Recent Forum Posts / Recent Articles

What do you guys think about the "Recent Forum Posts" module on the sidebar of the index? Do you ignore it 99% of the time, do you often see something that catches your interest, or is it extremely helpful? In other words, do you think I should leave it there or replace it with...

... a "Recent Articles" feed? The "Articles" of the site are somewhat buried and I think we might be able to direct some more attention to that area if we have a recent articles block on the sidebar. I just don't know if I should add it below the already-existing "Recent Posts", or replace the "Recent Posts" altogether... :shrug:

 

I think both would be good if that would fit, I do find it useful now and then, I tend to look at it for new threads I may have missed and normally have a quick look at it when I first sign in.

 

I personally prefer the no sidebar skin, but I think a recent post/articles block under the navbar for the no sidebar skin would be a great idea.

 

I think the articles feed would be the better idea, because the forum posts aren't really cared for by me there. Why? Because I've seen all the displayed topics under unread posts before even noticing that part of the layout.

 

I never even look at the recent forum posts. People can get those by clicking on the New Posts link in the navbar, which is what I do.

However, putting the articles in there might be a good thing.

 

Nothing is changing on the no sidebar skin. In fact, it might not always be available anyways.

 

I never look at information in the sidebars. I find them to be a distraction and prefer to do the hard work of looking through the forums rather than a quick fix of recently.

If the person can click on the link on index via the lastpost I class the sidebar which has the same link useless, somewhat redundant.

Sidebar links 5 latest posts etc would only be good for resources imho Graphics, styles, scripts etc


But that's merley my 2 cents worth.

 

Oh noes! I hope it stays available.

I've always found sidebars very annoying. Just my opinion.


EDIT - Actually after looking closer I see the sidebar is only on the forum index. I rarely use that page anyway when looking for posts, so I could live with it.

 

Well for one, it's only the index so isn't a huge deal, but more importantly, we have advertisers who pay for sidebar slots. It's not fair to them if we accept their money but allow users to hide them.

 

This is the reason I love CMPS. It has a module to show recent posts.

I like recent posts as opposed to new posts, because if you navigate away from a new post and then hit new posts again, that thread is gone from the list. Not so with recent posts.

 

What about "Today's Posts"?

 

Recent Posts does nothing for me. When I come to the site I click on the Unread Messages and scan post titles.

 

That would work.

It's just that you've got New Posts directly on the navbar and Today's Posts in the "Quick Links". Two clicks...argh. :p

J/K

I really hadn't thought of that before.