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Top 5 for Forum Improvements

15 replies [Last post]
Wed, 05/25/2011 - 22:49
mirrorminx
Legacy Username

Since Eurydice requested it in this post: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/9381

I figured we could all make a list of the top 5 improvements to the forums. If the devs are listening, things may change!

Here are my personal top 5:

1) An private message system. It would be wonderful to be able to message people, especially regarding trade, rather than having to hold conversations within posts.

2) Fixing the login issues. There is some sort of server lag, as many have experienced, regarding logging into the Spiral Knights main page. It can be troublesome if I'm logging in between classes to check a post, and am unable to respond because I only have 5 minutes, 4 of which are spent refreshing the page.

3) Signatures. I would love the ability to post my in-game name and other in-game things (links to a trade post, or even just a quote) at the end of each post, without having to type it. This is built into most forums, and feels very lacking here. Along similar lines, avatars would be wonderful, even if they were limited to a very small size. I find it easier to identify people by pictures than by names, and it helps show your identity.

4) Formatting of posts. Posting small images, quoting other people visually, and colors would be top of my list. I am personally against animated emoticons, but some like that functionality as well.

5) Another functional improvement that would enhance the community would be a forum chatroom. Since haven is split up, it'd be a nice place for lots of the playerbase to meet up and talk about the game. This is obviously not a fix, per-se, but rather content, and I think it would be a wonderful addition to the forums.

Wed, 05/25/2011 - 23:15
#1
Pupu
Legacy Username
Hm

1) I wouldn't mind.
2) YES!
3) NO!
4) I like it the way it is to be honest. Only thing I would add is fixing the cite tag
5) Don't care

Wed, 05/25/2011 - 23:16
#2
Shoebox's picture
Shoebox
1) Maybe. Most people don't

1) Maybe. Most people don't need it.

2) Yes. Quick fix is to just go to the main page and click the Log In to make new topics thing after logging in up top. It will give you an unauthorized access error and you will be logged into the forums.

3) No. Just no. Period.

4) Yes. But no colors. I hate it when people use colored text. Also, add embedding videos and spoiler tags to that.

5) No.

My top 5?

  1. Functions to search by user for both threads and replies (a way to search most recent posts by clicking their name would be nice too)
  2. A way to quote people that doesn't involve copy/pasting
  3. Functions to report threads and flag users
  4. Ability to format separately in HTML and rich text, so I can see any errors I missed without having to click preview
  5. Option to auto-hide any images or embedded videos until I click them, so I don't have to even load stupidity.
Wed, 05/25/2011 - 23:23
#3
Coatl's picture
Coatl
I'm surprised you didn't

I'm surprised you didn't mention tags. If I look thoroughly enough I bet you 100CE I can find at least five threads generalized on the same topic. Why is this? Because OOO's forum mechanic does not support tags. Therefore if you have a question that needs answering, and the thread title doesn't match what you searched for, you aren't going to receive the information that you want. You are then going to make an unnecessary thread asking what has already been asked and answered a good five times.

1) I agree. Private messaging is a must have.
2) Top priority right here.
3) Signatures would be nice, as would avatars. I don't see OOO giving us avatars in the near future, though. I wouldn't mind if we never could have avatars. It'd ne a nice addition, but is no way a priority.
4) QUOTES. I would love -no- adore OOO if they would finally just let you quote a post. As much as I love SK the convoluted post mechanics set in place are very primitive to say the least.
5)I'm somewhat iffy about the chatbox. If the chatbox were to be included I would imagine it to be as active and rapid as the trade chat in-game. I can't foresee the thousands of SK players using the SK chatbox and enjoying it. This is mostly because the userbase is just too big to fit into one chatbox.

TL;DR
QUOTES.
Give it to us.

Thu, 05/26/2011 - 02:05
#4
Azurenightmare
Don't forget the whole "views

Don't forget the whole "views always=0" thing. So like, if you don't add new features, at least remove the bugs.

Thu, 05/26/2011 - 02:27
#5
Kaybol
Legacy Username
Who cares how many times a thread has been viewed... OP maybe?
  1. Searching forum posts / threads by username, as Shoebox listed. That's the thing I miss the most by far.
  2. See #1. Srsly.
  3. Quoting. By default please. It helps both the readers and writers.
  4. The ability to vote replies up/down, hiding a reply if it hits -5 (or -10), maybe changing the colour of the reply header to green on +10. Something like that. That way I don't need to see all the useless stuff in an otherwise interesting thread. Posts with green headers would immediately draw my attention. Insightful posts are what keep this forum nice to read.
  5. Please please please no colours or images. The last thing I want is to open a thread full of animated gifs. My eyes! Or if possible, allow this on Gremlin Chatter only? Embedded video sounds interesting, but is not a must for me...
Thu, 05/26/2011 - 03:39
#6
Shoebox's picture
Shoebox
Thumbs up if you like boobs.

The ability to vote replies up/down, hiding a reply if it hits -5 (or -10), maybe changing the colour of the reply header to green on +10. Something like that. That way I don't need to see all the useless stuff in an otherwise interesting thread. Posts with green headers would immediately draw my attention. Insightful posts are what keep this forum nice to read.

100% no.

Reason: People who use the system, vote based on trend rather than post content.
You'll see it in places that use the system.
Like YouTube or the League of Legends forums.

People with a few upvotes keep getting more and more as the number goes up.
Just because that number is big.

It's the same with downvoting posts.
Sometimes people with valid opinions will get downvoted by 'fanboys' of something and have their posts hidden by default.

Can you imagine the "Regarding the recent update - 4* and 5* binding (Dev response)" thread if this system was in place?
Every post would be hidden because people would spam downvote everything.

It's not a fair system and it never works properly.

I wouldn't want to see it implemented.
Ever.

Thu, 05/26/2011 - 03:59
#7
Kaybol
Legacy Username
Makes sense... oh how I wish

Makes sense... oh how I wish for /ignore on the forums...

Thu, 05/26/2011 - 04:00
#8
Betrael's picture
Betrael
This is the most bare-bones

This is the most bare-bones forum I've seen for an MMO in a loooong time, any improvement will make a world of difference here.

Thu, 05/26/2011 - 09:54
#9
Lufte's picture
Lufte
thread subscription thread
  1. thread subscription
  2. thread subscription
  3. thread subscription
  4. thread subscription
  5. thread subscription
Thu, 05/26/2011 - 14:50
#10
Coatl's picture
Coatl
I agree with shoebox's post

I agree with shoebox's post 100%. The idea of such a mechanic being implemented is actually a bit unnerving.
Subscribing to a thread would also be nice.

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 15:15
#11
culture
Legacy Username
Top 5 Songs for Trolling the Forums

1. Search by username so I can more easily refer repeat questions to my previous answers.
2. Avatars - it is easier to identify an author by an image than by their name. This is really standard in forums for a significant usability reason.
3. As lufte said, thread subscription.
4. Rich text editor, like WMD Editor or TinyMCE
5. Fix cite... seriously... it is like 1 declaration in CSS :P Here, I'll do it for you:

cite {
margin: 1em;
padding: 0.5em;
background: #D6DDEA;
border: solid 1px #000C3D;
color: #000C3D;
}

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 16:11
#12
kevomatic
Legacy Username
1. Function to ignore

1. Function to ignore threads (so the user doesn't see them get "bumped", and they gradually make their way to the abyss).
2. Function to ignore all threads created by specific posters.
3. Function to ignore all posts made by specific posters.
4. Policing of the begging threads/posts, if and when moderators happen upon them (begging should be a Terms of Service violation).
5. No signatures still, but maybe a user option to display each poster's IGN(s) below his/her forum name (helpful in almost every Bazaar post, and sometimes other posts as well).

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 16:15
#13
Eeks's picture
Eeks
Quotes Thread subscription PM

Quotes
Thread subscription
PM system
Better Search
Fix login issues

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 21:39
#14
Basalt's picture
Basalt
some modules for consideration

I love drupal to death(it's what I mostly build websites in these days) but its forum is really barebones. There are a couple modules that 3 Rings could be using to make it a bit nicer.

quote: http://drupal.org/project/quote

ignore user: http://drupal.org/project/ignore_user

A wysiwyg editor - http://drupal.org/project/wysiwyg - would be nice as well, but they seem to have made a conscious decision not to use one.

Avatars and previous user posts are both trivial to do(avatars in particular are probably already there, just not enabled).

For people who are curious, and want to poke around, some links to the forum modules follow.

http://drupal.org/project/advanced_forum
http://drupal.org/project/author_pane

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 21:53
#15
ElementLord
Legacy Username
My top 5

1: better forum software.
2:^
3:^^
4:^^^
5:^^^^

-EL

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