Forum Features Feedback

Hamma · 2012-03-27, 07:11 PM

We have been running with a very similar forum template for quite a few years because we like to keep things fairly clean. With the new site I wanted to open up a thread to get some feedback on Forum Features!

What would you like to see in the forums? Any specific feature you think would add to posting on the forums? This is the place to let us know.

Keep in mind some things are not negotiable as we like to keep some standardization in terms of look and feel.

So fire away!

Edit: Yes sigs are off in this forum.

**arclegger** · 2012-03-27, 07:20 PM

Bring back pic of the day, or screenshot of the week or epic battle of month or game of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok I got carried away there.

But yes, I really enjoyed the pic of the day stuff, and trust me when I say. There will be plenty of screenshots taken from this game

Raymac · 2012-03-27, 08:00 PM

I've always liked the clean feel of the forums. I wonder if there is a way to add a sort of like/dislike feature to the posts. so kinda like youtube videos you could have people vote thumbs up or thumbs down and it might be an interesting way to get a general feel about a certain topic.

Kouza · 2012-03-27, 08:48 PM

I think it would be totally awesome to have some sort of Empire Specific Name Coloring.

IE: You choose empire and your name color is Red, Blue (Yellow because of forum color?), or Purple.

Always thought the diversity of empires was cool.

Also, the new forum does not fit on my web page unless I zoom out... kind of annoying.

That being said the new color, and feel is much better. The old page seemed like it was trying to be every thing at once. The new colors are sexy...

Ailos · 2012-03-27, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by Kouza

I think it would be totally awesome to have some sort of Empire Specific Name Coloring.

IE: You choose empire and your name color is Red, Blue (Yellow because of forum color?), or Purple.

Always thought the diversity of empires was cool.

I am Ailos and I approve of this message.

Hamma · 2012-03-27, 10:36 PM

Changing the color on people's names is unlikely for consistency reasons. We want important posters to stick out rather than be in a sea of color. What about other thoughts on how to display your empire? We already display a small empire icon at the top right of all posts when you have selected an empire in your profile.

Zulthus · 2012-03-28, 01:47 AM

Hmm, maybe outlining the user's posts in the color of their empire?

TrueDeviL · 2012-03-28, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by Hamma

Changing the color on people's names is unlikely for consistency reasons. We want important posters to stick out rather than be in a sea of color. What about other thoughts on how to display your empire? We already display a small empire icon at the top right of all posts when you have selected an empire in your profile.

You could always add a small [VS] - [TR] - [NC] after thier name tho, use the built in profile field editor, you already have used it for the faction, just add a little bit more.

Or even, a small empire logo.. Like the one on the right side of posts :P Change it to be a lil more apparent.

Furber · 2012-03-28, 07:22 PM

Could we get the Poll thing back? I liked seeing the polls to get a general idea of people's opinions. Also, if they could be updated a little more often (once every 1 or 2 weeks?) that would be cool

. Oh and if they're somewhere on here and I've missed them, then nvm.

Figment · 2012-03-29, 12:48 PM

Regardless of the fun of cosmic comics, it's not what I'd expect to see on 50% of the home page as this is not a comic forum. That should have a much smaller space on the front page. I've found I've read next to no news before continueing to the forums lately, in comparison when news was at the top.

Hamma · 2012-03-29, 02:19 PM

That is the news, it is one of the highlighted stories. Right underneath it is the recent news stories.

Figment · 2012-03-29, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by Hamma

That is the news, it is one of the highlighted stories. Right underneath it is the recent news stories.

I dunno Hamma, let's put it this way, on my 21" screen, when I open PSU, the top 20% is buttons and banner, that's fine.

Then there's a HUGE image, in this case of a comic that's been there for about half a week (the big image is also unclickable, as only the small bar can be clicked). Then underneath that, I can barely see the bar that says VIP and News.

It actually took a while for me to notice the three buttons on the image as well, perhaps that bar should run from eiher side to not see it as part of the image? (Could also just be that in this case, the bar starts in a dark background, therefore the dark blue contrasts very little and doesn't stand out much).

Not sure if this is possible, but perhaps it would be possible to have the latest news posts with an image or video automatically place the first image or a cropped first image in there or makes it part of a linked slideshow?

Could also make it a part of the left frame above the VIP stuff? I dunno, I somehow just feel it doesn't quite do its job as is, because it pushes both frames underneath to the very bottom of the screen. Personally kinda liked how the latest news was the first thing you saw from the previous layout, that really made you want to scroll down as it was obvious there was something down there to see.

Btw, as a side note, a part time comic artist myself, I'd have that cropped more for teaser value.

Bit like how http://lfgcomic.com does it.

Hamma · 2012-03-29, 04:09 PM

Forgot to note we do intend to tweak the main front page image rotator to something a bit smaller, it was literally one of the last things we did to release and didn't get a ton of time to do it as we wanted.

It will be shrunk down at some point and possibly made more automated, but it's point is to highlight major news and features will be displayed. I've been updating it when new comics come out.

Best bet is you can bookmark http://www.planetside-universe.com/news.php to get straight to news until we can get it rectified.