| Sub-Forum, Color Options & Second Front Pages [message #163835] |
Sat, 04 December 2010 03:13  |
wittrs
Messages: 134
Registered: August 2009
Karma: 0
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... thought I might throw out some suggestions for future versions. (Hope these are not taken as "picky." I'm offering them because I love the software).
1. It would be helpful if we had sub-topics. Sub-categories really don't work -- they show up on the front page. You need a way to separate threads after someone clicks a forum. It would be the functional equivalent of seeing a "second page." You'd have the same color scheme (divisors) breaking up the page content for threads that you have for fora.
2. It would also be nice if category divisors (bars?) had more than one color option. That might make the sub-category more useful. As it is now, the sub-category looks just like a misaligned category. It really doesn't convey the impression of anything different. Also, if a board has too many category rows, it begins to look monotonous. It would be great if I could make less relevant categories have a different color.
3. Finally, how about a true "second front page?" Imagine that. You have a link on your front page to "page two," which is, essentially, another fudforum board (except within the same directory structure). [You could do this with two installs, but it would be too hard (for me) to move messages and so forth]. It would be great if you could have a second front page built in. It would be like a second page in a book. You could place less helpful messages (like this one) on "page-two" after, say 30 days. Your customers therefore could always see your best organized material first, as you want to present it.
Yours, up too late.
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| Re: Sub-Forum, Color Options & Second Front Pages [message #163841 is a reply to message #163839] |
Sat, 04 December 2010 16:25  |
wittrs
Messages: 134
Registered: August 2009
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Quote:Yea, imagine that! If we add a second, some users would want a third, etc. Sounds like a can of worms to me. However, let's continue discussing it. Who knows...
Hello naudefj.
On the issue of a second front page, consider this. The only difference between adding sub-fora and second first pages is the unit of analysis. It's the same basic principle. ("If you add a sub-forum, they will next ask for sub-sub fora").
Think of it this way. The end result would be like cross-breeding a discussion board with a wiki. I could take the very best of my content (categories,fora) and display it on the first page. If someone wanted to investigate further a category forum on that page, they click and get additional sub-fora (breaking down that item into smaller units of analysis). This is like vertical surfing (or digging). You keep going into a particular. (Gets more particular).
Now, I might also want to display my secondary categories and fora on page 2. These would be more mundane or esoteric things related to my board. HERE'S THE POINT: the expansion of the general (at the category-level) is every bit as important as the
expansion of the particular (at the forum level). Some people might search by "digging a hole" (more particular) or by surfing the categories. As it is now, the only way to surf categories is to TREAT THEM ALL AS BEING EQUAL. They have to be displayed on the front page, with the same color scheme. And if you have many of them, it could get monotonous.
If there were some way to display less important categories that take people to what in essence is another sort of board, the systems gets another dimension. It comes to life better. The organization becomes more exquisite.
Think of "page-two categories" as being, in essence, secondary-categories. If you had some sort of module to create them, you could advertise them on page-1 and, when pressed, access ONLY them on page 2.
It's a brilliant idea I tell you. It will morph the discussion board into a talking magazine and a wiki all at the same time.
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