost completely agree with you. I sometimes (rarely though) use the left navigation bar, not to click on actual threads, but to click on one of the forums and have the complete list of the threads therein.
-_______- No one does. You click on the board heading listed on the left to view the entirety of that board instead of using the Forum index to see the top ten discussions of every board on one page.
I dont know if i posted here yet. but i usually click the "General" and "Brood War" buttons on the left tab to view the main forum page and then browse from there.
I actually go to forum button and then get into the forum listing for the past 30 days for each subject. I used to use the 5 tabs on the side about 4 years ago until I realized that there is a larger listing when you click the forum button.
EPT
