Making the Forums More Navigable - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Making the Forums More Navigable

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
wrecan
Oct 23, 2008 13:53:07 I've been thinking for a while that the format for the D&D boards is a bit unweildy to navigate. The number of forums is pretty daunting and lots of posts get put in the wrong forum.

I think what we need us a graphical user interface that lets users see the gamut of choices at once. Something like the following (but, you know, professional).

Here's how it would work. First, you'd come to a 3x3 grid, must like you get on the Wizards.COMmunity homepage, but instead of different game lines, you get the nine forum categories for the D&D forums:
Screen One: Planets
IMAGE(http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1/Wrecan/DDGUI001.jpg)
#2
mudbunny
Oct 23, 2008 14:43:37 If the lower hierarchies "exploded" or emerged from the higher ones on a mouse-over, that would also work really good.
#3
Authw8
Oct 23, 2008 14:45:41 That would be really cool. I hope they do something like this!
#4
wrecan
Oct 23, 2008 14:53:45 In my head the bigger circles with pictures are "planets" and the little picture-less ones are "moons".

I was thinkging when you roll over a moon, the planet provides the description of the forum.
#5
seTiny
Oct 23, 2008 15:12:38 -May be a problem for low bandwidth users.

-Loses the ability to see what the last thread posted to was before going into the forum.

-Loses descriptions of the forum.

-While it may be cool initially, it may be one of those things that get annoying to deal with. Especially with the "exploding moons".

-Where are the list of subforums?

While providing a different format, it really doesn't tell the user what belongs where. This format actually hides more information from the user than the normal forum format.

It (at least the example) also doesn't do a better job of showing users where to post, than the linear format. It is still "busy", providing an overload of information to the user. General Discussions are still one of the first things a person would see and with no descriptions think "hey I want to discuss D&D I'll go there".

IF these boards ever decided to do this, I would want an option to shut it off when I'm viewing the forums.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 wrecan Oct 23, 2008 13:53:07	I've been thinking for a while that the format for the D&D boards is a bit unweildy to navigate. The number of forums is pretty daunting and lots of posts get put in the wrong forum. I think what we need us a graphical user interface that lets users see the gamut of choices at once. Something like the following (but, you know, professional). Here's how it would work. First, you'd come to a 3x3 grid, must like you get on the Wizards.COMmunity homepage, but instead of different game lines, you get the nine forum categories for the D&D forums: Screen One: Planets
#2 mudbunny Oct 23, 2008 14:43:37	If the lower hierarchies "exploded" or emerged from the higher ones on a mouse-over, that would also work really good.
#3 Authw8 Oct 23, 2008 14:45:41	That would be really cool. I hope they do something like this!
#4 wrecan Oct 23, 2008 14:53:45	In my head the bigger circles with pictures are "planets" and the little picture-less ones are "moons". I was thinkging when you roll over a moon, the planet provides the description of the forum.
#5 seTiny Oct 23, 2008 15:12:38	-May be a problem for low bandwidth users. -Loses the ability to see what the last thread posted to was before going into the forum. -Loses descriptions of the forum. -While it may be cool initially, it may be one of those things that get annoying to deal with. Especially with the "exploding moons". -Where are the list of subforums? While providing a different format, it really doesn't tell the user what belongs where. This format actually hides more information from the user than the normal forum format. It (at least the example) also doesn't do a better job of showing users where to post, than the linear format. It is still "busy", providing an overload of information to the user. General Discussions are still one of the first things a person would see and with no descriptions think "hey I want to discuss D&D I'll go there". IF these boards ever decided to do this, I would want an option to shut it off when I'm viewing the forums.