gurudev1000

Hi,
I am a fortnight old Linux Mint and Ubuntu user moving over to Pardus. I am new to this world, and my second day on this website. I have a humble request for this site, but would like to put forward the idea without much effort in souding polite, forgive me.

This site, is as complicated looking to the first visit as the whole Linux world itself. The looks, the colouring, the layout, all are so very 'confusing for me.'
There isn't even the presence of a couple of extra options like 'forgot password' when logging in. Of course, the option appears when you put in the wrong password. But a bit of ease would have helped.
At least I couldn't find any option of searching my posts through one click, although there is a search engine.

ADS: They are all over. Of course, you guys are doing a good job of creating quality stuff for free for the good of mankind, and so surely you will need sustainence through something like ads. But it would have been much better if they were not so many, and if so many, then placed in places that can be un-detrimental to the user experience.

Thanks for hearing me out.

ps: I have seen quite a few other Linux forums and site that look AWESOME, so I have complete faith in you guys making it better too.

devils casper

I don't think layout is confusing at all. Could you be a bit more specific? We have created sections based on Linux distros and a few other areas at Forums page. Its easy to find/post threads in distro specific forum.
Discussion is on for new themes in Moderators section.

You can find your posts through UserCP button at the TOP tool bar. It displays New Subscribed Threads along with a link to view all subscribed threads.

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MatthewGx

@gurudev1000, thanks for your input! In addition to devils caspers questions, I'd also be curious on what other Linux forums sites that you think look good. Link me up when you get a minute, thanks -

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KPolulak

I have to agree with gurudev on some points. However, I will put some effort into being polite.

Although this may seem like a small issue, the lack of a link for retrieving your password near the login form has left me confused and worried several times. When I had forgotten my password, it first appeared that it was not possible to reset my password. I did not know what to do as I was afraid that I would be locked out since it appeared that my only option was to play the guessing game. Obviously, I discovered that the link was on the page displayed when entering an incorrect password but I think it would help clear a lot of confusion by moving it near the login form.

I also think it would be wise to move the "UserCP" and "Logout" links together a little more. I think it's a good idea to keep all account-related links (i.e. logout, edit profile, advanced settings, etc.) together and place them in an easy to find area. In the upper-right hand corner, for instance, is a common place.

On that note, I think it may be a better idea to spell out UserCP as User Control Panel. When I first joined, I had no idea where to go to edit my account preferences. CP is a little unclear and could mean anything. (cowpatty?)

Another thing, the placement of the "Enter a Linux question" search bar is perfect. However, the "Are you a guru? Submit an aritcle!" section undernearth it seems out of place. This kind of information is not very important to newcomers, so to place it at the top of the homepage is not a great idea.

Lastly, it's kind of annoying having keywords in my posts being turned into external links. Sure it seems like it might prove to be helpful but personally, I find it to be annoying. I feel like that's my post and I didn't put that there so why is it there? Not only that, but some of them are flagged as malicious by my browser's WOT plugin.

That's about all. I'm not here to try and tell you how to design your website; that would be incredibly rude. I thought it might be helpful to provide some constructive criticism and mention some of the things that I first found confusing.

Hope my feedback has been helpful.

Lazydog

I will have to agree I had to look for it myself when testing this out. It doesn't present itself very well.

I have to disagree with this one. Having them close together will only cause more issues when people goto click a link and by mistake they click on the log out link. I don't like logging in when I am in the middle of something because of click logout by mistake.

I would disagree here also. If you spend any amount of time on the web forums then you will know what this is. It has been a while since I joined but isn't there something in the email that tells you what this is? If not could it not be setup that on first login the new user is directed to a page that explains the top row?

Again I disagree. It fits to the flow of the page.

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KPolulak

Not a bad idea there, Lazydog!
That way, no significant change in the page layout would be required and if the user forgot how to use something or where a particular section was located, all they would need to do is refer to the "instructional" page.

Like a LinuxForums man page.

sarahxbox2009

I definitely agree with this guy. This is a sort of a constructive criticism which is very helpful in improving oneself.

fguy64

Yeah, the main page is a little crowded. But if you take the time to get acquainted with where things are, it's easy to get around. For me it's a non-issue.

Pestycide

I hate to disagree, but I find the Linux setup makes perfect sense (much more than unmodified windows).

However, I do agree that the forums are very confusing and that things aren't where they should be.

One of the common tricks that gets people to check out ads as well as still enjoying the site layout is to take video game or movie ads (they look best) and actually put them as a background for the site (that, of course, you can click on). If my assumption of these forums using PHPBB is correct, you guys could do it fairly easily.

chris81

I like the look of that site. Personnally, I wouldn't change anything on its look, except for the bald guy in the picture on the top of the site... I would replace it by a sexy brunette girl !