...as River Tam so emotionally informed us in the last episode of Firefly.

Our front page is starting to look a hell of a lot of cluttered. Especially with all these new options Mike has been offering us lately.

Now, finally! I've figured out how to rearrange the front end modules. Slowly but surely I'm making sense of this Joomla! system. So you're probably going to see some things getting rearranged. Don't panic. This is just me trying to make everything unified and visually pretty.

The modules are one thing. They seem easy to fix. The user menus are starting to get really cluttered too, though. I'm not 100% how to organize them, though, so I'm willing to fish for some suggestions.

I suppose I could try to find the site statistics to see what everybody clicks on most, but times they are a changing. New shinies to push. The only buttons available when we're in the forums are the ones at the top of the page, in the top menu. So I'm fishing for suggestions. What do you guys use most? Is there a better way to organize all this to the benefit of all?

I don't know if it is that I have been writing way too much, or if it is just that I am dull witted, but I am having a little bit of trouble understanding what you are asking when you want to know what we use most. Are you asking which buttons we push most or what, in general, we are using the most?

Help me to help you.


(I also have to note that if you keep quoting Firefly, I am going to keep thinking you are just about as lovely as a whole box full of strawberries.)

Spirited Corsair wrote:
(I also have to note that if you keep quoting Firefly, I am going to keep thinking you are just about as lovely as a whole box full of strawberries.)

rofl! I'm full of them. I could also sing you the Jaynestown theme song word for word if you like. But!


Okay. I mean: which features of this site do you use the most. Obviously the forums, so that button can stay at the top. But there are other features on the front "home" page that I'm not certain everyone uses. Some on the top menu that I'm not sure people use either. I just want to make navigation easier and am trying to figure out what needs to stay, what needs moved, and what needs to go.

For instance: I don't think people use the Search button all that much. I know I don't. I'm also not certain anybody actually checks the LiveJournal, except those who have joined that community and watch for it on their friends lists. Though it's a pretty alternative and part of our history, it like the old proboard isn't visited quite as frequently as this new main site.

It might also be that people don't check all the old news that has ever been posted since the launch date of the site. Organization is not one of my stronger suits, so if anyone has any advice or suggestions (such as drop-down menus if I can figure out how to do that with Joomla!) that'd be cool.

I swallowed a bug.


I do use the forums. I do go back and check things like Terms of Use, I'll check the glossary of role playing terms when people are getting super acronym happy or super abbreviated in posts. I look at the collective from time to time.



Buttons on the front page that I will probably never use:

Member Favorites
Your Details (I tend to fiddle with that when I am on the forums, and there's a handy link there)
Your Favorites
Dead Forum (I don't usually read posts that are more than a few weeks old, and if I want to, I will go looking for them)
Search
Live Journal




Thanks for clarifying for me. I appreciate the patience.

Spirited Corsair wrote:
Thanks for clarifying for me. I appreciate the patience.

No problem, and thank you for your input! Many of those can just be neatly tucked away in our links section, I'm thinking. And the Your Details is kind of redundant, because you can just as well click on the avatar picture that shows up and it goes to the same place.

Thank you, thank you!

I do think it is high time that the dead forum link go the way of staff only.

Most of the people we had there, are here, and most of the people we have here now, never visited ...there. Woo. Does that make sense?

Buttons I never use:
The Collective (I never saw a need for a member list when I can look at profile by clicking on the Who's online or within the topic itself.)
Member Favorites (I'm sorry. I'm a selfish ho. I only want to keep track of MY favorites!)
Latest Forum Posts (I admit to never using it because it is always several minutes behind and not accurate. I tend to use the Forum's indication of a new post instead.)

Otherwise, belive it or not, I click on everything else from time to time.

I created a Staff Only menu, which only Admins and staff can see. It has the following in it:

Dead Forum
Chat Admin
IWA Only
Wiki Beta

Making changes is easy, let me know.

Hmm. Differences of opinion.

The Collective is useful to me. For one, it helps me better keep track of new members. And I like to welcome everybody as soon as I see them sign up. Handy dandy profile book hello.

Dead Forum I was going to move into the links. If people are curious enough to browse around and want to take a look at it, that's fine. I just don't want to have to store the book mark anymore. Would rather have it tucked away in our one big information hub here. Might fit best in the reading category.

Member Favorites I kind of like keeping track of what most people are reading the most. Maybe that's something I can just do from the back end, though. There is a statistics thing somewhere, I'm sure. I just like being lazy and being able to do most everything from the front end here.

I kind of like the Latest Forum Posts myself too, because it draws my attention. Like: "Ooh. Someone made a new post. What's this?" Reminds me to check the forum. Plus, removing it will leave a big gaping hole and I don't know what to replace it with just now.

Still! I very much appreciate your opinions and suggestions and I will keep them in mind. Figure something out.

All righty. I've done some rearranging.

The front page looks decidedly different, but I'm not sure I like it. I keep staring at it thinking: "Hm, hm, hm. What's missing?" It looks sort of empty, but whatever.

Took out the latest forum posts thing. Now if people want to see what's new they'll have to actually click the forum link at the top of the page. Maybe that's for the best, though. Kind of keeps trollers from popping by and seeing something new on the front page, assuming it's all about them, signing up only to read shit and then never involving themselves. Then again, the way I have the forums set up, certain sections shouldn't be seen (such as the Bitch Fest board) as having new posts except by registered users. Anyway, I did away with it for now. Maybe I'll bring it back.

Moved the calendar up to the right. Moved the who's online up closer to the top. Moved the who's in chat up under it where it was. Basically just did some overall rearranging. But now the left side looks tiny and empty. There's got to be more to put in somewhere.

Mm. Also rearranged the top menu a little. Any suggestions anyone?

I don't think it looks empty, I am liking it a little more streamlined, like this.