"Folders" or at the very least some new categories?

edited in Questions and Answers
Hi Mods/Admin's,

There seems to be quite a bit of threads that are dedicated to Game Maker and Unity. So how about making a Folder or Category that all these threads can be grouped in?
Or maybe any other Engine's that you guys here mostly use :)

What do you think?

Comments

  • What does everyone else think?
  • 4/50 on the first page isn't a lot. And this is higher than normal. Really doubt there is a need for specific category for each.
  • I do wonder if we should split events into CT, JHB and Other?
  • Hmmmmmm

    The question is if it'll help people.
    1. Are people actually using the categories on the right? If not, is there reason to?
    2. Would using the categories help the needs of some people?

    I think splitting events to CT and JHB etc may help IF people are actually checking things out like that and if there are SO MANY that it's hard to. Heck, right now it's easier to just be clear about where events are - using [CT] [JHB] in the topic is easier for the reader AND the writer than to use a different category, really. More prominent and doesn't need more stuff that could lead to mistakes.
  • Tuism said:
    Hmmmmmm

    The question is if it'll help people.
    1. Are people actually using the categories on the right? If not, is there reason to?
    2. Would using the categories help the needs of some people?

    I think splitting events to CT and JHB etc may help IF people are actually checking things out like that and if there are SO MANY that it's hard to. Heck, right now it's easier to just be clear about where events are - using [CT] [JHB] in the topic is easier for the reader AND the writer than to use a different category, really. More prominent and doesn't need more stuff that could lead to mistakes.
    Best would be to do a poll. I personally wouldn't like split by region. Simply having the [CT][JHB] prefixes have been clear enough.
    Karuji said:
    4/50 on the first page isn't a lot. And this is higher than normal. Really doubt there is a need for specific category for each.
    Then maybe one folder for all Game Engines/Software?

    I like the folders option, because it would be nice to see questions answered or tips/scripts given around specific software, especially when you are starting out. Don't know if I'm even making sense here. I know this is not about me and my needs, just thought it might be helpful.

    The categories are very helpful but are probably not used more because they are so out of the way, when you consider the mobile view, these don't even feature at all. If they were at the top of the page like sticky threads then it would be much better.

    My opinion anyways :)
  • Actually to be honest "Questions and Answers" is a super vague topic. Anyone asking any questions should use it, but browsing it doesn't really anyone anything. Maybe this whole thing should be rethought a bit?

    I think the Unity/Gamemaker stuff could already be grouped under the Q&A category, or maybe "Programming help"? Or "Code help"? Or something to that effect?
  • The "General Unity Questions" has been working so far. I know the sound guys also started a general thread for their questions, tips and ideas. I think folders would actually frustrate me.
  • I may be an exception, but I barely actually use the categories as it is. The only one I use occasionally is Jobs and Portfolios, and then it's because we're looking to hire or something, and I'm digging through for someone I've got in mind.
  • Never used any categories - Mostly because they're vague or unnecessary. I usually just go to discussions and see what's new.
  • edited
    So far I'm just using "Discussions" as well.

    But I check MakeGames most days, perhaps the categories are getting clogged for less frequent visitors? Is anyone finding sorting through threads a hassle?
  • Well yeah, the daily visitors (myself included) are just gonna see whatever is up. Categories will benefit newcomers and infrequent visitors, so we should ask ourselves:

    1. Are the newcomers/infrequents using categories?
    2. If not, why not?
    3. Can we get newcomers/infrequents to use the categories simply by naming them "well"?
    4. If not, how do we help them discover topics that they want to see by using categories?

    I think half of the answers may come in the homepage... Which I understand is going to get some love soon. But we still should answer these questions first before we make any big changes.
  • I see we've got Google Analytics installed on the site. That should give us some insight into new vs returning and the basic flow of visitors.

    Will see if I can get access to analytics now that we are working on the new site :)
  • As far as I can see, all the present categories are quite useful EXCEPT for Questions and Answers.

    I think you should scrap that particular category, and then add some more.
    I think it would be super helpful to have a Game Maker category, and a Unity category, which would then group things together nicely, and allow sub-communities to spring up around those engines.

    The only problem is what to do with posts that are about other engines, to which I would say they stay in General until there's enough momentum behind a specific engine (eg. UE4) for us to create a new category for it.

    My 2 cents.
    Thanked by 2JediN1nja Tuism
  • I wonder if we shouldn't split Portfolios & Jobs into 2 separate categories. I know people like @Elyaradine and others sometimes use the forums to search for potential contractors. I wonder if filtering member's portfolios worthwhile?
  • Agreed. Jobs and Portfolios is very vague. At the same time, projects and portfolios are kinda similar, but I guess we can't put projects in with portfolios. So Jobs and Portfolios split is a good idea for me.
  • The only categories I use are Projects (to see all the games I feel guilty about not playing) and Jobs.

    Events are redundant as they are usually stickied. Also I recommend tagging guideline. EG [Event] in the title is useful. As is [Prototype]. I imagine [Portfolio] would be similarly useful.
    Thanked by 1JediN1nja
  • Well, if the categories are used properly, why would we need to use redundant bracket tags in the title? Colours are much easier to identify than reading, right?
  • @Tuism, that depends greatly on how easy it is to see/interpret colors right?
  • Oh sheet, yes it does. Then the colour labels should do the same job as the [] tags - we should make the text on it darker.
  • From a UX lens: No, the colour labels don't do the same job.

    They are de-emphasized, and on a second line. Your brain mostly doesn't read those when scanning. On the other hand "[title tag]" is something your brain processes in the same step as parsing the title.

    And no, that doesn't mean that labels should be given more prominence. Also, colours are harder to identify because you have to learn what the color means first. Don't make me think! ;)
  • edited
    from a UX lens - telling people to do stuff manually when it's already present in the UI means the UI is inadequate - either change the UI or get rid of it then, because duplication only clutters the visual decoding process, anyway, if they're not useful and aren't going to be useful.

    That they're on the second line is not the point, they can be above the title and you would still only read the title, if that's what you're inclined to do.

    That [] tags are the thing that your brain processes with the title means that you'll have to read each and every title to find what you're looking for. I think, personally, that defeats the purpose of "i'm only looking for events" - you then should be able to not read everything and find events. Unless the function of "I'm only looking for events" is inoperable, which you're proposing to be the case... So we should fix it, not create redundancies and further add to things that people not use.

    Do people not use these features? Or do not want to/need to?

    Proposal: the best solution would be to have neatly lined up labels and titles. Whether that's part of the coding possibilities or not is beyond me:

    Event		MGSA event thing
    Compo		Competition 5
    Event		Cape Town event woo
    Jobs		Looking for artist

  • edited
    How about this. I think the categories are very important and the reason they are not being used enough is because of how we read. Left-to-right. So we completely ignore the far right since we might already have seen what we want in the list of threads. I did a quick mockup to show you the big difference it makes by tweaking a few small things:

    1) Move categories. Immediately your eye sees the categories and you will most likely make more use of it. And then you easily move right along to the threads if you don't need the categories
    image

    2) Remove the [category] from the headline and use the []'s as sub-categories (i.e (PROJECTS) [Prototype] Thread title). Also I changed the colours slightly to bring out those categories by the thread titles and moved them up. See the 1st thread in image " Super Friendship Arcade..."
    image
    Discussions-Layout.jpg
    1329 x 906 - 237K
    Tags-Tweak.jpg
    519 x 319 - 56K
  • I use the Event and Competition categories for searching for previous information (besides the search).

    What I just realised I would like a category separate from the Competition/Jam category for the results/collections that I and others write up. It'll make find past things easier.

    I'm going to split up the Jobs & Portfolios category. I'll do some work to shift the existing threads but if you see yours is in the wrong place, feel free to move it.
  • Separating the comp/jam entries from the writeups seem a bit excessive... How about.... Moving the entries to projects after each comp?

    It seems a bit unnecessary to have a separate category for "comp judges" or "comp feedback"?
  • @JedNinja

    1) might work, but it might also not. I know people read left to right, and all that theory, but I'm not sure if that alone is enough. Worth a try though, if it's not too much trouble to implement.

    2) Was basically what I was talking about doing, replacing the square tag with the tag that was supposed to do that job anyway. Though I believe that if we can tab/indent the title to be separate from the tag it'll read much better (like my example made with text :P)
  • edited
    TBH, I'd much prefer to keep "Jobs & Portfolios" as one category. They're both related to the same thing, getting hired/hiring people and we already have a hard enough time trying to get newbies to actually produce a bloody portfolio. I'd rather not orphan the concept of portfolios even more.

    How hard is it to ignore portfolio posts when you're looking for specific jobs? I'd argue "not very".

    Also, why do people keep wanting more categories? Like, we *know* that having too many categories for a community forum like this is death. What's the urge that leads people to solve problems that aren't really there with more pigeon holes to "organise" stuff into?
  • Less isn't more, it's better :)
  • There are two competing vectors here, contextualization and recall.

    Recall:
    This is what the categories are currently used for. Recollection, Archival, Filtering, Broad based search. Useful when you have a specific purpose in mind.

    Contextualization:
    This is useful for scanning the front page deciding what you want to focus on now. Currently this is the purpose the [] tags are serving.

    I agree we should cull categories, not make more!

    Personally I don't think categories should "replace" [] tags. For instance "[Prototype]" is a useful distinction within the category Projects. Not sure how we could consolidate it without making it less useful.

    But I now realise I've reached my internet forum meta argument limit for the month. :) I defer to whatever the people who actually have to implement it want to do.
  • I didn't say we shouldn't use [prototypes], I said having [events] when the label events already exists is redundancy :)

    This will definitely work. Whether coding is easy/possible/etc is unknown:
    Event		MGSA event thing
    Compo		Competition 5
    Event		Cape Town event woo
    Jobs		Looking for artist
    Projects	Game name number 2
    Projects	[prototype] My new prototype game
    Thanked by 1JediN1nja
  • Tuism said:
    I didn't say we shouldn't use [prototypes], I said having [events] when the label events already exists is redundancy :)

    This will definitely work. Whether coding is easy/possible/etc is unknown:
    Event		MGSA event thing
    Compo		Competition 5
    Event		Cape Town event woo
    Jobs		Looking for artist
    Projects	Game name number 2
    Projects	[prototype] My new prototype game
    That's the way I envisioned it as well :) It's about the styling and some adjustments to the layout template, but it should be possible, won't know until I dig around :D
  • Sorry to change tack in the conversation - came in late.
    FanieG said:
    The "General Unity Questions" has been working so far.
    I respectfully disagree. If you're looking for an answer to a specific issue you're having with Unity, it's impossible to quickly find if it's been answered before in the 8+ pages of Unity Q&A. If there were a separate category, you could just scan the thread titles to see if they're vaguely related to your problem, then dive in for details.

    Also, with a single thread, what if more than one person needs help at the same time? Replies to multiple people become interspersed with each other. This gets confusing and harder to follow a single train of thought.
  • DrDeth said:
    I respectfully disagree. If you're looking for an answer to a specific issue you're having with Unity, it's impossible to quickly find if it's been answered before in the 8+ pages of Unity Q&A. If there were a separate category, you could just scan the thread titles to see if they're vaguely related to your problem, then dive in for details.
    So the improved search functionality doesn't work for you? I find it helps when I'm looking for specific things.
    DrDeth said:
    Also, with a single thread, what if more than one person needs help at the same time? Replies to multiple people become interspersed with each other. This gets confusing and harder to follow a single train of thought.
    That's why it's good form to quote the question that you're replaying to :)
  • dislekcia said:
    So the improved search functionality doesn't work for you? I find it helps when I'm looking for specific things.
    The only search I see is the Google site search in the top right. Is that the right one? It might be useful, but I've never really found a site-wide search useful on a forum when I want to narrow the search, like to a specific category.
    dislekcia said:
    That's why it's good form to quote the question that you're replaying to :)
    Agreed, but in the single Unity thread, I have to scan through a bunch of posts that are not relevant to a specific topic to find the next post thats relevant.

    I think that maybe I'm just OCD about encapsulation.
  • The Google search on this forum is pretty good. Scanning thread titles and post content
  • Is the Questions & Answers folder necessary?
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