Bring Back English Titles on Forum

[marcusl]

I like the overall look of the new forum, but I think you should bring back titles spelled out in English. It is annoying to remember that the stylized Parthenon symbol (or is it supposed to be the Supreme Court building?) is Science Advisor, the Soviet star = contributor, etc.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I like the overall look of the new forum, but I think you should bring back titles spelled out in English. It is annoying to remember that the stylized Parthenon symbol (or is it supposed to be the Supreme Court building?) is Science Advisor, the Soviet star = contributor, etc.

What if I colored them for you?

 

[Vanadium 50]

the stylized Parthenon symbol (or is it supposed to be the Supreme Court building?)

It's a gazebo!

 

[jtbell]

When I hover the mouse over one of those symbols, it tells me what it is via a popup.

 

[Fredrik]

Since the main purpose of the science advisor title is to let people know that this person's replies are likely to be correct, I think that at least the science advisor title should be spelled out. And for the same reason, perhaps being "staff emeritus" shouldn't prevent you from also being a science advisor.

 

[Vanadium 50]

perhaps being "staff emeritus" shouldn't prevent you from also being a science advisor.

It doesn't. You have the Aegis, the Shield of Zeus, for being emeritus, and the Science Advisor Gazebo.

 

[DataGG]

I would also prefer to have them written in plain english. I also don't like that the icons are above the avatar. I think it would look better if they were below (if you do decide to keep the icons)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I would also prefer to have them written in plain english

Part of the reason was to reduce the height of postbits which just bloat message length.

 

[Borek]

Is it possible to put them in a plain text after the user name, on the dark blue bar above the post? Something like Fredrik - Science Advisor, PF Contributor, Retired Staff.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Is it possible to put them in a plain text after the user name, on the dark blue bar above the post? Something like Fredrik - Science Advisor, PF Contributor, Retired Staff.

I tried using that area in the past and it actually interferes with the scanning of the posts. Visually your eyes have to scan that information over and over again. It's like a hurdle to the next post your eyes have to jump. That already happens with the blue bar, but with text your eyes are drawn even more to it.

 

[marcusl]

What if I colored them for you?

Colors would be great--so long as they are in English (like they used to be)!

As Fredrik notes, these annotations contain important information pertaining to the pedigree of the response, and should be called out explicitly.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

As Fredrik notes, these annotations contain important information pertaining to the pedigree of the response, and should be called out explicitly.

I'll keep thinking of ideas that don't expand the postbit height too much

 

[marcusl]

I see that Staff are still identified in the usual way. The staff obviously feel that being recognized is more important than conserving postbits, whatever those are. On the other hand, you have effectively demoted HH's, SA's and contributors.

 

[Monique]

Every post mentions the number of messages of a user, I guess valuable to some but actually useless info. That space could be used for indicating Science Advisor status, something of great value to the forum.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I see that Staff are still identified in the usual way. The staff obviously feel that being recognized is more important than conserving postbits, whatever those are. On the other hand, you have effectively demoted HH's, SA's and contributors.

I think Greg's concern is that whilst it is entirely possible to have "Science Advisor" written the same way as "Staff: Mentor" users with multiple titles would have several of these boxes under their name, stretching the size of their post.

I completely understand your concern though, the icons were a big confusion to me especially as 90% of my browsing is done on my phone or ipad so I can't simply hover a mouse over them. Perhaps a compromise could be to use initialisms side-by-side under the avatar: SA/HH/SE/GM etc.

 

[Monique]

I think Greg's concern is that whilst it is entirely possible to have "Science Advisor" written the same way as "Staff: Mentor" users with multiple titles would have several of these boxes under their name, stretching the size of their post.

I didn't think of that, wouldn't it be possible to make a "hierarchy" and only mention the most broad "title"?

I also find it a bit strange that the symmetry is broken, in the sense that "Staff: Mentor" is below the posts, while the icons are above the post. Having everything below the posts would at least be consistent in that the space is reserved for acquired titles. If that would be changed, I think one eventually gets used to the meaning of the symbols.

 

[Mark44]

Colors would be great--so long as they are in English (like they used to be)!

The colors didn't use to be in English. :D

 

[phinds]

I have been biting my tongue on this one since I love the new forum and I know I have a tendency to be critical, but since others are bringing it up I'll put in my two cents. I hate the icons, would very much prefer they be restored to words. Bloat doesn't strike me as a big problem and for me it would be a tradeoff worth making.

I think newcomers in particular would find it helpful rather than just confusing. The mouseover is not bad but some of us slower folks don't always think of that

 

[davenn]

I'm not too worried about the icons ... tho I did much prefer the text style

What I really, really, top of the list, miss tho is the thanks system we used to have
It was nice to add a comment to the thanks being sent in one easy step
Now, if I really want to comment on a thanks I send to some one, I have to open a PM to them and type in there
paste a link to the thread concerned etc, a lot more convoluted.cheers
Dave

 

[phinds]

I'm not too worried about the icons ... tho I did much prefer the text style

What I really, really, top of the list, miss tho is the thanks system we used to have
It was nice to add a comment to the thanks being sent in one easy step
Now, if I really want to comment on a thanks I send to some one, I have to open a PM to them and type in there
paste a link to the thread concerned etc, a lot more convoluted.


cheers
Dave

Yeah, I agree w/ you and we beat that one to death in another thread. You and I lost.

 

[davenn]

Yeah, I agree w/ you and we beat that one to death in another thread. You and I lost.

It was a valiant effort tho ;)

One of my other major forum sites went to this software several months ago, so I have had some time to get used to it, before it changed here
on PF. I was disheartened to know that PF was going to also change BUT I understood the reasons why it had to happen. security issues etc with the vBulletin software

Dave

 

[phinds]

It was a valiant effort tho ;)

One of my other major forum sites went to this software several months ago, so I have had some time to get used to it, before it changed here
on PF. I was disheartened to know that PF was going to also change BUT I understood the reasons why it had to happen. security issues etc with the vBulletin software

Dave

Well, other than extremely minor stuff like the new icons, I think the new forum is a significant improvement in user experience over the old one now that Greg has shaken it out so I'm happy for the change (and I never thought I'd hear myself saying that)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Yeah, I agree w/ you and we beat that one to death in another thread. You and I lost.

Not sure what you are referring to but the Thanks comment system is not something I can just enable. It simply doesn't exist any longer. As for the special icons. I'm not against trying more options. It's just not a priority at the moment.

 

[phinds]

Not sure what you are referring to but the Thanks comment system is not something I can just enable. It simply doesn't exist any longer.

My comment was about the icons

As for the special icons. I'm not against trying more options. It's just not a priority at the moment.

I appreciate all the work you've been doing and as I said, that's why I bit my tongue on this one until others brought it up.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

How about something like this where you use simpler icons and put text abbreviations inside to remind people what the symbols stand for. It remains compact yet perhaps gives more information than a cryptic set of symbols.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

A solution has been provided

 

[Monique]

Having it at the bottom definitely is a huge improvement! In my mind I pictured having the post count overlaying the avatar as well, but now that I see it I'm not too sure. Maybe the layout could be tweaked a bit to polish the look (a font that is not so high? a margin at the bottom?). It would help if the titles could be moved a notch down, to match the "Staff: Admin" badge spacing to the avatar (to make it perfect).

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Maybe the layout could be tweaked a bit to polish the look. It would help if the titles could be moved a notch down, to match the "Staff: Admin" badge spacing to the avatar (to make it perfect).

Agreed, and add to this that it would look better if the text lined up. At the moment science advisor is further to the right and staff emeritus further to the left with gold member hovering in the middle. Otherwise looks good.

 

[DataGG]

The post count in the bottom left corner looks weird.. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it but I think it'd be better if it was centered (?)...

I also agree with Ryan_m_b, when he says that the text of the badges should be aligned... Perhaps it's better to let it for 1 or 2 days and see if we get used to it.

Also noticed that the bar with the "report, like, quote reply" now disappears unless we hover over.. That's new right?

 

[Borek]

the bar with the "report, like, quote reply" now disappears unless we hover over.. That's new right?

Definitely.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Also noticed that the bar with the "report, like, quote reply" now disappears unless we hover over.. That's new right?

It doesn't disappear, the opacity just lessens. It's an attempt to reduce clutter and distraction in the post area. If you use the scroll bar to read a thread it's imo visually easier. If people hate it I can return it back to full opacity, but I thought it was worth a try.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I also agree with Ryan_m_b, when he says that the text of the badges should be aligned

It is how it is because the icons are different widths. I can tweak it in the coming days

 

[Borek]

because the icons are different widths.

Can't you just make the images of the same width?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Can't you just make the images of the same width?

Got it. They are css images so it required a bit of tinkering

 

[Borek]

Nice :)

Number of posts is misplaced, especially under my Opera, but it is not something I am going to cry about.