[Official] Forum Feedback Thread

[Claw]

The purpose of this thread is to post your condensed feedback of things that need attention. It is not a general "complain until it hurts" thread. I would like this to become a condensed list to aid in adjusting and fixing up the forum so it's a place that we can call home. Perhaps this will aid the prioritization and workflow for updating the forums.

Rules:

• This is NOT a discussion thread. For discussion threads, please locate one of the many existing forum discussion threads.
• Any combative or "complaining" posts will be removed, regardless of the suggestion posted.
• No need to refute someone else's feedback. People are entitled to post actual issues or suggested changes. (You can post the opposite suggestion if you'd like, but in a non-combative way.)
• No walls of text (they will be deleted).
• Make your post a single "one-liner" (one suggestion per post) so that people can see and "like" your suggestion.
• No rapid fire posting. Be patient, and prioritize your suggestions.
• Just because it's posted doesn't mean it'll change.
• This main post probably isn't going to be updated with a running list of things, so go read the thread first before repeating a suggestion (otherwise you'll just make the thread longer and more difficult to read).

 

Make your post a "one-liner" of what needs to change (One suggestion per post). No need to "justify" or explain why you're suggesting it. Examples:

• Support BB Code in the editor (toggle between WYSIWYG and Code)
• Forum needs a color theme
• Make "SHIFT+Enter" style the default type of return in the editor
• Condense white space where able (specifics here are better)
• Allow user to set default sort to "sort by date" for questions type forums

 

Bad Examples:

• "Go back to VBS" - Isn't feedback for IPS4.
• "Restore subscription data" - Is likely not possible for technical reasons, though it's now already on this list.
• "Restore Contacts" - Is also likely not possible for technical reasons, and it's also now on this list.
• "I'm so angry I want to quit" - While unfortunate (we don't want to see you quit), that's more appropriate elsewhere.
• "You should include free doughnuts in the purchase of Kerbal Space program because I really like them." - Valid, but out of scope.

 

How to support:

• If you like someone else's idea, there's no need to quote them and say "yes, this!" Use the "like" button. That's what it's there for.
• Yes, I said one suggestion per post. That's so people can like it. Be patient and prioritize your posting.

 

As has already been stated, Kasper is on vacation. Please do not expect anything to change overnight.

This is one of the few threads that I ensure is moderated with reckless abandon. If you want an official place to post your suggestions, here it is. Use it wisely.

[steve_v]

@Claw I 'like' everything on your examples list, here follows a one liner. Not sure whether this is for "it's broken", "wish-list", or both, so starting with broken things:

Fix the Activity feeds: e.g. "Threads I Posted In" doesn't appear to work: Shows "There are no results to show in this activity stream yet". only post from the last hour.

 

Edited December 11, 2015 by steve_v

[stibbons]

Don't stop the enter key inserting a paragraph break (in the WYSIWYG editor). But do please consider tightening up the paragraph and line spacing.

Edited December 11, 2015 by stibbons

[steve_v]

Provide a switch to toggle between the WYSIWYG editor and a plain-text+BBCode mode with no added frills, such as auto paragraph breaks.

[WuphonsReach]

Reducing white space:

• Inter-line spacing is still too much and needs to be tightened up (line-height of 18px is way too much for a font-size of 13px)
• Still a lot of wasted border space on the margins that doesn't go away until the window is under ~900px
• The light grey border around each post is still oversized and should be tightened up quite a bit (ipsLayout_mainArea), as it has left/right padding of a wasteful 20px (instead of only 3-8px)
• There's also a white border around everything (left/right of the grey border) that should be tightened up (id=ipsLayout_mainArea) as it is set to 15px, should probably be cut to 2px to 5px.

 

[WuphonsReach]

The activity stream "threads I follow" should show me the thread topics which have unread updates, without repeating the topic in the list multiple times if there are multiple new messages.

[Red Iron Crown]

1 hour ago, WuphonsReach said:

The activity stream "threads I follow" should show me the thread topics which have unread updates, without repeating the topic in the list multiple times if there are multiple new messages.

I agree, so much so that I figured out how to make a custom activity stream do exactly that. See instructions here if you'd like to try it: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/126874-miss-the-old-subscriptions-page-try-a-custom-activity-stream/

Unfortunately, changes to the settings of the default streams do not seem to stick, so a new one must be made. 

[steve_v]

Provide a manual override for the desktop / mobile site layout, currently this appears to be auto-detected from screen/window dimensions. i.e. resize browser window below certain width -> switches to mobile site = annoying.

( I was referring to the unwanted behaviour in my desktop firefox. Unsurprisingly, I have no "request desktop site" here, yet it switches to the mobile layout if I resize the window.)

[DuoDex]

23 minutes ago, steve_v said:

Provide a manual override for the desktop / mobile site layout, currently this appears to be auto-detected from screen/window dimensions. i.e. resize browser window below certain width -> switches to mobile site = annoying.

On Firefox/Android, if you check the little button that says "Request Desktop Site", you get...the desktop site. 

• Fix the post editor on Android/Firefox
• Incorporate a way to add single line breaks on mobile
• Figure out how to get the "hover" menu you see on desktop on mobile - tap and hold does not work.

[Sean Mirrsen]

• Rename the "Like this" button (or at least redesign, and use a thumbs-up icon instead of a heart). Consolidate post action buttons into one strip, above the post, to minimize wasted space.

Something a-la https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4152380/Screenshots/ForumPostLayoutMockup.jpg

[Elthy]

Quote

On Firefox/Android, if you check the little button that says "Request Desktop Site", you get...the desktop site. 

Sadly its only temporary, if you close the app its gone. Also i see the mobile side when using my Surface Pro 3 upright, although it still has 1440p in that direction and lots of space to use. So my suggestion would be:

• A manual override for desktop/mobile mode thats based on account, not device.

[John FX]

• Suggestion : make `enter` give a single return and `shift-enter` give a paragraph break.

I agree with the list of examples in the OP and also the doughnut one from the bad examples

Unlike others, I support the change to the new forum software and I find it quite nice once I installed stylish.

[John FX]

• Suggestion : Restore function to the `reputation activity` section of a users profile.

Currently, even though I have recent `likes` they are not showing on `reputation activity` (I assume likes are the new rep)

[John FX]

• Suggestion : make the separator between post and sig more obvious

 

Currently I can only see it when not looking at it like some sort of Lovecraftian Plappergeist. Apologies if this would be part of the `increase contrast/ forum theme` suggestion in the OP.

 

[John FX]

• Suggestion : A button in the same place as the `remove all signatures` button that can reverse that choice and show sigs again...

[John FX]

• Consolidate post action buttons into one strip, above the post, to minimize wasted space.

[Claw]

Remember please, I just want a list. Even trying to help in this thread gets a little to the fringes, because it creates banter.

A list is something we can look through, evaluate, and prioritize for work flow attention. It might feel redundant and strange, but we're trying to make the process a little more clean.

[Dman979]

• Get rid of the non-kerbal emoticons. ()

[Tex_NL]

13 hours ago, Dman979 said:

Get rid of the non-kerbal emoticons. ()

• Or even better: Replace non-Kerbal emoticons with Kerbal emotiocons. The current list of Kerbal emotiocons is, and always has been, too limited.

[Dman979]

• Allow users to remove their own posts.

[Vanamonde]

• When posting more than once in a thread, text left over from your previous posts in that thread sometimes comes up automatically in the new post compose window, and is hard to delete.  

[Dman979]

• Allow a "post preview" option.

[FleshJeb]

• Require all thread-starters in the Challenges subforum to have a minimum post count of 50. (Number negotiable)

[Bill Phil]

Probably already mentioned: It's very bright and can hurt my (and other's) eyes, so can you please look into changing that.

• (i.e. The forum needs a theme. ~Claw)

[katateochi]

broken back functionality in threads
If you go to a thread with multiple pages and go from page 1 to page 2 and then hit back you just scroll to the top of page 2 it doesn't take you back to page 1.  if you hit back again you return to where you were before clicking on the thread. More details on this here (2nd point) 

Edited December 13, 2015 by katateochi
I'd put multiple points in one post, splitting them up and simplifying text