TMD 2010: NEW LAYOUT

[LotusHead]

As a user who frequently searches for new tournament results (to post them to morphling.de), I have to say that this change made it much harder to find tournament results, which in my opinion are interesting for the whole community, regardless of region.
Maybe it would make sense to either create additional sub-forums "Results" to each region, or to have a results-forum separated from the regions where every tournament result can be posted.
I like the reorganization of the deck discussion area though  

I also agree that results should be in ONE forum. I didn't think it was cluttered at all, and it was the single greatest resource of magic I can think of.
Rest of it seems fine, good job guys.

I too want to lick on "Tourney Reports/Results/Lists forum and get access to all tourney reports, without having to click on Other, or Midwest. (No slam on them, I just wanna see reports! Lists! Pics!)
All in one forum for results would be best.
Separating the Tourney Announcements into regions is ok by me.
Agee 100% - love the new Vintage Issues forum, the new layout for deck dicussion by archetype, etc.... but the tournament forum results should be in one forum.

I really do enjoy all the areas of TMD sectioned off, but I really would appreciate all the Tourney Reports/Lists/PICS/etc to be in one place.  The Go-To place for results.  I don't need to know what's being held in NY, I just need to know how it went down!

[Delha]

As a side note, I like the tight control being put on the Vintage Issues forum. Locking down threads that have run their course makes sense to me for that particular forum.

[Nazdakka]

I like the idea, but I feel that the new layout involves a few too many clicks. There are only so many active threads at a time, and when they are spread over a lot of different boards it means a lot more page loads to keep track of everything when we used to be able to see almost everything on one page. It's better for focussed discussion, but worse for people who are just browsing.

Also, the old Legacy forums seem to have gone AWOL from the archives.

[jtwilkins]

With the new layout can the Mods please strictly enforce that post titles in any events section have City, State & Date in them. Please please please.

[urweak]

I like everything so far. However, I think we are still missing some type of auto card function where you can like a card by name to the gather on mtg site, or to magiccards.info or even SCGs store. To often people suggest decks or cards for new decks. But without easy access to the card text the discussion is significantly effected. We need something like this is we ever hope to have viable discussions of budget builds/ EDH treads/ or even just casual threads.

[Godder]

We used to have an autocard function - it used tags e.g. [card]Black Lotus[/card]. I forget why it was disabled, but there was a good reason at the time.

[beder]

I totally agree with what has been said by many posters : for people like me that use themanadrain to have a look at news from threads about decks discussed or tournament results, on a general point of view, the new subdivisions is very difficult to use. I have many difficulties accessing the updates - new articles, answers, new tournament reports, ... It requires so many clicks - to check all subdivisions - that I don't do it. That's a shame...

Proposition : Wouldn't it be possible, on a technical point of view, to have in each big division, a first subdivision "Recently updated" that gather existing threads from all the other subdivisions of the division, according to criteria "last updated" (the same criteria that the one that used to be use).

Illustration :
In the Vintage Deck Discussion, that used to have subdivision "Open" and "Underconstruction (can't remembre the real name)", we have now : "Blue Based Control", "Workshop", "Ritual", ...  That's very interesting for new people, who want to find information about specific vintage decks, but this is not adapted to existing people who want to read about today's hottest decks, independantly of the "Pillar".

Perhaps adding a subdivision "News" or "Recently updated", as a first subdivision on the same level as "Blue Based Control", "Workshop", "Ritual", ... could solve this issue. This subdisivion would only gather the threads that have been recently answered in the "Vintage deck discussion" division.
The "Vintage Deck Discussion" Division would look like this "Recently Updated", "Blue Based Control", "Workshop", "Ritual", ... So that I can go and check directly that thread to get my news from all the decks.
As a result, a same thread would be referenced in two different ways for two different uses (or users) : "Through the updated date criteria" and "Through the pillar criteria".

And in order to maintain the relevancy of the information subdivisions, the "Recently updated" subidivision wouldn't allow thread creation. You keep on creating thread in the "Pillar subdivision thread" but all new things (new answers, new threads, ...) are also gathered in the "Recently updated".

The same could be done for tournaments, in order to quickly access to tournament results, independantly of the region.

PS : and sorry for my english, I hope this is understandable. If not, just let me know

[Godder]

The software already has an "unread posts" function (http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?action=unread - the link is at the top of the page on the right hand side, next to the logout button). If people want to keep it all on one page and not have to click through all the different links, that's one way to do it. I personally use Firefox, so I just ctrl-click each board with new posts straight off the front page to have them each open up in a tab, but that may not be for everyone.

[waywreth]

Another vote here for separating the Tournament Announcements from results.  It's nice to be able to see what events are coming up as opposed to reports on events that have already occurred.  That said, I like the Deck Discussion forum breakdown.

[Grand Inquisitor]

Figure out how to make the forums you have really count, don’t just add more forums.

2nd'd.  Is there any decent tagging capability with this forum?  If threads could be tagged 'workshop' (for development) or 'west coast' (for tournaments) and then a click on the tag would bring you to all of the similarly tagged threads, that would be pretty cool.

[Nazdakka]

Also, wouldn't it make sense to merge the Newbie and Introductions forums, seeing as they are essentially the same thing?

[Lou]

This new layout can lick my hairy beanbags. Fuck this garbage.

Specifically, so I'm not a troll... I like to read tourney reports. I have to check all the fucking different regions to see what the shit is going on? What the shit?

That was enough to piss me off and write this. I looked at the other shit and it was definitely balls as well.

There's a Preview function on TMD so users can wash their posts clean of Tourette's before submitting them.  I suggest you use it in the future.  -DA

[LotusHead]

This new layout can lick my hairy beanbags. Fuck this garbage.

Specifically, so I'm not a troll... I like to read tourney reports. I have to check all the fucking different regions to see what the shit is going on? What the shit?

That was enough to piss me off and write this. I looked at the other shit and it was definitely balls as well.

I like everything else, but agree, tourney reports are my #1 reason to be at TMD, and I would like it if new posts were made in tourney report threads so I can find them.

[Mantis]

I dont like the changes at all, I mostly visit from my smartphone so going through all the clicks just makes for a painful process. In all honesty I only open the threads that have the last reply in them.

[nineisnoone]

I have to agree.  Though I don't necessarily have any problem with the changes (and commend the efforts to keep improving the site) the changes are better in theory than in practice.

Another issue that I haven't really seen mentioned here is that threads will often get sidetracked due to discussion match-ups and talk about other deck archetypes.  It's not uncommon to see a page go off-topic and discuss something entirely different than the OP's intent.

Figure out how to make the forums you have really count, don’t just add more forums.

2nd'd.  Is there any decent tagging capability with this forum?  If threads could be tagged 'workshop' (for development) or 'west coast' (for tournaments) and then a click on the tag would bring you to all of the similarly tagged threads, that would be pretty cool.

Not a bad idea.  Maybe go back to just having a mega forum, and have a thread filtering option at the top?

[Delha]

Another issue that I haven't really seen mentioned here is that threads will often get sidetracked due to discussion match-ups and talk about other deck archetypes.  It's not uncommon to see a page go off-topic and discuss something entirely different than the OP's intent.

That's not really a layout issue though. The solution there is either mods splitting off separate threads, or self governing (ie. one of the derailing parties starts up a new thread once the sidetrack starts getting serious).

[Iron_Chef]

I would like to see Tournament Reports in one centralized location, since new technology and innovation can be used anywhere.  I think that having Announcements segregated by region is fine, but everyone seems to be asking for Reports to be in one section and with good reasons.

My questions to the Moderators/Administrators who implemented these changes: seeing that ~100% of the people who posted requesting to merge all Tournament Reports into one sub-forum, when does this happen?  Can we SEE this change quickly, and not get mired down in needless bureaucracy and debate?

Thanks,

-Nick

[Demonic Attorney]

Reminder:  This site is run by people with day jobs and lives of their own.  When we find the time, we will get to this.

[Iron_Chef]

I didn't mean to imply that the people who run this site don't have jobs or lives.  I know I'm busier now then ever; I'm glad to know a change is in the works.

Thanks Chris,

-Nick

[ashiXIII]

Sorting the deck discussion into sub-forums by archetype is a god-awful idea. Some decks are difficult to categorize, some don't fit any of the descriptions, and some that fit the descriptions belong in a totally different forum. Also, it makes finding a certain deck more difficult because I have to click 3 different forums to see which one it's. On top of all that, some of the sub-forums have like 4 threads and it seems kind of awkward to have an entire forum with so few threads.

[BruiZar]

Can we have one board where only the threads with the latest posts go into? Lets say a limit of 25 threads. This way, I don't have to skim through so many boards. It's sucking up my time like crazy.

[Marske]

BruiZar:

Use the "Unread Posts" button on the top works like a charm...

[SiegeX]

I'm in agreement with Nataz's post on the first page.  We basically have the classic case of breadth first search vs depth first; the former being what TMD used to be and the latter being what it is now. However, there is a way to have your cake and eat it too.  

Right now if you were to click on one of the tier-1 links in the 'Eternal Magic' section (Eternal Articles, Vintage Deck Discussion, Vintage Strategy Discussion and Vintage Tournament Forums), the only information you are presented with are additional links to the child boards.  There is no value in this because this same information is presented under the tier-1 links on the previous page.  However, what would be quite valuable is if, for example, we click on the Vintage Deck Discussion link and not only get a list of its child boards at the top, but we also get an aggregation of all posts belonging to each of its child boards listed in last-updated order.  This allows one to do a breadth-first search across all the child boards at a glance but also gives the ability to filter the posts by specific categories by clicking on a child board link.

If my idea isn't clear I can throw something together in photoshop to better convey what I mean.  But essentially it turns the board into a superset of what TMD used to be and what is now and allows people to go back and forth depending on their needs.

Update With Concept Picture

[Godder]

Not possible in the current software without some serious tinkering, sadly. Unread posts gives a relatively close impersonation of it, though.

[SiegeX]

Not possible in the current software without some serious tinkering, sadly. Unread posts gives a relatively close impersonation of it, though.

I didn't notice that 'Unread Posts' link before but you're right, that does get you most of the way there. If only that could be the default shown when you click on one of the top-level links as per my concept pic.

[theLastGnu]

+1 for separating results from announcements

[SiegeX]

I don't know how attached you guys are to continue to use SMF, but phpBB does the aforementioned aggregated listing of posts on a board with sub-forums.

You can see an example at the Netgear ReadyNAS site
If you, for example, click on Boot, Installation, Upgrade, and Expansion you'll get an aggregated listing of posts for all its Subforums.  You will also get links to said SubForums at the very bottom of that listing although I bet there is a setting to show that on top.  

Just food for thought if you guys are ever in the market for another free forum software.  I'm nearly certain there is an SMF -> phpBB converter as well

[Odd mutation]

Hi mods,

I really like what you've done with the new structure, considering the strategy/article discussions. But I really preferred the structure of the tournement discussion as it was... A section for announcements and a section for tournament results. I don't really get the reason why you split it up for all the regions and I would like to see all tournament results and reports collected under one section again.

Robrecht

[Godder]

We finally managed to find some spare time, and, as requested, the Tournament Report and Result board has been resurrected and all reports moved back into it. Have a nice day .

[Troy_Costisick]

We finally managed to find some spare time, and, as requested, the Tournament Report and Result board has been resurrected and all reports moved back into it. Have a nice day .

Thanks Godder!  It's great!