phpBB.com Website Feedback

[Paul]

Hello all,

Three and a half years ago, the phpBB Teams launched an entirely new version of phpBB.com to coincide with phpBB "Olympus" 3.0. Since then, it has seen countless additions of information, updates, and modifications. Unfortunately, over time things have become a bit cluttered and the site is difficult to navigate in some areas.

That's where we need the community's help. Because we use the phpBB.com website for countless hours every week, we have a biased understanding of how to get around the site. The experience is likely much different for the community at large and especially those who don't frequent phpBB.com all that often.

We would be much appreciative if you would provide any and all feedback you have concerning the website, ranging from the look and feel of the site, to usability, to the actual information displayed within. This is your opportunity to vent about your grievances concerning the website, or let us know areas which you have found very helpful.

If you have discovered a bug, please create a new ticket in the Website Bug Tracker.

Thanks

- phpBB Website Team

[Christy]

I like how the site is currently set up and in the past I haven't frequented the site all that often. What are some particular things that people find cluttered in general? Something that would be handy (I don't know if it would be possible) would be to be able to search keywords in the support/discussion sections of the MODs & Styles database. I know you can search the database itself but you really cannot search the topics within the MOD specific Support/Discussion section (if that makes sense).

[noth]

I have found the changes to the 3.0.x Modifications Forums very hard to like

before it was simple

there was a thread with a download area at the top

read the thread or reply to it

now you go to the new area, which is very slick ....... but to me, also very different (I don't like it! sorry! )

http://www.phpbb.com/kb << knowledge base is a fantastic area to trawl through for any admins, new or old HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (includes phpBB2 stuff!)

apart from that GOOD LUCK with your spring cleaning, awful job but somebody has to do it

[EXreaction]

Something that would be handy (I don't know if it would be possible) would be to be able to search keywords in the support/discussion sections of the MODs & Styles database. I know you can search the database itself but you really cannot search the topics within the MOD specific Support/Discussion section (if that makes sense).

There is a ticket open for it in the Titania tracker and it will be gotten to sometime.

[Christy]

There is a ticket open for it in the Titania tracker and it will be gotten to sometime.

Thanks for the info Exreaction

[Boardtalk.net]

Do you know what would be handy? A proper place for Custom BB Codes as apposed to the one thread and may I point out that is has 347,057 views and 2,909 replies. Am sure there’s a few good BBCodes in there but I’d be afraid I’d never find my way out of there.

[Christy]

Do you know what would be handy? A proper place for Custom BB Codes as apposed to the one thread and may I point out that is has 347,057 views and 2,909 replies. Am sure there’s a few good BBCodes in there but I’d be afraid I’d never find my way out of there.

Ya that is a great point, it would be helpful to have an Area for submitted BBcodes and support (if possible/necessary).

[nuckfan15]

One thing I would suggest is giving users the ability to play around with the test board a little longer. 1 hour is a bit of a stretch if you're trying to play around with the software.

Edit: http://www.phpbb.com/about/contact_us.php

I really thing you could do a better job with the simple "For all other concerns". IMHO a basic e-mail form would do the job, or some other custom page.

Edit Again:

http://www.phpbb.com/about/features/?from=submenu

Is the phpBB2 feature comparison really needed at this point? It could have been applicable upon release of 3.0, however; being three years ago alot of new users now shouldn't need a "feature comparison" as they never used phpBB2.

Seems rather pointless comparing current software to software that has been out of use for quite some time.

Just my 2 cents.

[callumacrae]

I find getting into the MOD DB far too tricky, I should be able to do it in one click.

~Callum

[nuckfan15]

I find getting into the MOD DB far too tricky, I should be able to do it in one click.

~Callum

Customise --> Mod DB = 1 click.

[AdamR]

I find getting into the MOD DB far too tricky, I should be able to do it in one click.

~Callum

Could you clarify a bit on this?

Customise --> Mod DB = 1 click.

Depending on what Callum was referring to, this feedback very well may be helpful. If a user doesn't know that you can get to the MOD DB via that drop down menu, then that's a problem with the usability of the site and we should try to address it.

- Adam

[nuckfan15]

Depending on what Callum was referring to, this feedback very well may be helpful. If a user doesn't know that you can get to the MOD DB via that drop down menu, then that's a problem with the usability of the site and we should try to address it.

- Adam

Yeah, I apologize if I seemed cynical there. I was simply trying to point out something he may have not known.

[Boardtalk.net]

Hi Adam,
I don’t know if this helps…
The badge on the homepage to download the full pack is hard to see up on the page header, it would also help if from the homepage you could actually download the full pack without being redirected to another page. That was one of the things I noticed when first arriving, it was difficult to find where to download.
Then on the download page, if you could make these words (see image) actually download. I know the zip is just below but when I first arrived it was difficult to figure out where it was.
Thanks

full_pack.png

[imkingdavid]

EDIT: I just read the post above mine and noticed that it was suggesting something similar to below. lol well, mine just expands on that some, so hopefully it helps.

One thing that would be great would be a single-click download from the front page. Currently if I want to simply download the basic installer package, starting in the main page, here is what I have to do:

1. If from the main "Downloads" nav link (not a sub menu)
2. Click Downloads in the nav bar
3. Click "Full Package"
4. Choose between zip and bz2 and click one or the other

That's 3 steps.

1. If from the "Get started with phpBB" link on the front page, or from the "Latest Version" submenu in the Downloads nav dropdown.
2. Click one of the aforementioned links
3. Choose between zip and bz2 and click one or the other

That's 2 steps, if I know how to bypass the step in the previous example.

However, what I suggest is having the one-click download link in a prominent location (I think mid-right would be best) that links directly to the zip or the ohloh mirror. And then right under it (or right next to it, depending on how it's laid out), a one-click link to download the latest update package. That would be it. That would, however, make things much faster and simpler for people trying to download the software and not having to click two or three times more than they should have to.

That being said, we should still keep the link in the navigation bar with all the pages and information and stuff readily available as well, so that users can find older versions or update from older versions, as well as language packs and such.

Doing some research, MyBB, SMF, and JForum all have a download button on their front page which leads to a second page on which they can actually download the software. vBulletin and IPB each have multi-step purchasing processes.

I think that moving to a single-click option for downloading would allow users to more quickly access the software for which they are looking, although still giving them a chance to browse to other areas of the site if they wish to read up more on it once they have downloaded it.

[Phil]

Similar to the above, I've always had issues moving from section to section easily on phpBB.com. It is not immediately obvious that hovering on the menu will drop-down (perhaps some visual indication here would be helpful?), leading to an initial confusion as to the necessary path to reach content.

The same issues that are found with the Downloads page (multiple clicks required to get to anything pertinent) can be found in nearly every other section of the website. It is nearly impossible to navigate the Styles and MODifications sections of the website as they are essentially very large, two-column, un-ordered lists; this is obviously not condusive to quick scanning, an integral part of usable navigation. The same can be said of the Support section as well--however, it has far fewer items within it, making the list a bit more managable.

I also find the homepage to be somewhat cumbersome to navigate--as this is the landing page of phpBB.com, it makes sense to focus attention here to begin with, no? Even on my relatively large monitor, announcements and pertinent news are nearly pushed "below the fold"--instead, emphasis is on three rather large paragraphs that do not tell me much; it is simply an advertising speel, and not something particularly pertinent to anyone who would actually like to know what phpBB is I do like the four small images on the home page, but again believe that the sections they point to need to be cleaned up--perhaps the sections should be edited to actually reflect what the images say? For instance, "what is phpBB?" leads to the About page, which includes a (needlessly?) detailed history of the project, but no actual information as to what the project really is.

I am also not a fan of the current width of the website (I've got ~300px on each side sitting empty which is mildly annoying), but given the header images are all static I do see that this will be quite a pain to rectify.

These are, of course, just my thoughts and suggestions; I'm sure the rest of you have excellent feedback as well. We'd love to hear it