New Sidebar Layout

[webba84]

I think this should be put everywhere except when viewing threads or using visitor messages. Like say I'm viewing Thema Devia, i should see the sidebar but not when i'm reading a thread inside Thema Devia.

I suspect this would fix almost everyones issues with it.

[Petrucci]

I don't like it either.
This is kind of decision that affect all TWC users,so IMO all users should have vote whether they like new sidebar layout or not.
I suggest new TWC referendum about this issue. Who is with me?

[IZob]

I think I can get use to it. But the buttons and input fields (like 'quick reply') could use a larger margin from the left hand side of the page.

Also would it be possible to do something like this?



CSS says yes

[IZob]

I think I can get use to it. But the buttons and input fields (like 'quick reply') could use a larger margin from the left hand side of the page.

Also would it be possible to do something like this?



CSS says yes

bump

[Modestus]

New Side-bar so that is what I was trying to get rid of I assumed I had changed my settings by mistake.

I don’t like it, when I read a thread and scroll down just a little bit as you do all I am then left with it is a blank side which makes the posts themselves looked squashed.

[Noif de Bodemloze]

I don't like this sidebar at all. Boxes are too large and i don't use sidebars so quite useless for me.

[Finlander]

I don't like it either. The sidebar shrinks the posting area too much and is irritatingly distracting: there simply is too much now. I wish that the sidebar could be hidden by the users when browsing a thread, I wouldn't mind it staying in the forum index though.

[Joar]

Irritating and distracting, like Finlander says.

[Musthavename]

Adding my voice to those who don't like it. It's taking up a good deal of space and it also has the odd effect of shifting everything I'm looking at off-centre, which looks very weird.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Not a fan personally. Perhaps if it could be removed or reduced in size. But as it stands, don't like how it eats into the rest of the page's space.

[Augustus Lucifer]

I, for one, welcome our new sidebar overlords.

I can see merit in having it not show up on showthread.php, though I'd be curious how much of a net impact that would have on advertising revenue.

[GrnEyedDvl]

Yea sorry I didn't have a ton of time to read all six pages, read the first two and posted. I'm on my mobile now because I would not have been able to sleep wondering how my bathroom break is going to affected tomorrow. And really, you have been around this long and you haven't accepted the fact that nobody reads the whole thread before posting! Thx dvl, I appreciate all the work you do here, I love the new M2 theme.

You are right of course, but its still irritating. I should go through life like that, ignoring what I don't want to be bothered with. It would make things so much easier. For instance, I didn't see all these complaints...

I think I will just stop responding to things that have already been answered.

Right now it looks bad because none of the content is to our taste and we're just not used to it right now.

That's part of it. The other part of it is that some people do not like any change at all. For examples of that look at the wub censor that everyone raised hell about for months. No longer a peep on that.

I also think its very ironic that there are numerous websites out there, some much larger than TWC, with the same function we are talking about, and they get along just fine. People talking about "wasted space" to the side under the sidebar are actually a bit annoying. First, because there is room to add more content and asking for what they want to see yields nearly nothing at all, and second because I can name thousands of sites that have similar sections. Not to mention the ones that have narrow content to begin with, such as Curse or even Steam. The main section on Steam is smaller than what we end up with on TWC if I leave this (and runs slower btw), with a sidebar that is bigger, and I don't see complaints all over their forums.

Over the years TWC has been pretty good about responding to user feedback, and this is no different. I just personally find it a bit irritating that when I ask for feedback I don't get it, spend a pile of time working on something, then get a ton of feedback when the change is made. It makes me question my sanity in asking people anything at all to begin with.

I think this should be put everywhere except when viewing threads or using visitor messages. Like say I'm viewing Thema Devia, i should see the sidebar but not when i'm reading a thread inside Thema Devia.

We are looking at that though it adds another layer of complexity. Squid has an idea about it, we will see what he comes up with.

Ok, but what about the gap between the posting area and the bar, as well as forum member/poster info rectangle borders?

That's like 5 pixels. When I shrunk that down it actually interfered with the My Account page and how its laid out. Probably a few other places I didn't notice as well. I gained a lot more in other places.

I don't like it either.
This is kind of decision that affect all TWC users,so IMO all users should have vote whether they like new sidebar layout or not.
I suggest new TWC referendum about this issue. Who is with me?

I get that you don't like it, but at the same time I also get that when I started the original thread about this more than a month ago there was a bare handful of replies. So if you really want a voice in stuff BEFORE it changes then you have to actually be active in the forums where those changes are proposed. If you run around with blinders on all the time then you shouldn't be surprised when something changes. Sometimes you may like that change, sometimes you may not.

But someone is interested to putting this **** as a PERMANENT feature.

Someone was also interested enough in other peoples opinions a month ago to create a thread on it. Where were you then?

Funny how nobody gives a damn about anything except their small section of the forum until they see something they don't like. Part of that is human nature, I get it. The other part is pure apathy/selfishness. The "I don't go to other parts of the forum so I don't care what's in the rest of it" attitude doesn't help anyone, and it certainly doesn't help the site.

I am trying to generate interest in other parts of the forum through the sidebar content. Some people aren't into that, fine. But the way this site survives is through page views, so increasing page views is definitely in the best interests of the site as a whole. We have tons of content out there that is hard to find because of the very nature of TWC. With over 1000 subforums things tend to get lost.

The sidebar works in generating traffic to stuff, and I can prove it. Take a look at my completely meaningless Test Poll. It has 129 votes and is on the very bottom of the sidebar. I challenge anyone to find another poll anyplace on this site that got 129 votes in a few hours. You might find one or two in the Rome 2 section of the site, and maybe one or two in the political section, but I doubt you will find one anyplace else. We cant get 100 votes on stuff that impacts the entire site even in the Curia. One poll started there last month had 19 votes total after running for a week.

I, for one, welcome our new sidebar overlords.

I can see merit in having it not show up on showthread.php, though I'd be curious how much of a net impact that would have on advertising revenue.

showthread is by far our biggest source of impressions. If we went from 4 ads to 2 on showthread then the site would be in the red by quite a bit.

That being said we are looking at removing it from showthread and going back to the 4 banner ads on show/create thread and leaving the sidebar at the forum level. That actually defeats part of the purpose of the sidebar in the first place but we will see how it goes.

EDIT: I took it off showthread and newthread for now. If Squid comes up with a decent way of putting the other 2 banners in place that isn't a disaster to change it when we need to then it can stay this way though it kicks the entire project in the ass a bit.

[Kahvipannu]

EDIT: I took it off showthread and newthread for now. If Squid comes up with a decent way of putting the other 2 banners in place that isn't a disaster to change it when we need to then it can stay this way though it kicks the entire project in the ass a bit.

Thank you. If you could keep it this way, I personally would not have any problems with the side-bar existing, and I think many people agree.

[Petrucci]

I get that you don't like it, but at the same time I also get that when I started the original thread about this more than a month ago there was a bare handful of replies. So if you really want a voice in stuff BEFORE it changes then you have to actually be active in the forums where those changes are proposed. If you run around with blinders on all the time then you shouldn't be surprised when something changes. Sometimes you may like that change, sometimes you may not.

I would like to be part of decision making system of TWC and do my best to contribute it, unfortunately A) TWC community didn't recognize me as rightful citizen thus alienated me from site management politic B) I was not aware of this thread existence till it pop out on the right side of my screen this morning.
If money is issue I wouldn't have problem with donating some money from time to time. Also I am pretty sure our core members are willing to spare buck or two every few months to keep site running and only thing we need is proper campaign to motivate them about site's demands.
This brings me to the next issue, visibility of crucial discussions on site. As some of us said earlier, most of our members are visiting site sections that match their interest and don't care much about other parts of forum.
I will take my example, subforums I visit and like the most are ULO, Europa Universalis ,DD and various mods . Rest is generally not my concern and I am perfectly content with it.
However when it comes to debating about crucial things to TWC future, like this one, I would like to take part. To listen others opinions and give mine, and together with other members help in making best possible decision. I assume other members would like that too.
Problem is ,again from my experience, visibility of crucial discussions. I agree something of similar importance like this deserves special place. It should literary stab your eyes when you enter TWC. My suggestion is either enlarging announcement section or putting it between banners and

• Home
• What's New?

TWC is my e-home and place where I spent most time on internet. Just like non virtual home I want to make it comfortable and enjoy time spent in it.

[Ferdiad]

I would like to be part of decision making system of TWC and do my best to contribute it, unfortunately A) TWC community didn't recognize me as rightful citizen thus alienated me from site management politic B) I was not aware of this thread existence till it pop out on the right side of my screen this morning.
If money is issue I wouldn't have problem with donating some money from time to time. Also I am pretty sure our core members are willing to spare buck or two every few months to keep site running and only thing we need is proper campaign to motivate them about site's demands.
This brings me to the next issue, visibility of crucial discussions on site. As some of us said earlier, most of our members are visiting site sections that match their interest and don't care much about other parts of forum.
I will take my example, subforums I visit and like the most are ULO, Europa Universalis ,DD and various mods . Rest is generally not my concern and I am perfectly content with it.
However when it comes to debating about crucial things to TWC future, like this one, I would like to take part. To listen others opinions and give mine, and together with other members help in making best possible decision. I assume other members would like that too.
Problem is ,again from my experience, visibility of crucial discussions. I agree something of similar importance like this deserves special place. It should literary stab your eyes when you enter TWC. My suggestion is either enlarging announcement section or putting it between banners and

• Home
• What's New?

TWC is my e-home and place where I spent most time on internet. Just like non virtual home I want to make it comfortable and enjoy time spent in it.

The Q&S is where allt his stuff is discussed. The Curia is just people playing politics, they don't have any affect on stuff like this.

[MasterOfNone]

I like it now (off showthreads) - but if it has to be re-instated then perhaps a review of the left-hand column (it's got better)? TWC is quite profile-focused - awards, rep, etc. and yet the graphical representation of those (really not-very-important) things wastes quite a bit of space below. It could probably, with small text and icons, be about 40% narrower.

[GrnEyedDvl]

I like it now (off showthreads) - but if it has to be re-instated then perhaps a review of the left-hand column (it's got better)? TWC is quite profile-focused - awards, rep, etc. and yet the graphical representation of those (really not-very-important) things wastes quite a bit of space below. It could probably, with small text and icons, be about 40% narrower.

If I remove some of that I will catch more hell than you can imagine.

My impression from reading through these two threads is that if it was just about advertising then the tower ad format was a good alternative and would have been chosen but for the desire to have a lot of other functionality in the sidebar too. But if that other functionality isn't wanted or utilized (just going off the poll results, and practically every post I can find on the issue) why not go with the thinner ads and thinner sidebar?

That's pretty much right. I want the other functionality as well, and putting that in something that is 160 pixels wide doesn't really work.

Im not entirely sure you are right about advertising companies either, though I concede I don't know very much of them. But I have seen plenty of ad funded websites without sidebar ads in their forums.

Sure you have, and we have run without it for years. I just took this off CPM Star which is the one that is getting most of the sidebar ads right now. I basically swapped their 728x90 banners for the 300x250 banners. Look at the 14th and 15th. Approximately the same number of impressions all month long, but 5 times the revenue on the 14th as there was on the 13th. And the sidebar everywhere was only enabled for the last 12 hours or so. In 4.5 hours on the 15th before I removed it from showthread we nearly made as much a our biggest day without the sidebar.

If this was all about money there is no way in hell I would have removed it after seeing that. Numbers like that with no real optimization going and no time for ad providers to respond to the new layout are pretty impressive. Once ad providers had a chance to look at inventory we would probably have picked up a few new providers. The ones we have been using for the last 12 hours are basically ones that just dump money into a specific pool and aren't really targeting things as much. That they are dumping more money into 300x250 ads than they are 728x90 ads I already knew, but here is the proof.

[Stavroforos]

I'm browsing on mobile now so I haven't had a chance to check out the sidebar again, but is there a way to modify it to show threads we're interested in? Or perhaps is there a way to simply aggregate all of our participated threads together on the sidebar or another page, as it happens in Tapatalk or on some forums (War Thunder forum is where I've seen this)? I have no idea of technical limitations, but it's always been a welcome and time saving feature would could perhaps work well in an always visible sidebar.

[Arandir Tur-Anion de Bodemloze]

I prefer largely how is is done now. Great job after all

About communication, perhaps could you have ùake an annoncement about surc a change for the forum, while preparing it, so that we would have known what would happen

[irishron]

Another site that uses right sidebar advertizing.