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Minor Tweaking..

Tom Coates

14:23 / 12.07.03

Forgive me for the minor tweaking going on around the place... I'm actually trying to figure out some of Cal's code - and in the process I'm doing some odds and ends that I've wanted to try out for ages. If you find any problems or don't like what I'm doing, then say so...

Matthew Fluxington

14:34 / 12.07.03

Tom, having the abstracts on the forum pages was a great idea. Good job.

Tom Coates

14:40 / 12.07.03

Now all we have to do is try and persuade people to start writing semi-decent ones...

gravitybitch

15:20 / 12.07.03

Having them be visible is probably going to do more towards that goal than all of the scolding that happens...

So far, I really like what I've seen. Good job!

Our Lady of The Two Towers

15:54 / 12.07.03

Coolness! I think this new look rocks Tom! Any chance of putting links to next pages on the first page with the title and abstract too?

16:08 / 12.07.03

I like the abstracts on the forums pages; very handy. And I definitely like your idea, OPLotF. It'll save time and valuable mouse button wear-and-tear when keeping up with a long-running forum.

Incidentally thanks for your work, Tom. In case I haven't said so before, being a relative newbie.

Mazarine

16:51 / 12.07.03

Hey, this is kinda keen!

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

18:56 / 12.07.03

I am ever-so loving it. It now gives people a reason to write an abstrct and will lead to better written ones.

About the only old feature I'd love to see return was the one where you could get mail when someone had replied to a topic. Am I the only one who liked that?

sleazenation

19:53 / 12.07.03

i miss the recently updated function which i only found about a week before it was lost in the last update...

bio k9

19:54 / 12.07.03

I still miss the view recent posts function. I can never remember where I've been.

Kit-Cat Club

20:20 / 12.07.03

Nice work, old chap. I think having the abstracts on the forum front pages is an excellent idea and will indeed help to get people to write better or more appropriate ones. (I will miss writing gleefully silly ones, but hey - it's a loss I can live with)

Can I, too, put in a plea for page numbers to appear on the forum front page? When you have time to consider it, obviously.

The Strobe

21:02 / 12.07.03

Another "yay" from over here; this is very good. Abstracts on the front will make people write them better, and, best of all, I think having the abstracts up front makes the difference between Barbelith and most other fora quite obvious from the get-go. More individual. All good.

And yes, page numbers would be lovely, but at least this is a start, and Tom's a very busy man...

w1rebaby

12:01 / 13.07.03

Abstracts on the front, thumbs up (appeal to people's sense of creativity to get them to write abstracts, good idea) but I think they could look a little nicer; they're a bit plain at the moment. No immediate bright ideas on that front, if I have any I'll get back to you.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

13:01 / 13.07.03

I really like being able to see the topic abstracts without having to hit "reply". Thanks!

I agree with bio k9 on a couple of points. If the opportunity ever arose to add them, links to page numbers would be nice. I also miss having our posting trails avaliable, but that's a facility which would also be open to abuse.

Mourne Kransky

18:15 / 13.07.03

New look I like very much. Tweak away!

Matthew Fluxington

01:39 / 14.07.03

Tom, out of curiosity, what would you ideally want the average topic abstract to be like?

Jub

04:13 / 14.07.03

May I join the chorus of approval by saying I think having the abstract on the forum pages is a great idea.... looks nicer as well.
(.... and following KCC's lead for an appeal for page numbers on the front page too please - if it's possible.)

Tom Coates

06:25 / 14.07.03

The only really important criteria for an abstract is that it should describe the kind of discussion you want to have and that it should contain some decent keywords for people to search against...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:24 / 14.07.03

Fantastic! I've only just got back online after a week with a dead computer, and the upfront abstracts thing rocks!

Page numbers would be wicked.

10:28 / 14.07.03

Um, I'm not a fan of the abstract up front thing... OK, so it probably is handy, but to my eye it really looks like it breaks up the flow of the forums a lot, and eats up valuable screen real estate. I think this is especially true of Conversation, and I worry that displaying a smaller number of threads on screen in a forum where the churn is so high is just going to mean even more threads disappearing into the depths and dying quicker. That said, in the more serious forums where there are fewer active threads, the abstract up front is likely to work. Is there no way of making the mysterious "column 2" hold the start of the abstract?

Our Lady of The Two Towers

11:07 / 14.07.03

Well, I think that's a problem only because in the past people would only see it when replying, which led to some silliness. Once people get used to the new layout I think abstract size will decrease.

cusm

18:10 / 14.07.03

We'll also want to strive to keep the abstracts concise, now that they're filling up space on the index page. Though I think people will migrate to that style in time regardless. As for col 2, currently I think we'd be best ditching it entirely and allowing the abstract to right justify all the way to the end of the box. That'd make for better use of space.

And yea, good addition, Tom. I like it.

cusm

18:12 / 14.07.03

And let me also just give a quick Huzzah! on being able to see at a glance which topics still need abstracts. Makes that issue easier to fix, definitely.

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

23:54 / 14.07.03

Bingo!

I'd love page numbers too!

Spatula Clarke

11:54 / 15.07.03

Nice work, Tom. Is there any chance of making abstracts a requirement for a thread, in the same way that titles are? It'd make life easier where threads started by certain people or new members are concerned.

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