Forum feedback thread (functionality, NOT content/moderation)

Octopuss · August 2017

Since the site feedback thread is locked and was never meant to get feedback about the forums, let's make one.
Please only post meaningful related stuff, not "omgz fix teh gam", or basically anything unrelated to the forum functionality.

I'll start by listing features that I feel are missing.

1) Mark all forums read.
This is a feature that basically EVERY OTHER forum has, so I am completely puzzled why it's not here.

2) Mark a subforum read.
This feature is here, but it's clumsy and annoying at best. Instead of doing this from a weird drop down menu on the main page, move this inside the subforums as simple links. Less clicks = a lot more user friendly. Also, the current implementation makes it even worse because of the loading times. Also, after you mark a subforum read, you are taken to the top of the main page. Annoying!

3) Search.
This basically doesn't work at all. Again, most if not all other forums have the ability to search in titles only, and all the other usual advanced things. Here, you search for something and get completely weird and useless results you cannot even filter by date. Also what appears to be an attempt to advanced search is ONLY available AFTER you search for something. This makes no sense at all!
Please, give us proper advanced search feature. You can get inspiration in pretty much any free forum software.

4) Classic thread subscription and other related stuff.
There's no way to unwatch threads you no longer are interested in, no easy way to track your own threads (it's here, but it's annoying having to click through various pages instead of having everything related centralized). There's no filtering, notifications lack further customizations (I had to disable them to stop getting spammed by every single new reply in a thread I started).

Lastly, the horrible long loading times. There's no reason why it should take up to four seconds to initially load the forum, and up to two seconds to open anything else. There's something badly wrong with either the infrastructure or the forum software itself (my guess).

I am not sure if ZOS staff reads everything (I'd guess not for obvious reasons), so if anyone knows relevant names, please invoke them.

ZOS_GinaBruno · August 2017

Taking a page from Rich and doing a /lurk on this thread.

Moloch1514 · August 2017

The forum was much better prior to the changes implemented last few weeks. Rolling back to that (if marketing would allow it) would be a good start to address load times.

MyNameIsElias · August 2017

I've also noticed long loading times ever since they last did something to the forum, mostly with the dev tracker taking long to load and refresh

Ilsabet · August 2017

I'd love to have a way to track threads I've posted in and see at a glance which ones have new replies. It's clunky to have to go to my post history and then scroll down from my posts and try to remember where I left off reading.

Sweetpea704 · August 2017

I would like to see them implement a notice on a post if it is actually read by a dev. Maybe like a red "Z" in the corner. Kind of like when you text someone, you can see if it was read. People always complain that the devs don't even read the forums, so this could answer that. I mean, face it, some of the posts in the forums are repetitive. I don't really expect a long reply to everything posted.

Tandor · August 2017

I would very much prefer the forum style to be rolled back as there were no issues with it and now we have the pause with the brown screen except in the case of my Samsung phone default internet browser which works perfectly on every other site but just shows a solid brown and black screen for these forums.

At the very least I'd appreciate an acknowledgement of that issue together with confirmation that someone is working on it. I get the impression, however, that they're only interested in the website and that as far as they are concerned the changes to this forum are done and dusted with a slight improvement in the brown screen pause and nothing further intended. I'd love to be told I'm wrong!

Lieblingsjunge · August 2017

Finding the desired categories is pretty hinky. I mostly browse PvP-related forums and the occasional popcorn-thread.

I wish there was a way you could mark categories as "favourites"(Favorites?) and have them appear at the top when you press categories. Or have the option to choose "Recent", but filter for only favourite-categories. I wanna see what's recently up in General Discssion and the PvP - categories, but to find those I need to browse through the class-discussions, forum-QQ, nerf-threads, roleplaying-threads, "more vegan food"-threads.
(Talking about the "Recent" tab).

I'm a lazy norwegian. I just want to read my desired categories without too much hazzle :'X

Solariken · August 2017

On mobile it is very tedious to get to your own list of comments - please add this to the main sidebar menu under your discussions link.

Own · August 2017

I can't login from my android phone.

Khenarthi · August 2017

@Tandor, my Samsung phone's default internet browser also only displays a muddy brown background. For now the only workaround working is browsing the forums using Chrome for Android, which I really don't like. Hopefully we'll get a fix.

stumpy999 · August 2017

I don't look at forum unless game is down , again

ZOS_GinaBruno · August 2017

Ilsabet wrote: »

I'd love to have a way to track threads I've posted in and see at a glance which ones have new replies. It's clunky to have to go to my post history and then scroll down from my posts and try to remember where I left off reading.

This functionality actually exists already. If you click on the cog wheel at the top where your username, notifications, and PM inbox is located, click the option that says Participated.

goldenarcher1 · August 2017

l3alls wrote: »

I can't login from my android phone.

Definitely this^^^^

Forum won't load with standard samsung browser,but is fine with firefox.

jhnartb14_ESO · August 2017

Works fine on my Android phone, but I use Chrome

Everstorm · August 2017

On my samsung phone using Chrome it's a hit and miss scenario if threads will load or not. Like the RNG infection is leaking out of the game into the real world.

Ilsabet · August 2017

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Ilsabet wrote: »

I'd love to have a way to track threads I've posted in and see at a glance which ones have new replies. It's clunky to have to go to my post history and then scroll down from my posts and try to remember where I left off reading.

This functionality actually exists already. If you click on the cog wheel at the top where your username, notifications, and PM inbox is located, click the option that says Participated.

O snap.

Okay so maybe we need a Forums for Dummies post telling us about all the stuff we didn't know we could do.

Tandor · August 2017

Khenarthi wrote: »

@Tandor, my Samsung phone's default internet browser also only displays a muddy brown background. For now the only workaround working is browsing the forums using Chrome for Android, which I really don't like. Hopefully we'll get a fix.

Agreed @Khenarthi, I don't use Chrome at all normally (on my phone, that is, I use it on my desktops) and have no particular wish to do so just for one site.

bebynnag · August 2017

l3alls wrote: »

I can't login from my android phone.

couldn't log on when i had an android, definatley cant log on now i have a windows phone.

the 'visual improvments' made a few weeks ago are awful,

limiting the number of people you can block on the forums is silly, blocking someone, should also block them from reading your posts

i think its stupid that we don't have the ability to delete our own posts

limit the number of polls people can create

stop awarding higher status to people who spend more time farming rank on the forums than they do actually playing the game - these people do not represent the in game community - they only represent the community found on the forum

bebynnag · August 2017

oh and also add more emoji's!

ozmorgudduth · August 2017

Cost cutting and price rising is a thing.
When was the last time anyone heard any news about hardware upgrade of servers?
What happened to the cash from Morrowind? Upgrade the server hardware already or stop skimping and go to an outside company with proper hardware that can handle spaghetti code from 2010.

silvereyes · August 2017

Octopuss wrote: »

Again, most if not all other forums have the ability to search in titles only, and all the other usual advanced things. Here, you search for something and get completely weird and useless results you cannot even filter by date.

On the search results page, click the little drop down arrow in the search bar. It will give you an advanced search form.

Saucy_Jack · August 2017

Octopuss wrote: »

There's no reason why it should take up to four seconds to initially load the forum, and up to two seconds to open anything else.

I mean, you could've used those extra seconds for something else! Like blinking!

Rohamad_Ali · August 2017

Eso forum music for a relaxing posting experience . Switch to elevator music while server is down .

Jemcrystal · August 2017

Forum doesn't take any time to load at all even on my crappy pc. Even with multiple things open. No matter what browser I use. The forum loads fast.

TheRealPotoroo · August 2017

Since the change the forum is horribly slow to scroll, and the lack of a scroll bar only adds insult to injury. I said it in the other thread and I'll say it again, I've got a Windforce GTX 980 but this forum feels like I'm using first generation Intel on-die graphics. It's unpleasant and unnecessarily frustrating. This is separate to the stupidity of making us stare at a blank screen for seconds at a time.

Roll it back, ZoS. Admit you got this wrong.

Octopuss · August 2017

silvereyes wrote: »

Octopuss wrote: »

Again, most if not all other forums have the ability to search in titles only, and all the other usual advanced things. Here, you search for something and get completely weird and useless results you cannot even filter by date.

On the search results page, click the little drop down arrow in the search bar. It will give you an advanced search form.

No, read my post again and very carefully. Also, there's no search in titles feature whatsoever.

menedhyn · August 2017

puffytheslayer wrote: »

limit the number of polls people can create

This.

puffytheslayer wrote: »

stop awarding higher status to people who spend more time farming rank on the forums than they do actually playing the game - these people do not represent the in game community - they only represent the community found on the forum

So. Much. This.

Tandor · August 2017

Octopuss wrote: »

silvereyes wrote: »

Octopuss wrote: »

Again, most if not all other forums have the ability to search in titles only, and all the other usual advanced things. Here, you search for something and get completely weird and useless results you cannot even filter by date.

On the search results page, click the little drop down arrow in the search bar. It will give you an advanced search form.

No, read my post again and very carefully. Also, there's no search in titles feature whatsoever.

The advanced search function includes the ability to search for something in titles. You put your search object in the title box only and hit the search button. If that's not what you're looking for then you need to clarify what exactly you're referring to because that does seem to me to be a "search in titles feature". You can also set the date parameters and the search results will appear in date order. Note that this is after accessing the advanced search function.

Megabear · August 2017

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Taking a page from Rich and doing a /lurk on this thread.

Nerf mod stealth skill or buff our stealth detection skill pls.

rootimus · August 2017

It'd be nice to see and end to obnoxiously long signatures - I've seen one that's three paragraphs. Most sites limit them to 4 lines of text and / or a very small image.

Also, that long-promised change where threads would only be marked as containing a ZOS post if there was something more substantial than a copypasta reply about forum rules. IIRC, it was being tested about a year ago and then we heard nothing more.

Edit: Force users to use SSL links to external images / videos.

A dark forum theme. I usually do ok with my own amateur CSS changes, but little things like the edit button force me to switch back to the horrid eye-burning regular theme.