[RFC] List most recent posts on profile page

[callumacrae]

I don't understand what's wrong with scrolling. Small flick of finger > moving mouse and clicking, right?

[ecwpa]

It's not, because it then remains on a separate page, just like it currently is, so we might as well not do it then. The whole point of this RFC was to suggest the addition of recent posts on the profile page.

But the tab could load with ajax. Actually, the current profile page could be a bit more intuitive and dinamic, since jQuery is being discussed and probably acepted, it's an option, isn't it?

[imkingdavid]

EDIT: Nevermind, as I didn't realize that DavidIQ created the other topic. The contents of this post have been reposted in this topic..
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Back on topic....

It's not, because it then remains on a separate page, just like it currently is, so we might as well not do it then. The whole point of this RFC was to suggest the addition of recent posts on the profile page.

But the tab could load with ajax. Actually, the current profile page could be a bit more intuitive and dinamic, since jQuery is being discussed and probably acepted, it's an option, isn't it?

Yes, jQuery seems to be on its way toward being accepted if not already accepted. What ideas do you have for optimizing the GUI of the profile?

Loading the tab's content dynamically and replacing the previous content could be an option as long as it doesn't break the back button. AJAX/jQuery is great, but people are still accustomed to being able to click Back (or backspace) to go to the previous page instead of having to find the link to return on the page itself.

[callumacrae]

Just out of interest, is anyone here a UI / UX designer? I happen to know one if you want his opinion (he's an SMF fanboi iirc, but he'll still help)

[ecwpa]

I've mentioned this before but I really like this interface. I don't know what CMS is that, but they said once that they took it and then customize it a lot.

Just out of interest, is anyone here a UI / UX designer? I happen to know one if you want his opinion (he's an SMF fanboi iirc, but he'll still help)

Yes, please.

[Danielx64]

It's not, because it then remains on a separate page, just like it currently is, so we might as well not do it then. The whole point of this RFC was to suggest the addition of recent posts on the profile page.

If you do it in tabs, then yes it is on the same page. You don't need to reload the page to get to it. Also why don't you have the option of letting the user or admin decide what tab he/she want to see first?

And what about that tab mod that I linked to before?

[imkingdavid]

It's not, because it then remains on a separate page, just like it currently is, so we might as well not do it then. The whole point of this RFC was to suggest the addition of recent posts on the profile page.

If you do it in tabs, then yes it is on the same page. You don't need to reload the page to get to it. Also why don't you have the option of letting the user or admin decide what tab he/she want to see first?

Depends on two things: 1) how you define "page" and 2) how the tab content is loaded. I'm assuming "page" = "page load". Tab content can either be loaded completely at the initial page load and then switched between when you click the tab, or it can be dynamically loaded when you click the tab. Or the tab could simply be a link to a separate page.

And what about that tab mod that I linked to before?

This was naderman's response:

Well that really defeats the point, there's really no need to introduce additional clicks to get to that info. Just scrolling / ctrl+f to find info is plenty.

[Danielx64]

It's not, because it then remains on a separate page, just like it currently is, so we might as well not do it then. The whole point of this RFC was to suggest the addition of recent posts on the profile page.

If you do it in tabs, then yes it is on the same page. You don't need to reload the page to get to it. Also why don't you have the option of letting the user or admin decide what tab he/she want to see first?

Depends on two things: 1) how you define "page" and 2) how the tab content is loaded. I'm assuming "page" = "page load". Tab content can either be loaded completely at the initial page load and then switched between when you click the tab, or it can be dynamically loaded when you click the tab. Or the tab could simply be a link to a separate page.

And what about that tab mod that I linked to before?

This was naderman's response:

Well that really defeats the point, there's really no need to introduce additional clicks to get to that info. Just scrolling / ctrl+f to find info is plenty.

This is how I look at it:
Page = page load
Tabs = Content loaded on initial page load and switched between when you click the tab.

You all say that it pointless? Why don't you have a look at

tabs.png

(156.85 KiB) Downloaded 1255 times

or http://x10hosting.com/forums/members/corey.html

When I get some time later, I'm going to create a before and after and I want you to tell me what look meat and tidy.

I'm sorry, I don't see what pointless with having things in tabs. And like I said before, what if phpbb decide to add a list of recent topics started? What if you want to show a list of friends?

[imkingdavid]

Personally, this whole feature is inconsequential for me in the long run because I very rarely actually view users' profiles. I am more interested in the posts themselves. As such, even when I do view a user's profile, I usually have a very specific item I am looking for, rather than just browsing. I'm not sure how many people are similar to me in this regard, but as it relates to me, loading ALL content initially is a waste of resources. If we were to implement tabs, I would recommend loading it as needed (i.e. when you click a tab, load the new information), or at least loading it in the background after the page is initially loaded if you need it to work more quickly.

But as has been pointed out the discussion "endless pages"/autoloading posts, people tend to find it easier to scroll (when they're using a scroll wheel instead of click/drag the sidebar) than to move the mouse to find the right link and click on it. This isn't to restart discussion of autoloading in this topic, but rather to say that if we can fit the data on one page in an aesthetically pleasing way instead of splitting it into tabs that would be ideal.

I'm sorry, I don't see what pointless with having things in tabs. And like I said before, what if phpbb decide to add a list of recent topics started? What if you want to show a list of friends?

They're obviously not pointless, or there wouldn't be this discussion. They are, however, only one way of organizing data on a page. We are trying to look into all options before deciding on one thing. I appreciate your opinion about tabs being the best way to do this, but we are trying to discuss pros and cons of each method before deciding on one. Besides, 3.2 has a ways to go, so we have time to decide.

[Oleg]

The idea here as I understand it was to show user's posts on their profile page, because:

1. Many people have sufficiently big screen resolutions that profile page has empty space, and
2. Many people go to the profile page to see a user's posts.

It's not about adding just any piece of information, it's about adding information that people want to see.

The reasons to not add a user's post listing to their profile page would be:

1. We link users' post counts in viewtopic and memberlist to the search. Therefore in order to see what someone posted you would click those links directly and not go to the user's profile.
2. We might have other information about the user in their profile, such as topics they started. How do we decide between showing a user's posts and their started topics in their profile? What if the posts are already directly accessible from viewtopic/memberlist as described in the previous paragraph?

For the tabbed profile (http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/tabbed_profiles/), it seems to me that the entire profile already fits onto one page, therefore splitting it into tabs creates work for users for no benefit.

Regarding bringing post search into profile under tabs - why? Instead of giving the whole page to the search UI you will have half of the page taken up by profile chrome (which now you don't care about) and search results will be only given the remaining half.