Are we doing Forums the wrong way?

[bobster65]

Originally Posted by Reeve of shinra

Mr Eyes, very nice mod and a great idea.

i was thinking of something along similar lines -- how do I show the meat and potatoes (the social group threads, the forum topics, the new galleries and blog entries) to my users without getting lost in inrelevant information. User finds site, see main page with some articles, clicks forums, see forum listing, has to click the forum to see thread titles. Thats at least three to four levels deep and thats not even counting sub-forums and stuff.

I will have to give your mod a try!

A mod I am working on right now is similar to the solution that Mr Eyes shared with us integrated with YUI Tab View and YUI Drag-n-Drop..

Basically, each member will be able to create their own "Tabbed" forum Home along with traditional forum home layout. They have the choice of choosing any number or Categories and or Individual forums per tab (or standalone stacked) along with other types of content (Blogs, Social Groups, Albums, Reviews, Articles etc etc etc)...

For example ..

Forum Home page may look like this... (Traditional look, Tabbed look, Traditional look, Tabbed look, Traditional look)

A Traditional Category
- Forum 1
-- Sub Forum 1, Sub Forum 2
- Forum 2
__________________________________________________ ________
|Tab 1 _ Tab 2 _ Tab 3 _ Tab 4 (Each tab could be broke out like below) |
|_________________________________________________ _________

Tab 1
Traditional Category
- Forum 1
-- Sub Forum 1, Sub Forum 2
- Forum 2
- Forum 3

Tab 2
Recent Blogs

Tab 3
Social Groups Recent Posts

Tab 4
Image gallery

Another Traditional Category
- Forum 1
-- Sub Forum 1, Sub Forum 2
- Forum 2

__________________________________________________ ___________________
|Tab 5 | Tab 6 _ Tab 7_ Tab 8 _ Tab 9 (Tabs configured with different types of content)|
__________________________________________________ ___________________

Another Traditional Category
- Forum 1
-- Sub Forum 1, Sub Forum 2
- Forum 2

If you are a "Tab" lover, you could tab the hell out of it with multiple sets of Tabs .. if you hate tabs, you can create your own traditional layout or you can combo the two..

If it doesn't make sense.. I should have a concept done soon that better explains it (if anyone actually cares lol)

[Rapscallion]

Originally Posted by Princeton

I agree that "exploration or spontaneous discussion" is lacking. Which is the reason why a forum interface shouldn't be the first thing you see when visiting a site. (ie. domain.com/)

I actually find that format useful for one of my forums. It's a debate forum I set up to take all the contentious stuff I don't allow on the main one (religion, politics etc). It's a licence I have to pay for on top of everything else, but it helps keep the peace. Simply having a place where people can beat the tar out of each other is worth it, and it doesn't really need a portal.

Rapscallion

[nando99]

I was always a fan of the blog look... I like to have the newest posts show up first but I also like to have important/featured content show up as well... I think I've accomplished that with how I set up my site (in my sig)... I still like the forum look, just not for the homepage....

[carcomp]

Probably, until we have a good 3D display technology, where you can see a lot more of the site than a 1ft x 1ft "side" of it (current monitor tech), forums and blogs are probably going to be organized by categories and search.

Think about it. Lets pretend we have a 3d monitor like the holograms of star wars. Not a flat plane doing 3d, but I mean actual 3d. The main forum would be like a floating "page" a virtual monitor in front. Behind is all the other stuff. Not posts, but possibly stuff floats "closer" because its getting more attention. Some pictures are floating in there in little "balls the size of a golf ball" rotating around. Topics might just be some floating text, or maybe something else entirely. I don't know. You can see users as little people, or avatars next to these "things" because they are paying attention to them. Its like a little world. You can actually grab the display's base and turn it. It knows which way is forward, so you can explore into the site from the sides. If you rotate it 180 degrees, the main page would appear to be in the "back" but still facing you. Text would not just "go backwards" but it would rotate "sideways" like the old 3d screensaver we've seen. You know you can read it.

Mice would be obsolete. Touching would be nice, but arms get tired (i've got a touchscreen in my car, but i use the remote 99% more often). There will be something more like the "drafting balls" that current mechanical engineers use to explore their creations. Up down left right rotate, closer, farther, tilt. etc.

This is where it will be some day. You can quote me.

[as7apcool]

alot of pepole use forums at wrong way

like make advertising and say bad words

this is bad way for using forums

[GSeybold]

Sit back in your lazy-boy recliner and chat away. This forum intends to host any kind of chat except vbulletin and modification issues!

Even admins forget every once in a while

[WiBu]

This isn't intended to be focused on vBulletin or any mods. It applies to any forum software or site.

[Fusion2]

Originally Posted by nexialys

Blogs are coming to that end too, they permit comments on each new post, you can categorize your posts, tag them to make them listed with keywords, etc... similar to forums, but with a more organic way... just a way as it's possible to make them more efficient by merging a blog and a forum...

I would agree. I find my members use blogs and CMS most of the time. My forums are empty, unless people have a question to ask. And even now, there are those new Q&A sites where people can post a question and get 50 best answers back. Facebook just launched one themselves. Maybe vbulletin will come out with their own version?

Otherwise i find chatrooms died in the 90's, forums in the 00's, and blogs likely in 10's.

[vbenhancer]

... next generation of platform will be called " glue "... lol