Brainstorming and Suggestions for Forum

:point_up_2:This is exactly what I want. Still love the ā€œlatestā€ page that shows all the recent posts though.

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I think the new format is awesome - donā€™t go back to the old site style - please!

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Hi all,

Iā€™m glad TPCR found a new home here. Thanks a lot to those of you who made it happen. Itā€™s awesome that the community has been able to regroup here.

I have a suggestionā€¦ I have read all the threads about the organization and structure of the forums, and I understand why it was decided to organize the Windows forum this way. But I think this structure is misguided.

As most of you know since almost everyone here is a user of the old forum, many posts on the old forum were from users who had very little experience or knowledge about tablets. The current structure Windows ā†’ Windows OS (what?)/Mini tablets/slates,detachables/convertibles/all-in-ones
will not make sense to anyone that is not an experienced user. While the previous categorization by brands might have been a bit clunky on TPCR, it made much more sense. The new structure here will be completely obscure to any newbie who comes on this site and who is looking for information. Heck, I know I havenā€™t kept up with the technology, but I would like to think that I know a thing or two about tablet PCs, yet I wouldnā€™t know where to post a question about my VAIO Z Canvas. I think the current categories will ultimately do a disservice to this community. Just imagine having to recommend models to a wandering user and having to recommend random threads in these vague categoriesā€¦ This will be a nightmare. Or if this is meant to become as useful a reference as the previous site was, imagine how troublesome it would be for a newbie to come on here and find information about, say, a specific Dell tablet that they know very little about. Or what if in a couple of years you need to find some info about a certain modelā€¦ and now you need to figure out where it fits in?? If there is anything that any forum will teach you, the ā€œsearchā€ function quickly becomes quite useless so a good structure to the forum is critical.

In any case, thanks all for all your efforts. While this post may sound like a critique of your work, itā€™s really not meant to be: instead, Iā€™m just trying to express the point of view of someone who is not as versed as some of the others on here in tablet PC technology, and who is utterly confused by the current structure.

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The current solution is for people to properly tag their threads. So if itā€™s a Dell device, then it needs a Dell tag. That way you can access click the tags and it will essentially show you a sub-forum.

Itā€™s pretty much the hierarchical file system vs tags OS debate. I think this is a good mix. Some hierarchy to get an overview, and then tags for details.

One big problem with the old forum was that interaction was with so many sub-forums was very disjointed. It was very easy to miss discussions and you never really knew where they would take off. Would it be the Surface GO thread, in the Microsoft sub-forum, or the Fold one in the Samsung one buried at the bottom? The Fujitsu sub-forum used to be buzzing but since they stopped being a major player that place became a wasteland.

Perhaps we need a top level forum specifically for new people to see a short guide to the forums and somewhere to post if they get lost.

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Welcome! A see the concerns about the forum structure, but as @Tams said, tags should help, and I still expect people to make separate threads for specific models. Letā€™s see how things go for a bit.

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Good thoughts and questions! There is a bit more functionality than Xenforo and to answer your concern, for drilling down to manufacturer under Windows tablets, you can add tags including manufacturerā€™s name and even the model name of the specific tablet or 2-in-1 in question. This actually lends itself well if for example someone wanted help with their tablet but didnā€™t want to throw that post into a tabletā€™s main discussion forum but still wanted it plainly evident it was for a specific model of tablet. In that case, they might select Windows->Slates/Detachables and add the tags ā€œMicrosoftā€ and ā€œSurface Pro 7ā€, for example, to indicate the manufacturer and model. Once you do that, it is super easy to drill down to any given tag via the search functionality.

There is no functionality for this at present but if someone wants to request it from Discourse right now, please do so. I already have quite a bit of things requested and it might come off as a bit obnoxious if I keep pressing them.

Does everyone (@trust_level_0) like the current default theme or would they like it switched to ā€œMintā€ by default as Bishop does?

Personally I like the current default, especially the dark mode, but Iā€™ll experiment a bit.

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A small vote towards the mint option for one very specific reason. I tend to have a ton of open windows and tabs at any one time, and the mint is visually distinct enough that it allows me to quickly find it on my system.

Iā€™m not sure thatā€™s a good enough reason to make a change that would require any real effort, but my two cents anyway :slight_smile:

EDIT: Our UI designer for our own apps weighed in too (she lurks but doesnā€™t post) . She says that the default black is inherently less newbie friendly looking. i.e it looks like the more ā€œhardcoreā€ boards like XDA

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I was partial to the Mint as well but switched it because (as I recall) someone here had a concern about unused whitespace but seeing several like yourself like it, I will mark the switch back. The dark mode is actually tied to your OSā€™s dark mode settings, but given this advice, I can turn it off if that is a popular request as well!

No objection as long as the other options remain. I have tried them all and material design (light; dark is too intense) with teal/amber works best for me, though teal is usually one of my least liked colors. Itā€™s just that the other color combos are worse for me.

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We can definitely play with the colors too. By the way, directly related to colors, I just tried the Mint option, @Desertlap, and I am remembering the other reason I disabled it as the default. On mobile, at least, it results with light text against a light background which messes with readability (see below). I can definitely pursue this further though especially with the ability to create custom color palettes.

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Interesting. I never use the site on either an iPhone or android phone for that matter. However i just tried it on a Moto G Power 2021 and it was borderline unreadable.

Given that we want new users to discover and join, and that, at least for their first time seeing it, they are far more likely to do so on a phone, I concur that this needs some more ā€œthinkā€.

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Letā€™s not ā€œoverthinkā€ this one - use a default that is legible on the most platforms and let users experiment for themselves - itā€™s hard enough to convert lurkers to members without an initial bad first impression.

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Donā€™t sweat it on my account. Itā€™s a darker teal so it doesnā€™t trigger nausea like some variations do (e.g. ā€˜90s van interiors).

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Thanks @Desertlap, @dstrauss, @Dellaster (the 3Dā€™s? LOL). I want to make sure to satisfy as many as possible but I definitely do not want to rock the boat or overthink this as you all well explained. No rush on this either. We should be getting significant feedback as the userbase increases and people keep using the forum voraciously so I can get a very loud and clear message of how to proceed.

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Teal Interior, ā€˜93 Conversion Van

:face_vomiting:

nInEtIeS fAsHiOn :rofl:

That is a great point. OK, one vote from me as well to make the forum look as cuddly as possible by default.