Follow Feature Feedback

[hoofhearted]

No, I don't pre-follow topics. I'm afraid for the one in-category topic I decide to follow, I would get 99 spammy things loosly related.

Now, lets say I am lazy and don't really want to pre-tag anything. But any thread I took the time to respond to, lets assume that I am interested in. Would be nice to have a history of all these threads, then you can have some suggestions based on correlating this history of threads. Even include stats like how many words your response was or how many times you replied to the topic, then guage interest using walmart-like-data-warehouse-business-intelligence-product-placement calculations. I am sure that is how you build "Tags we recommend to you". I would just rather see my raw thread history first, then build out into categories from there. Gives me (the user) more control over my followed content.

Do like the ability to edit.

 

[DownwithEA]

• Are you already using the Follow feature? If yes, why? If no, why not?

This is actually my first time hearing about the Follow Feature. After this I will have to try it out.

• What do you do with it, or what would you do with it?

I would mainly be using the timeline to follow gaming, operating systems, smartphones and all sections of computer hardware components.

• What do you love and hate about it?

I like how I could easily dive right into what I am interested in. However, I am a little worried that I could miss an intriguing article that is in another section I didn't add on my timeline.

• If you aren't using it, what could we improve that would make you consider using it?

Well now that I am aware of the Follow Feature, I will be trying it out soon. That said, perhaps a little more advertising of it for those of us that didn't get that memo.

 

[jpishgar]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Keep 'em coming - we do appreciate your input. Important to stay on topic regarding the Follow feature itself, so we can narrow down your thoughts on that while it's in development.

 

[lilcinw]

As a THG addict I don't see a use for this feature personally. I visit the site nearly every day and read all of the articles that are of interest to me (and half the ones that aren't). If I have the time and am feeling helpful I typically dive into whichever forum section sounds interesting at the time and browse the open threads until I see something I think I can contribute to.

OT: I would love to have some sort of use mode feature (Contribute or Research mode) that can filter out closed/open threads when I am looking for things to contribute to or am looking for information on a problem I am having.

 

[Modrod]

• Are you already using the Follow feature? If yes, why? If no, why not?
I tested it out specifically for this and it's not bad. I'm not sure I would use it on a regular basis as I would be more likely to do a specific search on a topic.

• What do you do with it, or what would you do with it?
I guess it it would be good for new members to find posts of interest.

• What do you love and hate about it?
I wouldn't say I like or dislike it. It's just not a feature that is useful to me.

• If you aren't using it, what could we improve that would make you consider using it?
Using it to track Toms Hardware articles would be more useful for me.

 

[army_ant7]

I just tried it now. Seems like a swell idea. I usually check specific brand pages such as http://www.tomshardware.com/t/microsoft/. I'll probably still use that method along with looking at the articles (still) present on the front page since I find doing those tried and (hopefully) true.

I still do have suggestions for this timeline system though:

1) Make it so that pressing the "Follow" buttons don't refresh and show new choices to follow. I wanted to follow more than one thing on the page I was on but they went away since it refreshed, plus it takes quite longer to follow multiple tags right now.

2) Though I saw the "FILTER BY ACTIVITY" drop-down box, I think there should be a more explicit and intuitive way to be able to just show Articles, Reviews, Forum Posts, and/or others.

3) There should be a way to sort what shows on the timeline, an option to prioritize one tag over another, also by date posted, etc. Also, there should be a way (if there isn't already) for it to know that you've already read/seen a specific article or whatever, so that it can have such articles not fill up the timeline.

Anyway, based on what I said at the start of this article, I would like a system that would present me with articles arranged by date from specific brands (and maybe topics) of my choice like AMD, Nvidia, Intel, etc. I'd like them all to be presented from one page that dynamically loads the content, i.e. not having to refresh everytime I choose a specific brand to look at. It would be nice if the brand pages are thorough, i.e. don't miss any articles and such. Oh, I'd also like those brand selections to show content from all three (or have an option to choose which sites) Tom's sites: Hardware, Guide, and ITPro. I have doubts you'd make this kind of system (though there's wishing), but it would be nice if the regular brands pages like what I showed at the beginning showed content from all three websites.

 

[Bobs Your Uncle]

Hey there friends!

.... we introduced .... The Follow Feature .... like to open the feature up to more feedback now and get a wider range of constructive criticism on the project ....

Your input is highly appreciated. Please note that the timeline part of the feature will be integrated into a new version of the Tom's Hardware forum homepage, and you'll easily be able to keep track of all of your followed tags from one easy to find source.

We'd like to know your thoughts on some of the following:
• Are you already using the Follow feature? No. If yes, why? If no, why not? I've just now of Follow's existence as a feature.
• What do you do with it, or what would you do with it? Follow is seemingly quite applicable to a wide array of usage scenarios, of course. A specific example would be for tracking developmental progress of a product or tech application which, given early announcement, nonetheless must undergo significant development before beta or release to market.
• What do you love and hate about it? N/A, at the moment.
• If you aren't using it, what could we improve that would make you consider using it? You've done it, by posting of it's recently opend beta status, & encouraging adoption.
JP

 

[jpishgar]

Thanks all for the great feedback - keep it comin'!
Note that the Follow feature will be very visible in the very near future as part of the main forum homepage for registered users, so your feedback is critical.

 

[jpishgar]

Hey there folks! We have an update from the development team who has been following along and taking your suggestions and feedback into account.

• On the timeline, the tag search bar is no longer found under the Recommended Tags, but rather in the Filter bar above the timeline. It functions just the same as in previous versions, but has been relocated due to your recommendations.
• Tag filter management has been changed per your feedback. Previously, it was a multiple-select dropdown button found near the "Filter by activity" area. Now, you'll find that it is a Push/Unpush button bar visible above the timeline, with the ability to easily activate and deactivate all or none of your tags. You'll know now which tags are active or not, all the time, and it's considerably more intuitive.

Thanks for the input, and please keep it coming!

-JP

 

[jpishgar]

Following up on the feedback thread here, we'd like to get your input on some additional features of the Follow/Timeline functionality.

What do you think about the new << filter by tags >> bar?
• Is the design clearly presented? If not, what would you suggest?
• If we added content flagged using the filter to the timeline, would it be a button behaving as tags? If no, what would be your thoughts on how to present this best?

We're also intending on proposing a similar style for the "Filter by activity" option, presenting:

• New Articles
• New Threads - All Topics, With No Answers, Solved, Read, Flagged

What do you guys think? More? Less? Different?

 

[ksham]

Looks better. I would still like some color background to differentiate them. And the "Filter By Activity" would be more user-friendly with the blocks.

I would prefer an easier way to add tags. Find, Follow, Wait, and repeat is slow. Have a separate page that lists most of them with pagination and allow clicking to "check" the box. So let's use the Gaming one as an example. It shows two hands on a controller. Have a bunch of those images in a table styling so it looks good. Then at the top left corner, there is a checkbox which is hidden by default. Upon hover on the image, the checkbox is visible. And once clicked, it should have a green check to indicate that it is selected. Then users can select all they want and go through pages while also keeping track of previously selected categories. At the bottom of this, there is one button that can add them all to the timeline. Preferably, the text for the image would be inside the image so that it stays within the checkbox.

Does that make sense or is it too confusing?

 

[jpishgar]

Makes sense. I'll pass along the feedback. Anyone else have input on the filter by tags functionality?

 

[randomizer]

I think I might have said this before, but it would be nice if there was a way to have timeline entries removed after being viewed. It's currently difficult to know what has and what has not already been looked at. Clicking on the thread title will turn it purple (which is a little hard to distinguish anyway), but that will be the case for all timeline entries for that thread, and there are often many (which is another issue that I think should be tackled). Clicking the "Answered by ..." link straight to the actual post won't turn it purple.