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I just happen to notice, part way down here is “MSN Messenger Downloads”.
I guess that’s ok, but lreads me to wonder why are there not similar entries on this page for the equivalent YM, AIM, and ICQ downloads ?
That “Paltalk” entry I posted in Downloads a few days ago was equally linked to all 4 major IMs – so how come only the MSN one shows here ?
BTW, would be nice someone could add the PalTalk logo to my entry.
I didn’t at the time simply cos I don’t have access to add logos there.I assume it’s because…well… Y! Aim and such team has never requested it?
That and for a while there was a big hubub about the MSN Beta going out, and I’m sure they were getting flooded with requests and all that fun jazz. Not to mention, as the page states, there are about a million different “flavors” of MSN. … okay four, but still, close to a million.
Though I do see that it does also mention multi-protocol and it is a subsection straight from the IM Download section. So I assume that it’s just something the other teams never really discussed or saw a need for? *shrug*
I’ve noticed this for a while now. It is pretty distracting when scrolling through the forums and BAM there’s this special globe on the msn messenger section. As Sami said though from there you can see downloads for other instant messengers, which makes me wonder why not place them in the appropriate place. hmm *scratches head*
We were testing out the new downloads system and Jeff decided MSN was going to be the guinea pig. Yet another thing that we’ve started and have left unfinished.
I agree, we should get all staff to add other IM download types, make new categories, and release it.
Ah! Exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for.
Explained. 🙂Well, much as I hate “extra” stuff, that seems to me not a bad idea, as long as AIM, and YM follow suit for consistency.
Probably there are may users completely unaware of the “Downloads” place, but this at least puts it in what I’d call a logical place – with the other forums for the particular IM one might be following.ALTHOUGH…. dare I suggest if/when those links ARE in the individual sections of Forums, could the “downloads” link be removed from top of every page (leaving just: Home, IM Basics, Chat, Forums) ?
I’m firmly of the view that a good menu/navigation system should have one, and ONLY one, way of getting to anywhere – rather than trying to have links to everywhere from everywhere, which is usually an excuse for a weak foundation in the first place, and can be totally confusing for newcomers.
Eagle_Kiwi wrote:I’m firmly of the view that a good menu/navigation system should have one, and ONLY one, way of getting to anywhere – rather than trying to have links to everywhere from everywhere, which is usually an excuse for a weak foundation in the first place, and can be totally confusing for newcomers.
Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Having multiple ways of doing something is key if you don’t want to confuse your users, because then they can develop their own personal preferences as to how they want to get there.Take Windows for example. There are a hundred different ways to do something very simple, say, shutting down your computer. You could go to Start > Shutdown > Shutdown, you could open a command prompt and type shutdown -t 00 -f, you could go to C:WINDOWSSystem32 and find shutdown.exe, you could hit Ctrl+Alt+Del and hit Shut Down… and then shutdown, etc, etc.
So it’s really not that bad if you have multiple ways to do one thing, it just makes it easier for someone to find what they’re looking for.
Eagle_Kiwi wrote:ALTHOUGH…. dare I suggest if/when those links ARE in the individual sections of Forums, could the “downloads” link be removed from top of every page (leaving just: Home, IM Basics, Chat, Forums) ?i would suggest just the opposite of that. leave the ‘Downloads‘ link at the top of the screen, and scratch the individual forums’ download sections.
I think Ian’s point is that simplicity is better than complexity, at least when you want to encourage more people to participate. I happen to heartily agree.
Changing the navigation of the entire site is not something I want to do casually, because it’s disruptive for a lot of people. But I agree that there’s a lot of room for improvement, and I plan to improve it.
The download link under the MSN section was a test. I think it’s useful because it exposes a good feature that might otherwise be overlooked. I probably will add it to ther other sections as well, and I may or not remove it from the menu — I’m undecided on that point.
There is, however, one quick change that I think will make the forums less intimidating and easier to navigate. You may have noticed that yesterday I changed the way subforums are displayed on the forum home? They now display as columnar lists.
I’m looking at taking this a step further and simplifying the display of the various IM forums (see attached image).
This is a small step towards improving the ease-of-use, and I’d like your feedback before I implement.
I like the idea, but I’d rather if they were in like 2 columns, not the one column going down because that makes places like the Staff Room much longer when looking at the main fourm page. Maybe have 4 subs in each column. Yet again, I do like the idea.
i actually like them more as a single column… makes it easier to scan down the list for what you’re looking for, rather than have to scan across multiple columns and rows.
i hadn’t noticed it, since i rarely see the forum index – i go straight to ‘new posts’ each time.
MrEggsalad wrote:I like the idea, but I’d rather if they were in like 2 columns, not the one column going down because that makes places like the Staff Room much longer when looking at the main fourm page. Maybe have 4 subs in each column. Yet again, I do like the idea.Look again at the screen cap and you’ll see that it does show in two columns.
The number of columns is dependent on the resolution you’re running. If you are running at 1024 x 768 or lower, you’ll probably see one column (there just isn’t room for more). On my monitor at 1280 x 1024, I get three columns.
Ooh, I feel special, I get three, too! Take a look at the attachment.
It’s all good ideas, Jeff, no opposition here. 🙂
Ah, well I am on 1024×768 so I see only the one. I’d be on a larger one if I could, but stupid monitor…
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