(Locked) How could the forums be better?

What is missing and I think is needed is some basic rules for the forum. Sometimes new users post the wrong thing or go about things the wrong way so just some pointers to give them the heads up would be a good idea I think.

@colis: Maybe you should be asking a bigger question, how could the entire site be better? In any case since we’re sticking to just the forum, I’d like to see more of the formating features from textile enabled. Most of the textile features like indentation don’t seem to be supported.

* Do you use the sidebar (New Threads), the homepage forum threads, or the /forums homepage to find stuff to read?

* Do you go into different categories and choose threads?

* Do you use the RSS feeds?

* Are there any forum features you wish we had?

A list of all recently updated (as opposed to ‘recently started’) forum threads, regardless of forum section, in order of most recently updated, with “started by” and “last post by”, linking first and last page

And the same links in the individual forum sections

And “remember” which forum section is expanded between visits.

* Are there any forums you use which you find more usable – easier to get around, easier to find stuff to read and discuss, etc.

Has pretty much what I desired above except “recently updated” does not show “started by” and “last post by” links

* Are there any visual design things you think could be improved (e.g. the Reply button isn’t obvious … that sort of thing)

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I don’t really visit the forum often but I reckon I would prefer them if there was more contrast between posts, more spacing and also make the design a little wider.

It just seems very cluttered to me.

use real forum software like vBulletin or snitz. tons of features already built-in so no wheel re-invention required!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software

The “new threads” Sidebar is a bit useless in my opinion. It should redirect you to the latest message in the thread, and not to the man who started the thread. That part is a bit annoying.. If you are on the forums and see thread.. why would you want to visit the profile of the guy who opened the thread? I don’t know ..

Another thing .. the position of the reply box. It should be at the bottom, not at the top.. It’s really annoying to write a reply and check the last message every time by scrolling 1000px ..

Like the other guys said .. Rich Text Editor is a must! This will fix the “adding links process” which is a pain in the %$$ right now .. and other paragraph issues.

What is missing and I think is needed is some basic rules for the forum. Sometimes new users post the wrong thing or go about things the wrong way so just some pointers to give them the heads up would be a good idea I think.

I agree with DS 100 %. We want our (the authors who have been contributing their files) to have a separate space to share our problems, improvements or thoughts so that we can discuss our matters in a more decent way. Most of the times we come to the forums just to relax and get in touch with the other authors that what are they up to.

As I am afraid that if something of the kind which just happened to me, if will happen again, I will even stop seeing that where is the word “forum”. Anyone should not be so possessive as he is not the only one person who is thinking right in the world of Millions of people. Everyone has his own thoughts which need some respect.

Subscribe to forum replies with email updates…please

I know can with RSS and all, but not all of us use that, and its nice to have the option to choose rather than being forced to use RSS