Small gripes with the new forum

[lourson]

OK. It's a bit difficult to be precise as I don't have the old site to hand as a comparison, but let me first explain the way that I like to work.

Thank you VERY MUCH Ijack for this very detailed thread! This is extremely valuable and will definitely help to improve the usability. As often with usability, you can't always be right in the first place so you take assumptions and then you get feedback and analyze numbers, then you iterate again to improve I'm glad to say that there will be updates of most everything you reported, in order to improve.

1. For starters the site is unusable with IE10 (I've reported that bug elsewhere). So I can only read it when I am in OS X, Linux, or on my iPad.

Could you tel me on which OS you're using IE10? Can you check you are not in compatibility mode? More and more users are using IE10 everyday on the forum without any issue, so I guess there is something specific in your configuration. If we can find it, we can probably fix it.

2. Although the categories can still be collapsed, that information is no longer retained, so there's no real point in doing so.

True, we'll introduce before summer a new forum homepage that will address this issue by giving much more features there.

3. The "is now Ad free banner". A waste of space. I've read it once; the information could have been conveyed in a PM; now it's just an annoyance. I have ad-blockers in place so I didn't see adverts anyway; now I see this banner.

I agree. There will be in a few weeks a way to close this information banner.

4. When you go into a category almost half of the page is taken up with header material - tags, content type, etc. This section can be collapsed but, again, that change isn't remembered so little point in doing so.

5. Flags and numbers tell me how many new posts there are in old threads (all old threads or just ones I have looked at?), but what about new threads. Is that information included? I just don't know. All I really need to know is are there new posts in existing or new threads. Yes - I can have a look at what's changed; No - I can ignore that forum.

6. OK, so now I'm in the "Linux/Free BSD" forum, for example, and I've collapsed the header. The whole first page still consists of stickies that I've seen a thousand times before. My impression is that each thread must be taking up more screen real estate. I can't remember it being like this before. So I have to scroll down to get to the posts I am actually interested in. I can't remember the stickies being quite that intrusive. Do we really need so many?

We are working on an updated version of this page based on your feedback as well as some others who reported the same thing. We are going to reduce the space between each thread and reduce the distractions due mainly to tags being very visible in blue.

7. What's all that stuff in the left-hand column? Double-quotes, question marks. Orange flags, faded orange flags, blue flags, faded blue flags. What do they all mean? Something to do with read posts, I guess, but I can't figure out the details. And how can I see which was the last thread I read that has had no new updates?

There is a legend for all icons at the bottom of the page. I understand that this is different than before but I hope that once you're familiar with the new icons, it will be as easy for you to use the forum. I'll see anyways how we can make them more self-evident.

8. One good innovation is the "New updates" in the right-hand column. But most of the rest of that column is wasted on me, particularly the animated "Latest experts" - I'm not a fan of animation on informational web pages; it's distracting.

Point taken.

8. Tags, etc. are of no use to me. I like to browse and, with a little serendipity, find posts that may not fit any particular set of tags that I filter by.

I hope that you will change your mind soon when you'll discover the new features using the tagging system.
Tags have not been added to look nice but are an essential way to organize Tom's Hardware as a whole. With so many new threads and articles every day, the old categories were too restrictive. The tagging system will allow each user to discover content that matters to him on the site. There are still some pieces which are not released in order to do so, but soon

Thanks again so much for your feedback, we'll work on it during the next weeks.

 

[Ijack]

Could you tell me on which OS you're using IE10? Can you check you are not in compatibility mode? More and more users are using IE10 everyday on the forum without any issue, so I guess there is something specific in your configuration. If we can find it, we can probably fix it.

Windows 8. Same behaviour on my desktop and laptop. Compatibility mode makes no difference. I notice that someone reported the same behaviour in Windows 7 whilst others say IE 10 is OK there. Details here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1624836/bug-windows-ie10.html

Thank you for you other replies. I appreciate that you are working to improve the forums all the time and it is difficult to please everybody.

 

[lourson]

Windows 8. Same behaviour on my desktop and laptop. Compatibility mode makes no difference. I notice that someone reported the same behaviour in Windows 7 whilst others say IE 10 is OK there. Details here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1624836/bug-windows-ie10.html

Thank you for you other replies. I appreciate that you are working to improve the forums all the time and it is difficult to please everybody.

That's weird, I'm on Win8 x64 with IE10 latest stable and no issue. Could you try using inPrivate navigation in IE10 (CTRL+SHIFT+P)? There might be a plugin issue on both your computers if you install the same stuff on both computers.

 

[inzone]

I also was using IE10 and when I came to the Tomshardware site the url said .com but when I selected the forums I was sent to .co.uk and not .com. This prevented me from accessing all the forum sections specificly the Modreator section. I tried everything to correct this and finally switched to Chrome and everything was back to normal. I started to think that the issue with IE10 had something to do with the beta and the proxy that I entered in the lan settings to try and use the beta. What I just did yesterday was delete IE10 and revert back to IE9 and now it's the same as Chrome and I have access to all sections as with Chrome. So if the beta was used in IE10 then that may be part of the problem for Ijack.
Today I'm going to download IE10 and see if a fresh install of that will be good and problem free.

 

[jpishgar]

If you participated in the beta, you definitely want to remove any proxy settings or changes you made then, since the beta is definitely closed.

 

[randomizer]

Can you also make it so that when we click "More updates" in the New Updates box it remembers this? I usually have more than four tracked threads with replies, and I have to keep refreshing the page or switching between more and less updates (which refreshes the list as well) to see how many are left for me to look at. I'd prefer to have the whole lot shown (probably with scrollbars if there's too many though) or a configurable amount (much like the Latest News box on the home page), but at the very least I'd like to be able to display more than 4.

 

[manofchalk]

Just starting to really utilize the tag system now, and I'm liking it so far. The ability to add tags to threads is actually quite good, means that if the OP has misplaced the thread you can add the appropriate tag and the thread will get the proper amount of attention.

One small thing is redundant tags, there are a few that could be cut down on and still achieve the same thing. For instance, there is no real difference between "Liquid Cooling" and "Water Cooling" unless you want to get anal about small details. Getting rid of the "Liquid Cooling" tag would make people use the much more popular "Water Cooling" tag, as I have seen a few threads just using the Liquid tag that have almost no traffic. Or maybe merge the tags so despite having different names, when you search one it brings up both.

Also with the tag system, would it be possible for a thread to appear in multiple forums?
Just that would do wonders for the diversity of opinion and cross-pollination between the different communities of individual forums. Don't know about most here, but I mainly stick to two or three forums and I imagine everyone else does as well. Having threads in common would do a lot in the ways of mixing everyone together, rather than forming more isolated groups within forums.

 

[mactronix]

Now It has been said that the tags are used to decide which badge the best answer to the question is awarded to.

When there are many more than 1 tag how does that work ?

Mac

 

[lourson]

Now It has been said that the tags are used to decide which badge the best answer to the question is awarded to.

When there are many more than 1 tag how does that work ?

Mac

You get a +1 for each tag towards the badge count needed to win the badge.
If a tag is removed from a thread, you get a -1 for this tag count to win the badge. You can lost your badge in such an occasion.

 

[lourson]

Just starting to really utilize the tag system now, and I'm liking it so far. The ability to add tags to threads is actually quite good, means that if the OP has misplaced the thread you can add the appropriate tag and the thread will get the proper amount of attention.

I'm very glad to hear that!

One small thing is redundant tags, there are a few that could be cut down on and still achieve the same thing. For instance, there is no real difference between "Liquid Cooling" and "Water Cooling" unless you want to get anal about small details. Getting rid of the "Liquid Cooling" tag would make people use the much more popular "Water Cooling" tag, as I have seen a few threads just using the Liquid tag that have almost no traffic. Or maybe merge the tags so despite having different names, when you search one it brings up both.

I'll let Joe answer to you on this one. Joe has the ability to merge or add tags to the tag database based on user feedback and usage.

Also with the tag system, would it be possible for a thread to appear in multiple forums?
Just that would do wonders for the diversity of opinion and cross-pollination between the different communities of individual forums. Don't know about most here, but I mainly stick to two or three forums and I imagine everyone else does as well. Having threads in common would do a lot in the ways of mixing everyone together, rather than forming more isolated groups within forums.

There is a feature coming soon to allow you to do that. Wait for a PM from Joe to be part of the beta

 

[jpishgar]

There is a feature coming soon to allow you to do that. Wait for a PM from Joe to be part of the beta

And the new feature looks really really cool, too. Keep an eyeball on Forum Feedback for updates on how to be a part of the beta when it rolls out for testing to users.

For instance, there is no real difference between "Liquid Cooling" and "Water Cooling" unless you want to get anal about small details.

Well, there's mineral oil, water, water with antifreeze, and even some more exotic combinations. It isn't really all the same, though I think the two tags could be merged without a loss in veracity.

 

[inzone]

If you participated in the beta, you definitely want to remove any proxy settings or changes you made then, since the beta is definitely closed.

Joe, on IE10 I reloaded a fresh install and took it from 9 to 10 and still get the same result , .co.uk. The proxy has been removed but I think it still remains and for some reason does not affect IE9. I went to my wife's laptop and with IE10 intalled had no trouble getting to the .com forums and was not redirected to .co.uk. So somehow there remains some of the proxy settings someplace in the browser or user settings. I'm useing Chrome and if I want to IE9 as I've given up on IE10 and just posted this in case someone else is having issues like I was.

 

[jpishgar]

Did you by chance change anything in your hosts file? I remember a few of the other mods mentioned they changed some stuff around there to address a few issues with redirection once upon a time. Might want to investigate that as a possible angle. Also, I believe the proxy settings exist independently of the browser itself where IE is concerned. Checking network settings and thereabouts could be another tact - basically going in reverse in setting up the proxy like before.

 

[Brett928S2]

If you participated in the beta, you definitely want to remove any proxy settings or changes you made then, since the beta is definitely closed.

Joe, on IE10 I reloaded a fresh install and took it from 9 to 10 and still get the same result , .co.uk. The proxy has been removed but I think it still remains and for some reason does not affect IE9. I went to my wife's laptop and with IE10 intalled had no trouble getting to the .com forums and was not redirected to .co.uk. So somehow there remains some of the proxy settings someplace in the browser or user settings. I'm useing Chrome and if I want to IE9 as I've given up on IE10 and just posted this in case someone else is having issues like I was.

Hi

Joe is correct.... I had problems UNTIL >>> I RENAMED the hosts file to Hosts.old , then rebooted... worth a try...

All the best Brett

 

[Mousemonkey]

There is a feature coming soon to allow you to do that. Wait for a PM from Joe to be part of the beta

And the new feature looks really really cool, too. Keep an eyeball on Forum Feedback for updates on how to be a part of the beta when it rolls out for testing to users.

For instance, there is no real difference between "Liquid Cooling" and "Water Cooling" unless you want to get anal about small details.

Well, there's mineral oil, water, water with antifreeze, and even some more exotic combinations. It isn't really all the same, though I think the two tags could be merged without a loss in veracity.

I hope there will be some way of distinguishing between a thread that is mirrored in several forums and one that has been reposted multiple times by the OP.

 

[inzone]

Where did you find this Hosts file.

 

[Brett928S2]

Where did you find this Hosts file.

Hi

C:\windows\system32\drivers

All the best Brett

 

[inzone]

Ok , thanks I'll give it a try.

 

[Brett928S2]

Ok , thanks I'll give it a try.

Hi

It may be called Hosts.sam but ANY hosts file with the words TOMSHARDWARE in ANY line...just rename the extension to .old

Wont be here for the weekend as going climbing to relax (or freeze to death lol)

Should be back Monday....

All the best Brett

 

[inzone]

Well have fun and be careful , I don't want to be reading about this guy falling off the mountain. lol

 

[Brett928S2]

Well have fun and be careful , I don't want to be reading about this guy falling off the mountain. lol

Hi

Its always fun lol... it might be a little chilly though...

Its a little hill in Scotland called Ben Nevis ....

All the best Brett

 

[inzone]

Well I have somewhat good news and I just reloaded for the 5th time IE10 and it seems to be somewhat better, I still get the .co.uk site for the forums and while the lower sections are just a bit different I do have the moderator section which was missing before. I was not able to find any file or folder that said Host or Hosts.sam or anything that said Tomshardware at all under anything in Wimdows or Windows system. So short of a full reformat of Windows this will be about the best that I will get and I can live with it since Chrome is normal if I need it. I may use it anyways because of the new Chrome extensions for Tomshardware that you can get.

Thanks for helping.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Inzone look in C:\windows\system32\drivers\ect

Here is a very good guide to edit your hosts file.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/27350/beginner-geek-how-to-edit-your-hosts-file/

 

[inzone]

I tried the link and it did bring up the notepad but then you have to enter something and I didn't know what to put and if what Brett had suggested (hosts.old) was what I should put so I couldn't continue. What I have found that does solve the issue is to do InPrivate Browsing , with this option everything is normal.

 

[Ijack]

Windows 8. Same behaviour on my desktop and laptop. Compatibility mode makes no difference. I notice that someone reported the same behaviour in Windows 7 whilst others say IE 10 is OK there. Details here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1624836/bug-windows-ie10.html

Thank you for you other replies. I appreciate that you are working to improve the forums all the time and it is difficult to please everybody.

That's weird, I'm on Win8 x64 with IE10 latest stable and no issue. Could you try using inPrivate navigation in IE10 (CTRL+SHIFT+P)? There might be a plugin issue on both your computers if you install the same stuff on both computers.

I did try to post this yesterday from IE10 on Windows 8 only to find that not only does it have the display problems that I mentioned but it wouldn't even let me post a reply. So now I am using Chrome.

I have disabled all add-ons and the problem persists. It goes away with inPrivate browsing (as does the whole pull-down menu), but I don't find that an acceptable workaround. I'll accept that it's some peculiarity of my installations, but they are totally different computers (even down to the make of the processor). One installation was an updated Windows 7, the other is a totally clean install. And I have never run any of the betas of the new site. The only possible peculiarity is that I am running from the UK site.

TBH, I am getting so fed up with trying to fight against the new layout, whatever browser I use, that I am losing interest. Again, I accept that this is a personal thing, but it just doesn't work for me; I like simple websites without frills but I know the current trend is in the opposite direction. It is too hard trying to quick scan through forums and threads to find what has changed. I think I'm going to give Tom's a rest for the time being and come back in a while to see if it has changed for the better.