# What's on your mind?



## Morrus (Sep 30, 2014)

I've just added a quicker way to post stuff. If you're logged in, you'll see a box at the top of every forum page.  You can use that to quickly post in one of a selection of larger forums here at EN World.  If you're in a forum already, the forum selection will default to that forum; otherwise you'll need to choose one.


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## Morrus (Oct 1, 2014)

Anyone used this yet?  I'm curious to hear if it's working as expected!


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## Umbran (Oct 1, 2014)

Just tried it.  Worked about as I expected.


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## Morrus (Oct 1, 2014)

Umbran said:


> Just tried it.  Worked about as I expected.




That could be good or it cold be ominous!  How did you expect it to work?


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## diaglo (Oct 1, 2014)

i was going to reply to Umbran using the box. but it only let me start a whole new thread. i didn't think my reply was worthy of a whole thread. could mean a lot of extra work connecting conversations.


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## Umbran (Oct 2, 2014)

Morrus said:


> Anyone used this yet?  I'm curious to hear if it's working as expected!






Umbran said:


> Just tried it.  Worked about as I expected.






Morrus said:


> That could be good or it cold be ominous!  How did you expect it to work?




Sorry.  I sometimes like being a wiseacre by being literal 

I expected it to make a new thread, as you described.

There is one small way in which it didn't act as expected.  Usually, when you create or post, you are deposited at the end of the thread you just posted in.  This left me here in *this* thread.

As a bit of user experience thought:

I think when a user sees this at the top of a forum, most folks will expect a new thread will be created.  However, when it is it at the top of a discussion thread, I think there will be some who will think it is a quick reply *to the thread*, which it isn't.

If you can, you might want to consider limiting it to forum list pages, not to discussion thread pages, for that reason.  Or, make it quick reply to the thread.


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## Morrus (Oct 2, 2014)

Thanks! 

I think what I'm driving - uneloquently at - is not so much whether it mechanically works (though that is important information to have) as to how the process feels.

The idea is that starting a new thread is really quick and easy. Is it inviting? Is the process quick? Do you feel starting a thread is an easier process than it used to be?

The model is Facebook/G+ and those other giga-social-networks (we're a nano-social-network). They've streamlined the posting process to a triviality, whereas a forum like this traditionally requires signing up, navigating to a forum, clicking the  new thread button, filling out a title and a message and likely a prefix, then clicking submit.

In comparison, on G+ or FB, you tap in your message and press 'post' and you're done.

It'll never be as quick as those sites, but it can be a lot quicker than it had been. My hope is that starting new topics is much easier and more accessible now.


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## Umbran (Oct 3, 2014)

Morrus said:


> The model is Facebook/G+ and those other giga-social-networks (we're a nano-social-network). They've streamlined the posting process to a triviality, whereas a forum like this traditionally requires signing up, navigating to a forum, clicking the  new thread button, filling out a title and a message and likely a prefix, then clicking submit.
> 
> In comparison, on G+ or FB, you tap in your message and press 'post' and you're done.




Well, I note that you have to signup for Facebook or G+ too.  So you've added a step on the forum side that you're not representing on the other.



> It'll never be as quick as those sites, but it can be a lot quicker than it had been. My hope is that starting new topics is much easier and more accessible now.




I don't expect is was a major barrier to begin with.  These are discussion forums - built to support, well, discussion.  Social networks are not built for such - they're more about quick statements, not protracted discussions. 

Basically, on social media, the archtypal post i s a sentence or two, takes a minute or less to write.  Any time taken on top of that seems big.

Here, if you are taking 10 minutes to write a chunk of prose, the few seconds for the form are not going to seem like a big deal.


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## Morrus (Oct 3, 2014)

Umbran said:


> Well, I note that you have to signup for Facebook or G+ too.  So you've added a step on the forum side that you're not representing on the other.




True. 



> I don't expect is was a major barrier to begin with.  These are discussion forums - built to support, well, discussion.  Social networks are not built for such - they're more about quick statements, not protracted discussions.
> 
> Basically, on social media, the archtypal post i s a sentence or two, takes a minute or less to write.  Any time taken on top of that seems big.
> 
> Here, if you are taking 10 minutes to write a chunk of prose, the few seconds for the form are not going to seem like a big deal.




Maybe you're right and it won't make a difference.  I wasn't really asking for predictions, though (we have actual data we can measure it with; no need to guess at that). Though there are plenty of very detailed discussions on social media.

I was more just asking how it felt from the user side.  Does it feel quicker, easier, more inviting at all?


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## Umbran (Oct 3, 2014)

Morrus said:


> I wasn't really asking for predictions, though (we have actual data we can measure it with; no need to guess at that).




Oh, you have instrumentatio to tell which way a thread was created?  Excellent!



> Though there are plenty of very detailed discussions on social media.




I'm sure.  



> I was more just asking how it felt from the user side.  Does it feel quicker, easier, more inviting at all?




The vast majority of my posts are replies or additions to existing threads, rather than new threads.  I skim down past it when I come to a thread page, and forget it is there when I'm not looking at this thread in Meta.


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## DM Howard (Oct 6, 2014)

I could see this being useful, if for instance I'm running or playing a game and all the sudden there is a very juicy topic that I can make a thread about; usually my posting is much more organic and is triggered by discussions in other threads, but I certainly see the idea behind this.  You never know it might turn into a runaway hit.


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## diaglo (Oct 17, 2014)

my little runaway.
run
run
run
runaway


clearly some n00b is using this to ask a question and with every answer he is also replying using it. i find it works with people who know how the site works. but as a feature for people who are new to the site. it could be a different kind of runaway. del shannon swallowed a shotgun


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## Umbran (Oct 17, 2014)

I used it to start a thread today - unlike the normal editors, it parsed an explicit link "http://...." as plain text, and took out extra new lines I'd put in to set said link on a line on its own.


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## Morrus (Oct 17, 2014)

Umbran said:


> I used it to start a thread today - unlike the normal editors, it parsed an explicit link "http://...." as plain text, and took out extra new lines I'd put in to set said link on a line on its own.




Yeah, its parsing ability right now is very basic.  It'll handle line breaks and images with the next update.  BB code works, though, if you type in the tags.


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## Iosue (Oct 18, 2014)

I would like to "thank" this new feature for putting that Information Society song in my head.


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