UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Suggestions and Feedback Wordings

A few months ago I was helping Scream with some wordings for stuff (I'm a professional writer). I realize this kind of stuff is self-configurable, but still I'm interested in seeing the release version looking as good as possible. So here are some ideas for ironing out a few of the remaining points of possible confusion. I'm anticipating that quite a few of you will argue that the following are NOT confusing...because 1. you're smarter than newbie users, and 2. you've been staring at these W3T phrasings for a very long time and it's all become second nature to you. But I really think they can be improved.

1. after you post, and you're told you'll automatically be returned to the board, it's confusing to be offered a "return to board" option to click! User reaction will be "Wait....just below this you're telling me I'll go there automatically!" I'd suggest calling it "return to board even faster!" or "return to board right away!" That ironic exclamation point makes clear that we're aware of the redundancy (and it sort of echoes the "click here if you're not automatically transfered to our new web page" message users are used to seeing).

2. something that's always bothered me is the term "main index". Non-technically adept users have trouble with hierarchies. And while I like to keep names for stuff as terse as possible, "main index" is ambiguous to newbies. I'd suggest "index of all boards" or "all-board index". Or maybe "master index", though that's not quite as clear.

3. I don't understand why the smallest font on a thread page is that which names the board you're on! Shouldn't this be prominent, up at the top, perhaps just under "WWWThreads Version 5.1.1"? It's always a priority to show newbie users where they are at any given point, so this strikes me as a must. Also, the board name certainly doesn't belong in a row showing thread views...it's confusing, makes you think that, say, "Feature Wishlist" is a thread rather than a board. Board name should go above all this. The only problem with putting board name above is that the "main index" button, which takes you to a higher-level, will look subsidiary....another reason to change that wording to "index of all boards" or "all-board index".

4. again, I do value terseness, but it'd be clearer if "post" were "post new" (or, way better, "start new topic") to avoid newbie confusion with posting a reply. Yes, it'd be idiotic to be confused. But on sites that don't attract tech-savvy users (shoot, mine's about food!), I promise this will confuse substantial numbers.

5. I don't understand why the smallest font on a page showing a thread is that which states the name of the board. Shouldn't it be prominent, and up at the top, perhaps just under "WWWThreads Version 5.1.1? It's always a priority to show newbie users where they are at any given point, and this strikes me as a must. Also, the board name doesn't belong in a row showing thread views...it's confusing, makes you think that, say, "Feature Wishlist" is a thread rather than a board.

6. just a throw-away idea FWIW: W3T has started introducing a "click on a column title to sort that column" feature on some pages. Why can't I click on the "last post" column in the main index page to sort within each group of boards (and perhaps by board group order as well) by latest posting?




chowhound.com
For Those Who Live to Eat

Just to expand on one thing...in that last message I said I'd like to see the board name shown conspicuously up top:

same is true with other pages. If you go to "edit profile", that page should (IMO) say "Edit Profile" on top, rather than have that be lost amidst the page content. Even worse, the "check private" page doesn't say "Check Private" ANYwhere!

It's important to show users where they are, especially on the boards (IMO, W3T still has not found a way to clearly telegraph where you are in the board hierarchy at any given time....adding a very conspicuous board name up top will help a little, though).




chowhound.com
For Those Who Live to Eat

Great suggestions, chow.

I'll jump in by adding that the terms 'forum' and 'board' are interchanged often in w3t to my (and others) confusion.

Here's how I see it:

Board: The whole darn shootin' match, where all the categories and forums reside (member of the board and all that).

Category: This is a section where certain forums reside related to the name of the category.

Forum: This is where you actually post messages.

I'm putting together an online guide for Users, Admins and Moderators and while doing so I noticed the above mentioned inconsistancies. As a result I'm having to rename the 'Create a Board' admin funtion to 'Create a Forum', etc.

Socrates
ForumExperts

True, we need people like you who will suggest things like these.
Just to add one, here is one I posted two days ago in the bug reports board but goes along with what you say:

When you are replying to a message, you see at the top a "Reply to (Board Name)" as both the tittle of the page and of the edit table.
At times even this seems confusing to me, and you ask yourself, "what was I replying to?" -if you scroll down, you will see the message being replied, but you dont see it at the top.
I think there should be a "Reply to [NAME OF THREAD] (Name of Board)".

I do not reply to the board itself, I reply to the thread/message.

Mateo,

While my suggestions for forum/board/category descriptions are just that--suggestions, I was really pointing out the inconsistencies of these labels right here, within these very forums. For example, click on the 'Search' link at the top of this page and read what it says.

It says "Forum to Search", with a list of forums in the drop-down menu. Following your description method I'd expect that there should be nothing listed (after all, there is only one forum at wwwthreads, right? []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/] ). In fact, when I click on the 'Forum Information' link associated to this forum, it reads "Use this forum for general feedback on the current state of the program and it's features".

But when I enter the admin panel at my own site to create a particular place to read and submit messages (a forum) I have to select "Create a New Board".

So, is 'General Feedback' called a forum or a board? In w3t it's called both. And the problem lies in the fact that it is implied that these terms aren't interchangeable. Confusing. []/w3timages/icons/crazy.gif[/]

BTW, in spite of how it might sound, I think w3t is far and away the best forum script on the internet. I love them, and so do my forum users.

Socrates
ForumExperts

"great suggestions, chow"

thanks, soc!


"I'll jump in by adding that the terms 'forum' and 'board' are interchanged often in w3t to my (and others) confusion."

it's funny...I agree so strongly with this, yet I totally disagree with your solution. We've got two terms with no generally accepted definitions being used interchangably. The solution, IMHO, isn't to arbitrarily assign definitions to each (which means substantial confusion for newbies who must be educated as to those unique definitions). The solution is to just pick one and stick with it!

I'd stick with "board" ("forum" sounds a tad prissy). Each...er...board is "a board". The whole mess is "the boards".



chowhound.com
For Those Who Live to Eat

Argh! My head hurts!

I'm board but I'm all forum []/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/]

Socrates
ForumExperts

yeah, I just reread my posting....sorry, I definitely could have phrased that better (so much for my "I'm a professional writer" boast!)


chowhound.com
For Those Who Live to Eat