Forum suggestion: "View Active Topics"
Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 21:43
Hil, I thought I would write a small request regarding a pet peeve of mine:
It would be a lot easier to follow activity on the cegui forums if there were an "active topics" pane.
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For instance, on the wesnoth forums, which is also a phpBB forum, (see forums.wesnoth.org), when I look at the "forum index", immediately below the "board index" bar, but above any of the subforums, there are text links to special pages "View Unanswered Posts" and "View Active Topics". I can see these links whether I am logged in or not.
In the CEGUI forums, there are no similar such links, whether I am logged in or not. There is a "mark forums read" feature, which I guess can be used to help keep track of whether I looked at a subforum recently?
In my humble opinion it is simpler and less time-consuming to just have an "active topics" link and then I just look at the top of that and see if I remember reading those.
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Playing devil's advocate now, maybe there are not that many forum users that would find this useful? Maybe most users are only interested in their own posts or a very small number of subforums?
I don't know, in my humble opinion, the posting volume here is small enough that no one would be overwhelmed by browsing through "view active topics".
Also, a good thing about it is that it makes it easier to see that there is regular activity on this forum. When there is a "view active topics" link, one can immediately gauge how often people post here. To find that with the current configuration, you sort of need to look at all the different subforums, some of which are active and some of which aren't.
(Now, maybe you think it's better for the project if people aren't able to see the forum posting volume easily? *wink* I think actually, CEGUI has a pretty decent commit and commentary volume. If there uncertainty about such things due to limited info, people are likely to assume the worst I think, so I think limiting such info is rarely in the interest of a project even from Machievellian points of view.)
I also think it's a good thing if people who visit the forum are able to easily see when there is an unanswered question, that they might be able to answer helpfully.
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That being said, I have never adminsitrated a phpBB forum and I don't know how hard it is to install plugins like this. So, quite possibly this request is really a PITA. If so, sorry for mentioning it, and no worries!
It would be a lot easier to follow activity on the cegui forums if there were an "active topics" pane.
---
For instance, on the wesnoth forums, which is also a phpBB forum, (see forums.wesnoth.org), when I look at the "forum index", immediately below the "board index" bar, but above any of the subforums, there are text links to special pages "View Unanswered Posts" and "View Active Topics". I can see these links whether I am logged in or not.
In the CEGUI forums, there are no similar such links, whether I am logged in or not. There is a "mark forums read" feature, which I guess can be used to help keep track of whether I looked at a subforum recently?
In my humble opinion it is simpler and less time-consuming to just have an "active topics" link and then I just look at the top of that and see if I remember reading those.
---
Playing devil's advocate now, maybe there are not that many forum users that would find this useful? Maybe most users are only interested in their own posts or a very small number of subforums?
I don't know, in my humble opinion, the posting volume here is small enough that no one would be overwhelmed by browsing through "view active topics".
Also, a good thing about it is that it makes it easier to see that there is regular activity on this forum. When there is a "view active topics" link, one can immediately gauge how often people post here. To find that with the current configuration, you sort of need to look at all the different subforums, some of which are active and some of which aren't.
(Now, maybe you think it's better for the project if people aren't able to see the forum posting volume easily? *wink* I think actually, CEGUI has a pretty decent commit and commentary volume. If there uncertainty about such things due to limited info, people are likely to assume the worst I think, so I think limiting such info is rarely in the interest of a project even from Machievellian points of view.)
I also think it's a good thing if people who visit the forum are able to easily see when there is an unanswered question, that they might be able to answer helpfully.
---
That being said, I have never adminsitrated a phpBB forum and I don't know how hard it is to install plugins like this. So, quite possibly this request is really a PITA. If so, sorry for mentioning it, and no worries!
