How can we improve the design and layout of the iMore Forums?

Just_Me_D

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With this thread, I am specifically referring to the design and layout of the iMore Forums. With that in mind, what can iMore do to make using the iMore Forums, specifically via a web browser on a desktop/laptop computer AND a smartphone/tablet, a better user experience? With that in mind, I'll list my thoughts.

  1. The overall color scheme is too bright. The colors need to be darkened a bit or offer a dark mode.
  2. The font is too light in some places. For example, when you create a new thread, typing in the title section produces a barely readable font. That's unacceptable.
  3. There is no clearly marked login option from the main forum page. Everyone is not going to know to click on the 3 lines first.
  4. The trending now and unanswered threads are hidden by default from the main forum screen. Both should be readily visible.
  5. The headers on any page focuses on the blog side instead of the forums.

Anyway, those are mine. What are yours?
 

James Falconer

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Love this thread. A quick thank you in advance to all that will no doubt provide their feedback... and to @Just_Me_D for starting the thread! I will be monitoring and providing feedback direct to our tech team. So, have at it!
 

Lee_Bo

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Look at all the wasted space on both sides of the post. And I know ad space pays the bills, but that's a sermon for another Sunday.

Ok, ok......I REALLY just wanted to show off my MacBook Pro. :)

Screen Shot 2017-12-12 at 6.14.03 PM.jpg
 

Just_Me_D

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The below headers are all Blog links. If we're going to keep them, let it be known that they are Blog links. It's easy for members to click on them thinking they'll be taken to that particular section within the forums.

Screen Shot 2017-12-12 at 5.51.41 PM.png

The actual login screen / option should be readily visible to members when they enter forums dot more dot com.

Screen Shot 2017-12-12 at 5.36.26 PM.png

In the below screenshot, the font, as mentioned in post 1, is way too faint.

Screen Shot 2017-12-12 at 5.56.31 PM.png

The below screenshot display a section that's way too busy and too Blog-focused.

Screen Shot 2017-12-12 at 5.35.07 PM.png
 

TripleOne

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A day/night theme would be nice, like on Tweetbot.

The section that’s mentioned by Just_Me_D should be simplified.

Other than that, I pretty much use TapaTalk and rarely go on my desktop for iMore.
 

metllicamilitia

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I’ll think of some ideas but @Just_Me_D I believe there is a dark mode in the forum menu. There should be a little moon in the lower right corner for the dark theme. It’s not automatic, but it’s something.
 

Rob Phillips

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Since you asked...

- I feel like the forums are hard to find from the blog. I’m sure this is costing us forum visits because visitors (a) don’t know we have a forum or (b) don’t know how to find it.

- The forum is too fragmented. In attempting to cover all of our bases we’ve broken things down into so many subforums that the forum looks much less active than it actually is. This is discouraging for somebody looking for an active, vibrant community. Things should be consolidated. For example, we don’t need a subforum for every iPhone that has ever existed, or every single model of iPad that has been or will be in the future. This is just my opinion but sometimes less is more.

We have an awesome community here. I love this place but there are definitely some things we can improve.
 

Ledsteplin

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When on the blog page in Safari on iPhone, and I pull down the yellow menu and tap on Forums, it takes me to the iMore forums app, rather than the forums on the web site.
 

robertk328

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Consolidating forums like Rob said would be a great start.

Finding the forums should be easier from the main page.

No issues with colors or anything for me but those two things can help a lot.
 

Ecm

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I would dearly love to see the section headings on the main forums page be collapsible/expandable, as on the old site. It takes a lot of scrolling to get to the section that you're looking for on the browser -- and more so on mobile browser. There's even more scrolling required on CrackBerry and AndroidCentral.

Edit - Here's the page on mobile

Screenshot_20171212-222501.jpg
 
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Trees

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In Participated, have an option to show/sort threads with new or unread posts. I have a feeling that there are threads I've participated in that have new discussion, but don't know about it - even after scrolling through several Participated pages. I'm not sure if Participated is working at times.
 

Trees

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I think this behavior is across the various Mobile Nations sites. You think the page is done loading and are about to click on a forum topic or "Trending Now" or "Unanswered Threads", but the ad toward the page top is not yet loaded - so it unexpectedly (to the reader) pushes the page down further leading to clicks on links or ads that were not intended.
 

msm0511

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I'm not sure what the answer is, but some kind of overhaul to make the mobile version of the forums not feel like such a chore would be nice. It's not just MoNa sites though. I've always hated all forums on mobile devices.

Also it seems that uploading photos sometimes doesn't work (desktop). There are times it takes forever or refuses to upload photos. I hit the Upload button and nothing happens. It always happens on days I've posted lots of pics/screenshots. It may be a filter not allowing me to post until I have more text only posts.
 

Ledsteplin

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Too many things are difficult to find. The moon icon to switch from light to dark mode is hard to find. The spy glass that switches from mobile view to desktop view is hard to find. Settings like these should all be in one place. Like in "settings".
Not everything that's including on desktop view is found on mobile view. There's no option to post an image on mobile view.
 

Not Quite Right

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More Advertising please! I think I saw a few inches that could've been packed with yet more flashing/pop-up/scrolling/side-bar/video ads. If a website doesn't look like TimeSquare, or a NASCAR drivers jumpsuit it makes me feel like the owners only care about the "content" of the site, and not our need to be constantly marketed to ... :rolleyes:
 

Annie_M

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I’ll think of some ideas but @Just_Me_D I believe there is a dark mode in the forum menu. There should be a little moon in the lower right corner for the dark theme. It’s not automatic, but it’s something.

There is a dark mode, which I'm using. here are a couple of screen shots to illustrate what it looks like and how you can access it.

dark mode screen shot.JPG
Dark theme.GIF
 

Annie_M

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Great topic!!!! My main wish would be for there to be more continuity between the app and the website. I find the website much easier to navigate. I can tell when I have messages, likes, quotes much easier than I can on the app. The App is cumbersome, and when I'm not at work, I find that I visit iMore less. I do better on my iPad than on my iPhone, but it's still not ideal. I do use the dark mode on all devices, but I agree that the color scheme isn't the best. Plus, when I'm at work, the icon on the Tab (I use Chrome) stands out like a sore thumb! Not that my boss snoops on my computer, but still.... ;)
 

Quis89

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Is it just me, or is the "Multi Quote" feature gone? Off hand that's one recommendation I have. I agree with many of the other things that have been mentioned here so far. There is A LOT of extra space on either side of the threads. There is no easily seen method of logging in.