Welcome Panel

Just to add my two cents worth, I think all of this

Quote: There have been X posts since your last visit

is good stuff, but not everyone needs that info. Unless you are a moderator or a very keen contributor to a board like this do you need this info?
I would suggest that the majority of people who post problems (not general chats etc) are at their desk at work pulling their hair out and wanting someone to come and lend them a hand. Their priority and therefore their interest lies in just how quickly they can get to the forum they need and get an answer.

Just to add my two cents worth, I think all of this

Quote: There have been X posts since your last visit

is good stuff, but not everyone needs that info. Unless you are a moderator or a very keen contributor to a board like this do you need this info?

Quote: Could you at least add back the "There have been X posts since your last visit" part to the Welcome Panel?

Why? What purpose does it serve? Is it going to affect your visit to TWF in some way? I personally think it's just another stat and if I were to add it back, where would it go? I would lean towards putting it at the bottom with all the other useless but "neat" statistics...

Quote: Originally posted by Chad Simper
I liked the avatar too, for the same reasons But, I have to agree that the forums get pushed too far down and they are the top priority.

Hmm, okay. Could you at least add back the "There have been X posts since your last visit" part to the Welcome Panel? I really liked that.

I liked the avatar too, for the same reasons But, I have to agree that the forums get pushed too far down and they are the top priority.

It's better... but I miss the avatar part. Granted, it serves no real purpose, but it makes your little welcome center seem more personal and homely.

Much better! Thank you! I still think it could be squished just a little bit more (basically by setting it back to the way it was), but this is alright.

mmi, you were surfing while I was finishing up the modifications and I broke the quick link panel so those links weren't showing up. As of now, the links should be back. I will be adding a couple more links tomorrow to finish up the quick links.

hey - I can't seem t' find "view today's threads" or "view new threads"

OK, a few changes to the welcome panel have been made tonight... Let me know what you think now.

If this was posted for a critique I would point out that web surfers are lazy - we don't like to scroll. This just makes me scroll more and my wrists are in bad enough shape as it is.

Put the important stuff at the top, the less impoartant at the bottom. Currently active users and forum statistics aren't that important - nice to know, but not essential so put them at the bottom. I don't need to be reminded of what my avatar looks like either. PM's are important, links to recent posts, log out and mark all read etc. should go at the top. The "Forum Leaders" link could go to, since that's all listed on the front page. This is basically what it was like before except with the login/log out and mark all read moved up to the top.

This confused me at first:

"There have been 17 threads and 45 posts since your last visit on Jan. 15, 2002 10:02 PM!"

Because I thought that "17 threads" meant 17 *new* threads which it's not, it's 45 posts *in* 17 threads.

Hi,
You could always remove the table strips and have it all in one place, just condensed?

I took a screen shot of what I did

Then I have the other things down under the whole forum.

Sara

I like Suzanne's "non-answer":

"I never used it before. Now I do!"

I'm in the same boat. Now that I'm looking at these features when I pull up the page, I find myself actually using them.

Perhaps the whole affair could be condensed somewhat but I'd have to vote - top!

OK, so far, I think I will nuke the forum stats completely. There is nothing useful there and they just waste space and processing time. They were originally not there but they have popped up at some point in one of the upgrades and no one missed them before.

I will condense the first panel to a simple quick link box. If you're logged in, you'll see some useful links. If you're not logged in, it will have a login box along with a short message to non-registered members.

I have yet to decide on the "Who's Online" and PM boxes. I'll make some changes tomorrow night and we'll go from there.

Thanks for the input ... keep it coming.

Forum Statistics could probably be merged with something.

As I said in the other thread... we went overboard with all the stuff at the top. I like the Welcome Panel, but move the PM and logged in users stuff back to the bottom. Additionally, I don't think the TWF statistics need their own section... just put that data above the Welcome Panel, i.e. how I have it on my boards.

I like it all grouped together where I need it right at the top. However with the forums underneath so far, is that perhaps discouraging people actually going in to them?

I never used it before. Now I do!

So there you go, another non-answer. Heh.

Suzanne

the 'big box' doesn't bother me... maybe that's because I'm used to seeing it on vbulletin.org (and theirs is bigger).

I agree with Merlin and them, and since its more of a split (some at top, some at bottom) means I cant vote as that option isnt there

but I may be the of web design

I agree, can't you have the new posts link, pm & register/login at the top and all the rest at the bottom? I think the thing is that it's just far to big as it is now.

i think the personal part of it (PM, new posts, login) is ok at the top. 'cause i like the easy access of new posts and to see whether there are new PMs or not.

the rest, such as stats, welcome msg, ..., could easily be placed at the bottom, 'cause i don't need that information everytime i come back (every day )

It's just taking up way too much space at the top. I liked it better the way it was before, and I'm sure there will be enough room to move just the log-in boxes up to the top.