For me, the biggest issue with this forum, and all the other available styles, and virtually every installation of this software, is useability issues.
You have an icon for "there are unread posts" and another icon for "there are no unread posts" and I'm thinking, one icon for where there are new posts; no icon is necessary if there aren't any. Instead, the icons are the same, with just a slight distinction in color. This could be so much easier for users.
Unread posts?No unread posts? Someone pointed out years ago that this doesn't work if your forum isn't in English, but the fix is to remake the icon in whatever language the board uses.
It doesn't appear that anyone has actually bothered to do any useability testing at all on the software. It doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Just have the home page on a computer and invite some people to use the site who aren't familiar with it. Ask them to do things (like register an account; navigate to a specific forum section; make a post; send a PM; upload an image; and so forth). Then watch what they do. Don't tell them, have them try to figure out how the site works. You can tell a lot by seeing where they get confused and then use that information to make it work better.
I've been running forums since 1997 and just recently upgraded my forum from version 3.1 to version 3.3.11. I hired an experienced phpBB person to change and even knowing how things are supposed to work, keep finding myself befuddled by the non-intuitive garbage everywhere. It's an arduous task to edit the code to make it easier for users, but it's well worth the effort. It would be nice if it were done on the phpBB side first.
You have an icon for "there are unread posts" and another icon for "there are no unread posts" and I'm thinking, one icon for where there are new posts; no icon is necessary if there aren't any. Instead, the icons are the same, with just a slight distinction in color. This could be so much easier for users.
Unread posts?
It doesn't appear that anyone has actually bothered to do any useability testing at all on the software. It doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Just have the home page on a computer and invite some people to use the site who aren't familiar with it. Ask them to do things (like register an account; navigate to a specific forum section; make a post; send a PM; upload an image; and so forth). Then watch what they do. Don't tell them, have them try to figure out how the site works. You can tell a lot by seeing where they get confused and then use that information to make it work better.
I've been running forums since 1997 and just recently upgraded my forum from version 3.1 to version 3.3.11. I hired an experienced phpBB person to change and even knowing how things are supposed to work, keep finding myself befuddled by the non-intuitive garbage everywhere. It's an arduous task to edit the code to make it easier for users, but it's well worth the effort. It would be nice if it were done on the phpBB side first.
Statistics: Posted by alvo — Fri Mar 01, 2024 6:09 am