Forum Format Suggestion

This will probably seem a little picayune to some, but nonetheless here it is:

Compact and clean up the links and announcements in the forums, especially GD.

1. It looks like an emergency room full of bleeding red links.

2. Too many 'important' links actually encourage people to ignore all of them.

3. The forum is slightly cumbersome to use, having to scroll down a whole page to see the first new post. Over time this is an annoyance.

4. An index thread or two, stickied, could link all the rest of the links.

5. Announcement(s) could be a multiple announcement single announcement link (yes I know how the forum software works, but for the end user this would be better.

Here are some images:

Current forum look:

Suggestion (simplified):

...........

I'm sure the forums are just how many would like them so I don't see this as a particularly popular suggestion, but I really do think it would be great to have things streamlined.

Objection #1 : Without lots of links and reminders new users will ignore the rules and suggestions and important links and post the same questions over and over in the forums.

Counter #1: We can then link these posts to a single "Forum Index" which contains links to all the relevant threads in one spot: Forum Rules, Patch Discussions, Technical Issues, Activation issues, etc...

Counter #2: New users will ignore a few well worded stickies less than they will ignore a big glob of glowing red warnings.

The main issue is that none of the threads that should be read before posting are clear enough so we get a lot of crap posted, pushing decent threads down the page. IMO at the very least there need to be large links to the FAQs and Rules in the bar with the patch threads and all that, so people have a better chance to see the rules of the forum before they begin

Agree with this

I know that the announcements should be seen by most people, but I'm sure what most users do is look at the threads on the first page when they have a problem.

A forum links thread would help too, rather than having a heap of announcements.

The main issue is that none of the threads that should be read before posting are clear enough so we get a lot of crap posted, pushing decent threads down the page. IMO at the very least there need to be large links to the FAQs and Rules in the bar with the patch threads and all that, so people have a better chance to see the rules of the forum before they begin

So you don't think there should be fewer stickied things, just more clearly worded 'must read' threads? I'm not sure I follow you regarding the original suggestion, but do agree that clear wording (and shorter too, imo) would go a long way to keeping the house in order...

So you don't think there should be fewer stickied things, just more clearly worded 'must read' threads? I'm not sure I follow you regarding the original suggestion, but do agree that clear wording (and shorter too, imo) would go a long way to keeping the house in order...

Yeah, I did agree with your OP, thought I had said that but obviously forgot, sorry bout that. I just wanted to add that I thought it should be made a lot clearer that you should read the rules and such before posting, similar to the massive banner in the FMO forum.

From a personal pont of view i'm quite used to the current layout. However i still think this is a good idea as i agree that it seems quite cluttered at the moment and a bit of a clean up could really help those new to the forum.