By BoostSamurai - 7/9/2013 3:47:15 AM
I'm not sure if this is just me but I find the forum software used on the site to be absolutely horrible.
Ok, so I'm biased as I run my own forum using IPB (Invision Power Board) forum software. Having said that though, commercial quality "industry standard" forum software , that I would assume most people would be familiar with even if they don't actually know what it is, are generally considered to be either vBulletin and IPB and perhaps something like phpBB on the free side of things if coin is an issue. I think what annoys me the most is the lack of decent image handling on the site. It would be so much better IMO, for example, if attached images would actually show up as thumbnails rather than having to blindly click on attachment filenames not knowing what the full scale image entails. Just little things like that would make perusing the site so much more user friendly.  If EC were happy to pony up for a IPB/vBulletin license (aprox $165 for IPB or $249 for vBulletin) I'd be more than happy to donate my time to set up the forums. BTW, I've been running my community on IPB for the last 8 years, even after initially evaluating and comparing it to vBulletin, so my preference would be to go with IPB forum software. IPB: http://www.invisionpower.com/features/vBulletin: http://www.vbulletin.com/Also, depending on the current forum software it is probably possible to transfer all current topic/posts/members to the new software without too much hassle. It's not so much the look of the forum or the content, just the usability that annoys me so much knowing how much better and easier it could be. What do other people think?
|
By BoostSamurai - 7/11/2013 2:58:33 AM
And I mean, once you post it once, whether it be on imgur or elsewhere, all it takes is for someone to save it once to their own computer and you've instantly lost 'possession'. 
Seriously though, I do get your point and it is a valid one depending which side of the fence you are on. That being said, there's nothing more annoying from a users point of view than clicking on a topic to check out some info only to find the images have disappeared because the image host is no longer active, the file locations have moved (photobucket can do this) or the user forgot they were linked to the post and deleted them to free up space etc. I just thought I'd put it out there as the cost of 'proper' forum software isn't exactly exorbitant. There's other benefits to 'proper' forum software too, such as the ability to view the site on a mobile device like a smart phone while sitting on the loo, for example. With the above mentioned forum software you get a mobile optimised version of the forum depending on which device you are using to access it. For example, PC version of my forums  Mobile (iPhone) version of same forums  And, Talk Composites on a smart phone (iPhone again)  Yes, you can view Talk Composites on a mobile device too but you'd have to zoom in and out continuously in order to be able to navigate and or read anything. All I am saying is that, IMHO, there are far better options.
|
|