Guy on reddit in regards to barrens chat:
Is it just me or does your forum not have any sub-forums on it at all?
Every time I think "Lets go see what that place has to offer", I arrive and it's all one big shit mess and I just close the site.
Hopefully I missed the very obviously placed sub-forum sorter.
Edit: Oh my god, there ARE sub forums! They're just not listed under the forum section. Holy crap.
Edit 2: Why not just rename "Forum" to "General" at the top? That would be far less misleading.
One main forum for general discussion is enough for our small community - not really had any complaints about that before.
I would have thought that having very clear sections of the site in the navigation bar was clear enough and not misleading at all - could you explain a little bit more in detail about what you find confusing about this?
Did you not read my edits? I said I discovered there are sub forums. The only misleading thing is that the general section is titled "Forums" instead of "General"
By naming it "Forums", I'm lead to believe that all forum-structured content is within that link, when in fact there are other forum-structured items under the links nearby.
Most websites feature forums (aka, the good stuff) along side a bunch of crap nobody cares to look at. "Realms" didn't really look like "realm forums" to me, so I didn't even bother for the longest time. "Guides" was probably the only thing that might have hinted that it could be in forum format, but I never bothered (again, I'm ALWAYS drawn to the thing that says "FORUM(S)")
It says Forum, singular. I think I'm wasting my time here now.
Tried to respond politely to what I assume was constructive criticism but couldn't help feeling like this guy was trolling me ('all one big shit mess' etc.) - does he have a point though? I really don't think so myself but thought I'd put it to you guys.
Seems like a troll to me from first glance. Dunno, I personally haven't felt anything significantly misleading in this regard at all.
Considering there are no specifics on realms yet, I think that having a place to discuss topics that people think about in one place and guides for archival information in another is all anyone would really need. Why would you need a sub-forum? Read the stuff you like or don't.
Though I was a little surprised that there was no sub forums. Like class discussion / professions / pvp etc to organise topics. Having lurked here for a little bit I don't think it matters. But there may good threads from before I joined that I will never see because they are back 4-5 pages and buried.
He has not presented his thoughts very well though.
Dont waste your time with him. Just a salty whoever...
Ohhh I know what he means, check out https://www.linuxquestions.org/ its a forum site for IT people, created by smart IT people... I think it's the gold standard of what a forum website should be.. They land you on a homepage that contains of bunch of notification information, but above on the menu bar there's the fourm button alot of people are so used to seeing...
Just ignore these people, it make no sense to discuss with trolls.
With increasing number of active members the topics might start piling up so there could be a demand for some topic organizing in the future.
Until you stop seeing "Last Post 1 Day ago" on the main forum consistently, then there's really no reason to expand the forums.
The way the layout is set up, it definitely doesn't look like you have any subforums even when you do. The design isn't bad, mind you, it's just what would be called 'non-leading,' as in, it doesn't lead the user towards understanding features that aren't immediately presented.
Wouldn't worry about it, but he's not trolling.
Teebs not to worry. I have shanked the little ghastly troll with a rusty fork.
And all is well again with the world.
Hey Teebling, it's my first message here, congratulations for this site, it's got a really lovely and superb design overall.
I think what that guy said has a point though, but it's really a minor point, and definitely his discrediting view he's got for this forum is far, far away from reality.
Personally I'm pretty sure he's not trolling, just some really pissed off / salty guy on the internet. I can understand his behaviour because... sometime ago I used to be like him, although not with such intentionally, for free, salty words spit there.
If it was me I would just remove that button, having into account the main barrens chat logo already directs to the main page, which makes sense to me at least, as the name gives the idea for the site as being a social hub. Other than that, maybe General or Main would be better, yea... but it's still something really minor and absolutely shouldn't interfere much for everyone with usability.
I'd also put the About post on it's own section on the bar at the end, I consider it to be pretty important to have as much accessible as possible. And also it kind of "feels nice?" that this button precisely doesn't direct to a collection of posts but to a post directly, which is the identity one, so to speak, at least to me.
Kudos again.
If it was me I would just remove that button, having into account the main barrens chat logo already directs to the main page, which makes sense to me at least
Nah, there are enough ppl out there who would get confused by that.
I would just personally stay away from people like that. Clearly, he's just one of those angry retail-customers who stomp over to the Customer Service center and take out their bad-day on the people working hard; Not worth dealing with.
EDIT: On another note, I had no issue navigating and more-over I don't mind that there aren't sub-forums. Having everything centralized is fine for a forum like this :P
As for the guy in question, he just seems like a jerk.
As for breaking the forum up into categories, you could if you want. There are pros and cons either way. It would be nice to have a dedicated space for things like guild recruitment, etc...but the current system is nice because everyone has a chance to reach the full audience.
Your call. Disregard the asshat, and do what you think is best for the site.