Website improvement ideas

Prior to the release of Loader v5, the forum was relatively quiet. The way I prefer to read the forum is to click on the new (red-flagged) topics in the box headed Forum on the left margin. This has the benefit of taking me to the end of the thread. If I click on the main forum listing, this takes me to the start of the thread. In some cases, as for example the listing of RAIB reports, this would involve paging through endless (20?) pages to get to the end.

Now, after the coming of Loader v5, the forum is so much busier, and the list of red-flagged topics to read well outruns the capacity of the left-hand column.

Could the left-hand column be made longer, or without bottom, so that I could always click on unread topics, and land at the end of the thread?

Humorist in post 129201 said:

Prior to the release of Loader v5, the forum was relatively quiet. The way I prefer to read the forum is to click on the new (red-flagged) topics in the box headed Forum on the left margin. This has the benefit of taking me to the end of the thread. If I click on the main forum listing, this takes me to the start of the thread. In some cases, as for example the listing of RAIB reports, this would involve paging through endless (20?) pages to get to the end.

Now, after the coming of Loader v5, the forum is so much busier, and the list of red-flagged topics to read well outruns the capacity of the left-hand column.

Could the left-hand column be made longer, or without bottom, so that I could always click on unread topics, and land at the end of the thread?

I have put it on mantis as a suggestion (31017)

Are you aware that you can view the entire forum by latest post by either clicking the Latest Posts link in that box, or at the top clicking Community - Latest Posts. This then display all forum threads by the time of the last post, with 25 topics per page.

It is how I use the forum on a daily basis, with only going to the forum index when I want to look for something in a specific forum

y10g9 in post 129205 said:

Humorist in post 129201 said:

Prior to the release of Loader v5, the forum was relatively quiet. The way I prefer to read the forum is to click on the new (red-flagged) topics in the box headed Forum on the left margin. This has the benefit of taking me to the end of the thread. If I click on the main forum listing, this takes me to the start of the thread. In some cases, as for example the listing of RAIB reports, this would involve paging through endless (20?) pages to get to the end.

Now, after the coming of Loader v5, the forum is so much busier, and the list of red-flagged topics to read well outruns the capacity of the left-hand column.

Could the left-hand column be made longer, or without bottom, so that I could always click on unread topics, and land at the end of the thread?

I have put it on mantis as a suggestion (31017)

Are you aware that you can view the entire forum by latest post by either clicking the Latest Posts link in that box, or at the top clicking Community - Latest Posts. This then display all forum threads by the time of the last post, with 25 topics per page.

It is how I use the forum on a daily basis, with only going to the forum index when I want to look for something in a specific forum

How many topics are you seeing in the left-hand list? I can see 15 so the box is very rarely fully filled with red flashes.

That entirely depends on how busy the forum was since one last visited! Certainly in the last few days (8 hours behind the UK) I've woken up to a full window of new posts.

GeoffM in post 129215 said:

That entirely depends on how busy the forum was since one last visited! Certainly in the last few days (8 hours behind the UK) I've woken up to a full window of new posts.

I think we are talking about different things. I was noting that I see 15 topics in the list box. Is 15 topics the norm for that list box or do I have a expanded bespoke setting after you kindly turned off the Shout Box on my account settings?

Would it be simpler to just add a recent posts button to the side bar? I know it is currently available through the community menu at the top of the page, but this would certainly be a quicker route if possible.

The articles page at https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Article isn't by default sorted by date, but by name. This makes it less easy to spot new news.

Thanks
Jamie

postal in post 129217 said:

GeoffM in post 129215 said:

That entirely depends on how busy the forum was since one last visited! Certainly in the last few days (8 hours behind the UK) I've woken up to a full window of new posts.

I think we are talking about different things. I was noting that I see 15 topics in the list box. Is 15 topics the norm for that list box or do I have a expanded bespoke setting after you kindly turned off the Shout Box on my account settings?

If you're referring to the left sidebar's "Forum" section then we're talking about the same thing. That has a limit of 15, so if there are more than 15 then the 16th onwards will not be displayed in that window.

GeoffM in post 129220 said:

postal in post 129217 said:

GeoffM in post 129215 said:

That entirely depends on how busy the forum was since one last visited! Certainly in the last few days (8 hours behind the UK) I've woken up to a full window of new posts.

I think we are talking about different things. I was noting that I see 15 topics in the list box. Is 15 topics the norm for that list box or do I have a expanded bespoke setting after you kindly turned off the Shout Box on my account settings?

If you're referring to the left sidebar's "Forum" section then we're talking about the same thing. That has a limit of 15, so if there are more than 15 then the 16th onwards will not be displayed in that window.

Interestingly, I had left one post unread (on one of the Oz sims, which don't greatly interest me). This seemed to remain "sticky", at the foot of the Forum list in the left margin, as the last item of, I think, eighteen or nineteen items in that list. I cleared it, and the Forum list shrank on refresh to fifteen items.

Is that the intended behaviour?

Humorist in post 129313 said:

GeoffM in post 129220 said:

postal in post 129217 said:

GeoffM in post 129215 said:

That entirely depends on how busy the forum was since one last visited! Certainly in the last few days (8 hours behind the UK) I've woken up to a full window of new posts.

I think we are talking about different things. I was noting that I see 15 topics in the list box. Is 15 topics the norm for that list box or do I have a expanded bespoke setting after you kindly turned off the Shout Box on my account settings?

If you're referring to the left sidebar's "Forum" section then we're talking about the same thing. That has a limit of 15, so if there are more than 15 then the 16th onwards will not be displayed in that window.

Interestingly, I had left one post unread (on one of the Oz sims, which don't greatly interest me). This seemed to remain "sticky", at the foot of the Forum list in the left margin, as the last item of, I think, eighteen or nineteen items in that list. I cleared it, and the Forum list shrank on refresh to fifteen items.

Is that the intended behaviour?

Yes, it's displaying a minimum of 15 but will display up to 25 if it finds an unread one in that 16-25 range. Clicking on "Mark all read" should shrink it.

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but was wondering if it would be possible to add the sim window size to each manual. That is, how big (in pixels) would the sim window need to be to incorporate the entire sim area without scrolling.