Looks like I’m the 1st (correct me if I’m wrong) to comment here on the new forum style. I do like it & Dare I say this, it is very reminiscent of the forum style of “another distro” which is IMO a good thing. I can just point & click instead of scroll to where I want to go. That’s a definite improvement. Good Job! Well done! To all those who did this.
Maybe more people here would like this move to change the layout. But personally i don’t like it, i was used to see the latest posts/threads at the main/home page and navigate from there, but now has to open each forum in new tab or has to come back to home page. 
Anyway Great job and appreciate the hard work.
Looks like I’m the 1st (correct me if I’m wrong) to comment here on the new forum style.
correct
Like the new forum layout? - openSUSE Forums
I personally don’t mind the layout as the only function I need is “New Posts”, but I think it’s a good idea to let n00bs find their way a little easier.
Yeah I found that thread 5 minutes after I posted this one. Isn’t ignorance amazing?
Hey mmarif4u,
>but now has to open each
>forum in new tab or has to come back to home page.
FYI the headers of each section are clickable and you can view the new
posts in each section similar to what you saw before on the home page.
It’s always a tradeoff between functionality and simplicity. We have to
give in one area to gain in another. I suspect that once you get used
to this new layout, you won’t mind it so much.
–
Kim - 4/7/2010 9:30:30 AM
I also like the new layout. It doesn’t take forever to scroll anymore. You can see all the sub-forums easily. I think its brilliant. Nice job.
Hi, Thanks Kim, i notice that after posting that post. But still miss the latest posts/threads at the home page and with current activities. Hope will be fine after some time when things sorted out.
Ok so we have two threads talking about the new forum. here and in surveys.
great job on the restructure of links, my grand-niece of 9 asks why can’t Linux people spell but I didn’t see any errors. She also thinks font is too small but someone on the other post said just teach her to use ctrl (+) to increase size.
After second look, it’s a little lack-luster without any sign at the top page that we are strong, active and growing. Something should be up near the top to indicate they have come to large active community.
my 2cents worth
IMHO this appears to be the main valid criticism.
Also IMHO from a functional perspective, the new format is a SIGNIFICANT improvement over the old. With the NEW its a LOT easier for new users to spot the new user faq area. This was incredibly difficult to get agreement on, as the more experienced users kept wanting to put the NEW area further down from the main help, and hence it would be harder to see. Its also possible to see ALL areas on the screen and hence hopefully REDUCE the number of posts in wrong areas because a user was too lazy to scroll.
Increased FONTS would push menu items OFF the main page (as would a main home page post count) and it would again IMHO lead to user laziness (to find the correct area) hitting us a lot harder once again.
Perhaps we just need a better colour selection.
Hence I for one am against increased fonts that push the menu’s off the page. I am also against post counts on the main page that push the menu’s off the page.
The old format, while aesthetically pleasing, simply did not IMHO work for new users. I prefer functionality over non-functionality, and the old was in many ways non-functional.
A thought … why can’t we just do something like up on the first line say how many members (taken from the bottom of page) and the welcome to newest member. Ok scrap my thought, I just noticed that when we go to a forum post, that top line changes to reflect the path spec to the post.
But some simple color change might make it more interesting.
I gather that getting a consensus from experienced users might be too tall an order based on some of more repugnant posts I have seen. ie: “if they can’t see were an active community when they come here for the first time then they are too stupid for Linux and should return to M$ blue or red”. Thusly, it would seem that some have the feeling that they never had to start somewhere, they always were guru’s … NOT!
@techwiz03
It’s good to see you having some input in the forum again and I see you make some valid comments. It’s unfortunate that some assume a lofty position and seek to intimidate new users, but it’s a fact of life, sure enough. We do our best to keep such things under control to the extent that our forum T&C permit.
If I can carry on from your comment of Biblical origin (fishing). One of the best ways to divert a negative push in a thread is to take a positive step, (ignore the temptation to add fuel to the fire) and keep things going in the right direction.
I’m not as keen on this new forum setup. But I go along with it in the hope that it is better for the ones it’s aimed at helping the most.
This is real good advice. Its difficult to do, but it can be very successful in many cases.
I have to agree that we need to do more on the new format to give it a bit more pizazz (so to speak).
Its important I think to know that with our current moderator/admin mix, we are more amiable to change than we have ever been in the past.
From what I recollect, the idea of putting the “New User” section up front has always been a very hot and emotional topic, and came up many times during the merge discussions (when we were 3 separate forums) and some of those who are no longer part of our team, had very strong views that we need to make the “New User” area more prominent. They were very concerned the forum format would be “fixed in stone” and never changed. And hence when the “New User” area was not visible enough in the initial forum proposals, there was some discontent in this area.
I think this recent change shows things are not “fixed in stone” and that there is an overall agreement to attempt to move forward, even if it appears we take “one step backward” in some areas at the same time as we take “two steps foward” in other areas. We all definitely want to see an improvement.
I don’t like it either, it’s clearly more longwinded and tedious this way
Also, as was already mentioned in the other thread, the forum looks pretty dead this way, not very inviting.
The bigger the fonts, the more white space is required. To improve clarity, increasing white space can be more effective than increasing font size. For example, are the commas really necessary between subforum names when you already have an icon as a delimiter? If possible replace them with blank space. :\
A few points:
In the forums panel you still have the headings: Last post, Threads and Posts. Looks like they were missed in the template change.
Also why not have tooltips for the forums so that newbies can see what sorts of topics belong in that forum? The status of the forum (new posts, no new posts, closed) can go there instead of taking up space with large icons at the bottom of the page. And is it possible to ensure that the icon stays with the title on the same line instead of being subject to line breaking? This happens to the Looking For Something Other Than Support? link. While we are on that, that category could be the subject of a renaming competition. What a mouthful.
And News doesn’t have to be the first category. I think it could be pushed down to third place. How many newbies come to the forum and say hey I must read the News first? People who want news know where to find it.
And I don’t think it should be rigid that the front page must fit on one screen. Screens differ in size anyway. It would not fit on a portable screen. Users know to scroll. As long as it doesn’t stretch down 4 or 5 pages like before.
Can’t we have both?
An ‘use classic layout’ option would be nice to have. I think this is a step back in terms of usability, although I’m sure I’m a special case.
With a 1900*1200 resolution there wasn’t much to scroll anyway and instead of a nice visual grid I get to interpret quickly on first glance I now have… chaos.
And with the now missing description of what forums/subforums are for I bet we’ll see an increase with posts in the wrong part of the forum.
Coming at this from my positive vote in the poll, that I still support and in addition to my suggestion above, but having now used the new home panel more, I must strongly agree with these points quoted above from @ken_yap. Especially the last point, and yes, the removal of much scrolling has been productive (IMO and in practice).
A useful technique, often employed by the salesman to avoid dealing with an objection that cannot be answered directly. Unfortunately, also over-used nowadays by politicians and marketeers (after their session at Public Relations school) when dealing with the Media/Press. Thats made it more easy for the interviewer to spot (Caveat emptor) lol!.
Perhaps a screenshot will help illustrate my point.
This is what I am seeing,
http://thumbnails26.imagebam.com/7567/3fbfc675660261.gif](http://www.imagebam.com/image/3fbfc675660261)
It’s just chaos, there’s a bunch of links behind eachother and whole lot of free room above and under the actual forum itself.
If I were to redesign it I’d probably attempt to move some of the functionality to the big empty green bar at the top instead of cutting out useful things like descriptions/a visual grid.
So like I requested earlier, an option to have both would be very nice, keeps the whiners such as myself happy as well as those that actually like the change.