Consolidated Forum Feedback Suggestions List - Page 3

Why do I feel like it's Groundhog Day around here.
All the same request and questions keep popping up every few weeks or so and the owners and Hud people keep asking the same "what would you like us to change" and "we're looking into that" posts and yet it all seems to still be the same  "new" HTF

Yes they were thanks.  The reason I am pushing is most of the recent updates have been about adding features, both in front of and behind the curtain.  I have it on good authority that the engineers are looking to take an upcoming release cycle and focus only on tweaks to both performance and consistency.  The more examples I can throw at them before they start the more likely they are to get addresses.

As to the home page, think of the changes to the thread displays (officially "the activity feed") as changes to one of several modules that just happens to be on the front page. 

Favorite Threads:
I'm constantly amazed at how many different ways there are to read the forum.  Favorites were not something I used on vB.  I just subscribed to my "favorite" threads.  How is a favorite thread different than a subscribed thread?  Is there a time that you would mark a thread a favorite and not subscribe (or vise versa)? 

Mike-
Just a few more questions.  Would it make sense to have the "make favorite" button/link somewhere in the thread?  If you are not subscribed to the thread would clicking on that link subscribe you and mark it as a favorite?  OR should there me a mark as favorite link on your subscribed threads in the activity feed?  In terms of viewing them would it make sense to add a "My Favorites" filter to the activity feed that would work just like the subscribed threads, or should there be some other way to view them?

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With the debut of the Apple iPad I can think of no greater ammunition for accelerating support for Mobile browsers, particularly Mobile Safari

 Adam, as an example of a news item, just put up, on one of the sites i said i go to...Armageddon and Tombstone are coming to Blu-ray in May. Is that news on this site? Where would i find that info? How easy is it to find, on this site? I do not even see anyone talking about it. But on the other sites they have 3 pages of posts about it, and the news was just posted today.

Thats what the HTF needs to be doing.

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Well that's not working I guess...

But to answer your question:  Individualized screen colors and settings, iPhone support and things that make HTF different from the other huddler sites rather than clones of each other.  It used to be that if you went to HTF you knew immediately you were there.  Today if I give you a random page of postings you don't know without seeing the top of the scrolled page if you are at HTF or epicski or another huddler site.

Rick,

Until an official press release is distributed to all the sites,
what you are reading is a "rumor" or "leak."

Mind you, the news is valid.  However, we don't post 
official information on our site based on leaks that may
come from retailers or Amazon.

Most likely, an official press release will be in our hands
this week from Disney.

This is the problem we are up against...

The site that posted that information is run by or in
high cooperation with one or more studios.  It was
set up during the format war as a means of spreading
propaganda for that particular format.   All the studios
behind the BD format fed that site.  Apparently, that is
still the case.

We aren't badmouthing the site, but it is very obvious
that based on the fact that they receive leaks and press
announcements HOURS before they are officially sent
out to everyone else should tell you something.  Have you
also noticed there is no advertising there?

So, before you come down on us for not promoting
discussion on these titles, you need to take into account
that nothing official has been sent to us, and quite frankly,
out of respect for the studios we closely work with, we don't
like to post "rumors" or "leaks" in an official capacity.

Tony-
You are obviously entitled to your opinion.  Most of the questions being asked by Ron and I are to get more info about existing or new requests that have been added to the thread.  There have been a lot of questions asked about uniformity.  That's because engineering is going to make a push on those things.  I would just as soon get as much specific info about a topic that is going to be looked in the near future as I can before any work starts.  Your comment in thread I quoted was a question for Sam.  I'm glad I asked for more info from him as based on his answer I misinterpreted his original request.  Things aren't always moving as quickly as we all would like, but the important thing is they are moving and we have made a lot of progress over the last few months.

Adam no doubt there have been improvements and the forum is getting much easier and likable to use.

I still feel like there is a redundancy to continually opening new topics and they all go back to the same requests on features and what people would like to see done on HTF.

I see, what you mean about leaked info. Of course that wouldnt be anything i would know. I just know that the info was easy to find, on that site.

Will it be as easy to find here?

Will the news area have it? Or would i find the info in the HD Software section? Or both? 

Its not so much the news that those movies are coming out, its that i found it in about 30 seconds on the site. Its cause i understand how that site is laid out. I have only been a member on that site, about a year? So, its not like i am a long term member. I just understand the flow of that site.

Its easy! This one isnt!

Thats all i am trying to get at. Its not about the news. Its not that you guys are waiting until its official. Its jut that site has a better flow. IMO of course. I am only trying to help. And to show you what works, and why it works...as far as a layout, not the news item itself.

Rick,

Really appreciate all the effort you have put into your
feedback and for assisting us with our questions and
making this site better.

All press releases will be posted in the High Defintion
Software Area.  Usually within an hour of the
announcement.  Many times it's minutes.  We usually
beat out the most popular news site for press release
announcements.

The biggest announcements automatically get updated
in the NEWS area.  The smaller announcements will
remain strictly in the Software areas (HD and SD).

There is also a news module on the very bottom of
the front page though I can understand why nobody
sees it.

Eventually the plan is to possibly move the news to
the front page.  However, that is something we need
to sell to our partners before we can accomplish that.

I really understand your frustration that you feel you
are getting important news elsewhere first.  Trust me,
I am in constant contact with the studios trying to verify
what has been announced and what has not, and most
of the time that site is putting up premature announcements.

Continue to let us know what you would like to see
here.  In the meantime, thanks so much for being a
member here and participating. 

Tony-
Got it.  Sorry it seems that way.  Usually its either Ron or I wanting more info to better understand it so we can do a better job explaining it, or there is a new conversation about that feature happening behind the scenes.

Rick-
Good points.  I'm still digesting/thinking about your previous posts.

List is getting smaller, my big ones are the same as always, but I see one has been mentioned here:

Breadcrumbs at the bottom!!  It is SO annoying to have to go all the way to the top just to go back to a refreshed forum youre already in, or use teh swingout/popout menu to do something that should be so simple.. one simple click goes to either swimming a menu or skirting up a page.

My other one is something only this new forum provides, and is a newer problem.  I check the reviews almost first thing when I see something new.  Some really tell me something.  Even a short review can get the point across.  But there has to be some sort of filter that prevents people who have never posted in any of the forums from posting a "glowing" review of some product I have never heard of (which makes me think spam) or a 1 sentence review which basically says "cool" also from a member with no posts.

 

This sounds kind of elitist, but there should be some threshhold about how many posts someone has to have before they can start throwing reviews into the database.

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What's good for the goose....  

I'm actually surprises (and never really thought to add) a long running 'Most recent rumors' thread to to forum.  The downside to something like that is all new rumors would point to external sites.  Are you saying that wouldnt be tolerated?

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Hope it helped.  I have the bad dual qualities of being opinionated and also hard to follow sometimes =)

Ditto that for me although I guess I've gotten passed the point of being very annoyed by it nowadays (even on my Blackberry Tour).  Even the quirky focus issue I started seeing again on IE6 -- that sometimes causes IE6 to jump back to the reply area upon mouse click thus compounding the above issue -- hasn't bothered me nearly as much as it used to.

I'm more or less resigned to never seeing that and various other simple tweaks/fixes finally get made (and for keeps).  I'll just be pleasantly surprised some day if they ever get done (before this other talked-about redesign kills some more useability again ).

This is the kind of thing I was sorta, partially refering to earlier although I tried not to be quite so cynical about it before.

Honestly, I just don't get why some of those REALLY OLD issues haven't been addressed already, especially since some like breadcrumbs and the old basic nav dropdown (the latter of which I don't personally use BTW) should apparently be pretty easy to do (or replicate/borrow/etc either from old code or existing code unless the software was/is poorly designed to begin with).  Dangling issues like those definitely do not inspire any optimism and hope about the value of our feedback, IMHO.

In the past, we kept getting told that there is this seemingly large (mythical) group of visitors who feel differently (or something along those lines) than the handful of us who offer feedback here.  I still have not seen the feedback from any of those visitors here, and I'm not entirely convinced we ever will.  Maybe they are just *THAT* different from us and would not post feedback here.  That's fine, if true.  BUT it doesn't make me feel any better to see feedback being regularly solicited here anyway despite knowing that it's still just a handful of us regulars who don't seem to belong to that (mythical) crowd and still haven't had most of the listed issues addressed yet.

And now, we hear more new layout/format changes are coming (or being planned) before the various issues are actually and concretely addressed...

FWIW, I used to be a good deal more optimistic about this whole endeavor (after the initial hardwork put forth by Huddler), but now, well, I'm not completely sure I care anymore, except I might need to readjust (and be frustrated) yet again to some more new layout/format changes and all the quirks and issues that will probably come w/ them...

_Man_

PS:  My apologies for going on rant mode a bit there.  Not really what I wanted to do, but felt like stuff needed to be said at this point.

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Hate to say it but the only reasonable explanation is hubris.

Huddler is adamant that they know more about how forums should look and feel than the people who use their software most.  Again, "If I had listened to my customers I would have built them a faster horse" (paraphrasing Henry Ford), but we have seen the 'vision' for the forum jump and it simply does not cut the mustard and it's hard to "kill your darlings".  I know, as a designer I've been there. 



Sam

Put me down for breadcrumbs at the bottom of posts, this should be an easy install. Having to scroll all the way back to the top is very poor navigation design.

I want to keep this brief as possible because I don't want 
it to turn into a lecture, but just starting to put my thoughts
together I don't know how long I will ramble on....

Two things you can count on here.  Either Adam, Parker or
I will address our membership when they voice complaints.  
We will also not lie to any of you.  If I am personally unhappy
about something I would rather keep my mouth shut than
come out and try to put on a happy face.  That was the reason
why I personally did not communicate much with all of you
during the initial Huddler conversion.

....but we have been down this road already and I posted
some very personal thoughts in other threads.  

We realize certain requests of yours have not materialized
as quickly as you had hoped.  However, in the same light,
look at where this platform was 6 months ago and where
it is today.  To say that there has not been any major
progression within the platform would be an erroneous conclusion.

Last time I addressed all of you I spoke about the fact
that I felt we were used as guinea pigs in developing and
testing a platform that was very bare.  Unfortunately, most
of the past 6 months has been spent building the platform.
I don't think anyone here can say that we haven't come a
long way since.  In fact, we have finally gotten to the point 
where most of your major functional concerns have been
implemented and where we can begin concentrating on  
smaller enhancements.

I came here to tell you that all the owners just got off a
conference call with Huddler moments ago.  One of the
main topics was discussing this very thread.  Huddler
has been reading everything you guys have been posting
here with much interest.

The reasons why there are still delays getting these 
smaller navigational issues in place is because Huddler
continues to bring more forums into their community and
needs to make certain that the most important issues are
being prioritized.

We have been taking notes of everything you have
requested of us.  You need to be aware that some of
them are going to fall further down the roadmap than
other items we feel are more important.  Everything 
has been noted, and as I noted, we are nearly at the 
where we can start concentrating on enhancing the
platform rather than simply building its core structure.

Whether you believe this or not -- and I did tell you 
that would not lie to any of you -- Huddler is going to
become a huge competitor to vBulletin one day.  The
goal is to implement all of the core features that 
platform is known for.  However, the goal is not to
completely replicate that software pixel by pixel. 

Want to know what we see?   More forums contacting
us privately asking what we think of Huddler and
how they can inquire about joining the platform.  

Know what we also see?  More people finding us
on search engines.  Our hardware areas are more
active then they have been due to the fact that our
visibility has been greatly optimized because of this
platform.

Our revenue is up.  This isn't just about software.
We have a team of people working with us to gain
new advertisers, put together press kits and actively
promote Home Theater Forum in ways that Parker 
and I were never able to do before.  Heck, we even
have a Newsletter for the first time ever and studios
are now starting to participate thanks to the fact that
we built them their own dedicated page.  That means
more than ever, what you post here gets read by them.
You must admit new doors of opportunity have been
opened up for us for which we are seeing immense benefits.

vBulletin couldn't do any of that for us.

Parker and I started HTF as a mere hobby 12 
years ago.  This is the first time that we are running
it like a company with a full team working to ensure
its success.  

Talking on the phone today about future enhancements
to this platform, we are very excited.  Next week you
will see a major upgrade that will add image galleries
which will be further enhanced in the update to follow.
Site speed should also be noticeably improved thanks
to tweaks that have been made. We are talking about
ways to better promote DVD and Blu-ray release news
to all of you on the front page.  In fact, we expect that
the front page will be greatly enhanced in the months ahead.

Parker, Adam and I greatly appreciate the frank discussion
in this area.  Don't stop letting us know what problems 
you see.  What I will ask, however, is that because you
are limited to what you see on the user end, to trust that
we are seeing the long-term goals on the company end 
and that within a relatively short period of time, you are
going to see some impressive improvements here.  

As I stated earlier, don't rule out this platform and the
intent and commitment behind it.  You are going to 
see the Huddler community continue to grow.  The
idea behind it isn't just about a software platform.

And really, when you come right down to it, most of
you are here because of the HTF community.  No 
other forum out there has been able to replicate the
experience of being a member here.  We keep the
signal-to-noise ratio very low, and we make a point
of talking to all of you directly whenever possible.

Okay, so I rambled a bit too long.  However, I felt
that all of you needed to see things from our side
and understand why some of your needs are not 
being met as quickly as they should.





 

Cool, thanks for the update Ron.  We grumble cause we care!  Nobody disputes that there have been major improvements.  A few tweaks (plus true iPhone compatibility) and I'll be mostly happy.  I'm not a believer in the integrated platform business model but if its working for you guys that's all that matters. 

But I think you mean you keep the signal to noise ratio HIGH here.  =)

I understand about the vision thing, about planning, etc.

That's not my beef.

A main part of my beef is that we're *still* being asked for feedback despite long standing issues that are not being concretely addressed -- even now, we don't actually know w/ any certainty that a few top issues will be addressed w/in a month or whenever the next release will be.  It's almost like we're being asked to talk to a wall or something.

Honestly, some of these issues should *NEVER* have even needed much prodding from us.  At least some of the nav issues should've been done long ago because they make perfect sense, in my not so humble opinion.  And what about the essentially broken search function?  Has Huddler given up on that completely at this point (after what seems to be some very slight improvements)?

And the talk about new layout/format changes does not sound to me like priorities are in the right order when certain hot issues are not being addressed concretely yet -- and when I say "concretely", I don't necessarily mean they're already fixed and deployed, but that the issues are planned to be fixed and released on some fairly reliable/concrete target date range that is communicated to us (rather than "it's coming soon", but can easily be delayed for another 6 months or more for all we know).

OR if something will most likely not get done for whatever reasons, let us know.  Don't keep us in the dark w/ false hope, especially if you're gonna regularly ask us for feedback.  For instance, you guys are planning some sort of new layout/format changes.  If that most likely means immediate fixes to something like the search function will just be broken again by such changes -- and those changes are coming very soon -- then let us know that's why the search function won't get fixed anymore at this point, but will be a priority fix as part of or very soon after the next big layout/format changes (or something along those lines).

Perhaps, the problem here is poor management of user expectations on top of certain key issues not getting addressed promptly.

_Man_
 

Edited by ManW_TheUncool - 2/1/10 at 3:01pm

On another (more positive) note, I had originally intended to mention that I like something simple and straightforward for a news section -- but got sidetracked after going on my little bit of a rant a couple times now.

Something like what's seen on the High-Def Digest site works well for me.

No need for lots of clunky stuff, especially if the interface can be loads more friendly toward mobile devices w/out that (unless you plan to offer a decent WAP skin w/in a reasonable time frame).  Actually, for news items, couldn't Huddler just offer a decent RSS feed for us to use on mobiles?

And yes, make sure the search(!) function actually works for news items and such.

_Man_
Edited by ManW_TheUncool - 2/1/10 at 3:10pm

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You can distill it down to the fact that old HTF was a World class board and new HTF, even with the tweaks so far, clearly isn't.  Business is apparently good tho so that's putting the car moving in the right direction.  I trust Ron when he says things are going to be fixed but I also agree with Man-Fai in the repeated request for feedback are....  Odd.  Ron asked me politely to tone down my criticisms and I think I have done that to a fair degree.  That doesn't imply in any way that I'm happy as a user here, just that I hope that my silence is helpful.  I've still chimed in when I have something new to say, but I've taken it at face value that our existing complaints are heard and either going to be implemented or not met by the Huddler vision.  And that's what I meant by the hubris comment.

Maybe what's being asked for is feedback from someone OTHER than those of us who are longstanding on record as not being happy.  If that's the case it's not being addressed properly. 

Sam

 One point Sam. Some people do not ever venture out of the area they like, so they might not even see the feedback area. Be it TV Software, Movies, or After Hours, thats all they do. They read what they want, then leave. Myself, i usually hit the "All New Posts", so i hit the high points. But i wonder what i miss, cause i do not know how to navigate the forum. Ron talks about the Hardware Forums picking up. Well, people may be coming here to ask questions, but i do not see much discussion in most cases. Some threads die without an answer.
 I love Mikes example of a movie review. I guy gives a movie 3 stars, then says "it sucks". Wow, i could of written that! But i choose not to waste my time writing anything. Cause my review wouldnt be much better.
I am a bit on the fringe, with the feedback. Cause once again, this isnt my area. But i know what i like, and do not like. So, i tell you. Glad you guys read, and respond. I hope you dont send the internet police after Mike, Sam, or myself!