[Suggestion] Different thread/category system

[Vilvake]

I don't think this is even possible, since I'm under the impression that narutobase is basically the vbulletin forum with a custom theme. So this is more of a "this would be cool!" than an actual suggestion.

Some sub-forums are basically dead and only get a few posts a day. This is a problem for a few reasons, but one in particular. People want their threads to get a lot of replies. It's depressing to come up with a great idea for a thread, and put a lot of effort into it, to only have two or three people respond. To avoid this, some members will intentionally post in the wrong section because it's more popular. That creates a messy forum and forces mods to work overtime.

I think the reason some sub-forums are unpopular is because members have different tastes. A member may never look at new threads in the music section because they aren't big music fans. This is unfortunate because while that may be the case, I'm sure they have at least one favorite band, one that they would love to post about. This member would miss all the threads about this band.

The solution: Instead of having all the categories as the main forum page, it should be a list of the most recent or most recently posted in threads. Each thread would be tagged with the category it belongs to, and by default, every tag is being shown. But if you wanted to look at ones only about the manga, you could restrict the tags being shown until only the "Manga" tag is left. Or maybe you also want to view ones about video games. You could add the "Gaming" tag, and now you have a list of every gaming and manga thread.

This way a member who doesn't really like music, but has a favorite band, might catch the bands name in the title of a recent thread. They would be able to post in one they normally wouldn't even have seen. It also adds the functionality of viewing more than one forum category at once, which is pretty cool.

 

[CurseSealofEarth]

So you want the same system as Twitter hash tags?

 

[Vilvake]

So you want the same system as Twitter hash tags?

Maybe, I've never used twitter before

 

[Avani 🥉]

Main forum page is forum index. It must have the index/list of all the available sections and forums and sub forums in it, so that people know what this site is offering and easily find where they are suppose to go for the topics which interest them. If it won't be there it will cause much confusion and problems.

You already have tools for the functions you are asking for:

If you are a registered user use " New posts" option and it will you show you new threads, posts, sections etc. Even unregistered guests can check today's topics which also highlights the hottest threads as well as the one which have received no reply yet with different colours.

You must be registered for see images

These links are much more helpful in checking out the interesting discussions.

You must be registered for see links

You must be registered for see links

^ This though not sure if you can access these links directly or have to click on the option from top bars yourself.

You can also user search button for specific kind of search.

People who deliberately post threads in wrong section for attention are actually seeking infractions and deletion of their threads. Those who want to participate find the threads which interest them sooner or later as they learn to navigate the site and use proper tools.

Edit: yeah..you will have to click on new posts link on Navigation bar yourself.

 

[Fermion]

Good suggestion.....

 

[Vilvake]

...

Thanks for the response but I think you misunderstood me. People would still be able to find sections that interest them, because they would be listed at the top in the form of 'tags'. They could then choose which 'tags' (or forum sections) are being shown. Also, I know there is an area where you can view new posts. But since it isn't the main forum page, people rarely use or view it.

 

[Avani 🥉]

Thanks for the response but I think you misunderstood me. People would still be able to find sections that interest them, because they would be listed at the top in the form of 'tags'. They could then choose which 'tags' (or forum sections) are being shown. Also, I know there is an area where you can view new posts. But since it isn't the main forum page, people rarely use or view it.

I guess.

That's up to admins but I do not see it being implemented any time soon. Too much work even if it's possible or if they like the basic idea.

 

[Vilvake]

hmm

That's up to admins but I do not see it being implemented any time soon. Too much work even if it's possible or if they like the basic idea.

Yep, that's what I was thinking. But I felt like posting the idea anyway.

 

[Avani 🥉]

Yep, that's what I was thinking. But I felt like posting the idea anyway.

Frankly I am still haveing trouble visualizing exactly what you want. Something similar to those sites where they have too much on squeezed on the front page itself and simply making it difficult to pay attention to it all. Or some News paper sites like

You must be registered for see links

. I don't use twitter so I didn't get what the other user said about it being similar either.

 

[Disquiet]

The solution: Instead of having all the categories as the main forum page, it should be a list of the most recent or most recently posted in threads. Each thread would be tagged with the category it belongs to, and by default, every tag is being shown. But if you wanted to look at ones only about the manga, you could restrict the tags being shown until only the "Manga" tag is left. Or maybe you also want to view ones about video games. You could add the "Gaming" tag, and now you have a list of every gaming and manga thread.

@Bold It's hard to get a handle of what you're talking about, but it seems like you're talking about something very similar to following:

You must be registered for see images

Only, threads that are recently posted in will show as well.

BUT

You want to add tags on those threads such as: [Naruto Discussion]

And users can somehow choose which tags (Basically the section) they want to show in 'latest threads'? Please correct me on where I'm right and wrong.

 

[Vilvake]

@Bold It's hard to get a handle of what you're talking about, but it seems like you're talking about something very similar to following:

You must be registered for see images

Only, threads that are recently posted in will show as well.

BUT

You want to add tags on those threads such as: [Naruto Discussion]

And users can somehow choose which tags (Basically the section) they want to show in 'latest threads'? Please correct me on where I'm right and wrong.

Yes, that's basically it. It would be much more expanded and larger, of course.

Frankly I am still haveing trouble visualizing exactly what you want. Something similar to those sites where they have too much on squeezed on the front page itself and simply making it difficult to pay attention to it all. Or some News paper sites like

You must be registered for see links

. I don't use twitter so I didn't get what the other user said about it being similar either.

It would sorta be like

You must be registered for see links

Every article is shown on the left of the main page (ignore that other stuff on the right). But then, at the top right of the site, do you see those yellow buttons that say things like 'lol', 'win' and 'fail'? Those link to articles specifically relevant to those tags. It's nice to have a place where every article posted gets attention. However, if someone felt like having a good laugh, they could, for example, narrow the articles to be only 'lol' related.

But I would want it so you could choose more than one tag at once, and narutobase would auto update your selections. You could look at different thread categories without ever leaving the main page. Try to visualize it without all the 'fluff' of the buzzfeed page, though. That stuff gives it a confusing look. This would basically be similar to how a sub-forum like 'Naruto Manga' (I think it's a sub-forum, at least) will have the main discussion area, but then have more specific areas. In the 'Naruto Manga' example, those would be the 'Predictions', 'Official Spoilers', etc. sections.

 

[Avani 🥉]

Yes, that's basically it. It would be much more expanded and larger, of course.




It would sorta be like

You must be registered for see links

Every article is shown on the left of the main page (ignore that other stuff on the right). But then, at the top right of the site, do you see those yellow buttons that say things like 'lol', 'win' and 'fail'? Those link to articles specifically relevant to those tags. It's nice to have a place where every article posted gets attention. However, if someone felt like having a good laugh, they could, for example, narrow the articles to be only 'lol' related.

But I would want it so you could choose more than one tag at once, and narutobase would auto update your selections. You could look at different thread categories without ever leaving the main page. Try to visualize it without all the 'fluff' of the buzzfeed page, though. That stuff gives it a confusing look. This would basically be similar to how a sub-forum like 'Naruto Manga' (I think it's a sub-forum, at least) will have the main discussion area, but then have more specific areas. In the 'Naruto Manga' example, those would be the 'Predictions', 'Official Spoilers', etc. sections.

Naruto Manga is a forum. Which has three other sub forums in it.


Naruto Media (Whole section)

Naruto Discussion (Forum for general Naruto discussions)

Sub-Forums:
Versus Colosseum,
Naruto Questions

Naruto Manga(Forum for latest chapter/arc))
Sub-Forums:
Official Predictions,
Official Spoilers,
User Submitted Predictions

Naruto Anime

Naruto Media has three forums, 6 sub forums in them practically taking number of sections in it to 8 different forums and sub forums.

That format you linked is a mess. :|

 

[Vilvake]

Naruto Manga is a forum. Which has three other sub forums in it.


Naruto Media (Whole section)

Naruto Discussion (Forum for general Naruto discussions)

Sub-Forums:
Versus Colosseum,
Naruto Questions

Naruto Manga(Forum for latest chapter/arc))
Sub-Forums:
Official Predictions,
Official Spoilers,
User Submitted Predictions

Naruto Anime

Naruto Media has three forums, 6 sub forums in them practically taking number of sections in it to 8 different forums and sub forums.

That format you linked is a mess :|

I agree, that's why I said ignore all the fluff (advertisements, massive font, thousands of pictures, everything that isn't on the left and top right). Anyway, it's hard to explain what I'm visualizing. All I can say is that it makes perfect sense to me.

Edit: I quickly made a mock-up of the simple concept. The real thing would be more advanced, and have things like tiered tags (selecting one makes another available, for example selecting 'Manga' would make 'Predictions' a tag)

The pictures may be too small, so right click on them and hit 'Open image in new tab'. Once on tinypic.com, click the picture to enlarge.

For Narutobase-

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

For the Buzzfeed example-

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

 

[Vilvake]

Tbh, the Buzzfeed looks very messy compared to the system we have..

Are you looking at the website itself, or the mock-up I made? If the latter, I just want to make sure you realize that there are three different scenarios there, one with every recent article, one with only 'lol' articles, and one with both 'lol' and 'wtf' articles. As a whole it may look more messy, but not individually.

Also, the point of this isn't to make a cleaner looking forum, it's to give more attention to near-dead forum sections.

 

[Disquiet]

Tbh, I don't know why a drastic change would have to be made (The forum look/surface). It seems like you're suggesting something simple like:

You must be registered for see images

Maybe add a few more columns, and limit the amount of characters that would he shown in the columns so that the ellipsis [...] would begin after the first ten or eleven characters maybe.


But as you said in your first line, don't know how possible or practical it is.


As for disabling which sections are shown, I guess that could be done through User CP > General Settings?

 

[Voltron]

Tbh, I don't know why a drastic change would have to be made (The forum look/surface). It seems like you're suggesting something simple like:

You must be registered for see images

Maybe add a few more columns, and limit the amount of characters that would he shown in the columns so that the ellipsis [...] would begin after the first ten or eleven characters maybe.


But as you said in your first line, don't know how possible or practical it is.


As for disabling which sections are shown, I guess that could be done through User CP > General Settings?

Nice job. I support this idea
Yami's that is....

 

[Vilvake]

Tbh, I don't know why a drastic change would have to be made (The forum look/surface). It seems like you're suggesting something simple like:

You must be registered for see images

Maybe add a few more columns, and limit the amount of characters that would he shown in the columns so that the ellipsis [...] would begin after the first ten or eleven characters maybe.


But as you said in your first line, don't know how possible or practical it is.


As for disabling which sections are shown, I guess that could be done through User CP > General Settings?

I'm 90% sure you don't understand the idea. It wouldn't be some little box like the "latest threads" area you showed. It would take up the entire space of the current main forum page. It's a more modern system than is currently being used, and is one than many popular websites utilize.

Actually, I just realized reddit uses an almost identical system. There, all created threads are fed through the 'hot', 'new' and 'rising' sections of the main forum page. But then, at the top, you can specify what specific thread types you want to see. A few options are 'funny', 'politics' and 'world news'.

 

[Disquiet]

I'm 90% sure you don't understand the idea. It wouldn't be some little box like the "latest threads" area you showed. It would take up the entire space of the current main forum page. It's a more modern system than is currently being used, and is one than many popular websites utilize.

Actually, I just realized reddit uses an almost identical system. There, all created threads are fed through the 'hot', 'new' and 'rising' sections of the main forum page. But then, at the top, you can specify what specific thread types you want to see. A few options are 'funny', 'politics' and 'world news'.

But...it is in essence, what you're suggesting right? Just an extremely simplified version?


You need to understand the behavior of people. I'm certain that a lot of members here are going to have second thoughts with such a change to the forum, especially involving the look of it all. A lot of people (Especially here) like sticking what they are use to. I mean even the admins receive lots of heat/complaints when making a small change, even something simple like "Did you do your homework?" next to our avys in the upper right corner. You need the support of members here, you need them to support changing the entire home page.


Without the support of the members, then you're relying heavily on the admins to judge the importance (And how much of a change it would make) of your suggestion. But ask yourself, are the admins aware of these dead sections? Is there a possibility that they feel it doesn't warrant their attention? Yes, there's that possibility. Right now, you're just one person standing on your own. And your format is confusing even the mods, which isn't a good impression.


I'm simply trying to make it more understandable and feasible, so that the members could actually get a grasp of what you're talking about.


And even though you said "The point of it isn't to make a cleaner looking forum", it does matter a lot, like really. If it's messy and confusing, it could discourage guest from joining. A clean look is essential.

 

[Vilvake]

But...it is in essence, what you're suggesting right? Just an extremely simplified version?


You need to understand the behavior of people. I'm certain that a lot of members here are going to have second thoughts with such a change to the forum, especially involving the look of it all. A lot of people (Especially here) like sticking what they are use to. I mean even the admins receive lots of heat/complaints when making a small change, even something simple like "Did you do your homework?" next to our avys in the upper right corner. You need the support of members here, you need them to support changing the entire home page.


Without the support of the members, then you're relying heavily on the admins to judge the importance (And how much of a change it would make) of your suggestion. But ask yourself, are the admins aware of these dead sections? Is there a possibility that they feel it doesn't warrant their attention? Yes, there's that possibility. Right now, you're just one person standing on your own. And your format is confusing even the mods, which isn't a good impression.


I'm simply trying to make it more understandable and feasible, so that the members could actually get a grasp of what you're talking about.


And even though you said "The point of it isn't to make a cleaner looking forum", it does matter a lot, like really. If it's messy and confusing, it could discourage guest from joining. A clean look is essential.

1. Yes, in essence, I guess that is the idea. But with that line of thinking, you might as well call it a book. Because, you know, books have words. And things.

2. The idea is confusing people because I didn't explain it very well, not because it itself is difficult to understand.

3. Before you start getting into what the community would think about this, remember that this isn't a serious suggestion. And certainly not one I expect to be implemented

The second sentence of my OP: "So this is more of a "this would be cool!" than an actual suggestion."

 

[Disquiet]

The idea is confusing people because I didn't explain it very well, not because it itself is difficult to understand.

Also, before you start getting into what the community would think about this, remember that this isn't a serious suggestion. And certainly not one I expect to be implemented

The second sentence of my OP: "So this is more of a "this would be cool!" than an actual suggestion."

Well it is difficult to understand because you didn't explain it very well.



lol careful, if it's not an 'actual suggestion' or question; then you're admitting spam.