Forum Upgrade

[Steve]

Hi all -

In the next couple of months we will be changing the appearance (very slightly) and features of the forum. I'd like some feedback on the appearance side if you have a moment please:

 

Because many members seemed unaware that there were many other resources on the site aside from the forum itself, I carried the navigation menu you can see on the left hand side (the block of options that starts with Home and ends with Resources) through from the site's other pages into the forum.

 

The question I'd like some feedback on is how many find this useful. Do you like having access to this menu throughout the forum, or would you prefer the whole screen to be used. If the forum loses the menu, you will be able to access the rest of the site by clicking a 'Home' button at the top of each forum page.

 

The benefit to having the navigation menu is that you get an instant access to the rest of the site. The drawback is that you lose some of the 'real estate' on your screen by an area that is largely white space. Those with smaller screens or lower resolutions will probably notice this more than others.

 

Hope this makes sense - in addition to clicking the Poll button to vote your preference, I'd be happy to hear any comments in the usual way by posting a reply.

[Rea]

I personaly prefer to have the menu where I can see it, my computing skills linked with my aging memory would prove to much for me if I had to click on something else before I could go to where I wanted.

[Sue R]

I'm with you, Rea!!

 

Sue

[Lucy P]

I feel the same

 

It is really useful having the menu there

[Guest]

Yes, the menu is very handy.

[Guest]

Happy with it as it is thanks Steve!!

Linda

[Verona]

Yes Steve, I like the menu where it is as well.

 

Thanks

 

Sue J

[Steve]

Thanks for all the feedback. Keep voting if you haven't!

[Guest]

Hello... I'm going to sound grumpy now... I don't mean to ! I felt bad after I voted and read all your cheery comments ! I think the menu is very ueful...but I did like it when we didn't have to move everything over to read it......I'm probably just tired and having to press an extra button feels like hard work today !!!!!....but I LOVE everything else about the site!

[Steve]

No problem Galleon -

Its always good to vote first and read peoples' comments afterwards!

 

To be honest I'm quite surprised people are so heavily in favour of the menu appearance. It was quite a controversial choice to change it back in June - most people advised me against it...

 

When you say you have to move everything over, do you mean you have a little left to right cursor because the screen isn't wide enough? You must have a fairly small screen in that case (or a low resolution, or both). It's possible you might be able to avoid that effect by changing the resolution to a higher one.

[Gezabel]

OOpS1 must have had a hard day today! Clicked on 'vote' and got an error message telling me i had not selected a preference

 

Never mind! second time lucky and yes I think it is great to have it in the forum. Well done Steve!!

[Jackie A.]

Would it be possible to have a non-scrolling menu across the top of the page (in the form of a toolbar)? I find the menu useful, but still need to scroll to the top if there are several posts on the page. This would mean that there would be no "dead space" at the side of the page.

 

Jackie

[SueFinanceManager]

Hi Steve

 

I like the menu visable all the time

 

Only real problem I have with the site is finding the time to spend on it

 

Keep up the good work,

 

Sue

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips Steve... I probably do have a small screen (lap top) and it very probably is low resolution ! ?... erm when I know I'll change to a higher one and stop my grumbling !!!

 

Cheers !