The Mac Lounge: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums?
- 7/22/09 9:40 AM
What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums?
by cnet.aaron - 7/22/09 9:40 AM
We're always trying to make things better for the community over here at CNET, and I would love to hear what people think of the forums. What do you like? How can we make them better?
Let us know!
Thanks,
Aaron
A good thing.
by R. Proffitt
- 7/23/09 6:17 AM
In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
It's nice to see more Apple coverage and should be interesting to see what people have to say.
Bob
not up to MFIF
by jchuzi - 7/27/09 6:09 PM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
The CNET forums are more difficult to use than MacFixit Forums (MFIF). I have to type UBB code manually (a pain in the rear) as well as type smileys manually. The interface is not intuitive and it is not as easy to look at replies. Personally, I prefer not to have updates emailed to me but to look at the threads themselves. However, the interface doesn't make this user-friendly.
You would do well to emulate the format, interface and ease of use of MFIF. I'm a bit discouraged here after participating in MFIF for several years with over 20,000 posts.
I agree with Jon
by rahja - 7/27/09 6:27 PM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
I agree with Jon, the forum format here is several steps backwards from the MacFixit forumware. to find new posts one needs to click through every category.
I think you would have been better off to just put a big CNet banner on top of the old MF forum page...
good luck.
I agree with Rajah (and Jon)
by Mr. Gregg - 7/28/09 6:38 AM In reply to: I agree with Jon by rahjaThe format of the forum is very primitive. Forums I was participating in 10 years ago were easier to navigate, and told me more at a glance, helping me to know which pages I wanted to look at. Here, it's like going into it blind. You just have to barge in and discover whatever you bump into.
and another thing...
by Mr. Gregg - 7/28/09 6:42 AM In reply to: I agree with Rajah (and Jon) by Mr. GreggI have to click to return to the discussion! Talk about primitive!
And I don't see a way to edit my post. (Sorry Rahja - Did I remember it correctly this time?)
Bad main page.
by gesplus - 7/27/09 8:07 PM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
Very non-standard forum design for the main page.
You should at least make it so one can click on a forum title and go to a page that shows the list of subforums for that forum with unread post count, also the unread post count needs to be in the threads list of the subforums. A total of unread posts on the main page would be nice also.
Different style to the thread lists in the forums than MacFixit but I can get used to it, it seems easy to follow.
Bad Design and Change for Changes Sake
by sturner--2008 - 7/28/09 7:24 AM In reply to: Bad main page. by gesplusYou eliminated the granularity of the MacFixIt forums, consolodating the sub-forums into large ones. This makes it MUCH harder to look for networking, internet related, CD/DVD burning, etc.
It appears that CNET has the same mentality as Microsoft when it comes to design. They fix what wasn't broken, and in the process make it more difficult to navigate.
This rates a MAJOR FAIL.
Just because something is different, doesn't make it improved, just like all change isn't for the better.
What is appreciated is that my login was imported and went seamlessly. That was well executed.
The format of your forums is rather jarring, and while clean and minimalist are rather difficult to follow. Maximizing your add space while making the navigation more difficult isn't a way to increase readership.
Not having the BBcodes available for linkings and such is also a major failing. It does look like a bare-bones wiki rather than a full-function bulletin board.
CNET & Macs (in general)
by TechnoAcolyte - 7/31/09 7:12 AM In reply to: Bad Design and Change for Changes Sake by sturner--2008Folks,
Given what happened to VersionTracker after the CNET taker-over, none of this should surprise any Mac user. I permanently switched to MacUpdate.com, and will not pay for VersionTracker or the former MacFixIt forums access any longer.
CNET has devalued a one-time pinnacle of the Mac reporting industry: MacFixIt. Time to move on & search for sites that aren't owned by PC-centric companies with an axe to grind against the Mac. Hope that you are all successful in finding a replacement for the former granular, easy-to-navigate, Mac-only forums of MacFixIt. My search begins today. So long.
Regards,
Albert
Mainframe programmer/analyst
Mac user since the 512K "Fat" Mac
Merging of General Topics into PC and Mac Combined Forums
by sturner--2008 - 7/28/09 7:31 AM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
While I understand that merging the topic forums of networking and internet related into the general population, the mixing of Mac and Windows is VERY likely to produce friction. I understand that it is cheaper to maintain one forum topic rather than two, but I think that it will likely cause Mac users to shy away.
I also think that because of the interface differences it will cause lots of confusion if someone posts without mentioning all the specifics, or a responder posts without realizing the OP is a Mac.
I think you may find flame wars errupting as well in the mixed environment.
Merging part II
by sturner--2008 - 7/28/09 7:38 AM In reply to: Merging of General Topics into PC and Mac Combined Forums by sturner--2008I also think that putting ALL new users in the same topic thread is very unhelpful for new Mac users. The Mac isn't addressed at ALL.
Again a MAJOR FAIL. So far you have a failing grade.
I also object to the fact that I can't edit any of my previous posts. This points to this site as not being a full-function BB.
Second Class Citizens
by sturner--2008 - 7/28/09 7:45 AM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
I am also upset that Mac Forums are not a selectable item on the left column. I have to go to All Forums to get to the Mac Forums.
Treating Mac users as second class citizens is a prime way of chasing us away. If the business decision was to garner additional users then DON'T IMMEDIATELY institute policies that **** off those users.
As you can tell, my posts are getting less friendly the more I'm on this site.
The NUMBER ONE reason businesses lose customers is by making them mad. I would venture to say that cnet has start that process.
Not sure about this but,
by mrmacfixit - 8/7/09 6:57 AM
In reply to: Second Class Citizens by sturner--2008
you said, "I have to go to All Forums to get to the Mac Forums".
While I have not tried this from all the forums on CNET but I do see the Mac OS mentioned in the left hand sidebar in all the forums I have been to.
Of course, that may have been changed since you mentioned it
P
Not a godsend
by gbdoc - 7/28/09 8:32 AM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
"What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums?" I can hardly believe you're surprised that former MFIF denizens are thoroughly dissatisfied. MFI wasn't broke, didn't need to be fixed, and what you're done so far looks more like a downgrade than anything else. While I may be additionally moved by nostalgia and habit, what you've got here is a lot less helpful and user-friendly in its structure than MFI and MFIF was.
We'll see what you evolve into as you mature, and I hope it's something good. But know that you've got a long way to go. Like any startup, you deserve my best wishes. But in your case, those wishes are tempered by the fact that you destroyed something good.
Subject line is required for a reply? That's dumb.
by tacit - 7/29/09 6:38 PM In reply to: What do you think of the new CNET Mac Forums? by cnet.aaron
We're always trying to make things better for the community over here at CNET, and I would love to hear what people think of the forums. What do you like? How can we make them better?
For starters, the forum software is pretty appalling--poor visual design and layout, limited functionality, few threading options that I can find. It's not the wort Web-based forum software that I've ever seen, but honestly, it's pretty close.
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