Urgent - need your input to menu system

[Admin]

We have been running the side menu bar for nearly 1.5 years now and it has been great, in fact I released the coding to other forum site owners who have incorporated it into their own site with high acceptance by their users.

 

However, I have noticed that with the main site segments being out of sight in the slide out menu, I feel that all the other great sections of the site are not getting used as much as they could be...perhaps it is out of sight, out of mind.

 

So, I am reviewing the menu system and trying to bring all the other great sections of the site in full view in the side menu column. The issue is the menu system for the site has a 2 level menu system...the section link and then the section sub menu. It is proving difficult to make the menu system smooth for both PC, Tablets and Mobile phones i.e. the differences in Mouse Hover, Mouse Click, Finger Tap etc.

 

I have created one possible solution and would like your urgent comments on. A test scenario has been created on www.recflying.com.au and you will notice that you hover or tap the menu items and a balloon pops up for you to either click/tap the full main section or one of the section sub menu items.

 

PLEASE, have a quick look at it and advise your comments...I really need to come up with a solution that is easy to use, obvious, smooth and shows ALL the main sections of the site...I really appreciate your help on this no matter what your comments are, good or bad, thanks

 

 

[Robbo]

Looks simple and clean to me on the ipad.

 

 

[DWF]

Works OK for me on my PC. Seems simple and clean but I don't use the other menu options much anyway.

 

 

[onetrack]

Works O.K. for me on a desktop running Windoze 7 and Chrome.

 

However, I have a different gripe. Anytime I click on "New" in the LH column, I don't always get all the latest posts. Why is that? Lag in the system?

 

 

[Admin]

However, I have a different gripe. Anytime I click on "New" in the LH column, I don't always get all the latest posts. Why is that? Lag in the system?

Clicking "New" will show you posts that you have not read as yet. Clicking "New (21 days)" will show you all new posts over the last 21 days whether you have read them or not

 

 

[SDQDI]

Seemed to work for me with the iPad, but I rarely use the menu unless I need the search function. I mainly use "new (21 days)" so I would like to see it and the new option stay without having to go to a menu to get them?

 

 

[tillmanr]

I am the same asSQDI

 

 

[Admin]

The "New" function will remain however there may not be enough real estate to keep the "New (21 days)" in the column, it may have to go into the sub menu pop out on the forums. Note, the "New (21 days)" is only for the forums, the other elements like Media, News etc that are currently shown options under New (21 days) is still the unread entries that are shown under "New" i.e. they are not read and unread for the last 21 days anyway

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Seems OK to me. I use NEW mostly. I would like NEW OFF TOPIC in the side bar too.

 

 

[Admin]

Off Topic is planned to be moved to a completely new site called "Whats Up Australia" where it will develop into something much larger than what it is now with just one forum however users will be registered the same across both sites. Besides as I said in the post above yours there may not even be enough real estate for the "New (21 days)" link as it is so I can't see how New Off Topic could be added to the main menu of an aviation site. There is already 13 sections plus 1 more coming so 14 links below the "New" link is already pushing it for 10" tablets...below 10" will switch over to the mobile phone view as it is now.

 

 

[Robbo]

Thought that whats up australia site was canned based on user feedback?

 

 

[Admin]

Thought that whats up australia site was canned based on user feedback?

No it wasn't permanently canned, I removed it because I only had 1 weekend free to create it when I was in Canberra which wasn't enough time as there were many bugs.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

The OFF TOPIC space brings together people from all over, particularly the UK and Australia. Would be a shame to get parochial.

 

 

[Admin]

or am I being to parochial

[Bats]

My pet bugbear - forums that add ever more subsections, meaning that unless it's something obvious like an accident, finding a thread again can be an exercise in frustration. I think Colin Chapman summed it up best; "simplify, then add lightness.."

 

 

[red750]

Personally, I would prefer New (21 days) over New. I only use New when New (21 days) option is not listed. (eg. from Conversations screen). Makes it much easier to go back to something you may have read but want to see again. By the way, the test works OK on Win 10 Edge.

 

 

[Admin]

My pet bugbear - forums that add ever more subsections,

Do you mean more sub sections of forums causing far too many forums, have I got that right

 

 

[frank marriott]

I would like the option of a user being able to select what comes up when NEW is selected.

 

I have no idea what that involves, so just a comment from a user with no knowledge of the technical aspects - simply some stuff I have no interest in seeing. I thought that option was available some time ago but I'll stand corrected.

 

 

[Admin]

Thanks Frank...what a great idea! Currently a user can select whether they want the Menu Column on the left or right of the screen from their User Preferences settings. I could add another option that allows the user to select whether they want just New forum posts or forum posts made in the last 14 days (14 days will be a faster query than 21 days and I am assuming 14 days would be enough). I could code the user's choice into the new menu. One thing that I am always cautious on is the number of user options available, can become a bit over wielding for some users plus an average user would have to know that there are many options available to them. Good idea and worth some serious thought

 

 

[Robbo]

I think you miss understood him, he is saying to select what forum topics he wants to see as new, e.g aviation incidents = yes, off topic = no

 

I think....

 

 

[Admin]

Oh, yes I did have that coded in an old version of the site and worth considering making it available again. Would have to re-code it to make it work with the site now though...out of small things, big thinks grow...1 post brought out 2 great ideas

 

 

[red750]

Looking at the current New (21 days) list, the current 10 pages goes back 16 days (oldest is 6 Aug). I think your previous suggestion of 14 days is more than adequate. If you want to check something specific prior to that, there is the search function or forums menu. In fact, I doubt many would go back further than 4 or 5 pages.

 

These pages are a table of contents, or index, based on time and activity. It's not difficult to browse through the list, bypassing what doesn't interest you. Your interest might even be piqued by something that catches your eye.

 

 

[Bernie]

I only see/look at unread posts .

 

Bernie .

 

 

[Bats]

Do you mean more sub sections of forums causing far too many forums, have I got that right

That's it - I've seen it on several forums I participate in, where ever more "cool" features added with each revision actually just get in the way of the conversation. I suspect I'm not alone in visiting here daily, or every few days, browsing the posts under "New", contributing to a few threads, then heading off again, unless there is a topic of particular interest. I don't really want to have to customise settings and/or learn how to navigate around the place.

 

 

[Admin]

Ok, regarding the "New" function, what I think I will do is make the "New" link in the menu open a pop out box, just like the other menu items, and have a sub menu of:

 

New Unread Posts

 

New Posts (14 days)

 

New Media

 

New Aviation News

 

New Classifieds

 

New Resources

 

New Off Topic Posts

 

New Off Topic (14 days)

 

Note: Clicking any of the above will take you to the overall New page as it is now however depending on what you click, the page will open displaying your selection.

 

Currently when you click New or New (21 days) the page opens displaying forum posts and you can select one of the other tabs across the top of the page for the other sections. This new method will just select which of the tabs is displayed when the page is shown...does that make sense.

 

This will also work with the planned Off Topic "Whats Up Australia" site as when you click "New Off Topic" you are seeing the new posts in the Whats Up Australia site and clicking one of them automatically shows the Whats Up Australia site.

 

The theory is correct, and going around in my head it all should work, just needs your approval before I spend time creating it