We really need a centralized location for THREAD VIEW chatter. This is it.
I first made mention of the thread-view situation in January. I discussed it again Friday and that touched off a healthy debate regarding the merits (and demerits) of thread view. It's a worthwhile topic, but there is no need to have eight different threads discussing it -- especially since I believe information I have shared is spread across several threads now.
So this is where it all happens.
Please let this thread suffice as our one spot for THREAD VIEW chatter, criticism, longing, rage, confusion, etc.
Here is what I have to share regarding the state of thread view at AuburnSports.com:
The new boards, which go live on tMB April 20 and here a short time after that, do not include thread view.They do not include thread view because thread view no longer is considered relevant by the companies that create/build/design new message boards. Rivals.com contracted with XenForo for our new boards. XenForo and vB (vBulletin) dominate the message-board market. That's like picking between Ferrari and Lamborghini for your next Italian supercar. Those are 1a and 1b in the world of new, fresh, up-to-date message boards. Neither of them offer thread view. It's not a function of Rivals.com leaving thread-view subscribers out to dry; it's a function of that viewing paradigm being considered obsolete by the leaders in that niche.Rivals.com anticipated this change while imagining the new boards and made certain to design traits important to thread-view subscribers into the these new boards. Here is a review I posted earlier:
*********************************************************************
Rivals did some research last summer/fall before starting on this project knowing full well that thread-view boards were approaching extinction. (I believe it was jibijibiwaba who explained it best by pointing out that XenForo and
vB, the two most dominant message-board design companies, no longer support thread-view boards at all.)
Rivals learned that thread-view people believed thread view was better for two main reasons:
a.) The ability to easily see who is responding to whom in a thread.
b.)The ability to scan each thread to see if a favored/adored poster is posting in said thread, which could provide clues that the thread is worth reading.
So Rivals wanted to make sure that those concerns were addressed with the new boards.
Fortunately, XenForo (our board designer of choice) said that was feasible.
They addressed the first concern by making the quote function an automatic thing. When you hit "reply" within a thread, the post to which you're replying automatically is included with your post.
It looks like this:
That "quote" section above my smarmy response to myself appeared automatically. I didn't have to hit the "quote" button. That means everyone who comes along in the thread can see exactly to whom I'm responding.
The second thing was a bit trickier, but XenForo had a solution. They call it "Your News Feed," which is a real-time
collection of everything your favored/adored posters do on the board. Their posts. Their likes. It's like a benevolent version of stalking.
It looks like this:
On the new board, I follow John Talman. He's is our Director of Sites and a good dude. So when he starts a new thread, I can see what he posted. I also receive a link to the thread so I can dive in if I wish.
So the two biggest reasons people use thread view have been addressed by XenForo and our liaison Erik. Have they been addressed to everyone's satisfaction? That remains to be seen. The new boards aren't available to the public, which means people aren't in position to have an opinion on them just yet.
We all agreed that Rivals needed to improve its technology. This is a major step forward in terms of technology, which we all agree was needed. Right?
************************************************************
If you have questions about any of this, either post here or email me at jaythehero@gmail.com.
Again, let's keep the conversation in here so we don't clutter the board with identical threads. Also, people who want to ask questions and read my answers can access all that in one place.
Peace and love.
This post was edited on 4/13 8:18 PM by Jay G. Tate
This post was edited on 4/13 8:18 PM by Jay G. Tate
I first made mention of the thread-view situation in January. I discussed it again Friday and that touched off a healthy debate regarding the merits (and demerits) of thread view. It's a worthwhile topic, but there is no need to have eight different threads discussing it -- especially since I believe information I have shared is spread across several threads now.
So this is where it all happens.
Please let this thread suffice as our one spot for THREAD VIEW chatter, criticism, longing, rage, confusion, etc.
Here is what I have to share regarding the state of thread view at AuburnSports.com:
The new boards, which go live on tMB April 20 and here a short time after that, do not include thread view.They do not include thread view because thread view no longer is considered relevant by the companies that create/build/design new message boards. Rivals.com contracted with XenForo for our new boards. XenForo and vB (vBulletin) dominate the message-board market. That's like picking between Ferrari and Lamborghini for your next Italian supercar. Those are 1a and 1b in the world of new, fresh, up-to-date message boards. Neither of them offer thread view. It's not a function of Rivals.com leaving thread-view subscribers out to dry; it's a function of that viewing paradigm being considered obsolete by the leaders in that niche.Rivals.com anticipated this change while imagining the new boards and made certain to design traits important to thread-view subscribers into the these new boards. Here is a review I posted earlier:
*********************************************************************
Rivals did some research last summer/fall before starting on this project knowing full well that thread-view boards were approaching extinction. (I believe it was jibijibiwaba who explained it best by pointing out that XenForo and
vB, the two most dominant message-board design companies, no longer support thread-view boards at all.)
Rivals learned that thread-view people believed thread view was better for two main reasons:
a.) The ability to easily see who is responding to whom in a thread.
b.)The ability to scan each thread to see if a favored/adored poster is posting in said thread, which could provide clues that the thread is worth reading.
So Rivals wanted to make sure that those concerns were addressed with the new boards.
Fortunately, XenForo (our board designer of choice) said that was feasible.
They addressed the first concern by making the quote function an automatic thing. When you hit "reply" within a thread, the post to which you're replying automatically is included with your post.
It looks like this:
That "quote" section above my smarmy response to myself appeared automatically. I didn't have to hit the "quote" button. That means everyone who comes along in the thread can see exactly to whom I'm responding.
The second thing was a bit trickier, but XenForo had a solution. They call it "Your News Feed," which is a real-time
collection of everything your favored/adored posters do on the board. Their posts. Their likes. It's like a benevolent version of stalking.
It looks like this:
On the new board, I follow John Talman. He's is our Director of Sites and a good dude. So when he starts a new thread, I can see what he posted. I also receive a link to the thread so I can dive in if I wish.
So the two biggest reasons people use thread view have been addressed by XenForo and our liaison Erik. Have they been addressed to everyone's satisfaction? That remains to be seen. The new boards aren't available to the public, which means people aren't in position to have an opinion on them just yet.
We all agreed that Rivals needed to improve its technology. This is a major step forward in terms of technology, which we all agree was needed. Right?
************************************************************
If you have questions about any of this, either post here or email me at jaythehero@gmail.com.
Again, let's keep the conversation in here so we don't clutter the board with identical threads. Also, people who want to ask questions and read my answers can access all that in one place.
Peace and love.
This post was edited on 4/13 8:18 PM by Jay G. Tate
This post was edited on 4/13 8:18 PM by Jay G. Tate
