I'm not really talking about the appearance of the forums, but the "theory" of display... as in flat vs threaded and expanded vs collapsed. I hack up W3T to have a UBB-ish appearance because I think it's a tidier page layout. But the issue I always come back to is the "theory" of display.
People who find threaded mode hard to follow will always find it hard to follow, no matter how neatly you present it. And the same for people who prefer flat mode. I can not read fully threaded bulletin boards (as in threaded and threads expanded). They make my eyes cross. Just too many words. []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]
So if I set my default to flat mode, the people who find flat mode confusing complain. And if I set my default to threaded, the people who find threads confusing complain. And W3T is wonderful because it allows each user to set their own prefs for that, and that's what I keep trying to explain to people. But I have a hard time getting the users to realize that they *can* set it up do display the way they want. The users, in exasperation with the default display, write me and beg for me to replace it with BoardX that is their favorite.
[]/w3timages/icons/tongue.gif[/] And I try to explain... this board is like Burger King. You can have it your way. Everybody can have it their way. If I install BoardX, you will have it your way, but the people who don't like it your way can't have it the way they like it.
My major problem is getting people to understand that they can set preferences and what those preferences mean.
Phoenix
