MGoBoard Format/Readability

There are three or four other threads complaining, so you're not alone.  I don't really have a problem with it.  The "Recent Posts" feature is basically the same. ( http://mgoblog.com/tracker ) Brian already said he's going to be addressing the complaints/criticism in the upcoming days.  It generally takes a week or so to work out the bugs when you roll out new features/formatting. 

I wish they would get rid of the big "Comment viewing options" box and just put it at the very bottom or in an account settings page.

Firefox 3.6

No issues here. Have tried it on Chrome 5.0 and FF 3.6.6. It looks fine on the Opera browser on my phone as well. In fact, this format is way easier to read on the phone than the old one.

If you are using IE 6.0, well, don't.

that the neg-bang is officially over.  In the first few days, it seems that very few are willing to give up their own points just to downvote someone else.

In a somewhat related story, I often seemed to miss the negbangs because they always seem to happen during the last hour of the Central Standard workday... for those of us in EST, we're already on our way home by then.  Just an observation.

It's not a browser issue; it's a usability one. The board renders properly in chrome, FF, and IE (I tested it). The usability, however, is considerably lower than before. There's a huge difference, and the user-friendliness of the site is something that must be considered.

He's spot on; the topic column is too narrow in relation to the "informational" columns of the board's thread listing.

It's less readable than before, for sure. I especially dislike the sticky threads looking the same as the others. They take up a ton of space and without them looking different like they used to with the dark blue background.

I also wish they took up less space like they used to.

I think it only happens to people in Spartanburg

/SouthCarolinaJoke

My only real problem with the new layout is that the Topic column is just way too narrow. It's really hard on the eyes.

I guess I am also not sure why the individual Subject line exists. It seems kind of redundant. You could do away with that and move the commenters name back to the left hand side where it is easier to read.

but the usability of this site is worse than GBMW right now.....and I thought it couldnt get much worse than that.

tag should be moved to the top of each comment. 

There are quite a few comments that are so long you cannot see whether it is new or old.  If you scroll down to find out, and it is new, then you must scroll up to read the comment.  If you do not scroll down to check, you end up reading 3 paragraphs before you realize...I read this exact same thing yesterday.

I think the content width is fine for the main page and blogs, but for the board, it's way too narrow.  I think a new layout, ditching the empty sidebars would go a long way toward improving readability.  I know there's only so much you can do with Drupal's forums, but something more like phpBB's layout (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=77) would be easier to deal with.  Even more like Drupal's default forum layout (http://drupal.org/forum/1).

Is that a result of using a fixed-width?  The LiteJazz docs indicate that without a fixed width, the main content will fill available space minus sidebars.  Maybe that would help.

I sure like the layout of better.

I would have to give it an "incomplete."  Let's see how "readable" it is after we have adjusted to reading it.  Most of us have read thousands of comments here; it takes awhile for the brain and eyes to adapt to such a new format when we have conditioned responses toward the old one. 

The first few threads gave me an eye/headache, but I am already finding it easier to read after a few threads.  I think that after we have all re-burned our mgosynapses, we will find it to be as readable as the old format. 

I mentioned this idea in my comments to the board post: "Usability Improvements Locked In" and got one reply. It makes sense. My idea is slightly off topic, I made my comments late and there are over 200 comments to wade through. But, I think it is a good idea and so I figured that I would start my first thread to see if the MGoCommunity agrees.

My idea is to allow voting results to be shown for comments just like they now are for the OP of a thread or diary. I think this would make voting far more powerful than it now is and perhaps eliminate any need for a "voting tax".

As one member put it (paraphrasing): "(negative) Voting is the best way to send a message to irrational dissenters, trolls and those who need to chose more thoghtful phrasing" Also, the voting tax is clearly designed to reduce gratuitous voting. Let's see how it might play out.

negbangs: Let us say that I make a comment and it gets negged. Happens all the time. I'm used to it. Heck I expect it. But it is anonymous. There is no reply. Little if any message is sent. Instead, let's say I click on voting results and see that a poster I respect, say MgoShoe, has negged me. Now that has a lot more power  and suggests that I should relook at my post. Or perhaps the neg comes from a poster I like, say Firstbase. Well, then I have probably said something stupid, maybe even offensive. Time to see if there is still a chance to edit my post. But if the neg comes from someone I think doesn't like me or perhaps a serial negger, then with a free mind and clear conscience I can ignore the neg.

What about posbangs? Well if you can see who has upvoted you, posts like "I agree" and (ironically) "+1 to you, sir" become completely redundant. They could become virtually extinct. Also, let us say a poster I think doesn't like me, say chitownblue2, gives me a posbang. Wow, can peace be at hand? Also, in the heat of an argument you could give your adversary a posbang for a well-made point and they would know you had done so. It could help make such discussions more civil.

I don't know how feasible this is, but from reading the comments it is clear to me that the voting tax is very unpopular and as some of our more mathemaically-inclined members have pointed out, unsustainable. I offer this as a solution that promises to enhance the power of voting and eliminate the need for the tax.

Personally, I have no problem with people knowing how I voted on their comments. I await all MgoOpinions, pro and con from the MGoCommunity

Just bring back the boxes... I hate this lack of borders between me and the rest of the page!

I agree completely with one of the commenters below.  I would much prefer comment votes to be made public as they are for the OPs.  I believe this would be a more effective deterrent to the neg slamming etc, and eliminate the need for a 1pt voting cost.

Just MHO

There is still a bug where someone being voted on gets charged the voting tax. Am I the only one this is happening to?

I wouldn't mention it, except that if others are experiencing it, it should be fixed and for the fact that I have someone following me around negging every one of my posts and it is costing me two points each time I get negged.