XF 2.1 Has anyone made Xenforo look like a social site yet?

drastic

drastic

Well-known member
I'd like to have a setup that mimics the look/feel of Twitter/Facebook, so newcomers are familiar with the site and can figure it out.

I think it's possible if you skin/style the threads and give it a general timeline/newsfeed homepage, rather than a listing of forums/threads.

We already have the ability to do a quick post and tons of features for posting - it's just that the forum "look" is so outdated, that so many of the newer users are not figuring it out, or don't have the attention span to do so.

Xenforo software in general is just so damn good that I don't want to try any of the actual social scripts that already exist, and those I did try, like PhpFox, are just absolutely worthless.

It's a big task, but if anyone wants to chat about doing a custom style like this, I'd be listening for sure!
 
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beerForo said:
First, your site is very slow and I experience 6 second page loads.

Second, since you are looking for comments, I find that setup frustrating and unintuitive as well as exhausting.
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DigNap15 said:
Why not bung a huge new threads widget at the top of the forum list?
We need to try different things
A few of my members have complained, many more have said they like it, and many more have given it a "like".
Most of my members have just got on with using the forum
Time will telll if I get more activity or not....

I do intend to add a menu option or button to take members straight to the Forum category list, but I am not that familiar wth how to do it.
I need to proceed slowly so that I do not break the whole forum.

But I cannnot find any doumentation on how the whole Menu system works.
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Kudos for experimenting.

The reason I posted it was exhausting was the slowness combined with trying to figure out where things are. You didn't really turn anything into a social way of discovery you just moved things around and increased numbers. "New Threads" is great, but they don't return to the top of the list with a reply so all of your mega threads and popular threads from weeks, months, or years ago are now buried. And your What's New is Comments now. It's all very confusing, add to that, the actual forum list is 40 posts below the threads. You'd be better possibly using What's New as your home page and increasing the number of threads (this can be done in Widgets) or something similar as posted above.
 
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DigNap15 said:
I may have emphased my desire to make my forum look more like a Social Media site.
What I am more concenred with is making it look more Active.

I had a quick look at that video, but, could you point me to any forums using that?
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https://gaming.audent.io/community/aud-feeds/ (I do not know any other sites, as I am waiting for a response on if I can license just the add-on without anything else).

Your goal shouldn't be to make your forum seem more active, but to encourage activity. Your change is going to discourage activity because it affects the usability of your site without doing anything to encourage new activity.

The issue isn't that you have a new member widget, but the fact that it takes up half of the screen. On Desktop it is annoying, on mobile it is disgustingly bad.

You could keep the new post widget, but not have it show as many posts and it would give you the same effect (TAZ does that).

As far as member feedback... Negative feedback comes in two ways for websites: vocal antagonism and those that just silently leave. Your change is more likely to lead to the second as it affects people wanting to use your site in the first place.
 
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beerForo said:
Kudos for experimenting.

The reason I posted it was exhausting was the slowness combined with trying to figure out where things are. You didn't really turn anything into a social way of discovery you just moved things around and increased numbers. "New Threads" is great, but they don't return to the top of the list with a reply so all of your mega threads and popular threads from weeks, months, or years ago are now buried. And your What's New is Comments now. It's all very confusing, add to that, the actual forum list is 40 posts below the threads. You'd be better possibly using What's New as your home page and increasing the number of threads (this can be done in Widgets) or something similar as posted above by @Forsaken @Mr Lucky or @Tracy Perry.
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Yes I am also trying to get away from the old fashioned terms Threads and Posts.
I am trying to standardise on the terms Topics and Comments

As regards the speed, none of my members have reported such slowness, of course it would be a major concern to me if it was.
But most of my members and target members are in my own country.
I will try to look into it a bit more when I get time.

As regards the fourm list being buried that was the main objective of my project.
I wanted to put the Latest Topics (threads) first.
Membesr can long swipe on mobile or PgDn a few times on desktop and the Forum Catgeroies are all there.

Ss I have said, I am going to try to add a menu option to take Members straight to the Categories if they wish.

The feedback from my members has so far overall been positive, with some members saying they have seen new topics they would not have seen before, as they were in a category way down the list.
 
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Forsaken said:
https://gaming.audent.io/community/aud-feeds/ (I do not know any other sites, as I am waiting for a response on if I can license just the add-on without anything else).

Your goal shouldn't be to make your forum seem more active, but to encourage activity. Your change is going to discourage activity because it affects the usability of your site without doing anything to encourage new activity.

The issue isn't that you have a new member widget, but the fact that it takes up half of the screen. On Desktop it is annoying, on mobile it is disgustingly bad.

You could keep the new post widget, but not have it show as many posts and it would give you the same effect (TAZ does that).

As far as member feedback... Negative feedback comes in two ways for websites: vocal antagonism and those that just silently leave. Your change is more likely to lead to the second as it affects people wanting to use your site in the first place.
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That is all your opinion of course.
Seeing more activity and topical topics "should" encourage activity.
Boring old category titles does not encouarge activity imho.

I am very pleased with my New Member Widget
Somnetimes it shows 150 members as being online in the last hour.
Many of my members comment on the numbers!
I can't see why you think its annoying, on Desktop its to the right (and out of the way), on mobile, it is way down at the bottom of the screen, and probably not seen by many

Why would I want to reduce the number of new threads in the New Thread widget? I set it to 40, as I get about between 30 and 40 new Threads started a day. Taz is no wonderful example, their membership and acivity has been reducing for the last few years.

As regards membeship feedback, yes I will not know for a few months.
But as I just commented in another thread, many of my members say they like it, a few don't like it, and most have just been getting on and ussing the forum (hopefully)
 
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beerForo said:
Semantics has NOTHING to do with a social format. Feel free to call sh*t whatever your want! You can call a post a noodle.
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Why the anti feedback from a few members?
I am just trying to make my forum a little more modern.
Ask any young person what a forum is, or a thread and they have no idea. The same with a post.
So to my mind semantics do matter and Topics and Comments are much more understandable to newbies.

As an older guy I was on forums when they first started.
 
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I altered my language also. "Messages" are Posts. "Conversations" are DMs. A few more. It has nothing to do with a social format. I agree XF has some dated terms, like Board, and Messages. But this thread is not about charging terms, if it was, it would be an easy solve.
 
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DigNap15 said:
So to my mind semantics do matter and Topics and Comments are much more understandable to newbies.
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Agreed. They bug us old school guys, but it's how a lot of sites swing now. The fan site I am on for a favorite singer works that way. "Posts" are topic starters and then people post "Comments" under them.

I am not fond of it myself but most of the users came from social media and seem quite fine with it, leaving me as the grumpy old ape who want posts organized into threads.🦍
 
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Tracy Perry said:
GTMetrix check originating from a Canada location.


I'm talking about the page that you arrive at when you go to your main domain.
You then have a link to your forum from there... which you open in another tab... to me, better it open in the same tab. Why exactly would a user want to have an additional tab open on their browser for your home page in addition to the forum... I'm assuming you link back to your home (landing) page from the forum nav bar.

As for "new posts"... think XF 2.2.10 has the ability to already have your landing page set as new posts instead of a forum listing. I haven't played with it as it wouldn't fit in for my site goals.

View attachment 272624


No, folks are simply telling you that your interpretation of it is not overall user friendly.
There are other and better ways to implement it.
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I just re-read your comment
'
The XF option Fourms v New Posts is not what I wanted.
I have 1500 new posts a day!
I wanted New Threads
 
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