Forum Upgrade and/or Redesign

Hi everyone,

There's two things I'd like to do with the forum and are probably long overdue. It's not going to happen overnight but we can get the conversation started.

* Upgrade to a new platform: I think this is long overdue. Better support for Japanese script, and search features seems to be the most common topics that have been mentioned in the past. Are there other features you would really like to see? What are your most favorite discussion platforms which you have been using in other communities? Please share some links and I'll have a look at them. Ideally these are open source platforms which I can customize to a large extent.

* Redesign: I 'd like to keep things simple, but the forum looks a bit old and I think a more modern appearance may be more attractive and welcoming for new visitors. Are there forum designs you really like? Please share some links, I'll have a look at them for inspiration. It could be anything from the layout of topics to the navigation, icons, colour theme, etc. Anything you think may fit this particular community.

The redesign might have to wait for the forum upgrade because much of the layout is dependent on what features are available.

Feel free to bump this thread whenever. This is not a decision taken lightly. I will need a platform I can convert PunBB to. I will have to find a way to redirect old URLs. Lightweight, stable, secure against common php hijacks & hacks, customizable.

I guess the most important question is: what makes forum platform xyz really worth the upgrade? If we can answer that then I have something tangible to work with.

The only free and open-source platform that I think is better than PunBB is phpBB, but converting from PunBB to phpBB isn't really supported as far as I know.

IPB and vBulletin are good, but they are commercial software.

I really don't think it's worth the upgrade.

I'd like to see a better search function and the ability to see individual users posts catalogued. Other than that I'm happy with this minimalist design.

https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi...&t=2162312
There looks like there is a way to convert to phpBB. Not sure if it's worth the effort though. The only thing I'd really like to see on this site is a mobile site or a responsive design version of the layout.

Bokusenou Wrote:https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi...&t=2162312
There looks like there is a way to convert to phpBB.

The question is if it will have any issues with Japanese in titles/posts: https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi...#p13476091

Maybe it's a simple fix.

The funny (?) thing is that this version of PunBB doesn't support Japanese characters at all. What happens is that it stores a "HTML entity" so for example my username is stored as &_#12501;&_#12449;&_#12502;&_#12522;&_#12473; which happens to fit in the string size limit. Which is also why Japanese topic titles will be cut off sooner than english ones. (edit: without the underscores, otherwise they would actually convert to Japanese characters upon posting haha).

s0apgun Wrote:(...) and the ability to see individual users posts catalogued

Do you mean something like a shortcut to the search feature with the "Author search" filled in and "Show result as: Posts", or something else?

Bokunesou Wrote:The only thing I'd really like to see on this site is a mobile site or a responsive design version of the layout.

That's quite alright, and this is equally as useful feedback. If any more people feel the same way, please add your voice/vote.

For searching Japanese in punBB, it seems like there's a solution, although I don't know how well it works. It seems to require going through a Yahoo JP Web API, so that would make it slower than a normal search...

toshiromiballza Wrote:The only free and open-source platform that I think is better than PunBB is phpBB

phpBB looks slick. I'll have to spend some time on their feature list and see if its worth the upgrade.

Bokunesou Wrote:There looks like there is a way to convert to phpBB.

That's very handy. It's at least worth experimenting with a local copy of the forum and upgrade to phpBB, see how things work out. Minor issues I can probably work out by editing the converter.

MyBB also seems to be popular: http://www.wjunction.com/43-polling-plaz...-best.html

Ahhhhh thats just what I meant... I can't believe I overlooked that before. I was always seeing topics instead haha.

When you click on someones username and it brings it the profile page you click show all posts. This always displays the topics that user posted in and not their catalogued posts. Am I missing something there too?

I quite like the current forum format.

I've ran forums using PHPbb (back when it was version 2) and Simple Machines Forum in the past. Both of them left a lot to be desired. I would definitely go with phpbb over simple machines though, due to better customization options.

My main issue with phpbb (and they may have totally fixed this in newer versions, as it was several years ago when I last used it) is that maintaining it is a nightmare. Lots of the modifications would have to be installed by manually editing the code in certain files. Then every time I would upgrade the forum itself (which was quite frequently) I would have to reapply most of the mods that I had installed. It just took so much of my time.

I paid the money for vBulletin, and I haven't looked back. It has a ton of great modifications, and installation and maintenance is a breeze.

I don't think the forum looks old, I actually love the layout and look. Both this and the kanji review site are really nice and clean and simple, and I think it's wonderful.

But an easier to spot search function would be good ^_^ (EDIT: as in a nice search box, rather than some click-thru links that don't really seem to be what you want when you're looking to search posts)

Yeah, I also love the currect layout. The lack of search function is the only thing I have a real problem with.

(Though I do love PMs. I never liked sending messages via e-mail).

ktcgx Wrote:But an easier to spot search function would be good ^_^ (EDIT: as in a nice search box, rather than some click-thru links that don't really seem to be what you want when you're looking to search posts)

This is a good idea. However to display an easily accessible search box, it will use the default search options, and then a small link underneath for "Advanced". Is that what you had in mind?

I'd rather it stayed the way it is.
As to searching, the only thread I was interested in is dead.
http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=8822

ファブリス Wrote:

ktcgx Wrote:But an easier to spot search function would be good ^_^ (EDIT: as in a nice search box, rather than some click-thru links that don't really seem to be what you want when you're looking to search posts)

This is a good idea. However to display an easily accessible search box, it will use the default search options, and then a small link underneath for "Advanced". Is that what you had in mind?

That sounds fine, whatever is easiest, really ^_^

headphone_child Wrote:For searching Japanese in punBB, it seems like there's a solution, although I don't know how well it works. It seems to require going through a Yahoo JP Web API, so that would make it slower than a normal search...

Is there any interest in this? I applied these steps to a test forum running punBB 1.4, and it actually seems to work fairly well. To demo, you can search things like 今 or 結果 and see the posts containing those words.

Personally, the search on this forum is the only major thing I'd like to see improved here, so if this was fixed, I wouldn't consider an upgrade to a different forum software necessary.

I would like if the forum index is capable of presenting a larger list of main threads that members might want to become familiar with,
and as a central place to put essential stuff and for threads that are already loaded with information to expand and develop rather than new threads asking the same things-i.e. people can post their own situation in an umbrella thread for such things as "where do I start" and "just finished RTK, now what?" etc. Perhaps this is a problem on any forum, though. This could also involve sub-threads, or tags.
I'm not really familiar with other forums, so pardon my ignorance.

[comment moved to better thread]

I've been lurking this form for a year but I do feel like the layout is has that 'old' feeling behind it. The board itself isn't very attractive to me.

Although, I'm not sure if an upgrade would be worth it. The forum isn't terribly active.

Not so much related to usability, but a few SEO improvements, like slugs and better titles might help traffic a bit. A lot of common questions are answered here and it's a really good resource for learners, but it doesn't always show up high in search results.

MelonBerry Wrote:I've been lurking this form for a year but I do feel like the layout is has that 'old' feeling behind it. The board itself isn't very attractive to me.

Although, I'm not sure if an upgrade would be worth it. The forum isn't terribly active.

That's a lot of constructive criticism there you…

A new forum design would be really fun though

jimeux Wrote:Not so much related to usability, but a few SEO improvements, like slugs and better titles might help traffic a bit. A lot of common questions are answered here and it's a really good resource for learners, but it doesn't always show up high in search results.

Basically, this. I like the old feeling of the forum.

In fact, I wonder if anyone could give me an example of a good modern forum? Most forums annoy the crap outta me for one reason or another.

jimeux Wrote:Not so much related to usability, but a few SEO improvements, like slugs and better titles might help traffic a bit.

Yeah "slugs" (URLs without query strings that include readable keywords) sounds like it would be on the top list of requirements for a forum upgrade. But then I just looked at a fairly active forum with 200+ posts in the last day and it doesn't use them.

Then I searched "learn japanese forum" out of curiosity, and I'm surprised and please to see this forum is actually in the 1st page of results (5th as of writing).

Then I check the 2nd result, the JapanesePod101 Forum, and notice they don't use clean URLs either.

So hmm. It's one of those things that would be nice, but I'm note sure it will have that much an impact.

I should probably update the site's description ("Discussion forums for "Reviewing the Kanji", a web-based flashcard application for reviewing the japanese characters.") since the forum is not stricly about Reviewing the Kanji and/or the Heisig method.