Good morning all,
During our last update we suffered some small issues with the Feeds plug-in being installed and overwriting some other parts of TFP thus causing us to setup Feeds live about a month earlier than I wanted to. I wanted to write to all to give some feedback however about the experience as I know your group is always looking to learn. This feedback is based on what I’ve heard/saw over the last week(tops) and really is based on some very early data. So far the setup has been somewhat smooth and I'm actually pleased with some of what I've seen.
I’d also like to start by being totally transparent about why TFP is making the switch to the new Interface. Over the last few years I’ve watched as about 70% of our new users left the website and didn’t stick around for long.....if at all. We’ve had some difficulty getting new users to post their questions and an even larger difficulty getting a user to stick around for the long term. We’re an amazing community, but the houses in this community are frequently sold. I cannot help but think part of the reason we see frequent turnover is some younger users migrate towards social media and the addicting interface.
One thing to put out there in the open to start is that TFP is made up mostly of older users. Our core (yet vocal) Usergroup tends to be males in their 50’s and grew up using the old fashioned forum interface. Nearly every person I ask had the same “pattern,”
- Click View New Posts
- Skim/open the titles for posts that interest them or they’ve replied to in the past.
- Repeat if we’re lucky
Now some users may take things a step further and click the “Mark all as read” but that seems to occur maybe half the time.
This all said, my main goal of setting up the Feeds plug-in is to offer users multiple options to view the content. I want these existing users to be able to setup an interface that recreates what they're used to. At the same time I also want newer/younger users to be able to have an interface they're more accustomed to. I 100% see where the “Card” option can really grab some users attention. I see this somewhat like a Facebook feed and do see it offering a better experience for some younger users. At the same time this minor change (defaulting to card verses list) has really started the older users to call for my death.
Those users whom grew up on forums are looking for a way to recreate the old New Posts feed without having to preform extra clicks each time.
So far I’ve been able to recreate the old New Posts options by having them select List and then check the unread content filter, but each time you leave the site these settings go away……
even if you’ve marked them as default. Users all expect these filters to stick, but for some reason they don’t. Addressing this small detail I suspect would totally allow ALL users to have a 100% customized feed and would really make the plug-in clean.
I’m willing to fund some developer time if it’s possible to make it where users can set their personalized card/list option and set any filters they wish…….and get them to stick.
The next item that’s caught my eye is the Media feed. I’m telling you, this feed is amazing! My sole suggestion here is gonna focus on mobile devices and users who want to view a thread that a photo came from to learn more.
TFP uses the option in XenForo to “mirror” attachments in a thread to the Media Gallery. Because of this we’ve got a very well established feed full of amazing swimming pools and interesting items that catch the attention of some that are browsing. As users browse they may see a photo that they like and open it hoping to read the thread. If however a user is holding the phone in portrait mode (like any sane human being) there’s no way to access additional info like URL’s. If you’re an Alien just learning to use a phone and you’ve got it in Landscape you’re at least given an option to see the additional data, but in portrait mode…….you’re SOL. This small item kinda leads to odd browsing IMHO. I’d love to see in the future some way for users holding the phone in portrait to access the info that XenForo includes such as the url of the original thread.
Next item I’ve noticed is concerning the “hints” on the feed drop down that lets the user know if there’s new content in a certain feed or not. My initial reaction would be to see if we can disable that notification as I’m one of those people who thrive on having everything checked off. I’ve found myself clicking on a feed just to get rid of the number, and that’s what lead me to ask about having this totally disabled. That said, this is something kinda minor and I suspect it’s something we can get over in time. I do have a question however concerning one of the numbers. From time to time I’ve found the Forum List feed with a number next to it and I’ve got zero idea why? What does this number refer to? I understand others but cannot figure out what’s up with this one?
Last off for now are a bugs I think I’m seeing, and I may or may not have discovered. The first I may have discovered as I attempted to have all my Feeds checked off.
If a user deselects the option to display the Forum List as a feed (AdminCP > Forums > Feed List > Deselect Forum List) for some reason it removes the ability to create a new thread from the Forum List. Is this something you can recreate? The second bug can be seen when there’s a moderated item that enters the approval queue. Once a user starts their very first new thread TFP manually reviews things to fight off SPAM. With the Feeds plugin enabled we now also have new entries to approve that state something to the tune “Auto-promoted Thread” that for some reason we cannot approve these? I’ve sent Will a screen-recording of the issue as we’re all unsure just what’s occurring.
All in all I do feel personally the Feeds layout does have some interesting potential but also has some area’s where it can be improved upon. As you know TFP is willing to work together to really help polish this new feature off and provide the users an improved experience. I look forward to hearing back from you on the idea of some custom developer time to address the cards, and I’ll also make sure to keep everybody updated as time goes on with other general observations. I’ll also be keeping a very close eye on the data from various analytics and the Xenforo stats to see if we notice any changes that we can maybe address.
As always, thanks for all the amazing work your company does and I can’t wait to continue to work together in the future!
Lee
& try to get some sleep on occasion 
