Should be pretty self explanatory. Let me know if any questions arise.
Several people have asked about the default view in conversations I’ve seen. And yes you can set a preference, but if the preference must be referenced that much, it should probably be default.
the default view as it is now seems fairly complicated to navigate for users not familiar with the layout, and it seems like a pain to navigate even if I was familiar with it.
I think it could be enhanced by letting us ignore certain sections as well. For example, I do not want to see new member introductions and would rather have a select few sub-categories being displayed as compared to all of them.
There is also a “My Post” view in Discourse which the Admin should add. This view allow once to see all the threads you have participated in - somewhat like Watched in Geekhack.
Support. Even though it can be manually set in the preferences, I think category view should be made the default view for new users and guests. If nothing else, it’s a more familiar layout that’s similar to a forum index (presumably most people coming here are from GH).
Also, I’d suggest making dark the default theme, but I understand it’s a preference thing (though that would also help users transition from GH ).
The people who make Discourse don’t make take these choices lightly. The current default view increases community engagement/participation compared to the category view. This is why we stick with the default, but as @hineybush mentioned above, you can always change it if you don’t like it.
FWIW, I have added a link to the category view, however, in the Welcome/getting starting page, so it’s easier for new visitors to get a sense of the layout and scope of the site.
That welcome info will be nice. I think it would make more Product Sense to switch to the “latest” view down the line. Because category view would encourage more geekhack users to join the site.
I think it would be an interesting query to run on the backend: grouping and counting what view preference users have set
As I said before. Engagement is one thing, but if all the users are setting it anyway. Then you’re not getting those engagements to begin with, and you’re just adding steps.
would be cool if new members can be greeted with a forum layout type. those that prefer a classical forum style a la GH have the option to select it, or go with the discourse style. I prefer the new layout. took a few minutes to get used to but already loving it. hopefully the forums takes off
I’d like to mention that the category view incorporates the latest view — all of the relevant info apart from users viewing the topic and the total number of views. I can see how the former can contribute to user engagement, certainly; on the other hand, having a handy navigation index right as you open the home page could prove quite useful. Especially when you’re, say, looking to quickly find a GB thread that may not have had recent activity in the past couple of days.