To OB Browncoats: Why is it hard to navigate this site?

POSTED BY: Succatash
UPDATED: Friday, September 5, 2025 05:14
VIEWED: 11168
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MYORANGEHAT

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:22 PM

I really do like it here. Haken has done a wonderful job!
I was only point that stuff out because someone asked. I realize that Haken can't spend at much as a network on a message board. And that a sort function would be hard and probably slow due to the number of posts. It wasn't a wish list, it was a "this is why I get confused list."

SOULOFSERENITY

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:25 PM

Sorry if I sounded pushy!

______________________

But if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.

MYORANGEHAT

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:42 PM

Quote:
Sorry if I sounded pushy!

You didn't. You sounded helpful. I just wanted to clear up why I posted. No worries

And I don't get "pushed" that easily anyway.

IAMJACKSUSERNAME

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 8:11 PM

I agree with almost everything in Jakob Nielsen's Designing web usability: the practice of simplicity http://useit.com/jakob/webusability/
Thems as are interested should check out his weekly column "Alertbox": http://useit.com/alertbox/

As for discussions, nothing comes even close the usability of the good Usenet readers; tho k5's (go to http://www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2004/5/31/163158/615/25#25 click "Dynamic Threaded" (which requires Javascript) and press the "Set" button) is the best I've seen on the web.

Of the Firefly sites I stalk, Buffistas has the best design - amazingly it works (for low traffic topics) eventho they only have topics and no threads. The OB gives me regular "redirect" errors.
--
I am Jack's username
FTL in Firefly? < http://jack.p5.org.uk/ftl-firefly.en.html>
Support our shiny bunnies.

HLGEM

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 10:44 PM

First, if you are looking at anything that occurred less recently, it is very hard to find on this site (for me anyway). For instance, If I want to see the script for Heart of Gold I can't find it. I know it's here somewhere, but where? I find it hard to even find my own fan fics that I put on this site.

Second, I hate that I have to scroll through the whole thread to find where I left off reading. With threads the size of the ones on the OB this would be impossible.

I really like the messages to me, the search for high interest thread, the ability to ignore a person or thread, and the ability to click on a link that takes you directly to the post being responded to (much better than having to quote everything). I too especially like directing a post to a particular person or everyone.

The moving emoticons and picture icons on this board annoy me excessively. I read very fast and they just slow me down and get in my way.

That said - I think this site is a great resource and I come here to read the news. I just prefer to do my discussing in a format I find more useable.

ODILEB

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 4:11 AM

Hi All,

I think this might only be my second post here, although I do lurk here.

If I were to guess, I think there are probably two main reasons why the people who frequent the OB find this site hard to navigate:

1) It's different (I know that's obvious, but there are a number of people there who have never posted on the internet, let alone spent a lot of time browsing, and that prospero board is 'home'. Don't forget that a number of people were not comfortable on the other prospero boards when the OB was out of commision).

2) One major difference between the boards is the menu system. The (perceived?) ease of navigation in the main board is due to the fact that the top menu always has the same options and the side menu always has the same type of options (for example you can browse through all the threads on the left without losing your message in the right frame and the messages display differently depending on whether they are read or in a thread you have posted to previously).

I have to say though, Haken has done an absolutely fantastic job with this site! And I would bet that this site will be around long after all of the 'official' sites are brought down (for business reasons of course).

Odile

Mal: Well, we're still flyin'.
Simon: That's not much.
Mal: It's enough.

AERRIN

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 5:23 AM

I'm not a OB Browncoat (also extremely confused by /that/ place), but I did avoid fffans.net for a bit because I find it difficult to navigate. Many things of great interest are hiding in threads somewhere instead of being linked - like the gagreel - and other links aren't immediately obvious - like the Blue Sun Room.

I agree that the main page is a bit cluttered - I'd suggest making broader categories and then letting things like the boards, what's been newly posted, fireflyverse info, etc, have their own pages. I suspect that it's a problem that began when there was much less information to categorize, and it's just been added instead of rethought.

I also think the message board system is, sorry, one of the worst I've used. *ducks* I love you all, really, and I read every day because of that, but the /system/ is poor. It was ages before I knew how to get to different 'categories'. The lack of an 'unread' system is sorely missed, and the lack of page breaks is painful. It also frustrates me that you have to reply to a 'person' rather than the 'thread' - which means whichever random person you click on to reply gets a notice, but no one else does.

I also would like a search feature, but it's mostly the other things I miss more. (A forum whose system I love is the Pern M* forum, at http://pernmu.com - it lets me see what I haven't read, by board and then thread, it lets me jump directly to what I haven't read, it allows me to get emails if I want, private messages, and search. )

Mostly, were I to suggest a change (cause constructive criticism is the name of the game, I'm thinking?), I'd like to see the message board rethought - though I understand what a massive project that is - and the front page cleaned up a bit to have more categories, wherein a lot of the current links can be found, on separate pages.

I have no clue how Haken runs his site (it's a stellar site content-wise and visually, just a bit difficult to navigate at times), but maybe it would be possible for some other net-saavy Browncoats to chip in a hand, should he feel that some renovating needs to be done?

IDEFIX

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 9:21 AM

the lack of pagebreaks is something I really like about this board.

and the links up left to the first unread reply in the open thread is what I use to get what I didn't read. I go through all the threads that I'm interested in from the TOP100 from top to bottom until I meet the first one with a No New Posts message up left then I know I have read everything new.

so I really love the message board. you can navigate it by category, or by TOP100, that's something lots of other boards don't have. if you really want to read avery single post it has the posts out of thread context navigation too, I think.

what I really don't like is the Blue Sun Room navigation, it's hard to find a fic that's not new and it isn't even all too simple to get all the parts of one fic at once. the only thing useful to me there is the authors pages, else I wouldn't know how to read anything at all. but I haven't read any firefly fics lately anyway.

just my 2 euro cent

and the OB is on first glance even more confusing for me. I never really tried to get into that system. I really prefer the normal messageboards that everyone else uses with categories and threads and the thread with the most recent post on top and different icons for threads with unread posts. they are what one is used to on the net. the worst by far are the ones with one long colum of threads that don't sort by last posted to but by date of thread start. those are really useless. so I won't complain about either this or the OB because it could be much worse.

Idefix

ECGORDON

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 11:50 AM

There is an unread system here.

Anytime you click on a thread that has new posts, look in the box to the left of the message field and you will see a list of the replies that have been posted since you last read that thread. Just click on the top one and it will take you down the thread to that post.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

SOUTHERNMERC

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 1:06 PM

Took the words outta my mouth.

I, personally, find the OB to be more confusing and somewhat less helpful because it lacks the handy "since your last post" up in the top left corner. I also like that this site has all the other stuff stuck here. Finding it is not the easiest thing, but it's here somewhere gorrammit! (SOMEwhere...)

I also seem to read fewer "you're an idiot" troll posts here (not that there are many on the OB, just that I noticed fewer here).

Jayne: "See, Vera? You get dressed up, you get taken someplace fun!"

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