I don't know if it is possible or not, but I was thinking it would be super convenient if registered users could go through a list and check off all of the device forums they regularly use. Than when they visit the forums, they can choose a "My Devices" sorting mode and have a much shorter list of forums to look through. I'm sure anybody with one of the newest devices would be open to this idea.
I guess it's a similar idea to the "Favorites" tab on the XDA app, but it would be available on the main site's forums. Heck, just making it possible for our favorites from the app to be stored though the account would be a plus.
Anyway, if you have any thoughts on the idea, please post below.
I think the "find your device" search input is enough to find your device forum easily... and if you visit a forum more regularly than the others, just put it into your favourites (well it's my opinion )
Related
Hi guys,
If I can make a suggestion to the forum usage, most users here would love to be able to mask out forums related to phones they do not have, OSes they don't have and so on.
There's a great hack to vbulletin that will allow us to choose what to see and what to hide.
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=98360
DESCRIPTION
Ever came across large boards with a huge number of sub forums? Couldn't find your info? Wanted to run away from that huge load of stupid threads? This hack is intended to save your users from having such a horrible experience. It provides them with an opportunity to exclude any number of forums from the forums list (as well as from "get new"/"get daily" searches), which still letting them to access those forums directly and search within them, too.
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Thanks.
Interesting, you might want to post it up on the Sticky: "(requests) From the Users to the Mods & Admins".
When searching either in a thread or in general it should return users names so you can find a specific post from them. For instance I posted some information in a thread and when I went to find it I couldn't. So I had to search through 93 pages of stuff for nothing. If I had the ability to search my own username or someone elses I can find the thread fast and get the info I need. This is a simple selection of check the block or what have you for the website manager. As well this needs to extend to the apps as well.
Errrrr...you can search by username. it's on the right side of the search interface: http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php?
or you can go to your profile page, click on the statistics tab, the you can search for all your posts or all threads started by you.
I get that. But it should inherently be built in with the general search so if you are in the thread it will return the results of user names. It only makes sense and its an easy check the box option for the web site builder.
I am not sure if the android app (I am using the premium app) is taking a different path than the XDA website... but there are things that are different between them and it is making it very difficult and confusing to seamlessly move from the app to the website, or back.
On the app, there is a sidebar with, among other items, a line that says "Subscriptions" followed by number in parentheses. Above that line there is a line/option for "Participated" .
If you select "Subscriptions", and you will get a list of Forums and Subforums you have subscribed to. It is easy to "Subscribe" to a forum (or subforum), as the dropdown menu has an option to Subscribe.
Before continuing, this is how I see the logical breakdown of forums, subforums and threads:
Forum (example HTC ONE (or VERIZON HTC ONE if it exists)) ==>
Subforum(example: HTC ONE Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting) ==>Thread(example: Help! I bricked my phone!!!).
In the app, when you select "Participated" you are presented with every thread in which you have added a comment.
However, on the website, when I navigate to the forum (not a subforum) and I want to "Subscribe" to it, I cannot find any way to do so on that page (the main forum page). I notice however, that if you go to one a subforums (see example above), you have the option there to subscribe to that subforum. However, like the app, I would like to have quick access to all subforums for a particular device.
I have "subscribed" to them from the mobile app, but they are not showing up once I am at my laptop... the only subscriptions that appear anywhere (without having to go to a dedicated page with subscibed threads, etc.) is in the right sidebar under the three tabs entitled "MESSAGES THREADS FORUMS." Here (for me) it shows I am subscribed to one subforum that I accidentally subscribed to 3 years ago (from the app I believe). The app too, correctly shows I am subscribed to this subforum. But there is no where on the website that shows the Forums I am subscribed—which the app does (as described above).
With the number of forums for devices growing to several hundred why is there not just a way to create a bookmark to go directly to the forum that you have already added as a subscribed forum/a favorite??? I swear I think every time I have come to this webpage I have to navigate down past 90 devices to find the forum I want (google XDA XYZ Device works, but there should be a way on the forum landing page). A way to find "bookmarked' forums. I use the work bookmark" because using the word "subscribe" with "forum" is actually confusing. You already have an option to subscribe to a thread on the website (and the app). And further, a subscription to a thread will send you email updates when there have been new comments to that thread. However, you do not need email notifications to a forum, nor even a subforum... you just need a quick way to navigate to them.
Further confusing the "thread subscription" component of "subscribing" is that now the app has "Participated" (as mentioned above) which I find helpful as no action is required; it automatically allows you to quickly find a thread where you have contributed or asked a question. But this is not available (or easily locatable) on the website....
Can we get the ability to create a favorite or a bookmark to a Forum or Subforum?
I understand that subscribing to threads still makes sense as people may want to be notified or have quick access to a thread which is being updated, but in which they have not made a comment. I think we just need to add a new category to "favorite" or "bookmark" a forum or subforum, and then have threads subscribed to, and threads in which we have participated.
I think in the past few years (and you guys would know!) more people use the app than before... So I think by modifying things as set forth above, it will allow increased usability of XDA overall. XDA has always had to manage and structure/organize a huge amount of information... and I have always found it quite difficult.. Only recently with the options have I noticed more productivity (although I cannot say for certain how "recent" these changes are....
Either way, I hope you can make the app and the site consistent... and preferably let the app's above-mentioned features lead the way.
Thank you...
syntropic said:
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Wow, that's a lot of questions!
I definitely won't be able to answer them all at once, so I will just answer the ones I can.
1. In answer to the question "Where are the Participated threads on the website?", just do [your_username's_profile] > Statistics > See all posts by [your_username]. It does essentially the same thing as Participated does in the app.
EDIT- More answers to come... when and if I have time!
It has been a couple months since I've been on the site and quite often I am directed to what I want to find via a google search.
However when trying to access the forums today from the top banner bar, the options seem extremely limited.
It lists things like "Top Phones" "New Phones" "Root Tools" "Top Apps", etc. and each of these has a small sub menu of choices.
However I can't find a way to just access the General discussion forum...the one I'm posting in now.
In order to get here I needed to google "XDA general discussion" and then clumsily navigate to this "About XDA" sub section.
Am I missing something with how this site has been updated and how one is supposed to navigate it?
thanks.
TraderJack said:
It has been a couple months since I've been on the site and quite often I am directed to what I want to find via a google search.
However when trying to access the forums today from the top banner bar, the options seem extremely limited.
It lists things like "Top Phones" "New Phones" "Root Tools" "Top Apps", etc. and each of these has a small sub menu of choices.
However I can't find a way to just access the General discussion forum...the one I'm posting in now.
In order to get here I needed to google "XDA general discussion" and then clumsily navigate to this "About XDA" sub section.
Am I missing something with how this site has been updated and how one is supposed to navigate it?
thanks.
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https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72689104&postcount=2
sd_shadow said:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72689104&postcount=2
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Thanks, that does give me a little bit more control.
However (to anyone listening who cares) - this still has problems. In order to search for a forum to jump to, I must first know its name to search.
In my case, since I've been here a while I know/knew there were general forums, so I typed "general" and I was able to pull some of them up.
But for new users, or anyone unsure of where to post a topic that doesn't have to do with a specific device it still obscures the entire forum structure from them.
Also, unless I was referred to the link above, there is really no way for me to know that typing in that box is how I find a forum, since it says "Type device...& more"....that "more" is pretty broad.
Wouldn't/couldn't it be a good idea to both write somewhere up there that the box is how you are meant to navigate to a specific forum rather than just search? Also couldn't there be a link within the list of results that always shows that allows one to view an entire structured list of the forums?
Part of the issue as I see it is that while many thinks are device based, there are certain issues that have the same solutions across a wide array of devices. For instance I just had an issue with APN settings being grayed out (non editable) on my wife's Galaxy S5, but I saw similar posts and partial solutions scattered throughout device forums for dozens of devices. I know that there will never be full consolidation into one "general" topic for these, but I think having a "general" forum (or forums) as the first landing page for these types of questions is more beneficial than forcing users (simply by the current design) to post in their specific device.
Anyway, I might be late to the party and these discussions may have already beat the horse dead, I still love the site for the wealth of information it provides but IMHO the redesign in this aspect borked functionality/ease of use when it comes to "finding" the right place to go to post a new thread.
/
TraderJack said:
Thanks, that does give me a little bit more control.
However (to anyone listening who cares) - this still has problems. In order to search for a forum to jump to, I must first know its name to search.
In my case, since I've been here a while I know/knew there were general forums, so I typed "general" and I was able to pull some of them up.
But for new users, or anyone unsure of where to post a topic that doesn't have to do with a specific device it still obscures the entire forum structure from them.
Also, unless I was referred to the link above, there is really no way for me to know that typing in that box is how I find a forum, since it says "Type device...& more"....that "more" is pretty broad.
Wouldn't/couldn't it be a good idea to both write somewhere up there that the box is how you are meant to navigate to a specific forum rather than just search? Also couldn't there be a link within the list of results that always shows that allows one to view an entire structured list of the forums?
Part of the issue as I see it is that while many thinks are device based, there are certain issues that have the same solutions across a wide array of devices. For instance I just had an issue with APN settings being grayed out (non editable) on my wife's Galaxy S5, but I saw similar posts and partial solutions scattered throughout device forums for dozens of devices. I know that there will never be full consolidation into one "general" topic for these, but I think having a "general" forum (or forums) as the first landing page for these types of questions is more beneficial than forcing users (simply by the current design) to post in their specific device.
Anyway, I might be late to the party and these discussions may have already beat the horse dead, I still love the site for the wealth of information it provides but IMHO the redesign in this aspect borked functionality/ease of use when it comes to "finding" the right place to go to post a new thread.
/
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Did you try the Search Plus feature?
Wood Man said:
Did you try the Search Plus feature?
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I've looked at it, but it doesn't really remediate the issues I mention above.
While it can help you "find" answers to questions, google is just as capable in most cases of directing you to the relevant threads on XDA.
The problem is not really where to go to find answers, as much as it is to ask a question.
It seems the way the site is now structured as far as indexing/lookup is concerned is more of a "knowledgebase" then a forum.
I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing - but it is different from how things used to be and for long time users it makes things a bit more difficult to adapt.
This is going to be a moaning post, which falls in line with the topics of discussion in the forum description.
Like many of you most likely, I've been lurking, contributing if it makes sense, and relying on XDA for a long time. It feels like a decade by now. This is the most frustrated I've ever been with the Search functionality of the website. It's so bad, I'm writing this post, but also I feel like competing sites (there are none in reality) could lure forum users away with nothing more than an intuitive, easy to use search functionality.
For example, every single time you go to search something, XDA for some reason defaults to searching Everything. If I'm in a specific forum, and sought out that forum (which is the only way to get to something that you specifically need given the search won't produce it), why would I need to search the entire site seconds after entering that particular forum. I have not found a setting to allow me to set the default search to search specific forum and recall the previous site iteration as having the ability to easily within a click or two, search the forum itself for a specific thread.
Secondly, searching for items that have more than a single word is pointless. The query results are from all over the site, and largely not related. Additionally, the search results apparently don't believe in offering sort or filter capabilities post submission of a search query.
Third, do you really not follow a boolean logic? Taking the aforementioned example, if I use double quotes to signify a specific string or phrase, the query result is blank.
I'm going to keep adding to this because later because I need to go, but I loved this site, and I want to ensure this feedback is out there. Please for the love of god, do something about this.
Unfortunately, I tried to search for the ability to provide feedback directly and was unable to come up with anything. I shouldn't have to build a Google CSE or run a 'site:' search to produce a specific result on this website.
Just a couple of years ago, I could come into the site, enter a model number or SKU or something specific like that and immediately be able to access specific forums or threads. I just tried to search for SM-990 and nothing but Motorola results were produced. What?