Comments on design and usability [Archive]

Brant

March 25th, 2006,

Hey there, one of the many reasons for this beta test is to get your input on the design and usability of this site as it takes shape. I've heard from a few of you through e-mail concerning things you'd like to see improve. The site is still pretty raw right now, so your comments on contributions will really help!

AVERT303

March 25th, 2006,

I really like the design. Overall the entire site is easy to navigate and fun to use, but then again I am a web fanatic and love exploring everything.

For the average user, though, there are some things I think that we may want to consider further. For instance in the control panel there is an options for the view which include WSIWYG controls. Most folks will have no clue what WYSIWIG means. So If there is a way to tweak the controls to either be basic, medium, or advanced (especially for formatting's sake) that might make some folks happy who happen to be new to the internet but are old time CS'ers. (???)

I guess to say it simply, a "less is more" approach may help make the site inviting. What do you all think? Do you think the site should be more techy? My natural inclination is "more tech!" but ... i would like to consider the options.

my experience from the Journal has shown me that starting with less and building up the design, or features in this case, can sometimes be helpful especially if everyone in the CS scene, including the elder generations, really feel like the want to get involved in the site. Then again, that may never happen.

Brant

March 26th, 2006,

Hey Tad - thanks for you input. The platform for the forums is vBulletin. Little by little we'll be updating the language it uses, but a lot of it is still standard. I updated the registration bit today where it asks for your birthday. We're required to ask this for COPPA compliance (the law that protects minors on the internet) and I've tried to add some language that explains to those in the CS community that might not want to enter their age.

Anyway, it really helps to have you raising these types of language issues. We'll fix these things one by one.

WendyM

March 27th, 2006,

I am a relative - no make that abject - newcomer to this web forum stuff. So far I've found it pretty easy to use. I have a few questions though - what's the buddy list thing? How does it work? What are the groups that no one is a member of yet? I had another question, too - now I'm not thinking of it. I figured out that if I want to be looking at something I'm responding to while I'm responding, I have to use the quote button. I forgot to this time. I'd think of it if I were looking at the page where it is . . . . Oh well, I'll ask it later.

In general, I think it's a good testament to the design of the site that a newcomer like me can get around so well - great work!
-Wendy

giles

April 3rd, 2006,

Its very difficult to design for a site without much content. The menu gives us a good idea of the direction.

At first I thought the grey words (your role, community, sunday school, membership, prayer) were part of the menu. It makes sense that clicking the 'TMC Youth' logo goes back to the home page but perhaps having the same link on the grey words is confusing.

I thought about using the grey words to link to relevent parts of the forum but its better to stick to a text menu. Adding rollovers to clearly show they are links would look a bit clunky. Brant would also have a hard time updating the header image as the site evolved.

What ideas are there for 'healing voices' is this where we might share testimonies?

Brant

April 4th, 2006,

Thanks Giles,

Many of the things you've pointed out are things I intend to get done some day - making the grey words more interative for example and have them GO somewhere.

Secondly, you point out that the content really isn't there yet. It's really important to us that the forums be tied directly to content, so it's important that this content start showing up. You might see some changes along that line in the coming week. We've just posted a beta of a possible podcast: http://www.tmcyouthbeta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46

Thanks for your input. I think your idea of using the healing voices (forums) section for testimonies is a great way to keep the forums active with your life experience and direct lessons that you've learned.

Thanks for you feedback, it helps to keep this thing moving forward. I know you in particular have some web expertise, so feel free to ask if you want to get into the deeper workings of this site.

Fuzzyjefe

April 5th, 2006,

After 4 days as a user, I'm not finding much time to browse through everything. Right now I just reply to comments. The hierarchical, linear fashion in which I navigate between all the forums is cumbersome. It's not really clear the topic of each subforum. Don't get me wrong, I think the content being discussed is valuable and interesting. But I don't know how to make the most of the site.

What about a flash tour of the site giving tips on use along the way? What about a more unified language that describes each section? Right now there's no running theme that can give me a hint as to what the specific titles of forums are about. I suspect that most users of the site would be familiar with certain names and references in S&H and CS in general, so those could be titles of forums.

Also, I have to sign in twice: once for trusted20 then for my username. And the username login screen didn't pop up this time. I had to click on a link to someone already logged in to get the log in prompt. Sorry about the nitty gritty problem. I wish I could illustrate or point to what I'm talking about!

Brant

April 6th, 2006,

Okay, in case you haven't noticed, an Avatar is different from your Profile Picture. It's smaller and it appears next to your name in each post. I'm driving a tractor in my avatar. God's tractor. Anyway, your avatar needs to be small (80 pixels wide or tall) and many people don't know how to make such a small picture. It's easy! Find any picture you want to convert and change the size online at: http://www.resize2mail.com/?option=advanced

Let me know if you have any problems with this site. It will help you generate a smaller image that you can then upload as your avatar. I really like it when people have avatars next to their names because I start to see them as actual people instead of spiritual-speaking robots.

Ame Schneider

April 6th, 2006,

Hello Brant,

I was wondering if there could be a thread set up for discussion of Reading Rooms?

I have been trying to think of ways that the Reading Room can be a spiritual resource for the community - and the periodicals seem to be a great way to do that. But I also liked the idea of having a sort of advertizing pitch to attract more people.

With the conversation about advertising to the public about how people found the textbook - it has made me think about how Reading Rooms can be more approachable and attractive to the public. (And I don't mean what they look like physically.) And Nate (Niesan) mentioned an idea about speed dating in the Reading Rooms near college towns - to learn more about different religions.

I'd love to be able to discuss more ideas about how to make the Manually based distribution center for the textbook (the Reading Room) - more alive and vibrant and useful/used.

Could we consider it?

Thanks!
- Ame

Brant

April 6th, 2006,

Hey there Ame,

I'm not sure if you had an Avatar before, but you do now. Nice job.

I think your idea about the Reading Rooms is a good one. It's part of our church and is something that could benefit a lot from some sharing.

About a month ago, I found out that there's a church site that's already doing this. I mean, they're way out in front of this site with discussions, etc. - you can check it out at MyOpenDoors (http://www.myopendoors.com/). I'd love to have the TMCYouth site link to resources like this instead of just duplicating them. Let me know if you have ideas about pointing people to MyOpenDoors... I'm thinking about something more than just linking to them.

Ame Schneider

April 6th, 2006,

Hi Brant -

Yes - I am familiar with OpenDoors.com - and know it is a great resource for those who work in the Reading Rooms. I think anybody can hop on and post requests or questions. It'd be cool to have a link to it from the TMC forum - for those interested. But I also like the idea of people discussing the value and use of Reading Rooms - like they have about The Pastor, Sunday School, and so forth. I think we can do that here without replicating what OpenDoors is. It might even inspire people to take advantage of the Reading Rooms in there areas.

Thanks for replying - and I'd love to think/talk more about it!
-Ame

Brant

April 6th, 2006,

I figured you already knew about MyOpenDoors - I know you're super involved with your Reading Room. How about focusing something on the public face of Christian Science. I want to think about Christian Science being out there in the community and Reading Rooms are a big part of that. I want to address all the things you'd include in the Reading Room section under a larger banner - and maybe that's focusing on the public face of CS. I'm saying this because I don't want to just end up making a forum for every last aspect of chuch.... but maybe that's not a bad thing. What do you think?

Neisan

April 7th, 2006,

Hey Brant,

Interesting question about what parts of church should be forums. I was musing the other day that you ought to have an interface that simply replicates the full text of the manual and then from each section of the manual a forum would grow.

Then I thought about all the work it would take to set it up, and how many parts of the manual aren't necessarily one's I'd like to discuss here - like the section on Discipline, for example.

That said, I'd love to see a Reading Rooms forum, or if not a forum for reading rooms, at least a Miscellaneous forum with a Reading Room thread. I figure there's no hurt in setting a thread or forum up and seeing what kind of interest it draws, and deleting or closing it later if it doesn't pan out.

Neisan

April 7th, 2006,

Hey Ame -

I found some interesting discussions in the OpenDoors forums that may help you in the meantime.

Presenting Reading Room to the Public (http://discussions.myopendoors.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=sp-opendoors&msg=276.1&ctx=1)
Self Sufficient Reading Rooms (http://discussions.myopendoors.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=sp-opendoors&msg=208.10&ctx=1)

Alyssa

April 10th, 2006,

Neisan

May 14th, 2006,

Brant,

The link-posting button only has one window, so any link shows the whole URL. Could another window be added so that the links could be more discreet?

For example, instead of showing the whole link: http://www.spirituality.com/framework/search_redirect.jhtml?queryText=gratitude&x=0&y=0

It'd be cleaner to be able to just write about what I'm grateful (http://www.tmcyouthbeta.com/forums/gratitude) for.

Maybe the tag would look something like:
<ahref="http://www.spirituality.com/framework/search_redirect.jhtml?queryText=gratitude&x=0&y=0">grateful</a>

Brant

May 14th, 2006,

Hey there - I know what you're talking about. Posting a link CAN be discreet, you just need to do it in a clever way. Try this:

Let's say we want to make some text into a link:

Christian Science Monitor

First you'd highlight/select the text (pretend the blueness means it's selected):

Christian Science Monitor

Now, while it's selected, click on the "insert link" button and enter the URL.

Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com)

Does that work for you? I dig finding a way to have shorter and less messy URLs. It's a good thing.

Neisan

May 16th, 2006,

OK, Brant, I'm trying your link recipe.

I'm writing about how it's cool to see that Brown University has an interfaith house where students live together and talk about religion.

I want to turn the words "interfaith house" into a link to:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p20s01-lire.html

So I take a look at the sentence again. I highlight the text and add the link.

I'm writing about how it's cool to see that Brown University has an interfaith house (http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p20s01-lire.html) where students live together and talk about religion.

...

Oh, ok, now I understand. I used to click the "Insert Link" button (with the picture of the world and the two links) first and then enter the URL. Instead...

We should highlight a word or phrase in the text first. While the text is highlighted, then click the "Insert Link" button. The link pop-up window asks for the URL. I enter the URL, and hit "OK". The word or phrase I highlighted is automatically changed into a link. Cool.

Thanks, Brant.

Txairo

June 6th, 2007,

Hey! Thanks for setting up these forums, they're great! I just had a quick question - I think this is a good a place as any to put it.

Is there a search function for the forums? For example, I know I read an article or thread on, say, love, but then I can't find where that thread or thought was again. Is there any way to search through the forum posts to find that more easily than reading through hundreds of them?

Thanks again guys!

Nate B

June 17th, 2008,

The forum is really good, I especially like the U15 forum!

One suggestion: To not automatically subscribe with instant email notification when you post on a thread (an opt-in to subscribing instead of an opt-out). The constant emails can get annoying.