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Why "Discussion" and not "Categories" ?

edited February 2008 in Vanilla 1.0 Help
More cms & Forum have "categories" at first page.... Vanilla pointed the index at "Discussion" .. Why ? I think is better and more usual to see "categories" at index ?........ Sorry my "Bear" engl. :-) thanks

Comments

  • Try the DefaultPage extension.
  • It's more usual to see categories as the first page but why is it better? I hate having to go into 6 seperate screens to find a few things that interest me on traditional forums.
  • Yup, I like being able to instantly see all the activity on the forum. Otherwise I'd have to go into each category separately and view the posts there instead of just seeing all the new posts instantly.
  • Members: The first thing a member of a forum will most likely do after logging in is look to see if there's any new replies to their posts, the second thing they will probably do is see what's new.

    New-Comers: The first thing a new-comer to a forum will want to know is "how active is this forum?"

    In both scenarios, seeing the "Discussions" tab first is the most logical. New-comers to Vanilla may think it's a bit unusual, but they'll soon find it's the best way to do things.

    I see "Categories" as being the third most important section of a forum, and think it's silly when I see categories as the home page. The second most important section being "Search".

    I can count on one hand how many times I've actually wanted to see the "Categories" page.
  • Yup, I agree, although I too wanted categories first when I initially met Vanilla.

    Now it's a no brainer, can't remember the last time I actually looked at the categories page.

    I must also say I use the excellent Discussions Overview which is the best of both!
  • ok... thanks.. (i have downloaded DefaultPage extension) in my old page used phpbb and the index is the category page..but want to try this new "discussion at first page" experience :-)..... I'am new with Vanilla. It's fantastic and very "web 2.0 based"! . I have to try different templates and actualy prefer the "Organic" style. The templates only avaiable on getvanilla.com ? or existed other templates available online ? Alex
  • Ugh... it's really not 'web 2.0 based'. Every time I hear 'web 2.0' I cringe.
  • yes ok..... but is more "web 2.0" at phpbb :-))
  • It's just different. Just because it breaks the mould of web forums, it doesn't mean it's 'web 2.0'. I think you'll find that, ultimately, 'web 2.0' means very little.
  • No worries! It's more of a modern take on the forum concept. Also, I have to admit, when I first started using Vanilla, I thought it was weird seeing the discussions first too; I soon learned the error of my assumption :)
  • I thought Web 2.0 was mostly lots of AJAX, CSS and glass reflections?
    As far as Vanilla goes, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
This discussion has been closed.