using the HOME page

[Jonathan Clapp]

just a few observations.

I always scroll straight to the bottom to look at the "recent posts" panel.
that's 'where the action is'.

what would be the response from users if that panel were at the top instead of the bottom?

there are 30 posts in that panel, can that be enlarged to 50?

the bottom of the home page needs a "go to top" button.

one last niggle,  the top line on the 'jump to' menu should say "HOME" instead of "general category"

thats all from me, catch you another day.

[findus]

I do the same, always to the bottom! but there are the 2 links that take you to your replies to posts or your unread posts so it is there but you need to click first.. hope that makes sense  

looking at it you only get the topics you posted in so im wrong 

[Tank]

Thanks for your input Jonathan.

The 'recent posts' is very useful, and I agree it could be useful at the top.  I don't think it would look very nice though to users!  What you can do though is click on "Show new replies to your posts.", which will literally show the subject of each Topic that you have contributed to.  Or, you can click on "Show unread posts since last visit." which will show you all of the new Topics on the forum (I always click on this one after the first one I mentioned).

A great advantage of this is that you don't have to look through all of the replies (like shown on the bottom of the index/home page), and it will take you to the last posts.  For me personally, I prefer the forum as it is.

I'll look into fitting a "Go to top" button on the bottom of the forum, thanks.

Finally, changing the General Category to Home would get confusing, as this is a name of a board.  What I've got into the habit of is to hit the "Home" button on my keyboard (which as you'll know sends you flying to the top of your screen!) and then I either click "Home" on the forum menu, or the wording "N Gauge Forum".  I hope to make the forum graphic at the top 'clickable' and will send you Home.

It all sounds confusing, but it's simples!  

I hope this helps and I've covered everything.

[m1racleman]

Thanks for your input Jonathan.

The 'recent posts' is very useful, and I agree it could be useful at the top.  I don't think it would look very nice though to users!  What you can do though is click on "Show new replies to your posts.", which will literally show the subject of each Topic that you have contributed to.  Or, you can click on "Show unread posts since last visit." which will show you all of the new Topics on the forum (I always click on this one after the first one I mentioned).

A great advantage of this is that you don't have to look through all of the replies (like shown on the bottom of the index/home page), and it will take you to the last posts.  For me personally, I prefer the forum as it is.

I'll look into fitting a "Go to top" button on the bottom of the forum, thanks.

Finally, changing the General Category to Home would get confusing, as this is a name of a board.  What I've got into the habit of is to hit the "Home" button on my keyboard (which as you'll know sends you flying to the top of your screen!) and then I either click "Home" on the forum menu, or the wording "N Gauge Forum".  I hope to make the forum graphic at the top 'clickable' and will send you Home.

It all sounds confusing, but it's simples!  

I hope this helps and I've covered everything.

I think it would be handy if there was some way of quickly finding threads that a particular member started. Or maybe there is and I haven't found it yet !!

[Lawrence]

You can use the search box, top right, and pop a members name in there, to get the biggest number of hits ensure you do it from the "Home" page

[ToothFairy]

I almost never use the "latest 30" list; some topics don't interest me, and some topics need a refresher view before I catch up with the latest. I'd guess that I'm not the only one.

- Michael

[Lawrence]

Michael, not quite sure what you mean by a  refresher view?
There is a link near the top of the page that will show you all the new stuff since you last visited if that helps

[ToothFairy]

Sorry for being unclear. By "refresher view", I meant a view that refreshes my memory (the porridge in my head, not the RAM in my computer!)

When I've been away from the forum for a few days, or even when there's new traffic on a topic of interest after a few days, I like to re-read the previous few messages to get myself back on the same page.

Does that make more sense? Possibly not  but it's the best I can do!

- Michael

[MJKERR]

I just use the "Show unread posts since last visit." link
Puts me where I was since last visit