Serious design flaw: it's very difficult now to select the correct forum category when starting new threads

[Jingthing]

13 minutes ago, mikebike said:

There was nothing insulting in my post. And it most definitely DOES work.

I'm having this bad experience selecting forums.

Others here have reported the same usability problem. 

You say it "works" for you.

Great. 

You aren't everyone. 

If a number of people are experiencing the same issues as me, the design could be improved.

[meechai]

1 hour ago, mikebike said:

I don't know, but the O.P. seems to be stuck into doing things the way he used to. I just tested starting a thread in an obscure subforum using Joe's method of starting the thread in that subforum and it was childishly simple.

It is as you say childishly simple of course you just go into the sub-forum of the section you want to post in...select start a new topic...again simple

 

It is easy to understand why this forum has to nest sections under one of the eleven main sections given the size of the forum

 

But mainly because this is now not just Thai Visa any longer

 

Besides Thailand section there are sections for

Philippines

Vietnam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Singapore

Brunei

From the World

Private

 

Imagine if they did not group sections into subsections

The page would really be unusable then

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by meechai

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, meechai said:

It is as you say dead simple but of course you just go into the sub-forum of the section you want to post in...again simple

...

 

Again that no longer works for me!

I always get the pick list regardless of start point.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Jingthing

[CharlieH]

so do what the majority seem to do and post it in GENERAL and it will get moved by a Mod to its correct place.

 

Not ideal, but an interim solution to your problem.

[meechai]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Again that no longer works for me!

Practice makes perfect ????

 

[Jingthing]

Just now, meechai said:

Practice makes perfect ????

 

Not relevant to this.

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

so do what the majority seem to do and post it in GENERAL and it will get moved by a Mod to its correct place.

 

Not ideal, but an interim solution to your problem.

I'm not presenting this as only my problem. 

You can read here that others have the same experience. 

I'm suggesting that the forum designers have a second look at the pick forum design.

 

Also if many people are posting in general when they shouldn't that's a strong indicator that this really is a problem.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Jingthing

[meechai]

6 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not relevant to this.

Actually it is because the only time you would get a menu to select from when choosing to start a new topic is when as Ubon said you try to start it from the front page...Surely you can find your way into the forum you want to post in...THEN select start a new topic at which point you will be given no options to choose just the box to type your message into & it will be in the correct forum because.....that is where you are

Edited September 22, 2021 by meechai

[CharlieH]

Just now, Jingthing said:

I'm not presenting this as only my problem. 

You can read here that others have the same experience. 

I'm suggesting that the forum designers have a second look at the pick forum function. 

You might just aswell suggest the sun doesnt rise !

I was trying to help you as it was something you had a specific problem with. But "up to you" .

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, meechai said:

Actually it is because the only time you would get a menu to select from when choosing to start a new topic is when as Ubon said you try to start it from the front page...Surely you can find your way into the forum you want to post in...THEN select start a new topic at which point you will be given no options to choose just the box to type you message into & it will be in the correct forum because.....that is where you are

Again  

I've done that.

Read the thread.

I always get a pick list regardless. 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

You might just aswell suggest the sun doesnt rise !

I was trying to help you as it was something you had a specific problem with. But "up to you" .

OK.

 

I was trying to point out a usability flaw in the hope that it would be addressed.

I've communicated the issue as well as I can and I will now leave it at that and resign from this topic. 

[Jai Dee]

16 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Again that no longer works for me!

I always get the pick list regardless of start point.

Have you tried a different browser?

It works for me OK using Chrome and Win10.

[Jai Dee]

17 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

so do what the majority seem to do and post it in GENERAL and it will get moved by a Mod to its correct place.

 

Not ideal, but an interim solution to your problem.

Or post your new topic anywhere on the Forum then use the Report function to request an online mod to move it for you.

It is not a big deal for us to handle.

[CharlieH]

Just now, Jai Dee said:

Or post your new topic anywhere on the Forum then use the Report function to request an online mod to move it for you.

It is not a big deal for us to handle.

Indeed, We do many daily as it is, as said, no big deal.

[Crossy]

I'm with @Jingthing on this, it's a nightmare trying to locate all the fora from the drop down unless you know where they are.

 

A noob would just get lost!

 

But we minions have zero input into the forum layout.

[poohy]

1 hour ago, meechai said:

It is as you say childishly simple of course you just go into the sub-forum of the section you want to post in...select start a new topic...again simple

 

It is easy to understand why this forum has to nest sections under one of the eleven main sections given the size of the forum

 

But mainly because this is now not just Thai Visa any longer

 

Besides Thailand section there are sections for

Philippines

Vietnam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Singapore

Brunei

From the World

Private

 

Imagine if they did not group sections into subsections

The page would really be unusable then

 

I agree with op locating stuff is monumental pain, and most of sections are irrelevant cannot they just not be hidden and Thai forum which is the only one 99.9 % of people here are interested in expanded/improved 

I rarely start topics and for various reasons post on here less but i hide my form like this so it can certainly  be done

Edited September 22, 2021 by poohy

[Jai Dee]

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

I'm with @Jingthing on this, it's a nightmare trying to locate all the fora from the drop down unless you know where they are.

 

A noob would just get lost!

 

But we minions have zero input into the forum layout.

I don't disagree either... especially when trying to locate this particular sub-forum for example.

Who would think to look for Forum Support under Thailand - Thailand General Chat? 

Forum Support (and Health and Medicine, and maybe Home Country Forums) should be top level sub-forums, as they are not limited to one particular ASEAN country.

 

Perhaps Forum Support would be better located under "Connect with ASEAN NOW"?

Perhaps Health & Medicine and Home Country Forums would be better located under "From the World"?

 

It certainly makes more sense to me rather than burying them under Thailand - Thailand General Chat.

 

 

But... as @Crossy says, us mods have no say nor influence over the layout or structure of the Forum (nor ads, nor fonts, nor emojis, nor classifieds etc.)

We can only help by verifying or replicating the issues and bringing them to the attention of Admin/Support who in turn can raise and prioritise it with the Tech guys.

 

But getting back to the OP's issue of posting new topics, it would be interesting to know if this is a Win10/Edge specific issue or if it can be circumvented by utilising other browsers.

[Kinnock]

On 9/21/2021 at 7:51 AM, ubonjoe said:

Do you mean posting a new topic when on the main page of the forum.

If you do that you will get this after clicking start new topic.

 

If you do it on the forum you want the start the topic you do not get that when you click this in top right side if the forum.

The method shown above does not work for me (on Android).

 

The sub forums are shown in grey, and are not clickable.

 

So I cannot navigate to the Motorcycles in Thailand sub forum for example.  As a work around, I have to find a post in that sub forum, and then click on the link in the heading.  

[scubascuba3]

7 hours ago, Kinnock said:

The method shown above does not work for me (on Android).

 

The sub forums are shown in grey, and are not clickable.

 

So I cannot navigate to the Motorcycles in Thailand sub forum for example.  As a work around, I have to find a post in that sub forum, and then click on the link in the heading.  

Try the > rather than the name then the sub categories should appear

[ubonjoe]

11 hours ago, Kinnock said:

So I cannot navigate to the Motorcycles in Thailand sub forum for example.  As a work around, I have to find a post in that sub forum, and then click on the link in the heading.  

What were you trying to do. That dropdown menu is only for posting a topic from the main forum page.

If trying to navigate to the Motorcycles in Thailand it is clearly show no the main page.

From a screenshot of the main forum page on my Android tablet (8"). (sorry about the volume adjust showing)

 

[Kinnock]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Try the > rather than the name then the sub categories should appear

If you click the > you can see the sub-forums, but they are still in grey and not clickable.

 

If I try to start a new topic by clicking the big + sign, then clicking 'Topic', I end up in a non functional menu system.

 

But if you start via the forum menus, the links click.  I think there's an error in the Android site if you try to start a new Topic using the + add new Topic approach?

[Kinnock]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

What were you trying to do. That dropdown menu is only for posting a topic from the main forum page.

If trying to navigate to the Motorcycles in Thailand it is clearly show no the main page.

From a screenshot of the main forum page on my Android tablet (8"). (sorry about the volume adjust showing)

 

Yes, but to me that's not logical.  If I want to start a new topic, I use add new Topic route via the + add sign, and then I can't navigate to the relevant sub-forum to add my topic   instead I have to go via a route that is designed for browsing the forum.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

Yes, but to me that's not logical.  If I want to start a new topic, I use add new Topic route via the + add sign, and then I can't navigate to the relevant sub-forum to add my topic   instead I have to go via a route that is designed for browsing the forum.

You have to touch the this first  to select the forum first to select the forum you want. 

Then you will see this.

The again touch the to select the motorcycle forum. 

Then you can see it is framed in grey and you can touch it again to select it.

Then touch the select at the top and you will see this and touch continue.

 

Then it takes you to this.

[Kinnock]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You have to touch the this first  to select the forum first to select the forum you want. 

Then you will see this.

The again touch the to select the motorcycle forum. 

Then you can see it is framed in grey and you can touch it again to select it.

Then touch the select at the top and you will see this and touch continue.

 

Then it takes you to this.

Thank you for the detailed instructions .... but it does not work.  The sub forums do not open.  Android on a Samsung Note.  Cannot open forums via this route.

 

[ubonjoe]

39 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

Thank you for the detailed instructions .... but it does not work.  The sub forums do not open.  Android on a Samsung Note.  Cannot open forums via this route.

 

Perhaps a different browser than I am using or maybe screen size.

If you can get that far and then select the Motorcycles in Thailand Forum and then on the create topic page touch this at the top of the page  to open a subforum on the forum page.

 

[Kinnock]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Perhaps a different browser than I am using or maybe screen size.

If you can get that far and then select the Motorcycles in Thailand Forum and then on the create topic page touch this at the top of the page  to open a subforum on the forum page.

 

Just tried on my laptop.  Same issue using Windows 10 and Edge.  It's possible to select some forums, such as Golf, which is shown in a black font, and is clickable, but the Motorcycles sub-forum, and others, are shown in a pale grey font, and are not clickable.  The > does not work either.

 

Yes, there are work arounds, but the obvious way to start a new topic in a sub-forum does not work on Android or Edge, at least for me, and I think others too. 

 

This may encourage some people to only post in the main forums, which may partly explain the lack of activity in most sub forums?

[cleopatra2]

4 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Thank you for the detailed instructions .... but it does not work.  The sub forums do not open.  Android on a Samsung Note.  Cannot open forums via this route.

 

This issue arises in any forum that has child sub forums and  topics in the parent forum. 

Example , using the drop down menu navigate to the home forum, where 3 sub forums are displayed. While it is possible to start a new topic in any of the sub forums .It is not possible to post a new topic in the actual home forum.

 

The work around advised is to browse to the forum and start topic there.

[ubonjoe]

41 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

Just tried on my laptop.  Same issue using Windows 10 and Edge.  It's possible to select some forums, such as Golf, which is shown in a black font, and is clickable, but the Motorcycles sub-forum, and others, are shown in a pale grey font, and are not clickable.  The > does not work either.

The arrow let me select the Motorcycles Forum and then select this subforum.

I am using Chrome on Windows 10. The post you quoted was on a mobile browser.

[cleopatra2]

25 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The arrow let me select the Motorcycles Forum and then select this subforum.

I am using Chrome on Windows 10. The post you quoted was on a mobile browser.

Using Chrome with With windows 10. 

Clicking the motorcycle sub forum  bikes for sale automatically closes the drop down menu and populates the select forum.

Clicking the motorcycle parent heading , does nothing, (even though topics exist in this forum). However if the drop down menu is forced closed by clicking on the select forum window , the motorcycle forum is selected and new topics can be created.

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

Using Chrome with With windows 10. 

Clicking the motorcycle sub forum  bikes for sale automatically closes the drop down menu and populates the select forum.

Clicking the motorcycle parent heading , does nothing, (even though topics exist in this forum). However if the drop down menu is forced closed by clicking on the select forum window , the motorcycle forum is selected and new topics can be created.

That is how it works. I didn't do that since the person I first replied to wanted the subforums.