EXAMPLE: Sticky Thread - Hack Categories

[samtha25]

Originally posted by wluke
It looks like you want to provide an index to every thread containing anything to do with modifying vBulletin in any forum.

Although this would be too much and unnecessary, think about technical books without indexes. Not too fun to use.

Hacks are not template changes. Hacks are not questions on how to use a feature. Hacks are PHP code changes, nothing more and nothing less. If it can be done from the control panel it is not a hack.

I didn't look too hard, but did check your sticky threads. If you added this very clear statement to your lead post, I think many people would understand better. Certainly cleared up some confusion for me.

That said, there are two many categories. It should be limited to:

Forum Hacks
Thread Hacks
User Hacks
Administration/Moderator Hacks
Calendar Hacks
Other.

Too many choices are difficult on the user. This is a well known usability issue in Web Design.

That's in a different context. The useability priniciples involved in cataloging and indexing information are quite different. Does Yahoo or the Open Directory have too many categories?

Very generally, there are two broad approaches to organizing information: one is by structure and one is by function. You suggest a structural approach, which makes sense to someone very familiar with the context. However, most people looking for hacks or information on how to do something think functionally, e.g., "I want to do X".

Also what is with the changing colors? This again is non-standard and makes me wonder why people do it. It doesn't do anything to make the readability easier.

I'm not sure what "standard" you're referring to, but it's well-known to assist the reader in scanning a long list.

I still think there is too much maintenance involved. With the number of new threads in this area a day there is going to be hours put in every day maintaining the thread, for something that basically recreates the forum display capability of vbulletin as it is.

It is the typical condumdrum, isn't it? To wit: If we were better organized, we'd save a lot of time, but we don't have the time to get better organized.

The forum display is an unordered, random list. Hardly the same thing at all.

I personally have never had a problem with the search facility here. It is how I find any thread worth while. I can narrow the search if I need to, search for wildcards, find posts by particular users and it only takes ten seconds it not only searches the titles but the actual text of each individual post. It will give me a brief snippet of each post if I want so I don't have to click on blind threads.

You've had much better luck or have more patience than I then. It's not a problem with vBulletin's search facility, but that searches generally are imprecise and very timeconsuming when not looking for something with very specific terms attached to it.

With the sticky thread concept:
I have to load that thread, make an assumption on what kind of hack it is I am looking for and hope I get the right overlapping category Click on a post and load a new window (which can't be changed unless you change the vbulletin code) Start looking at threads that have titles but no other details. Each opening in a new window...

This is somehow more work than trolling through dozens, perhaps hundreds, of messages returned from a search?

Then still for the only way it would work is to force people to read it, which obviously doesn't happen all the time or people would be posting in the appropriate forums to begin with.

There will always be some people who don't read, but if you have a signifcant number of people posting in the 'wrong' forums, you may not be communicating as clearly as you hope.

I have the same problem with people adding hundreds of links to their signatures in a tiny font. I don't want to read all that. It runs together. Makes me just skip over their entire signature whether they have valuable information or not. Give me a link to your site and I'll check it out. Give me links to all sorts of different hacks and threads you are proud of and I ignore it.

I normally dislike long signatures, but I quickly found three things I'm interested in in Firefly's new signature and was very grateful not to have had to spend probably several evenings sifting through forum messages. I've found similar useful information in the signatures of some of the other regulars and moderators. That people are collecting such information in their signatures should be a clue to a need unmet. As a Web useability expert, Wayne, you should know how hard it is to get people to click on external links.

A sticky thread is not particularly suited to maintaining an index, but it is the only option available. I run a software support forum myself, so I know how difficult it is to put the questions together with the answers in a Web forum. As we are all end-users, though, and therefore all information seekers at times, we've decided to add a resources directory application to our site, as it's the only reasonable way to catalog and index a plethora of information. vBulletin might consider the same at some point with users able to add to the directory.

theflow has offerred his considerable expertise in this field to design and develop and to help maintain information organization that would assist not only vBulletin's customers, but vBulletin developers and moderators providing support. Other customers commenting in this thread, along with other customers in passing comments in other threads, have expressed at least some degree of frustration with the current "information system" and some interest in assisting in doing something about it. Telling your paying customers, freddie, that assisting them in obtaining the help and information they need to best use your product is not your primary concern and that you are too busy to address their concerns, even if you can't address them as they might wish, is not going to do your business well in the long run. The difference betweeen success and failure in today's business world is customer service.

You all seem rather stressed out to me, perhaps the strains of growing too fast. But, you're not playing around in the 'leet' world any longer. You're in a very competitive, commericial business now and I can guarantee you that "attitude" will turn away many potential customers.