I would like if the old-style category forum came back, it was really so much better from the organisation standpoint.

Instead, this seems like sorted link of threads according to time. It would be so much better if this was under link on "Latest forum posts" on the right side of GOL and forum came back as something where one would purposely go and search for topics or even create new topic.

Searching for threads in such forum is more cumbersome, it's basically like reddit, where everything fades into obscurity over time.

At least selecting category in the dropdown list is still present. But it's less accessible than before (more actions to get the same result).

Compare:

== old ==
1. Click on category.
2. Scroll around for recent and older posts.

== new ==
1. Click on dropdown list.
2. Scroll in the list to select category.
3. Click on category.
4. Scroll around for recent and older posts.

That's twice as many actions as before. They are all small on their own, but any amount of extra actions without clear reason is a minus for the interface.

We're talking a difference in seconds, it's not worth my time to maintain two different forum views to save a few people a few seconds. It's an overhead I don't want and it's not coming back. Sorry to be blunt, but this is the forum style we are staying with going forward.

This way is much clearer. The content is right there, right away. If you want a specific forum, select it. There's no fuss to it. Like I said, half the forums weren't even being used!

Quoting: liamdaweThis way is much clearer. The content is right there, right away. If you want a specific forum, select it. There's no fuss to it. Like I said, half the forums weren't even being used!

Half the forums were not being used because the GoL community didn't feel a need to use it. Changing the format will not bring more users nor make people post under those categories...

If you wanted to 'hide' some innactive sections, why not just delete them? I also dislike this reddit-like forum style to a point where I might stop reading it.

An example of an amazing forum engine implementation, with ease of use, ability to set it reddit-like or the traditional sectional divisions, and also looks great on mobile -> https://forum.manjaro.org/

EDIT: Please edit the templates so that when you select a category, the category selector remains visible. It's unpractical to click "Forums" before being able to switch to another cateory. And I won't read through thread titles which do not interest me trying to find the posts of a specific category. Reddit is made to make people stay there and lose time reading through waves of bullshit. Why copy this mentality to GoL?

@liamdawe: I didn't imply you should maintain two different code bases. That doesn't make sense of course. I was just commenting how the current forum IMHO is less accessible than the previous one. Not a big deal.

Quoting: khalismur

Quoting: liamdaweThis way is much clearer. The content is right there, right away. If you want a specific forum, select it. There's no fuss to it. Like I said, half the forums weren't even being used!

Half the forums were not being used because the GoL community didn't feel a need to use it. Changing the format will not bring more users nor make people post under those categories...

As said before, it helps bring the actual content to the front, not hidden behind a bunch of categories.

Quoting: khalismurIf you wanted to 'hide' some innactive sections, why not just delete them? I also dislike this reddit-like forum style to a point where I might stop reading it.

Then don't read it.

Quoting: khalismurAn example of an amazing forum engine implementation, with ease of use, ability to set it reddit-like or the traditional sectional divisions, and also looks great on mobile -> https://forum.manjaro.org/

To you maybe, to me it just hides all the content.

Quoting: khalismurEDIT: Please edit the templates so that when you select a category, the category selector remains visible. It's unpractical to click "Forums" before being able to switch to another cateory. And I won't read through thread titles which do not interest me trying to find the posts of a specific category. Reddit is made to make people stay there and lose time reading through waves of bullshit. Why copy this mentality to GoL?

That's an easy fix I'm happy to do, a category picker on each forum makes sense.
We are not copying readdit, we are putting actual content to the front, with easy ways to access each category.

I've decided to return to allowing users to pick between the forum styles. Will look to continue tweaking them both! :)

Quoting: liamdaweI've decided to return to allowing users to pick between the forum styles. Will look to continue tweaking them both! :)

Translation:

Some old gits are moaning so switched it back to keep the peace