Some feedback about this Forum/site

[DustinG]

First, I want to say that I love the information on this site/forum, and think there's a great community of people on here. I know haven't posted much, but Ihave been a long-time reader of this forum.

MJ - Have you given any thought to changing the layout of this site a bit? This forum is honestly quite a mess.

A few thoughts:

-There are numerous navigation menus on the top of the page, with way too many tabs.

-There are way too many pinned threads. It makes it inconvenient to have to constantly scroll far down to get to actual new threads.

-The whole 'Community Activity' section of the home page really isn't needed, IMO.

-Too many ads and widgets. I completely undersand monetizing this site through ads, but I often feel like I have to dig around them to get to actual threads. The amounts of adds, widgets pinned threads etc makes this site take forever to load on my iPad (and I assume other mobile devices). Also, it seems like a good majority of the ads on here have absolutely nothing to do with the type of content discussed on here.

-There are bugs in the software (ie reply to posts doesn't always work).

-The Google Custom Search box doesn't seem to even work at all - searching just refreshes the home page. Seems to just be taking up space.

-Is the large yellow box promoting the book really needed (or can it at least be smaller?)?

All of this being said, MJ, I want to sincerely thank you for everything you do on/for this site and forum, and hope you understand that I intend this post to be constructive, and I can only assume that there are other members of this forum with a similar opinion.

This place is a great source of information and a valuable community of people looking to help each other. I know I'd personally come on here much more if this site was much more 'clean' and simple. I honestly almost dread coming here sometimes due to all the clutter.

[petethepeddler]

In response to a couple of your complaints:

The "community activity" section lists the most recent threads, which decreases the amount of time browsing all the sections to find the new threads. If you don't want that sections to show you can click the arrow in the top right of that box and it will collapse that section.

The ads in the sidebar can also be collapsed by clicking the arrow on the right hand side about midway down.

I view this forum on my iPhone 4 and have never had a problem with it taking to long to load. I would check your Internet connection.

The box promoting MJ's book is perfectly acceptable. This forum is a place to discuss the concepts taught in the book. It is an addition to the book, not a stand alone. Therefore everyone should read the book in preparation to participating in the forum.

Unlike other forums, we appreciate constructive criticism. If you look there is now a poll taking the opinions of the members on the points you brought up in your post.

[Russ H]

Thanks, Pete!

Here's the link to the voting poll thread:

VOTE in the Fastlane Poll!

Additional constructive critique (and/or raves) are encouraged on the above thread, as well.

-Russ H.

[Icy]

The box promoting MJ's book is perfectly acceptable. This forum is a place to discuss the concepts taught in the book. It is an addition to the book, not a stand alone. Therefore everyone should read the book in preparation to participating in the forum.

imgur: the simple image sharer

Let's be honest, this is on a 1440x900 resolution on my laptop (chrome so less wasted vertical space), and I see NOTHING at all from what I clicked on. Honestly, I'm fine with the advertising of the book (be stupid not to), but the design definitely needs to change. To at least accommodate a bit on the actual content.

Truth be told, I never really how much space is taken up by that until this post. I have a feeling though if that advertisement was showing before I I joined (before the book came out) I would have instantly left. Now I am just used to it and know there is good stuff here.

edit: blah, just saw russ's post after posting, not gonna bother moving this over, since it's not that big of a deal :P

[mrhahn]

I would hate to see the Community Activity section go. I use it to see what threads were the most recently updated without having to browse each of the other sections, saves me time.

I browse this mainly on my laptop and occasionally on my Evo 4g. I actually have an adblocker on my laptop browsers, so I can't comment on those. However, on my phone it doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown nor is it cluttered.

The other gripes are with the vbulletin software and not the forum itself and I agree.

[DustinG]

Thanks for the responses and for the poll!

-And thanks for not perceiving me as a troll. I'm far from it - I'm just someone that likes to speak up about ideas and suggestions. And I wouldn't have taken the time to post some thoughts and suggestions if I didn't truly care about this board (even if I am a newbie around here!).