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Upcoming forum changes: investing in our community's future

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Mathew Anderson said:
ahaslett said:
Mathew Anderson said:
BryanHL said:
Mathew Anderson said:
It would likely have split into multiple separate actual topic threads long ago in that view, instead of remaining as a growing conglomerate here.
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With all due respect Mathew, yes there will be those with consideration / comprehension who create new threads but there are many who just blaze away and reply to the original. Those are the very posts that Threaded View make it easy to ignore. But even then, you will have heaps of new threads, all relating in some way to the original, but are separate...

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater...
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You make a valid point!
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You are always going to get people using Flat View who respond directly to the OP with “I haven’t read the posts, but…”

If they get upvoted, they are worth a look, otherwise usually not.

You could force people to only respond to the OP, so the discussion is flat. Then you could allow people to start a new thread by responding to the OP with a change of title. You would need to be able to navigate back through threads by using links.

That would increase the number of threads on front pages and add texture to titles. A sophisticated approach would be to mark new parent posts as original and new daughters as responses spawned by title changes.

Discussions are trees unless you want everything to be flat. It all depends what kind of discussions and what kind of content you are trying to encourage.

Andrew
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It would help if everyone retitled their sub-topics each time something split. I personally have a difficult time navigating a thread such as this one, because I have to click on every post anyway to see what it's all about. That's my problem though.

If everything were labeled differently, that'd help, but then we're back to having separate threads in part anyway, just meshed into one massive thread like this one has become. Useful in some ways, but essentially its own forum at this point.
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That's because threaded view allows conversations to split and divide organically as real life conversations do. Flat view depends very much on one single linear narrative, otherwise it very quickly becomes a difficult to navigate jumble. Flat's view's virtue is that it saves on clicks. Having both works well.
 
SrMi said:
mfinley said:
It's too bad anyone would actually give up their community over the loss of threaded view. In the end I can't imagine many will actually leave, but we shall see. Threaded view is a old feature that you don't see today in modern forum software for a reason, it’s a combination of usability trends, technical reasons, and social behavior patterns, and here is why:
  • Threaded views can be confusing for new users. If a discussion has many nested replies, it’s easy to lose track of the conversation.
  • Flat views show all posts in one timeline, making it easier to scroll and follow, especially on mobile devices.
  • Modern UX trends favor linear, continuous feeds (like social media timelines), which are more familiar to casual users.
  • Nested threads don’t scale well on small screens.
  • Flat views are easier to swipe through, and responsive design works better without complex indents or collapsible trees.
  • Rendering a deeply nested thread requires more complex queries and dynamic layout calculations, which can slow down page load times.
  • Flat views are simpler to implement and cache, improving performance for large forums with thousands of posts.
  • Flat chronological feeds encourage broader visibility of posts rather than isolated sub-conversations.
  • Threaded replies can lead to “conversation silos,” where only a small group sees certain discussions. Flat feeds make everyone’s posts visible, increasing interactions.
  • Platforms like Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter popularized flat or semi-threaded chronological views.
  • New forum software often emulates social media patterns to lower the learning curve and make discussion more familiar to new users.
Flat views dominate because they are simpler, mobile-friendly, perform better, and encourage more visible engagement, even though purists sometimes miss the clarity of fully threaded discussions.

I hate to see anyone go over such a thing, in the end I doubt you will, you'll get used to it. There simply won't be an option for you anywhere else as threaded view is basically dead everywhere
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+1

List of forums I read and post that have a threaded view: DPReview

List of forums that I read and post that do not have threaded view: GetDPI, LULA, LUF, hasselbladdigitaloforum, fredmiranda, German Fuji forum, m43 forums, etc.
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Yes. And all of those either have very small threads or have threads devoted to a single simple topic (Like Having fun with Fuji...) where flat works quite well. Big long convoluted many-aspect threads like threaded view encourages and which are the primary charm of DPR's, aren't really possible with an exclusive flat view. It gets too messy. Also, notice how many of the bullet points above are actually benefits that are for the admins and site owners, rather than users. A switch to a forum platform that doesn't support a threaded view is not a switch being done specifically to benefit users even though it's being sold that way....
 
tbcass said:
I found it nearly impossible to find my posts and to look at the responses to them. That is something I do all the time.
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This brings up the "tools" available to forum users. Here we have "Recent forum activity" which can identify our last post in a thread, FM has a way to check board posts and forum posts. On another flat forum which can have massively long threads, nothing that I've found and beyond a few pages,wide ranging threads become practically impossible to enter in progress without duping prior entries/questions or using quotes - if you can find the spot you wanted to respond to..

Nobody reads 30 pages or 400 posts to see if "that question has already been asked/answered.
 
Mathew Anderson said:
petebfrance said:
I think that a lot of users will miss threaded view sufficiently for their use of the forums to reduce, possibly to nothing.

Perhaps new visitors will arrive and make up the shortfall.

It's a risk. This must surely have been considered in making the decision.

I don't contribute much here so probably won't be missed, but for what it's worth I'm fairly sure that my usage will tail off - but that's life!
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Your voice is heard, I've noted it for our team to consider, just like everyone else's here.
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Thank-you.
 
I don't like threaded view and that each post has to have its own title. And I don't like that every post has to be a reply to someone. Sometimes I only want to make a general comment on the topic, not a reply to a person.

--
- M4M
 
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Mathew Anderson said:
Visit sites like bcgforums.com and macrumors.com to get a rough idea of how the forum layout works before you can see how we’ve implemented it.
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I've been on the NET before it was The NET using a 400b modem.

I've been on the first MS Newsgroups via 9,600b Modem ... then ad/mod of a Newsgroup that reached 400 post per hour -18 moderators ... going on ... Forums, yes. As well.

So far the best UI for a Forum In my experience, was found here.
Only DPR got that perception so good.

> Sure DPR is not full of nowadays features!

( who care? it's the BEST PRESENTATION to the user that a Forum can offer )

PS:
a) Forums die very easily, before Admins perceive it.
§
b) I followed the links you posted: that HORRORS will be me stopping READING DPR
§

--
___.............................!............................ ___
-------- Mid of French/Italian Alps --------- I Love my Carnivores. >https://eu.zonerama.com/AlainCH2/1191151
.
Photography ... It is about how that thing looks when photographed..
( Avoid boring shots )
 
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Mathew Anderson said:
It’s mostly changes to how posts and forum sections are organized. For example, how posts are viewed in a thread is more consistent and simplified between all users. The majority of other changes are either entirely new features or improvements on existing ones.

Visit sites like bcgforums.com and macrumors.com to get a rough idea of how the forum layout works before you can see how we’ve implemented it.
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Nice!

They both look very good. 👍😃

I don't like the black background on the first one, though.
 
M4Mobility said:
Mathew Anderson said:
It’s mostly changes to how posts and forum sections are organized. For example, how posts are viewed in a thread is more consistent and simplified between all users. The majority of other changes are either entirely new features or improvements on existing ones.

Visit sites like bcgforums.com and macrumors.com to get a rough idea of how the forum layout works before you can see how we’ve implemented it.
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Nice!

They both look very good. 👍😃

I don't like the black background on the first one, though.
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They have a style chooser which allows a couple of different options. It's that litttle brushy thing in the lower left corner. It's not mentioned that I could find in the forum FAQs or Forum Basics that i could find. But I clicked on it and saw options and it worked.

Not sure how it might be implemented, or if implemented in the "new" set-up for us..

I'm in a huge mostly firearms related forum with a wide variety of general and connected, sort of, topical forums. They just dropped a new reformatted/restructured interface. (I don't recall the reasoning, or all the changes, again, very long term so maybe modernizing the whole backside of it hardware and software??) but it looked kind of different and a few days of panic. But to the extent I can tell, looking different in shapes and colors but still "works" for me the user the same - and it hasn't been crashing, so seems successful. I can still find what I used, the "forums" are the same, controls and "clicks: get the same results.
 
Dale Baskin said:
WilyKit said:
Dale Baskin said:
That said, we recognize the importance of the threaded view to many of you, and we will continue to explore options for supporting it.
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Why not simply use this add-on?
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As I said, we're exploring options to support threaded views again in the future, including add-ons.

I'll pass your link along to our software team just in case they're not aware of that one.
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IMO the threaded view facility, which is always how I view posts here, is one of the most important features that sets DPReview forums apart from the rest. So I very much hope that your team will be able to implement the same threaded view experience as IMO this is THE critical feature that will make or break the new forum software.

Frank
 
Mathew Anderson said:
davinci953 said:
I go on a couple of other forums that use the Xenforo platform. It's not my favorite format, and all the sites look and feel the same. I'm not sure if Xenforo is the only game in town when it comes to forum platforms, but if it's so customizable, why do all the forums look and function the same? It's definitely a factor that makes me more often than not navigate to the DPReview forums. There's just something easy about the way the DPReview forums work. And yes, I like the threaded view. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
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It's not, there are others, which we looked into as well of course.

From your view of other forums, what do you feel you would want unique or customized? Maybe we can still make it happen, even if other forums all look the same in that area.

Thanks davinci953
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I think that it's primarily a usability issue. Xenforo seems clunky to me even though it might offer a good look for some. Pages can sometimes have too much information that can be a distraction rather than offering added value. As I mentioned in my initial post, the current DPReview forums have a certain ease of navigation about them (for me). I find that less so with the Xenforo forums.
 
Dale Baskin said:
Hi forum members,

We're going to be making some upgrades to the forums and wanted to share the details with you first, before announcing them on the homepage.

What’s changing, and why

Our online community has always been at the heart of what we do. We know how important it is to have a place to connect to discuss cameras and photography, and we recognize our responsibility as stewards of these forums. That’s why we’ve made it a priority to commit more resources to our forums and community over the past year.

This investment has included hiring a dedicated Community Manager, increased participation in the forums by our Editorial team, and featuring more member-driven content on our homepage.

Now, we’re taking the next big step: upgrading the forum software itself. Our current system has served us well for over 25 years, but it’s time for an upgrade that will lay the groundwork for the future, including a modern photo sharing system, a unified mobile experience, and many other improvements that will make the forums even better for the years ahead.

Here’s some of what you can expect
  • A new photo sharing and gallery system to share your photos with other community members and browse their work.
  • Consolidated activity feeds showing the latest posts, trending discussions, and popular content across all forums in unified views.
  • A mobile-responsive design – no more switching between different mobile and desktop versions of the forums.
  • Improved direct messaging, including group chats, to connect privately with other members.
  • Enhanced profile pages to showcase your photography, gear, and interests.
  • Customizable notifications to stay updated on topics and conversations more easily.
  • Thread pinning and highlighting for better visibility of timely or informative discussions.
  • New post sharing options for referencing and responding to posts of interest.
These improvements will make it easier to connect, share your work, and participate in discussions, with additional features planned for the future.

How we’re making this happen

To make these improvements possible, we’ll be migrating the forums to a modern community platform called XenForo. While this means a change behind the scenes, the move enables us to introduce features and updates we’ve wanted to make for a long time, and will allow the forums to continue to grow and adapt as the internet evolves. This will replace our current, aging, proprietary forum software, which is increasingly difficult to modernize and maintain.

We’ve also worked with our team of volunteer moderators to prepare for this change so the new platform continues to reflect what makes our community special.

What to expect

All current forum discussions will be carried over, and your history will stay intact. To complete the transition, the forums will briefly enter read-only mode for at least a day; we’ll announce the exact timing and expected read-only window as we get closer so you can plan accordingly.

While not every feature could be carried over, the vast majority will remain, and many long-requested improvements will finally become a reality. Similar to moving into a new house, some things may look slightly different at first, but we expect you’ll find yourself feeling at home in no time.

How you can help

We appreciate that changes can raise questions and concerns. Your feedback is crucial: please share your questions by replying below so we can address them in a comprehensive FAQ. We recommend reviewing this forum thread first in case your question has already been answered.

Thank you for making DPReview the vibrant community it is. We’re committed to ensuring these forums remain the best place on the internet to discuss cameras and photography, now and into the future.

Dale
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I apologize if I am missing something, but what makes it more costly to stick with our present software vs the newer code?
 
Just thought about another wild thing with this. If in fact any photos will need to be maximum 1600 pixels on longest side, this kinda smacks in the face of the typical concerns here at dpr of pushing the latest and greatest equipment and stressing the highest image quality possible then sharing images no larger than 2.5mp. This does not give one much reason to have new expensive equipment to share photos from and place image quality as the main criteria for existence. My D1h should perform well here after the move.
 
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