Please bring back old "Talk" forum format
Mar 4th, 2009, 01:37 PM
#81
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It doesn't matter to me, since I've "learned" to not use the Recent Activity column at all, but for those who do, once you scroll through the 25 listed, you have to now go "back to the top" and click on "View all today's activity".
Mar 4th, 2009, 02:15 PM
#84
yk - Yes, that works (holding down control and clicking). I get the option to either bring it up in a new window or a tab. And I discovered that if I hold down "command" (a button that I don't think Windows machines have -or at least not in the same location), and then click, it will bring it up in a tab (without asking whether I want a new window or a tab. Thanks! Like I said, I'm a little slow with learning new stuff.
Mar 5th, 2009, 05:17 AM
#85
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Everyone is quite helpful, but doesn't it seem insane and ridiculous to have to read dozens of posts and study up on how to use a message board? If the answer is, "You were confused because you saw X first and need to scroll down to see Y...." Yeah, if I want to see Y and don't see it, then the board is difficult to use.
On the other boards on which I post, the only "tutorials" I've ever needed were on subjects like how to quote text or put things in italics. I've never had to ask someone how to USE a message board.
On the other boards on which I post, the only "tutorials" I've ever needed were on subjects like how to quote text or put things in italics. I've never had to ask someone how to USE a message board.
Mar 5th, 2009, 07:34 AM
#86
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But missypie, I'm curious if those who have never been here before have any problems at all. It seems to me that most of the complaints here are more of the nature "why is this different" or "how can I do the same thing I've always done". I suspect that many of us (myself included) get more hung up on trying to do things the same way we always have and don't even realize that some of those things are now easier or better. Not all -- but some. And many of the more complicated things being discussed here are not even things that most posters are ever likely to concern themselves with.
Mar 5th, 2009, 08:44 AM
#87
missypie: It wasn't necessarily that you needed at tutorial. It was that you didn't notice the entire list displayed when you clicked on "View all of today's activity" Even IF you didn't notice the added threads -- the difference in your scroll bar should have been a clue. Just like on every website -- the longer the page (i.e. the more scrolling possible) the smaller the scroll bar is.
I'm not sure how a tutorial would work in a situation like this. They could say "CLick on 'View all of today's activity' to see all of today's posts" - but if one doesn't notice all the activity is right there, what else can they do?
I'm not sure how a tutorial would work in a situation like this. They could say "CLick on 'View all of today's activity' to see all of today's posts" - but if one doesn't notice all the activity is right there, what else can they do?
Mar 5th, 2009, 12:03 PM
#88
Bear with me for this example:
1. If you choose the Canada board, a list of 25 titles comes up in the left column. That list goes back a couple of days (because there are fewer than 25 posts per day).
2. If you choose the "View all of today's activity" at the top of the Canada column, you get a list of dates in the left column and a list of about 10 titles from today in the middle column.
3. If instead of choosing "View all of today," you go to the bottom of the 25 in the left column and choose "View more recent activity," you get a list of five titles from 3 days ago (because the last two days were already in recent activity) in the middle column and a list of dates in the left column.
At that point, if you want to browse backwards, you have to go through the posts day by day. And because there are fewer than 10 posts almost every day, it's fairly time-consuming.
You click on a day, and see maybe 6 posts. If you want to read one, you click on it and then have to click the back button (or if you bring it up in a tab, you have to get rid of that tab). Then if you want to go back more than those 6, you have to click on another day to see a list of maybe 4. Then another day to see a list of 7. And so on.
It may seem like a minor complaint. It may sound like someone who just wants to do things the way I'm used to. But it is, factually, inarguably, a lot more clicks and, therefore, a lot more time-consuming to browse such a board than it used to be. Yes, I prefer using fewer clicks - not just because I was used to that, but because I think fewer clicks are better than more clicks.
To take it a step further, for some boards (probably most), it's true that it takes fewer clicks to bring up a long list of titles - because the activity for a single day is more than the old set of 50.
But even then, it's more clicks if you read quite a few of the posts because you have to hit the back button (or get rid of the new tab or window you create). Example:
Before, if I wanted to browse 200 titles and read maybe 30 threads (which I routinely did - but not anymore), I clicked 33 times: 3 times to bring up the additional 150 beyond the initial 50, plus 30 times to read the individual threads.
Now, even for an active board, I'd have to click 61 times to do the same thing: 1 time to get the current day (which might include 200 threads) and 60 times to read 30 threads (once to bring up the thread and again to get rid of it). On an inactive board, it's even more than 61, because I might have to bring up 30 days' worth or more.
So to get back to the earlier discussion where I was confused... I wasn't confused about an overall FORUM. For an inactive forum (with fewer than 30 posts per day), there's no way to get more than the 30 most recent displayed at any one time. Once you go backward past current activity, you can only see the posts a day at a time - and lots of days have fewer than 30 posts on inactive boards.
It's on tagged countries where I was confused (Burma was the example we used). That's where I didn't notice that the middle column listed all the most recent - not just a day's worth. And since there are so few posts on Burma, the scroll bar did not, in fact, get smaller. Yes, I might have noticed it if I had been looking at someplace busier. But when we were talking about it, I was testing it on Burma. So, janis, it's not that I didn't notice the scroll bar getting smaller or that I needed extra (remedial!!)
training - although maybe I do! It's that for where I was looking, the scroll bar wasn't smaller. What I missed was that there were multiple days displayed.
I apologize in advance if this isn't clear. I try to explain what I'm seeing, but maybe I make it too convoluted to follow. Sometimes I think the reason we interpret things differently is because we're not looking at exactly the same thing when we describe something.
All that said, there is a lot to like in the new forums, as I've mentioned. I LOVE the profile section. Love seeing other people's profiles. And love being able to track what I've started or commented on by going to my own profile. Love the tagged trip reports. Love the new preview capability. Love the search tool. Kudos to Fodor's for the enhancements.
And I'm sure I'll get used to the extra clicks, but I can't imagine I'll get to where I prefer more clicks to fewer, although who knows.
1. If you choose the Canada board, a list of 25 titles comes up in the left column. That list goes back a couple of days (because there are fewer than 25 posts per day).
2. If you choose the "View all of today's activity" at the top of the Canada column, you get a list of dates in the left column and a list of about 10 titles from today in the middle column.
3. If instead of choosing "View all of today," you go to the bottom of the 25 in the left column and choose "View more recent activity," you get a list of five titles from 3 days ago (because the last two days were already in recent activity) in the middle column and a list of dates in the left column.
At that point, if you want to browse backwards, you have to go through the posts day by day. And because there are fewer than 10 posts almost every day, it's fairly time-consuming.
You click on a day, and see maybe 6 posts. If you want to read one, you click on it and then have to click the back button (or if you bring it up in a tab, you have to get rid of that tab). Then if you want to go back more than those 6, you have to click on another day to see a list of maybe 4. Then another day to see a list of 7. And so on.
It may seem like a minor complaint. It may sound like someone who just wants to do things the way I'm used to. But it is, factually, inarguably, a lot more clicks and, therefore, a lot more time-consuming to browse such a board than it used to be. Yes, I prefer using fewer clicks - not just because I was used to that, but because I think fewer clicks are better than more clicks.
To take it a step further, for some boards (probably most), it's true that it takes fewer clicks to bring up a long list of titles - because the activity for a single day is more than the old set of 50.
But even then, it's more clicks if you read quite a few of the posts because you have to hit the back button (or get rid of the new tab or window you create). Example:
Before, if I wanted to browse 200 titles and read maybe 30 threads (which I routinely did - but not anymore), I clicked 33 times: 3 times to bring up the additional 150 beyond the initial 50, plus 30 times to read the individual threads.
Now, even for an active board, I'd have to click 61 times to do the same thing: 1 time to get the current day (which might include 200 threads) and 60 times to read 30 threads (once to bring up the thread and again to get rid of it). On an inactive board, it's even more than 61, because I might have to bring up 30 days' worth or more.
So to get back to the earlier discussion where I was confused... I wasn't confused about an overall FORUM. For an inactive forum (with fewer than 30 posts per day), there's no way to get more than the 30 most recent displayed at any one time. Once you go backward past current activity, you can only see the posts a day at a time - and lots of days have fewer than 30 posts on inactive boards.
It's on tagged countries where I was confused (Burma was the example we used). That's where I didn't notice that the middle column listed all the most recent - not just a day's worth. And since there are so few posts on Burma, the scroll bar did not, in fact, get smaller. Yes, I might have noticed it if I had been looking at someplace busier. But when we were talking about it, I was testing it on Burma. So, janis, it's not that I didn't notice the scroll bar getting smaller or that I needed extra (remedial!!)
training - although maybe I do! It's that for where I was looking, the scroll bar wasn't smaller. What I missed was that there were multiple days displayed.I apologize in advance if this isn't clear. I try to explain what I'm seeing, but maybe I make it too convoluted to follow. Sometimes I think the reason we interpret things differently is because we're not looking at exactly the same thing when we describe something.
All that said, there is a lot to like in the new forums, as I've mentioned. I LOVE the profile section. Love seeing other people's profiles. And love being able to track what I've started or commented on by going to my own profile. Love the tagged trip reports. Love the new preview capability. Love the search tool. Kudos to Fodor's for the enhancements.
And I'm sure I'll get used to the extra clicks, but I can't imagine I'll get to where I prefer more clicks to fewer, although who knows.
Mar 5th, 2009, 12:09 PM
#89
And for inactive forums, unless the archives section is overhauled, I doubt I'll ever browse back beyond the current 30 displayed. It's too much of an effort. Not worth it unless I'm planning a trip there. Then I will. But not just for general entertainment.
Mar 5th, 2009, 12:29 PM
#90
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althom1122 - I know what you're saying, and here was Katie's response from a few days earlier:
http://www.fodors.com/community/foru...omment-5490702
Katie_H on Mar 3, 09 at 04:03 PM
yk-- We're working on an alternative for the dating structure for the archives (switching to sets of 50, etc). We realize that the current structure is not ideal for slower forums or for the "tag" sections.
Again, having the separate frames format in the past was the huge advantage Fodors forum had over other travel forums. Now, their forum is similar to other forums that I visit. I always have to click once to open a thread, then BACK to get back to where I was. I agree in many instances, there are more clicks to do now than before, but I have yet to find another travel forum which is "less cumbersome" as this forum now.
http://www.fodors.com/community/foru...omment-5490702
Katie_H on Mar 3, 09 at 04:03 PM
yk-- We're working on an alternative for the dating structure for the archives (switching to sets of 50, etc). We realize that the current structure is not ideal for slower forums or for the "tag" sections.
Again, having the separate frames format in the past was the huge advantage Fodors forum had over other travel forums. Now, their forum is similar to other forums that I visit. I always have to click once to open a thread, then BACK to get back to where I was. I agree in many instances, there are more clicks to do now than before, but I have yet to find another travel forum which is "less cumbersome" as this forum now.
Mar 5th, 2009, 01:30 PM
#91
yk - yes, I agree with you. I haven't found any other forum that is "less cumbersome" (more user friendly!). I still think Fodor's is the best, despite the complaints I've made. Plus, I think the content is the best. So I'm staying! If I didn't love it, I'd just leave it.
But it's true I won't browse back as much on the less active boards until they address the date structure. I knew Fodor's was working on it, but just wanted to explain what I had been talking about in this thread because I wasn't sure I was making myself clear.
Thanks, everyone.
But it's true I won't browse back as much on the less active boards until they address the date structure. I knew Fodor's was working on it, but just wanted to explain what I had been talking about in this thread because I wasn't sure I was making myself clear.
Thanks, everyone.
