ATAR Notes: Forum

Administration => Site Discussion => Suggestions => Topic started by: ninwa on August 10, 2013, 07:11:44 pm

Title: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on August 10, 2013, 07:11:44 pm: Hi guys,

I've gotten some feedback lately that the site can be hard to navigate. It's definitely not without its problems! So if you have any comments or suggestions for making the site better - structure, navigation, design, whatever - please post them here :)
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on August 10, 2013, 07:18:34 pm: Made some suggestions before Extra sub-boards?

On a minor design note, maybe give "Chat" a symbol like all the other links?
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: RKTR on August 10, 2013, 07:36:02 pm: Quote from: pi on August 10, 2013, 07:18:34 pm
Made some suggestions before Extra sub-boards?

On a minor design note, maybe give "Chat" a symbol like all the other links?
i didnt even know there's a place to chat until you mentioned it
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ShortBlackChick on August 10, 2013, 07:43:19 pm: I didnt know there was a calendar until I decided to look at the other links, and I defs didnt know they showed birthdays! So I checked for mine and realised that it wasnt there so I went and added my birthday to my profile :)

I know awesome story right
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: brenden on August 10, 2013, 08:21:33 pm: What about a mini-tutorial that happens after sign-up and can be accessed again in the future?
Just generally like, showing pages with red circles around, say, the English board, with text saying "This is the English board. English goes here", then they click "next"... "This is the chat button. Click here for ~~sex~~ chat"

Of course, it would be more helpful than my example, and perhaps there could be a "learn more" button that took you to an entry about that forum or button or whatever else that explained it in depth for the extra-confused (would be a bit of work for the Mod team/writers and David I suppose).
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Lasercookie on August 10, 2013, 08:25:29 pm: Not too sure on terminology, but just to clarify when I say main forum index (or something along those lines), I mean this http://www.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php and when I say board index, I mean Announcements

I reckon ditch the regular web forum design for the main forum index page altogether and have something more consistent with the site design for these parts of the site http://www.atarnotes.com/?p=books http://www.atarnotes.com/

I think the main thing that makes the main index confusing for some people is that you have to scroll, and scroll until you get to say the VCE subject boards, which might end up being pretty easy to miss. So I think simplifying the design of the main index page is what should be done.

Instead of having rows and rows of boards listed in traditional web forum style, I think something minimal would suffice e.g. perhaps just boxes labelled with the name of the board, which then link to the regular board index pages.
ATAR Notes Publications
Administration
National Education
VCE State Forum
which then expand out to have more boxes that link to the subboards. Those could be organised so that one group of boards (e.g. National Education and General Discussion) are located next to each other. Here's a rubbish MS Paint picture to try and show what I'm getting at, well the gist of it anyway.

(http://i.imgur.com/wjcizSR.png)

The actual grouping of the boards wouldn't need to be so strict, you could have all the ATARNotes books and admin boards by themselves at the top, and then go into the grouped collection of labels when it gets to the VCE, HSC etc. boards.

Maybe not something that expands out or is overly flashy, but just something that compresses the main index page to be easier to navigate without being a cluttered mess, and something that makes it obvious where the VCE subject boards are, and where the buying and selling boards are etc.

We don't really need the "last post" since that's kinda broken on the main page anyway e.g. the thread listed here isn't the latest post http://www.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?action=collapse;c=21;sa=expand;af732870e016=e18fc5c05cf96ab83062250621581d5c#c21)/. Nor do we need the numbers saying "12893128" posts in this board, we can do without that knowledge on the main page.

Most of the browsing would be done through the recent posts at the bottom (that could be placed somewhere else?), using either the unread replies/posts or actually clicking on the board and browsing that way. Having the search function more prominent would also be nice.

I think the structure of indexes (indices?) for each specific board is probably fine. That probably doesn't need to change. But I'd imagine if other pages on the site are changing, then those pages too would have small alterations made to keep it consistent with the design used for the rest of the site. I think doing that would fix some of the problems people were having with those pages, e.g. changing the "new topic" button and hence making it even more obvious that it's there. The "last post" etc. stuff is more useful on boards like that Mathematics/Science/Technology so I don't think we need to get rid of that like I suggested for the main index page.

Quote from: Bendren εϊз on August 10, 2013, 08:21:33 pm
What about a mini-tutorial that happens after sign-up and can be accessed again in the future?
Just generally like, showing pages with red circles around, say, the English board, with text saying "This is the English board. English goes here", then they click "next"... "This is the chat button. Click here for ~~sex~~ chat"

Of course, it would be more helpful than my example, and perhaps there could be a "learn more" button that took you to an entry about that forum or button or whatever else that explained it in depth for the extra-confused (would be a bit of work for the Mod team/writers and David I suppose).
Yeah I really like the idea of a guide, you could explain LaTeX etc. there too.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: wallah on August 27, 2013, 09:30:25 pm: Hey administrator, I was wondering if I could suggest you a few, minor change to the, "finding a tutor," page. At the moment, when you type in a postcode for finding a tutor, it lets you know if there is a tutor in your entered postcode or not, but I was wondering if you could make a little change in which instead of doing what it does, it gives you a list of the tutors that live closest to that post code. .i.e if you type in 3023, it says, "no tutors found in the entered area," but what I was wondering is if it could give you a list of the closest to the furthest tutors from that area ? .... :) ....

I believe that this could be very convenient for any-one searching for a tutor, and especially that who does not mind travelling to the nearest postcode to where the tutor lives for classes .... :) ....

please reply as to what you think about this, regards .... :) ....
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: clıppy on August 27, 2013, 09:35:28 pm: Quote from: Lasercookie on August 10, 2013, 08:25:29 pm
Yeah I really like the idea of a guide, you could explain LaTeX etc. there too.
Seconded. It can be really hard to try and help on the math boards without getting dirty in some LaTeX
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 04, 2013, 09:43:16 pm: Can we have that tagging system that exists on Facebook? Like where if you @<insert someone's name> they get a notification calling them to the thread? A lot of other forums have it...
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on September 05, 2013, 07:38:43 am: I'd probably be less inclined to help someone if they tagged me tbh. Also I don't really like the idea of users posting to get help from specific users when one of the beauties of this place is that all sorts of users can chip in with advice and have discussion.

On the plus side we could all tag Nina in every post for fun :D
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: brenden on September 05, 2013, 09:31:23 am: Hmm- in my head, it was experienced users tagging other experienced users

Eg

"Should I do physics?"
> Brenden tags pi

Or

"Is Twelve Angry Men swaggy as?"
> someone tags Brenden.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Gloamglozer on September 05, 2013, 12:01:05 pm: Quote from: Brencookie on September 05, 2013, 09:31:23 am
Hmm- in my head, it was experienced users tagging other experienced users

I feel so lonely. :P
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 05, 2013, 12:47:29 pm: Quote from: pi on September 05, 2013, 07:38:43 am
I'd probably be less inclined to help someone if they tagged me tbh. Also I don't really like the idea of users posting to get help from specific users when one of the beauties of this place is that all sorts of users can chip in with advice and have discussion.

On the plus side we could all tag Nina in every post for fun :D
This isn't really how I envisioned it being used. More like calling someone to a thread if you knew they'd be interested since they'd asked the question elsewhere, or if it was in OGD and you knew they liked a particular kind of music, etc. Or simply addressing someone so they see that you've answered their question. The 'show new replies' function doesn't show particular replies, it shows everything after your last post which in the case of very busy threads can be 3-4 pages worth, and is time-consuming and confusing

And I don't think there's anything wrong with using someone's specific knowledge to solve a problem. For example @Russ knows almost all there is about Unimelb administrative/enrolment details. Someone might have a very specific experience that enables them to be a reliable source of info on something, such as exchange, scholarships, etc. It can only be a good thing. If a user wanted specific help from another user in particular they'd just use the PM system, which is inscrutably worse given that conversation is private and not accessible by the general membership.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on September 05, 2013, 12:52:58 pm: I dunno, seems like an obligation of sorts. Like if I didn't answer a question I was tagged in (because I didn't have time, couldn't be bothered, didn't want to, etc. etc) then I'd be looking like a "bad" guy. Also, I'd be pretty annoyed if I got tagged in most UMAT or med posts (not like I don't get enough PMs right now haha), just as others might get annoyed if they were tagged repeatedly for <particular topic>.

I can see why you're in favour of the tag (and MSO -another forum I frequent- has it) but I don't think it's necessary.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 05, 2013, 01:55:35 pm: Quote from: pi on September 05, 2013, 12:52:58 pm
I dunno, seems like an obligation of sorts. Like if I didn't answer a question I was tagged in (because I didn't have time, couldn't be bothered, didn't want to, etc. etc) then I'd be looking like a "bad" guy. Also, I'd be pretty annoyed if I got tagged in most UMAT or med posts (not like I don't get enough PMs right now haha), just as others might get annoyed if they were tagged repeatedly for <particular topic>.
I guess it relies on people not extorting the system. Every other forum I've seen that uses it does so very well. Worthy of a trial at the very least.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: brenden on September 05, 2013, 04:50:53 pm: I'd never tag pi. He is scary. Have you seen him irl? He'll cut a motherfucker.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Kanon on September 05, 2013, 11:38:22 pm: I've also found the notes page a bit hard to navigate, I think the main problem I have with it is that it overcomplicates a lot of things.
If I had to redesign the notes side It'd look like this (sorry for bad wire framing)

(http://i.imgur.com/ptvmvtK.png)

Wire Frame Perspective:

- Note Search appears first and is 'fixed' to left hand column. The user is greeted with instructions in the middle tab about how to search, the rules regarding notes, and optional link to submissions page.
- So when I click Methods a jquery accordian appears giving the four topics of Methods. I think click Functions and the middle tab that had info on notes should jquery load/ajax load into a list of Mathematical Methods - Functions notes. There's some stuff missing here, but it's mainly the wire framing I'm trying to get a cross.
- Let's say I want to pick Exponential Functions by Eniwabe, i click the heading (which will obvs be a hyperlink) in which either a new page opens up, a lightbox type of deal, or it ajax/jquery loads into the third box. Upto you
- One thing that I found difficult was seperating the crappy notes from the good ones, using PHP GD you should be able to generate an image of a page (pref the middle page) to give users an insight of the type of content the notes provide without having to download.
- not a fixed height for the container, can expand downwards but the Notes Search will be fixed :)

Notes Perspective:
- Instead of categorizing by units 1/2 and 3/4 (which is better, but there aren't enough notes for each section to justify it having its own category) instead consider categorising by topics. This is no-way near perfect and for subjects like English, breaking it down to Context, Language Analysis and Text Response and then encouraging users to place the title of their text within the notes name would be nice. A subject like Methods where most notes are a combination of more than one topics are going to be a bit messy, but you could just as easily add another topic "Others" (trying to think of a good name for this)
- Keeping a count of the number of notes made ready for each subject would be nice, but is not essential.
- Within the Preview panel/lightbox you could include comments/ratings, but imo, ratings tend to be destructive to the community and not really accurate. Comments are good though for relevancy.
- There's a lot of trust on users properly using the submission feature into the right category and all of that jazz, it might be essential that mods for that subject need to double check every other note upload to make sure its all proper

Web Design Perspective
- so i do web designs stuff on the side a a hobby and a job but by no means does this mean that all my opinions are fact :)
- using jquery tends to be a large part of modern web design, minimising pages that need to be loaded aswell as fancy effects are pretty much crucial to keeping users attention
- maybe even consider re-vamping the entire site, as far as i can tell (based off your source code) you're not running any content managing systems like wordpress or joomla, so maybe having a look into responsive design like bootstrap might help? There are some beautiful examples if you just google bootstrap themes. It shouldn't be too hard to integrate.
- A big thing atm is responsive design, so design that is responsive to the users device. ATM the current page isn't responsive and is much more static coded than anything, so if you were to open ATARNotes on a phone it would look the same as it does on a desktop just really squished. If you open http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/ and start to slowly resize your screen to a much smaller size you'll see what it looks like on a mobile.
- + maybe rename forum to community? Not a whole lot of people have experienced massive forum names and all that
- VBulletin maybeee? :P

If you guys ever need any help, I'm always happy to help :) Sorry for bad english aswell haha, graduate VCE nekminnit no england skills
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 05, 2013, 11:51:19 pm: These ideas are awesome! Keep them coming!

Re: tagging - I think it's a great idea, but I also appreciate concerns that it may be abused. What do you think of an opt-out system - you can indicate in your profile if you do not wish to be tagged?
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Lasercookie on September 06, 2013, 12:03:28 am: Quote from: ninwa on September 05, 2013, 11:51:19 pm
These ideas are awesome! Keep them coming!

Re: tagging - I think it's a great idea, but I also appreciate concerns that it may be abused. What do you think of an opt-out system - you can indicate in your profile if you do not wish to be tagged?
Yeah opt-out (from being tagged in specific boards too, that'd probably be more work but :3) would solve the issue of users being spammed. The tags not being publicly viewable (i.e. each person gets the notification personally, rather than it being apart of the post) I also think would solve the issue of ruining the atmosphere that absolutely anyone can feel free to post. I think that takes care of the two reasons why I thought the tag system was a bad idea.

If we're throwing in more suggestions, the stuff that charmanderp said about the new replies page being a bit unwieldy - being able to sort posts in there by board etc. would be handy. Also the ability to remove a thread from appearing in the new replies page.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on September 06, 2013, 12:17:58 am: Opt-out would be excellent :)
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 06, 2013, 12:34:01 am: Quote from: Kanon on September 05, 2013, 11:38:22 pm
- maybe even consider re-vamping the entire site, as far as i can tell (based off your source code) you're not running any content managing systems like wordpress or joomla, so maybe having a look into responsive design like bootstrap might help? There are some beautiful examples if you just google bootstrap themes. It shouldn't be too hard to integrate.

We're definitely considering revamping the whole thing because to be perfectly honest, the forum looks hideous ha.

Thanks for the offer of help! Might just take you up on it later :)
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 07, 2013, 12:03:51 am: Quote from: Lasercookie on September 06, 2013, 12:03:28 am
If we're throwing in more suggestions, the stuff that charmanderp said about the new replies page being a bit unwieldy - being able to sort posts in there by board etc. would be handy. Also the ability to remove a thread from appearing in the new replies page.
And if not tagging, maybe a specific section for threads where you've been quoted? Or it could link you to the very first post after your last reply? Just things I've seen on other forums which are very handy.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: silverpixeli on September 07, 2013, 12:17:38 pm: With the tagging thing, is it possible to have it so that only people on your buddy list can tag you? We already have a 'buddy' thing, though I'm not 100% sure how it works/what it does, but this way you can choose who can tag you

- mods can all add each other if they haven't already and that way they can tag mods in posts where their help would be beneficial
- random users can't tag mods unless the mods add them as a buddy, no spam tagging mods for help
- users like me can tag my friends because all the people from my school buddy up, that means I can tag my mates in a post about a question we both come up with at school or a problem we run into while revising together, or something similar

just an idea, AN is really the only forum I use so it's not like I've seen this work somewhere else or anything, just read the discussion above and yeah

possible flaw is that it's similar to having a friends list, and people might feel excluded if nobody buddies them or whatever, idk if AN needs that, I think it's good right now that everyone has the same level of connection to every other account

EDIT: I like the idea of tags not being publicly viewable, too
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: grannysmith on September 07, 2013, 12:25:10 pm: Quote from: Brencookie on September 05, 2013, 04:50:53 pm
I'd never tag pi. He is scary. Have you seen him irl? He'll cut a motherfucker.

HAHAHA. And no, I've seen him and he's cool.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: grannysmith on September 07, 2013, 12:30:41 pm: It seems as if many things on AN is "hidden".
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 07, 2013, 05:22:33 pm: Quote from: oddly on September 07, 2013, 12:25:10 pm
HAHAHA. And no, I've seen him and he's cool.
Ok, @pi's second account.

Great development on the tagging idea guys and girls! So many things that I hadn't even thought of!
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: datfatcat on September 10, 2013, 12:16:52 am: I honestly think there are too many boards on the forum front page. Scrolling down to find the boards that you want to go to can be time consuming. Maybe users can have the option to recorder the boards (or even hide them themselves without admin's involvement?).

Like if I don't want to buy or sell books, I can have the option to hide the board or put it to the bottom of the page.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 10, 2013, 12:52:32 am: you can already do that!
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: abeybaby on September 10, 2013, 12:54:08 am: i know we've discussed it before, but i really liked having +/- votes on all boards. maybe we can bring them back, but only votes on non-opinion boards count towards respect? because atm, the only way to agree or disagree with someone's sentiment/argument is to have a whole other post, and its pretty unnecessary imo.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: JellyDonut on September 10, 2013, 01:07:26 am: Need more banners telling me I won something.

I love winning
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 10, 2013, 09:25:13 am: Quote from: JellyDonut on September 10, 2013, 01:07:26 am
Need more banners telling me I won something.

I love winning

I changed your custom title, I hope that's an acceptable alternative
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 10, 2013, 10:56:21 am: Quote from: abeybaby on September 10, 2013, 12:54:08 am
i know we've discussed it before, but i really liked having +/- votes on all boards. maybe we can bring them back, but only votes on non-opinion boards count towards respect? because atm, the only way to agree or disagree with someone's sentiment/argument is to have a whole other post, and its pretty unnecessary imo.

Not going to happen. This risks having people's opinions hidden by downvotes, which completely defeats the purpose of the debate threads.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 10, 2013, 12:24:56 pm: Quote from: abeybaby on September 10, 2013, 12:54:08 am
i know we've discussed it before, but i really liked having +/- votes on all boards. maybe we can bring them back, but only votes on non-opinion boards count towards respect? because atm, the only way to agree or disagree with someone's sentiment/argument is to have a whole other post, and its pretty unnecessary imo.
Then what you have is people downvoting posts just because they disagree with them superficially, as opposed to the quality of actual discussion, whether or not you agree or disagree.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: alondouek on September 10, 2013, 02:03:24 pm: Quote from: abeybaby on September 10, 2013, 12:54:08 am
i know we've discussed it before, but i really liked having +/- votes on all boards. maybe we can bring them back, but only votes on non-opinion boards count towards respect? because atm, the only way to agree or disagree with someone's sentiment/argument is to have a whole other post, and its pretty unnecessary imo.

lol can you imagine what the election threads would look like? your points are valid, but as charm said, the voting will be excessive and completely superficial (like Reddit), as opposed to voting up posts that are genuinely helpful.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: abeybaby on September 10, 2013, 03:14:21 pm: When we used to have them, I only ever saw down votes when someone was rude or purposely inflammatory. Down votes weren't used to just say 'I disagree', but up votes were used to say 'I agree', which I think is much better than a whole extra post
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: charmanderp on September 10, 2013, 05:33:31 pm: Quote from: abeybaby on September 10, 2013, 03:14:21 pm
I only ever saw down votes when someone was rude or purposely inflammatory.
I do think this is a good way to discourage people from making such posts. Just concerned that it might be easily extorted, too.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: datfatcat on September 10, 2013, 07:22:27 pm: Quote from: JellyDonut on September 10, 2013, 01:07:26 am
Need more banners telling me I won something.

I love winning

Yes there should be some competitions (like photography, essay writing....the list goes on and on)
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on September 10, 2013, 07:29:52 pm: Quote from: drfatcat on September 10, 2013, 07:22:27 pm
Yes there should be some competitions (like photography, essay writing....the list goes on and on)

Why? :P

And winners getting what? xD

I wouldn't mind custom titles or something, but I also wouldn't like people "wasting" their time doing random stuff when they could be doing more productive things either :P
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: JellyDonut on September 11, 2013, 11:55:43 am: Quote from: ninwa on September 10, 2013, 09:25:13 am
I changed your custom title, I hope that's an acceptable alternative
I would have also accepted charlie sheen of an or #winning. But that's cool
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 11, 2013, 12:57:43 pm: Quote from: drfatcat on September 10, 2013, 07:22:27 pm
Yes there should be some competitions (like photography, essay writing....the list goes on and on)

Essay writing and similar more academically inclined competitions actually sounds really good! I'll keep it in mind for future when we can afford to give out prizes :P
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: datfatcat on September 12, 2013, 11:13:40 pm: Quote from: pi on September 10, 2013, 07:29:52 pm
Why? :P

And winners getting what? xD

I wouldn't mind custom titles or something, but I also wouldn't like people "wasting" their time doing random stuff when they could be doing more productive things either :P

I want to have a custom title one day :D
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Alwin on September 13, 2013, 09:33:43 pm: == :P warning massive post :P ==

So I'll put this here first, my proposal thingo
(http://i.imgur.com/r4nV0se.jpg)

Okay, so I actually had a bit of time on my hands so I decided to play around with colours and placement of the home page - as well as spamming laser with my questions :D (thanks laser!)

I've only had limited experience with web design shamelss advertising :P but I came up with a couple of suggestions:

1. How about just the one navigation bar with all the links there, rather than 2 separate ones. From the menu bar there would be drop down links etc etc like the current design. Also, I found in the source code/site resources there was an unused icon, so I just used it as an icon for the chat link :D btw, I played around with the colours so it looks a bit 3D-ish, not much practical use but I got bored :P
(http://i.imgur.com/ngcuYva.png)

2. Child board drop down links, as suggested by laser. There are a number of ways this can be done, but personally I like the transpancy/opacity thingy since it looks the nicest. I would also suggest to the admins or natmods, maybe split up grouped boards like the Mathematics/Science/Technology one into separate ones: Mathematics || Science || Technology || English Studies || etc etc
It would also make dropdown links (if you choose to use them) shorter & better :)
(http://i.imgur.com/DwCGiuR.png)

3. General layout, I moved around with and shortened a bit. Rather than the one column, I spit it in two preserving all the major details of Title, Mods, Last Post but not the number of posts and topics. Maybe if everyone agrees with Laser's idea of getting rid of the "last post" then it should go, but imho I think it should stay coz its fun to browse them as a form of procrastination HAHA.
Also, I put the "info centre" and "stats" at the top, because when I talk to friends who don't use AN much, they always say how they don't know how to get back to their topic / post. After a while, I guess, they'll get used to the site, but it'd be nice if there was a link on the homepage every user's most visited/viewed :)
Also, with the expansion + collapse, I don't really like how the page has to refresh each time I press it.. just a personal view :P
(http://i.imgur.com/buFg1Cg.jpg)

Also:
I really like the idea of tagging with the opt-out, I wouldn't be abused and could be useful. Maybe stop the pms I get sometimes, where people ask me a question, wait a bit for a reply then when i doesn't come they post it on the boards. SORRY IF YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE, I'm just a slow replier :(

With the prize things for competitions, how about a 5% or 10% on AN study guides which can be transferred to friends / family eg a single special use code. I always see 10% discounts for AN guides when they're just printed, so it would be a pretty good prize without much loss for the AN company!

Hope you liked.. some of my ideas :D +thanks for bothering to read this HAHA
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 13, 2013, 10:33:31 pm: Oh my god, I love this drop down idea!!!

How would it work for a mobile site though?
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Alwin on September 13, 2013, 11:05:47 pm: Quote from: ninwa on September 13, 2013, 10:33:31 pm
Oh my god, I love this drop down idea!!!

How would it work for a mobile site though?

very badly :P

I don't have any experience with making mobile sites, so you might have to ask someone else :)
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Kuroyuki on September 13, 2013, 11:20:02 pm: Quote from: ninwa on September 13, 2013, 10:33:31 pm
Oh my god, I love this drop down idea!!!

How would it work for a mobile site though?
What about having like a + or - button at the left hand side of each bar. Then when you click it it drop downs the links? It's been done effectively on other mobile forums.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Lasercookie on September 13, 2013, 11:33:35 pm: Quote from: ninwa on September 13, 2013, 10:33:31 pm
Oh my god, I love this drop down idea!!!

How would it work for a mobile site though?
I'd probably go with what Kanon suggested about having the design of the website alter a bit on smaller screens. That Mitsubishi website is a pretty good example of how much you can have it alter depending on screen size.
Quote from: Kanon on September 05, 2013, 11:38:22 pm
- using jquery tends to be a large part of modern web design, minimising pages that need to be loaded aswell as fancy effects are pretty much crucial to keeping users attention
- A big thing atm is responsive design, so design that is responsive to the users device. ATM the current page isn't responsive and is much more static coded than anything, so if you were to open ATARNotes on a phone it would look the same as it does on a desktop just really squished. If you open http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/ and start to slowly resize your screen to a much smaller size you'll see what it looks like on a mobile.
There's also the AN App on iOS too isn't there? I've only seen the screenshots of that, but I'm assuming that's a bit more convenient than a mobile web browser for iPhone users.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Alwin on September 13, 2013, 11:45:21 pm: Quote from: Lasercookie on September 13, 2013, 11:33:35 pm
There's also the AN App on iOS too isn't there? I've only seen the screenshots of that, but I'm assuming that's a bit more convenient than a mobile web browser for iPhone users.

There is, but I haven't personally tried it. iPod died recently... still find it hard to move on :'(
(http://i.imgur.com/lQUDCq8.png)

edit: resized image
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on September 13, 2013, 11:52:56 pm: +1 for pointing out Brenden was the reason. Well played good Sir.
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: ninwa on September 14, 2013, 12:02:52 am: LOL

I still use a Blackberry (if you laugh at me I'll ban you) so I don't know much about these newfangled app things, but I guess the AN App is enough for a mobile site.

We've got a bit on our plate at the moment but as soon as we start this properly we'll definitely consult some of you further!
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: Lasercookie on September 14, 2013, 12:08:02 am: Quote from: ninwa on September 14, 2013, 12:02:52 am
I still use a Blackberry (if you laugh at me I'll ban you) so I don't know much about these newfangled app things, but I guess the AN App is enough for a mobile site.
Nah the AN app won't work for android phones / other phones (including more up to date blackberry phones :P) that aren't made by Apple 3: And I guess it's important for netbooks / tablets with smaller screens too
Title: Re: Improvements to the site - layout, design etc.
Post by: pi on September 14, 2013, 12:09:00 am: Quote from: ninwa on September 14, 2013, 12:02:52 am
I still use a Blackberry

This explains so much about your superior technological skills. So, so much.

edit: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

edit2: I actually did get banned for this post # y o l o