Things I don't like about this forum [ Edited ]

[Hellbore]

1. I don't know what "top tags" are yet.  No offense but they are pretty annoying.  The whole first page of the T series forum is FILLED with the "top tagged" threads, even though there are other, newer threads with newer replies in them.  Are Top Tags supposed to be like sticky threads or what?  If so, I think there are way too many top tags, they should be reduced or done away with entirely.

2. This bugs the CRAP out of me:

http://jerry.cleedo.com/annoying1.jpg

Every time I see that, I think, oh I have 1 new private message!  It's just intuitive to think that, when you see the UNOPENED envelope there.  However, what that really is saying is, I have 1 OLD message.  Why do I care how many old messages are in my inbox when I'm browsing the forums?  And why an unopened envelope?  It makes no sense.  After using this forum for a long time, a user might have many old private messages they have already read, do they really need to see the count of how many there are at all times?

3. what the heck is up with this...

http://jerry.cleedo.com/annoying2.jpg

That one thread takes up no less than 7 lines in the thread listing!!  There should be more room horizontally for thread titles so this doesn't happen.  Other forums show 1 line per thread.  That is a far more concise view of the thread listing.  This way is really annoying, hard to read, hard to browse, etc.

4. This is kind of related to 3... Why did whoever created this forum make it have a fixed width?  On a high-resolution, wide screen like my T61P has, the forum only takes up half my screen!  No wonder the thread titles are all bunched up taking up several lines.  It's a waste of space and very annoying, it looks like an amateur who doesn't know how to stretch the page to fit the window designed the website. 

That's all for now, I might find more annoyances later...

I frequent at least 10 different forums on a daily basis and have used hundreds of forums in my time, so I get used to forums having a common look and feel that is intuitive and conducive to easy browsing.  This forum isnt'.  In fact I would go so far to say that I think the strange look of this forum is likely to scare a lot of people off or make them frustrated.

Message Edited by Hellbore on 12-12-2007 05:19 PM

[Esteban_Lenovo]

Hi Hellbore.

First of all thanks for the feedback. Some of the same points you make on this post have been highlighted by other users on this same board. Feel free to chime into those discussions.

On tags there is a discussion available here.

Regarding the Private messages you can find what was said on that regard at this thread.

Your point # 3 is quite valid. As you say it has to do with point # 4 and has been added to the to-do list.

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Hellbore wrote:

 [...]

4. This is kind of related to 3... Why did whoever created this forum make it have a fixed width?  On a high-resolution, wide screen like my T61P has, the forum only takes up half my screen!  No wonder the thread titles are all bunched up taking up several lines.  It's a waste of space and very annoying, it looks like an amateur who doesn't know how to stretch the page to fit the window designed the website. 

That's all for now, I might find more annoyances later...

I frequent at least 10 different forums on a daily basis and have used hundreds of forums in my time, so I get used to forums having a common look and feel that is intuitive and conducive to easy browsing.  This forum isnt'.  In fact I would go so far to say that I think the strange look of this forum is likely to scare a lot of people off or make them frustrated.

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Yeah, let's tear the guy behind the design of this forum appart! Wait... that would be me!!

On fixed width: that has surfaced on several posts as well. Rest assured this will go away on the next chance we get to work on the design of the forum.

As I stated all feedback is more than welcome. We most certainly don't want to scare people away! I really appreciate that you (and others) take the time to share with us what you find strange, un-friendly, and annoying.

The great thing about the web is that it is on constant evolution. This forum's design isn't written in stone and we are taking note of all of this comments to improve the user experience.

Best regards,



Message Edited by Esteban_Lenovo on 12-12-2007 09:57 PM

[Hellbore]

Thanks for listening to my criticisms Esteban!  I think it's great what you guys are doing here, maybe we shouldn't tear you apart after all

[Hellbore]

You know, I think a big part of the cause of the thread titles being so crowded is that you are wasting all that space to the right by putting the "top tags" stuff there.

Can't that Top Tags section be moved somewhere else so you have more room horizontally?

You know what... forget it...do what you want, I tried to get used to it but this forum is so frustrating to use, and so confusing, I'm just not coming here any more, it's not worth the frustration to deal with this interface that makes no sense.  I'm a busy guy and I don't have time to root around trying to find stuff in a forum that uses a crazy system of ordering threads and buries recent posts on the 2nd page under a bunch of threads that haven't been replied to in ages.  It's just too hard to navigate and find things here, I can't tell what is going on at a glance like I can in any other forum.  I appreciate that you are trying to have an original look or whatever but this whole Top Tags thing is a joke, I highly doubt anyone likes it better than a "normal" forum view. 

It doesn't reflect very well on a company the size of Lenovo to have this clumsy of an interface.  Surely you can afford better web design than this.

Message Edited by Hellbore on 12-14-2007 05:32 PM

[RealBlackStuff]

I'm afraid I have to agree with Hellbore. This forum layout 'sucks'.
Loads of complaints, no visible (re)action yet.

[Hellbore]

Hey maybe I spoke too soon, I just saw a post by RealBlackStuff saying how he turned off tags, I didn't know you could do that!  I found the option and turned off tags, and wow, the forum looks WAY better now!

Thanks for pointing me to that thread Esteban and thanks RealBlackStuff for posting about turning off tags and how it helped!  Maybe tags should be disabled by default and let users who like them turn them on, or else at least put a BIG disclaimer on the screen when you register warning you that if you use tags, the forum layout will confuse you lol...

Anyway, it looks better with tags turned off, but I still stand by my other complaints above, especially the fixed width. 

It might be a moot point anyway, there don't appear to be very many active users here at all.  Maybe they were scared off...or annoyed off? by the interface.

If you ask me, there's not much point re-inventing the wheel, a forum is such a mundane and common device now days, you would have been better served by just using a proven forum layout rather than trying to blaze your own trail.  No one is going to be impressed by your original thinking in terms of forum layouts, they are more interested in the forum being simple and easy to use and practical.  What they are trying to accomplish with the forum is far more important than the forum itself, so if you try innovative ideas with the forum that hinder its primary purpose, then you're not seeing the forest for the trees.  People will be more impressed that Lenovo actually has an active forum where Lenovo employees participate in the discussion, they aren't interested in seeing your experimental ideas on forum layouts.  People just want to be able to get answers to their questions in the quickest and most painless way possible.

That's my opinion anyway, I would be interested to see how many agree with me and how many disagree, but since there isn't much activity yet on this forum, that's not so easy lol...

Message Edited by Hellbore on 12-14-2007 05:53 PM

[billbolton Community Moderator]

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Hellbore wrote:

you would have been better served by just using a proven forum layout rather than trying to blaze your own trail.  No one is going to be impressed by your original thinking in terms of forum layouts

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Well, this is a proven forum layout, just one you seemingly haven't enountered before!

Whether you personally like it or not, forum layouts still vary quite considerabaly across various web forums (even when based on similar software products) so if you aren't prepared to put at least some effort in to coming to terms with that simple fact of web information provision, you will be missing out on a lot of useful information from the web over time.

In respect of your other comments, this site is very much a work in progress, with the journey just starting.

Cheers,

Bill 

[JaneL Community SuperMod]

C'mon, guys, the forum has only been open for a couple of weeks.  Mark, Tim and Esteban are keeping track of all the comments and suggestions for improvements and will be tweaking things along.  Some changes they can make themselves, however some requests have to go back to Lithium as suggestions for the next release of their software.

When we were in pre-release, Mark asked us to bear with them for about 30 days while they figured out what features most members like and don't like before they make any major changes.  The suggestions and comments have been great, so let's give them that time to make changes.  In the meantime, let's just keep building the forum's content day by day to make it another great resource for the ThinkPad Lenovo community.

Thanks!

Message Edited by nonny on 12-14-2007 10:31 PM

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

All,

Comments and suggestions are very welcome, but I asked that we give this 30 days to let the number of new members build to a point where we can have a reasonably representative sample and not simply respond to the preferences of the earliest adopters or a highly opinioned minority.   This time also allows the community to discover what can be personally changed in profile vs what should be changed for all.

I agree that a forum needs to be flexible, to suit the varied needs and interests of many.   Some changes will be easier to make than others or may be accomplished sooner.   The relative value of somethings like tagging is dependent upon the effort and content put into it.  If it is filled with test phrases and nonsense, then it's value is diminished.

I'd challenge us all to think not in terms of just what we have experienced before, but what new things we might be able to do going forward.   Yes, this is a place for devotees of the Thinkpad.   But, to just create a new Thinkpad community would be re-inventing the wheel.

Lenovo has many new products, and product lines emerging.  The Thinkstation line just announced for example.  Who knows what will come next.    In the end, the forum here is just like a big meeting hall that can be used to house all manner of different kinds of events.   The appearance and function of the facilties matters to a point, and then the challenge is upon us all as to what new things we are going to do in it.

[Hellbore]

Yeah, I guess I understand you'll need to get feedback from a larger group of people.  I just wanted to make sure and give my opinion, consider that my vote or whatever