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ubuntu-geek
November 15th, 2004, 06:46 AM
I would like to get other peoples input on stuff they would like to see here on the forums. :) So feel free to offer any suggestions, comments or ideas.. to make the forums rock even more.

ChrisQ
November 15th, 2004, 08:22 AM
phpbb?;)

castrojo
November 15th, 2004, 08:29 AM
It would be nice if the forum tracked ubuntu-devel as well as -user.

HiddenWolf
November 15th, 2004, 12:43 PM
It would be nice if the forum tracked ubuntu-devel as well as -user.

agree.

My inbox can't handle devel. let me read it here. :-)

ubuntu-geek
November 15th, 2004, 05:10 PM
phpbb?;)
We started off with phpbb it didnt fit the needs I have in mind :) So thats why we are running vbulletin.. :)

ubuntu-geek
November 15th, 2004, 05:12 PM
It would be nice if the forum tracked ubuntu-devel as well as -user.
Yeah I can do that.. If not today then tomorrow. :)

zenwhen
November 15th, 2004, 08:10 PM
Add a gaming forum for the Linux gamers that will surely soon be using Ubuntu, and make me the mod. :grin:

jdodson
November 15th, 2004, 08:26 PM
a gaming forum would own all.

zenwhen
November 15th, 2004, 08:46 PM
Especially one that I could moderate and make stickies and howto's for. :-P

TravisNewman
November 15th, 2004, 09:14 PM
Gaming would be very nice! Fill it up with Cedega CVS howtos and links to specific installer packages, etc. I dig.

One user somewhere on the board suggested having a "View all unanswered questions" that would bring up all the topics that only had one post. That could be cool

fng
November 15th, 2004, 11:44 PM
Gamers Unite!

ubuntu-geek
November 16th, 2004, 12:30 AM
It would be nice if the forum tracked ubuntu-devel as well as -user.
All done.. Imported all the dev threads since Sept. :)

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=29

cseg
November 16th, 2004, 02:25 AM
I would like to see a usability forum. Ubuntu has done a very good job with usability which means I think they will listen when we point out usability issues that we encounter.

ubuntu-geek
November 16th, 2004, 05:21 AM
Add a gaming forum for the Linux gamers that will surely soon be using Ubuntu, and make me the mod. :grin:
Ubuntu Gaming: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=30

spirospr
November 17th, 2004, 04:16 PM
What about giving an instruction which will say that if someone manages to find a solution for his problem should post his solution in details?

It should not be obligatory but if followed i think the threads will become fewer and fewer so that things will not have to be repeated over and over again.....

Then imagine that the forum will become something like an endless how to , where everithing will be organized and users will not have to searh around for solutions over solutions..... I think it is common for users who try to find solutions for a solution described because the solution is implemented.


Give some time thinking my idea.......

zenwhen
November 17th, 2004, 05:39 PM
I think It would even be nice to add some form of forum hack that would allow a person to click on the post that solved their issue, and have it tossed with his original post into some sort of solutions forum.

HiddenWolf
November 17th, 2004, 07:42 PM
Oh the HOWTO forums are shaping up to be a great source of information already, what would a 'solutions' forum add?

zenwhen
November 17th, 2004, 10:27 PM
Oh the HOWTO forums are shaping up to be a great source of information already, what would a 'solutions' forum add?

The HOWTO's tell you how to do new/hard/obscure things.

A solutions forum would tell you how people have solved problems. Are you saying you don't see a difference between the posts that wind up solving issues in the support forums and in the threads in the HOWTO forum?

TravisNewman
November 17th, 2004, 11:34 PM
I think there should just be a "solved" button that either a mod or the original poster can click, which will append the text "[SOLVED]" to the beginning of the thread title, so that at least you can search for that text to see what's solved.

dataw0lf
November 18th, 2004, 09:41 PM
Perhaps a programming section/forum? I'm currently developing on several projects, and sharing my experiences with others (and vice versa) could be very helpful.
dataw0lf

Crisp
November 19th, 2004, 12:08 AM
I'd certainly second a programming section. That's one area I could give plenty of help in.

-Crisp

Magneto
November 20th, 2004, 02:30 AM
I'd certainly second a programming section. That's one area I could give plenty of help in.

-Crisp
1.) RSS Feed of 20 latest posts across any forum- i dont think most of the boards have enuf traffic to make it useful other than for the whole site right now- but thats just me

2.) cosign-I'd like to see a Programming/Dev section. Lets get some Ubuntu apps going.

3.) Dont go to phpbb - lurk over at gentoo and discover how searching for anything pretty much sucks

ubuntu-geek
November 23rd, 2004, 08:23 PM
Perhaps a programming section/forum? I'm currently developing on several projects, and sharing my experiences with others (and vice versa) could be very helpful.
dataw0lf
Programming forum now live :) enjoy.

Magneto
November 23rd, 2004, 09:23 PM
Programming forum now live :) enjoy.
rss?

ubuntu-geek
November 23rd, 2004, 09:42 PM
rss?
On the main page, look at the bottom of the 10 Newest threads box.. RSS2/XML feeds for ya..

Magneto
November 23rd, 2004, 11:22 PM
On the main page, look at the bottom of the 10 Newest threads box.. RSS2/XML feeds for ya..
great - is that new or am I just not observant? either way thanks - perfect for Live Bookmarks

Infatuated_iPod
November 30th, 2004, 01:34 AM
I would like to be able to turn HTML on.. THanks!

jedthehumanoid
December 2nd, 2004, 03:23 PM
A 'show unanswered threads' would be nice and helpful if you feel like helping a random fellow ubuntu user ;)

Magneto
December 2nd, 2004, 06:27 PM
A 'show unanswered threads' would be nice and helpful if you feel like helping a random fellow ubuntu user ;)
Good idea. I've run into some posts with people not getting the same support they used to. Alot of it is n00bs not wanting to read or use the search function

Hey how about a Hopeless N00b Forum ? We just have to make sure enough "experienced" users try to help

jdodson
December 2nd, 2004, 06:36 PM
Good idea. I've run into some posts with people not getting the same support they used to. Alot of it is n00bs not wanting to read or use the search function

Hey how about a Hopeless N00b Forum ? We just have to make sure enough "experienced" users try to help

we talked about the noob forum and it seems some moderators felt that it would lump people into a "type." we dont want to discriminate, some felt it was a type of unflattering typing, such as "X topic for dummies book."

we created the stumpers forum as a way to put unanswered threads in a place people can help really tough questions. if you see a thread that is going un noticed, message a moderator and we will consider moving it to the stumpers forum.

Magneto
December 2nd, 2004, 06:47 PM
Hey man at some point we all are new, im about to go register a domain (wheels churning here) :)

adbak
December 12th, 2004, 09:22 AM
I think that on the front page, the page with the list of all the forum topics, there should be a short little list of important, handy, and/or related links to sites. For instance, there should be links to (and these are just ideas and in no particular order):

http://www.UbuntuLinux.org - Duh.
http://www.apt-get.org - A handy website that allows you to add repos to your sources.list for packages that you can't find in main/universe/multiverse.
http://www.DistroWatch.com - A site related to GNU/Linux and the various distributions with daily updates.
http://www.LXer.com - A site devoted to GNU/Linux and FOSS news. Updated daily.
http://www.LinuxISO.org - A site with the ISOs of various popular distributions in one place (for novice distro-junkies).
http://www.SourceForge.net - A site containing many free and open source programs.
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/index.html - An introduction to GNU/Linux.
http://www.LinuxCommand.org - CLI help.
http://drumlin.thehutt.org/vi/ - A reference manual for using VI/VIM, a powerful editor.

That's all I can think of right now. I don't think that all of those should be on the list and I'm sure there are more that I haven't thought of. Feel free to add some.

As far as the placement of this list, it could be at the very bottom of the page (so that people wouldn't have to scroll past this list just to get to the forums) or it could be on a sidebar.

Just some ideas.

[EDIT] Something like the Quick Links, but not as official.

Alessio
December 17th, 2004, 09:50 AM
My suggestion is open various forum's section for language support! Why not?
Like yoper forum... 1 section for french, 1 section for italian ecc..
Not anyobody read or write english ...
Why not?

ubuntu-geek
December 17th, 2004, 05:34 PM
My suggestion is open various forum's section for language support! Why not?
Like yoper forum... 1 section for french, 1 section for italian ecc..
Not anyobody read or write english ...
Why not?
We thought about this idea awhile ago.. Canonical and I decided it was best to keep the forums english based so some of the other forums that were already created in other languages could continue to grow.

Alessio
December 18th, 2004, 02:05 AM
Yes, but for example an italian forum here will be most visible.. then in another location, or not? And it will be a part of this, and this forum'll grow up!
This is a big hand for any local community that has difficulty for make a stable/visible forum! In future? :confused:

nocturn
December 24th, 2004, 09:38 AM
I like the forums.

A couple of things that would be nice:
- Configurable date and time format (forums use MM-DD-YYYY, while DD-MM-YYYY is normal in my country, I'm also used to 24h time displays).

- In the short user-profile displayed with each post, it would be nice if it mentioned the user's timezone (because offsets can be pretty big)

orion_114
December 24th, 2004, 08:02 PM
Maybe a style upload feature for users so we can upload, share and rate css styles for the forum ?

Smash
December 25th, 2004, 06:54 PM
My suggestion is open various forum's section for language support! Why not?
Like yoper forum... 1 section for french, 1 section for italian ecc..
Not anyobody read or write english ...
Why not?

Good idea!
In this forum we can find a lot of Ubuntu "EXPERT" users, and we can create a big community like Alessio says before me.

Gentoo forum it's a good example :p

[italian mode] Ciao Alessio![/italian mode]

Alessio
December 27th, 2004, 06:53 PM
Good idea!
In this forum we can find a lot of Ubuntu "EXPERT" users, and we can create a big community like Alessio says before me.

Gentoo forum it's a good example :p

[italian mode] Ciao Alessio![/italian mode]
Why not? We attend Staff response!



p.s. Hola smash i'm Pegasus :)

Smash
December 28th, 2004, 03:08 PM
p.s. Hola smash i'm Pegasus :)

..avevo immaginato! ..stesso avatar :mrgreen:

Dylanby
January 8th, 2005, 03:18 AM
I think it'd be really, really cool if the forum implemented an Ubuntu users Worldmap like the one they have for Debian.

See here:
http://www.linuks.mine.nu/debian-worldmap/

That one's great but looks cluttered. If someone implements one for Ubuntu they should just use bullets for the locations with the option for viewers to switch to a name view. Or instead of a name view then the users Linux Counter number.

ctt1wbw
January 29th, 2005, 02:40 PM
This is kinda off-topic to Linux or Ubuntu, but how about letting people put graphics in their signatures? I noticed the [img] tags are off.

TravisNewman
January 29th, 2005, 05:13 PM
Keeping them out of the sig makes it easier on the servers, easier on 56k users, and easier on the eyes of everyone who might have to see someone with a sig that takes up half the freakin' screen.

Seriously, people were making giant pictures for their sigs. That was what made us decide to remove them.

Marquis_de_Carabas
February 3rd, 2005, 05:19 PM
Along with Nocturn, I'd like to see a change to the way posts are dated. Using the format 02-Feb-2005 (or even Feb-02-2005 if you really wanted) would eliminate any confusion (01-02-2005 means the first of February on this side of the Atlantic, but the 2nd of January to our American cousins...).

Okay, it's a very minor thing, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be hard to implement (?) and as people are coming to this site from all over the world, it would be nice to have the dates in a format clear to all.

Also, now that I've become one (!) "Ubuntu Inspiring Guru" doesn't seem to make that much sense. Shouldn't it be "Ubuntu Aspiring Guru?" The way it reads at the moment makes it sound a step up from Guru (i.e. a guru who inspires).

Sorry for the nit-picking. These forums are a great resource, and all I can find 'wrong' are silly little things like these!

stubby
February 8th, 2005, 12:57 AM
What I'd really like is a subscription service, one where you can subscript to threads you've already posted to, or are just curious of and would like to see how the discussion progresses.

This being my first post, I realise now that there is an email subscription service already. I was envisaging something that was actually part of the site, a link that when clicked would display all the links I have subscribed to.

TravisNewman
February 8th, 2005, 02:20 AM
What I'd really like is a subscription service, one where you can subscript to threads you've already posted to, or are just curious of and would like to see how the discussion progresses.

This being my first post, I realise now that there is an email subscription service already. I was envisaging something that was actually part of the site, a link that when clicked would display all the links I have subscribed to.
you can already do all this, it's in your user prefs. See "thread tools" at the top of each thread to subsribe

stubby
February 8th, 2005, 03:08 PM
you can already do all this, it's in your user prefs. See "thread tools" at the top of each thread to subsribe

Right.... /me = a blind idiot =)

[I'm new here.. please be nice :)]

rosslaird
February 12th, 2005, 07:21 AM
I can't believe I'm spending my time on such a persnickety suggestion -- I must really like Ubuntu...

Several forum members have commented, in several threads, about the oddness of the designation "Ubuntu Inspiring Guru" for forum members who post more than 25 (I think) posts. As a career author, here's my two bits:

You are, of course, entitled to use whatever vocabulary you like (bolstering your choice by dictionary definitions, as has been done on the forum with the word "inspiring"). But there are several problems with the phrase "Ubuntu Inspiring Guru":

1. Readers and members of the forum are confused by the term, and they generally feel that it is mis-applied. If 10 members have commented, you can bet that 100 have wondered about it. Vocabulary is to help make text clear for the reader, not for the author. If readers consistently question usage, there's a real issue to examine.

2. Technically, "Ubuntu Inspiring Guru" is grammatically incorrect. The word order (with the gerund "Inspiring" in the middle) suggests that the action of the gerund (a gerund is a verbal noun ending in -ing) is on the word "Ubuntu." In other words, the guru is inspiring Ubuntu. This is surely not the intended meaning. An alternate reading would have the action of the gerund on "Guru," so that the guru is inspired by Ubuntu. This is not intended either. An astute reader will interpret the intended meaning correctly -- that the guru of Ubuntu is inspiring others -- but it is a messy phrase. To clean it up and clarify the meaning you'd have to change it to "Ubuntu Inspirational Guru," or simply "Inspirational Guru" --replace the gerund with an adjective -- but these variants are also awfully messy.

3. Many of the forum members who have posted on this issue have been uncomfortable with the designation after only 25 posts (myself included), and have wondered if perhaps "aspiring" would be better. "Aspirational Guru" would be correct, but horribly awkward. "Aspiring Geek," on the other hand, would be fine (at least for me). And, with proper word order, you could even use "Aspiring Ubuntu Geek").

If this is all I can find to criticize, Ubuntu must be doing a great job.

Sye d'Burns
February 12th, 2005, 08:36 AM
Several forum members have commented, in several threads, about the oddness of the designation "Ubuntu Inspiring Guru" for forum members who post more than 25 (I think) posts.

I always thought it was meant to read "Ubuntu Aspiring Guru" as in "hoping to become." I just figured it'd never been fixed.

jubuntus
February 12th, 2005, 04:42 PM
The "Art and Themes Gallery" link is dead. Sorry, couldn't find anywhere else to submit this.

trash
February 12th, 2005, 05:03 PM
Ubuntuforum 'homepage'

personally I haven't had a real homepage set for quite sometime now(actually it is the yahoo mail login page).
I would love to have a ubuntuforum page that...

listed new posts(single line)
quick links to subscribed threads, instant messages
most often used links...
automatic refresh maybe?

basically all the essentials at a glance
maybe even customizable?

Notification of repository changes/updates?

thanks.

ubuntu.com(/ne/t.org or whatever) email for everyone.... just a thought but since the mac.com did a lot of free advertising for apple... though apple did claim that they couldn't afford to keep doing it for free(ya right).
Ubuntu email for free + $xx for extra storage. I guess this is not really a forum suggestion but i'm a gardener a like planting seeds:)

Xian
February 14th, 2005, 02:41 AM
How can I easily see which threads do not yet have any replies?
Is there a quick link?

ups
February 14th, 2005, 03:26 PM
How can I easily see which threads do not yet have any replies?
Is there a quick link?
Normally its located in the Quick Links dropdown, but its not here. You can use this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?do=process&replyless=1&replylimit=0&dontcache=1

Xian
February 15th, 2005, 12:12 AM
Normally its located in the Quick Links dropdown, but its not here. You can use this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?do=process&replyless=1&replylimit=0&dontcache=1
Hey, that's really great. I looked in the Quick Links and didn't see it as well.
Where'd it go?

Again, thanks. :)

Bite_me_Bill
February 15th, 2005, 06:24 AM
I would like to suggest an Ubuntu project section for the forums. Not sure if you would set this as a category with subs for different types of projects. We have among us a couple of teachers that are bringing Ubuntu into the classroom. We aren't talking just one classroom but one is a growing charter school in California and another is a complete building in Vancover. Projects like these use information from all the current categories and then some. This would give a central area to discuss and ask for suggestions on things dealing with projects like this. Also provide quick a quick reference for the needed information. I know the search function works well but you end up sifting though pages of hits to find the information your looking for. Install, suggested software, networking, servers, PXE to what ever else may be needed or wanted.

I would also suggest that this section be closely monitored/moderated to keep on track and that maybe other project specific categories for other things that involve a broad area but are specific to a project. After a little while these areas would turn into an area of specific knowledge to others interested in project of related topic.

ups
February 16th, 2005, 12:41 AM
I have a suggestion:

Please make a seperate forum for Forum Suggestions/Comments, that will contain all these and also where the admin/mods can better communicate regarding forum issues. just one thread isnt looking very well... for example its hard to go through so many posts to see if an idea has already been proposed, while a seperate forum could have seperate topics for various ideas/suggestions/comments etc.

Also, there the u-g can tell us what new features mean (i'm not sure what/how the reputation thing works, for example).

It'll look better organized, IMHO :D

akurashy
February 22nd, 2005, 11:07 PM
add language support forums >_<
spanish, french
etc etc
:o

wallijonn
February 23rd, 2005, 09:22 PM
I'd appreciate a Hoary icon (Forum Sections Icon) in blue to differentiate it from Warty, which is in red. That or the style automatically changes from your default to another style.

This isn't a problem for most readers, reading Warty and Hoary posts, but I find it disconcerting. It would be like reading questions based on GNOME and another on KDE, when one only is interested in addressing one or the other.

Slapdash
March 11th, 2005, 07:28 AM
I would like to suggest a Question / Answer TEST page. Dont know if its for a forum maybe a little web page or like a POLL page would also work.

Something like: ( VERY simple question but you get the idea )

In Gnome, where do you change the background?

a: In GDM
b: In System tools
d: All of the Above

THen people can "Vote on an answer" after a certain time it displays the correct answer and the how to. ( Hide the answers ( results the people give until a certain date )
THat way we can see where documentation / user knowledge / unclarity is lacking in the user base.

What do you think?

bored2k
March 11th, 2005, 07:34 AM
I would like to suggest a Question / Answer TEST page. Dont know if its for a forum maybe a little web page or like a POLL page would also work.

Something like: ( VERY simple question but you get the idea )

In Gnome, where do you change the background?

a: In GDM
b: In System tools
d: All of the Above

THen people can "Vote on an answer" after a certain time it displays the correct answer and the how to. ( Hide the answers ( results the people give until a certain date )
THat way we can see where documentation / user knowledge / unclarity is lacking in the user base.

What do you think?
Like a Pop-Quiz ? lol that would be funny !!

It would be embarrassing to see my low score public :( . But lol good idea.

Slapdash
March 11th, 2005, 07:59 AM
Yeah! basically something like that :smile:
I think it will be fun, very original and it also shows mods/ devs / doc writers what to expect.

So you rekon users/mods would like the idea?

My score will be the lowest dont worry! :mrgreen: :oops:
Hmmm Come to think of it I dont think people would be able to see each individual score would they? Esp. if you make it in the form of a poll. One would just be able to see that say 85% dont know what they are talking about :smile:

landotter
March 11th, 2005, 08:20 AM
Good idea. I've run into some posts with people not getting the same support they used to. Alot of it is n00bs not wanting to read or use the search function

Hey how about a Hopeless N00b Forum ? We just have to make sure enough "experienced" users try to help

how about in the forum header a larger search component.

Right now, the search is kind of hidden in the yellow bar.

The design of the forums is greatexcept for this.

SEARCH NEEDS TO BE HUGE!!

(scuse the screaming. :P)

There are so many repeated questions that would be better served being filtered towards some kind of wiki how-to page.

It would save the responders some keyboard time, and give the posters a more accurate solution.

:D

bored2k
March 11th, 2005, 08:33 AM
how about in the forum header a larger search component.

Right now, the search is kind of hidden in the yellow bar.

The design of the forums is greatexcept for this.

SEARCH NEEDS TO BE HUGE!!

(scuse the screaming. :P)

There are so many repeated questions that would be better served being filtered towards some kind of wiki how-to page.

It would save the responders some keyboard time, and give the posters a more accurate solution.

:D
Yes search needs to be 32 font sparkling with red/white/blue/pink colors, I am getting used to see the same questions being asked about 3 days at the same instant lol.

landotter
March 11th, 2005, 06:00 PM
Ohhhh, how fabulous! text with a sparkle tag!

<sparkle>glittery</sparkle>

:D :P

occy8
March 13th, 2005, 07:16 AM
O.k. first I'm new to Linux and even newer to Ubuntu.

What I like to see is a Newby install forum.
I think more or less new users ( ex Windoofs that is) run into the same problems
during install and first weeks of usage.
It would be easier to search for solutions in such a forum rather then searching through many others.
The most common threads could then be transformed into howtos or in future developments things could be changed or added to Ubuntu "Hairy Hampster"

Another one would be the dreamtime forum
to discuss future developments not just the artwork as in one forum but something like a wishlist for applications, user interface, hardware support.

bored2k
March 13th, 2005, 07:25 AM
O.k. first I'm new to Linux and even newer to Ubuntu.

What I like to see is a Newby install forum.
I think more or less new users ( ex Windoofs that is) run into the same problems
during install and first weeks of usage.
It would be easier to search for solutions in such a forum rather then searching through many others.
The most common threads could then be transformed into howtos or in future developments things could be changed or added to Ubuntu "Hairy Hampster"

Another one would be the dreamtime forum
to discuss future developments not just the artwork as in one forum but something like a wishlist for applications, user interface, hardware support.

noob how to (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=15)
starter guide (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=5608)
people new to ubuntu (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=13042)
first install (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=3713)
[url=http://www.ubuntuguide.org]ubuntu guide[/org]

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=22 ubuntu development

Any other thing lacking you want to point out ?
Also remember, were a community, you can ask wherever you want, you will still get answers ;) .

Edit > What do you want ? a newbies from windows only thread? So 200 newbies could gather round and mess up their Ubuntu and then claim it sucks? Mods you listening? sounds interesting ... :roll:

occy8
March 13th, 2005, 09:09 AM
Any other thing lacking you want to point out ?
Also remember, were a community, you can ask wherever you want, you will still get answers .

Edit > What do you want ? a newbies from windows only thread? So 200 newbies could gather round and mess up their Ubuntu and then claim it sucks? Mods you listening? sounds interesting ...


I see I withdraw my remarks as with most information it's there you only have to find it.

Now to the windows newbie thread. thought it's a good idea to have an area with very basic questions, to help people in and stay with Ubuntu rather then installing it mucking around for a week or 2, thinking ohh yeahh its too hard and then trying another Linux distro.
Speaking for myself I want to replace windows. It is not easy and very time consuming. To ask a "stupid" or better basic question can save me plenty of time but can annoy others in the wrong forum.

benplaut
April 3rd, 2005, 04:38 AM
little bit off topic... but...

is it just me, or is the forum time 20 minutes fast...?

(probably just me...)

EDIT

OK... suggestion...

Fix the forum time!!! ](*,)](*,)

bored2k
April 3rd, 2005, 04:43 AM
little bit off topic... but...

is it just me, or is the forum time 20 minutes fast...?

(probably just me...)
You're not alone..

That's what I call off-topic.

sirchmeister
April 9th, 2005, 02:05 PM
I just joined, and I must say I was about to go to sleep and instead had to download this distro. The screenshots are amazing. I am a Windows XP User, who just tried out Mandrake 10.1 and it is 'ok'. My USB mouse would freeze which seems to be a issue amongst many other than myself. But this distro looks very good and im about to install it now, I will post back once I have. My reason for this post here was that I had a suggestion, and my suggestion was to have a forum where people can introduce themselves if they are new, preferably have the forum at the top.

EDIT: I am back from the install, and I must say, this distro is simply amazing, EVERYTHING installed flawlessly, which is more than what Mandrake did (Did not correctly identify my nForce audio controller) Great job to the Developers of Ubuntu and those at Kubuntu as well (I am using Kubuntu)

Jad
April 9th, 2005, 07:47 PM
Linux Certification discussion forums

adbak
April 9th, 2005, 08:05 PM
Could the Quick Reply not automatically quote the message in reply? It's nothing major, but it's a hassle going back to edit out the quote.

Xian
April 9th, 2005, 09:02 PM
Something in the way that URL links are handled has changed. I can't see where the forum highlights them distinctly or at least underlines them (I think it used to only highlight the link).

For example here is a link to Google Search Page (www.google.com)

Does it appear offset in any way to you? Maybe it's just my screen.
Of course, I can manually underline it with some code: Google Search Page (www.google.com)

Any better way of doing this?

kassetra
April 9th, 2005, 09:05 PM
Something in the way that URL links are handled has changed. I can't see where the forum highlights them distinctly or at least underlines them (I think it used to only highlight the link).

For example here is a link to Google Search Page (http://www.google.com)

Does it appear offset in any way to you? Maybe it's just my screen.
Of course, I can manually underline it with some code: Google Search Page (http://www.google.com)

Any better way of doing this?

Ok, both of those show up as underlined links to me.

skoal
April 9th, 2005, 10:50 PM
What about a hardware review/compatibility forum?

Users could post their experiences and success rates (via a poll) while using Linux (or even Ubuntu for that matter).

PROS:
1. It would provide a great statistical analysis for potential hardware purchases.
2. It would infer some degree of success while using Linux (or Ubuntu).
3. It could lessen hardware related forum questions in relation to 1.
4. etc.
5. What other distro can claim such a service to their community?

CONS:
1. Deter some people from using Ubuntu, mistakenly assuming it's a direct relation to Ubuntu compatibility (and not Linux hardware support).
2. Touch off 'holy wars'.
3. Become obsolete with future kernel/module versions and 3rd party driver availability.
3. etc.

* Personally, I would find it a valuable resource. Not every Nvidia or ATI card works well under Linux. Nor does every wifi card setup work well even while using nidswrapper. etc...

kassetra
April 9th, 2005, 11:03 PM
What about a hardware review/compatibility forum?

Users could post their experiences and success rates (via a poll) while using Linux (or even Ubuntu for that matter).

PROS:
1. It would provide a great statistical analysis for potential hardware purchases.
2. It would infer some degree of success while using Linux (or Ubuntu).
3. It could lessen hardware related forum questions in relation to 1.
4. etc.
5. What other distro can claim such a service to their community?


Hmmm.... this has the seeds of a really good idea, mind if we take it and discuss it and alter it possibly?

skoal
April 9th, 2005, 11:14 PM
[...] mind if we take it and discuss it and alter it possibly?

By all means. Feel free. I thought I'd just throw out a piece of ripe 'meat' for you veterans to chew on. You guys have much better understanding of community, goals, and forum direction than I can hope to offer at the moment.

gflores
April 10th, 2005, 03:57 AM
Could the Quick Reply not automatically quote the message in reply? It's nothing major, but it's a hassle going back to edit out the quote.

Seconded.

One thing I'd love to see is a 'View My Posts' link where it will display the threads where I have posted.

Xian
April 10th, 2005, 04:42 AM
Ok, both of those show up as underlined links to me.
LOL. Yeah, I see them now. Too much beer today, I guess. :)

Xian
April 10th, 2005, 04:46 AM
One thing I'd love to see is a 'View My Posts' link where it will display the threads where I have posted.
Try this one: gflores posts (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/search.php?do=finduser&u=13186). Does that work?

kassetra
April 10th, 2005, 04:49 AM
By all means. Feel free. I thought I'd just throw out a piece of ripe 'meat' for you veterans to chew on. You guys have much better understanding of community, goals, and forum direction than I can hope to offer at the moment.

Apparently, this is implemented directly in Hoary right now.

Per azz: Applications->System Tools->Ubuntu Device Database

timelord726
April 10th, 2005, 05:28 AM
Oh, I have a great idea! Well, at least I think it's great. What about having different forum skins based on each of the Human themes? Like having this one, plus the Olive one and the DeepSky one. I'd like that at least. Anyone else?

gflores
April 10th, 2005, 10:29 PM
Try this one: gflores posts (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/search.php?do=finduser&u=13186). Does that work?

That works great! Thanks.

muzza
April 12th, 2005, 02:14 AM
Forum suggestion: Would it be possible to only have the 'stickies' on the first page of the various forums?

I (and many others) only have 56k and its unnecessary to see the same threads over and over and over again.

These stickies contain valuable and important info and messages, but once you've read them once.......

whadyareckon?

poyner
April 12th, 2005, 02:17 PM
I think that the Starter Guide deserves a link at the top of the page somewhere. I think I remember seeing it there at some point in time just after the new forum came online but now it's buried inside the link Directory. Just my opinion. anyone else agree?

edit: got another idea.... how about a 'My Posts....' option under quick links..... :)

mohaham
April 17th, 2005, 04:58 PM
I agree.. the Ubuntu Starters guide deserves that..

minio
April 24th, 2005, 12:59 AM
Maybe I am just blind but i cannot find option to show time in 24 hours format. And I am really used to it(well I don remember what AM/PM mean). I want my 24 hours :)

skoal
April 29th, 2005, 11:00 PM
Apparently, this is implemented directly in Hoary right now.

Per azz: Applications->System Tools->Ubuntu Device Database

I've just done a fresh install of Hoary 5.04. I go through the entire process of hardware detection/analysis/comments/etc, but when I get the dialog to 'send hardware information' and click 'ok', it just sits there. I've waited almost 10 minutes too. Anyway, I'd like to contribute my specs to this database and will try again. It looks like a nice feature.

Is there any statistical bar chart or graph we have access to which shows what people are succesfully using in Ubuntu?

-TayloR-
May 8th, 2005, 12:33 PM
Just an idea, ever thought about having a games section? within the community chat bit or something?

Marquis_de_Carabas
May 8th, 2005, 01:14 PM
Just an idea, ever thought about having a games section? within the community chat bit or something?

There is the Ubuntu Gaming forum, but of course that's really a support thing. I agree that it would be nice to have a section simply for chatting about gaming on Ubuntu.

Oh, and Minio: Just right-click on the clock then select preferences and the option to change the time format will be there (assuming you're using Gnome that is, but I imagine the process in KDE would be similar).

XDevHald
May 8th, 2005, 01:22 PM
Just an idea, ever thought about having a games section? within the community chat bit or something?


Sounds like a great Idea, I'm sure u-g would like to see something like this be added. :)

-TayloR-
May 8th, 2005, 01:45 PM
Ahh right my bad, i never noticed the gaming support sub section when i suggested that idea. But also as someone said it would be nice to have an area about in general talk with games and such.. as ive had a few questions myself about gaming and its not really support im looking for, more suggestions and such. But i guess the question is, would it be used often for in general game talk? hmm.

XDevHald
May 10th, 2005, 04:50 AM
Ahh right my bad, i never noticed the gaming support sub section when i suggested that idea. But also as someone said it would be nice to have an area about in general talk with games and such.. as ive had a few questions myself about gaming and its not really support im looking for, more suggestions and such. But i guess the question is, would it be used often for in general game talk? hmm.
Well, we do have a lot of gamers, and yes it would be used a lot for probably tech support but in all cases, it would be a good asset to the forum if it's going to be a great production line for the community it's self in users wanting information of general gaming, etc.

spd106
May 16th, 2005, 09:28 PM
I would like to see a section for minimalist/legacy hardware.

This could be a place for people who are new to linux from windows and have older/legacy systems that can't run all of the latest and greatest apps. But only need to use basic web services.

Similarly to the suggestions made by skoal, it could be a place where users can tell others of lower spec hardware that can work with Ubuntu.

If you have a six year pentium II or an eight year mac that could be made to use Ubuntu with a lightweight desktop like xfce.

This could also be a place for people to show off there skills with mini-atx or small custom made PCs.

I realise that we don't want to get too much into the hardware side of things, gentoo and other lightweight distros are far better for this.

Ubuntu is building a reputation for being cutting edge yet very useable. I believe we need to provide a place, where people who have heard about this magical place can come to and find that they don't need to go out and buy the very latest hi-spec PC with all the bells and whistles. Then go home, play solitaire and send an email to cousin geoffrey. This is what Micro$oft is all about!!!

Sorry for the rant :-#

Jenda
May 19th, 2005, 11:25 PM
How about .odt attachment support...?

1337sithlord
May 20th, 2005, 04:02 AM
Ok you can tell im new, but i dont know if there is a way to find ur own threads. If there isn't, a search by author mehod would be cool. Also i noticed that my avatar is too big lol. Most forums automatically resize lol. Two tiny things, no big deal.

Xian
May 20th, 2005, 11:04 AM
Ok you can tell im new, but i dont know if there is a way to find ur own threads. If there isn't, a search by author mehod would be cool.
You can do both. To find your own threads click here: sithlord's posts (http://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?searchid=779950)
To seach by author go here: Advanced Search (http://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?)

1337sithlord
May 20th, 2005, 01:26 PM
Oh, thanks, but can the avatar auto-resizing be turned on?

Optimal Aurora
May 23rd, 2005, 03:19 AM
Okay I know that I am an absolute newbie when it comes to debian based linux and I have to admit I do like Ubuntu's hoary. But for use newbies that come from other distributions of linux couldn't you make a howto section that tell's you step by step how to install like Real Player or how to set up more than one user. These are my concerns because I recently gave up trying to install Real Player both on Kubuntu and Ubuntu and went back to the linux distro I was use to using. I still like Ubuntu and wanted to use it so I installed it and tried to set up multiple user it accepted the user information but it wouldn't let the user log in... I eventually found the problem a day or so later.

I feel that this should justify the need for an absolute beginner How To page.
Later...

XDevHald
May 23rd, 2005, 03:27 AM
Okay I know that I am an absolute newbie when it comes to debian based linux and I have to admit I do like Ubuntu's hoary. But for use newbies that come from other distributions of linux couldn't you make a howto section that tell's you step by step how to install like Real Player or how to set up more than one user. These are my concerns because I recently gave up trying to install Real Player both on Kubuntu and Ubuntu and went back to the linux distro I was use to using. I still like Ubuntu and wanted to use it so I installed it and tried to set up multiple user it accepted the user information but it wouldn't let the user log in... I eventually found the problem a day or so later.

I feel that this should justify the need for an absolute beginner How To page.
Later...
For RestrictedFormats of Real Player:
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/RestrictedFormats

Adding Users to The User List:
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/AddUsersHowto

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Other:
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=31094&highlight=Setting+Real+Player

Optimal Aurora
May 23rd, 2005, 03:36 AM
Thanks... I am use to using fedora and not going to the wiki page to find information sorry...

But Thanks...
Optimal Aurora...

Marquis_de_Carabas
May 23rd, 2005, 12:33 PM
Thanks... I am use to using fedora and not going to the wiki page to find information sorry...

Those HowTos you asked for are available, and not particularly difficult to find. And if someone can't find them then - as you've just discovered - all they need to do is ask and somebody will point them out.

If you don't want to read the HowTos because you're happy with Fedora then fair enough, but in that case I don't understand why you would make a post complaining that they weren't there?...

XDevHald
May 23rd, 2005, 12:38 PM
Those HowTos you asked for are available, and not particularly difficult to find. And if someone can't find them then - as you've just discovered - all they need to do is ask and somebody will point them out.

If you don't want to read the HowTos because you're happy with Fedora then fair enough, but in that case I don't understand why you would make a post complaining that they weren't there?...
Most users are unable to find information due to not as much experience in researching as others, and need more help and attention than others in locating that information, please note that helping others by placing the information in front of them is always a step closer to their success in using that information to the best of their ability.

Marquis_de_Carabas
May 23rd, 2005, 12:45 PM
Most users are unable to find information due to not as much experience in researching as others, and need more help and attention than others in locating that information, please note that helping others by placing the information in front of them is always a step closer to their success in using that information to the best of their ability.

Yes, of course. I'm not criticising anybody for needing to be pointed in the right direction. OA asked and was provided with the necessary information, which is how it should be. My point was merely that as they didn't actually want the information in the end anyway, I didn't understand the reason for their first post.

-TayloR-
June 6th, 2005, 09:57 AM
Hmm, another suggestion that springs to mind is, how about just an in general hardware section? that has nothing to do with the OS your using? like maybe someone is enquiring about what router to buy.. this doesnt involve the OS for example... because i had a question regarding my network at home and i didnt quite know where to put it to begin with.. most likely placed it in the wrong section as it is :\.

kassetra
June 19th, 2005, 01:35 PM
Hmm, another suggestion that springs to mind is, how about just an in general hardware section? that has nothing to do with the OS your using? like maybe someone is enquiring about what router to buy.. this doesnt involve the OS for example... because i had a question regarding my network at home and i didnt quite know where to put it to begin with.. most likely placed it in the wrong section as it is :\.

General inquiries typically go here in the community area, especially if they are not specifically tied to Ubuntu. :)

benplaut
June 21st, 2005, 02:57 AM
(sorry if this has already been said... there's alot of pages in this thread to read through)

is it possible to have the "tree" at the bottom of the page, as well as the top? with the forum's behavior of bringing you back to your post after replying, it can get annoying to have to scroll up an extensive page to find your way back to the main forum group (and no, the scroll bar isn't enough)

this is what i mean by the tree:

http://img201.echo.cx/img201/8087/screenshot5xh.png

kxs
June 25th, 2005, 04:46 PM
got another idea.... how about a 'My Posts....' option under quick links..... :)

That would be great. I know that you can look for it with advanced search, but with quick links it would be easier. I find it very useful, especially for noobs like me.

allforcarrie
June 26th, 2005, 05:16 PM
(sorry if this has already been said... there's alot of pages in this thread to read through)

is it possible to have the "tree" at the bottom of the page, as well as the top? with the forum's behavior of bringing you back to your post after replying, it can get annoying to have to scroll up an extensive page to find your way back to the main forum group (and no, the scroll bar isn't enough)

this is what i mean by the tree:

http://img201.echo.cx/img201/8087/screenshot5xh.png

Agreed, I get lost easy :)

newbie2
July 23rd, 2005, 08:57 PM
toolbar (especially with search button) more visible (bigger searchbutton) ??

TravisNewman
July 23rd, 2005, 10:11 PM
(sorry if this has already been said... there's alot of pages in this thread to read through)

is it possible to have the "tree" at the bottom of the page, as well as the top? with the forum's behavior of bringing you back to your post after replying, it can get annoying to have to scroll up an extensive page to find your way back to the main forum group (and no, the scroll bar isn't enough)

this is what i mean by the tree:

http://img201.echo.cx/img201/8087/screenshot5xh.png
you can just hit "home" on your keyboard to go back to the top of the page immediately. But yeah I agree, that could be handy :)

SKLP
August 7th, 2005, 04:39 PM
I'd like the forums to allow threads such as this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=18430) one and not just lock them and tell me to use the boooring gallery...

Abd-al-Karim
August 20th, 2005, 06:32 PM
It may have been suggested alrready, but how about a forum for discussing opensource in general i.e. OSS, free software, OSS & free vs. Proprietary, what direction Open Source is going etc. people could also post OSS News articles there. Just a thought.

arnieboy
August 20th, 2005, 07:51 PM
It would be a good idea if the number of stickies in the chat forum are reduced. for example threads like "ubuntuforums cookbook" and "what kind of linux user are u?" do not deserve stickies. also "forum guidelines and rules" should have just one sticky. too many stickies make a forum clunky. hope this gets heard.

jerome bettis
August 20th, 2005, 08:39 PM
more posts on the same page - i hate reading 8 pages of stuff when it should be 2 or 3.

and why do pictures show up as links in posts? is there an option for that anywhere?

arnieboy
August 20th, 2005, 08:44 PM
more posts on the same page - i hate reading 8 pages of stuff when it should be 2 or 3.

and why do pictures show up as links in posts? is there an option for that anywhere?
Quick Links--> Edit Options (U can set the number of posts in a page to 40 but thats the max u can go to). have u tried doing that?

arnieboy
August 30th, 2005, 07:48 PM
I have a couple of forum suggestions to make:
1) The horizontal bar on top which says "The SEARCH function will help you find your answer quickly" should read:
The SEARCH function and UBUNTUGUIDE (http://ubuntuguide.org) will help you find MOST of your answers quickly!
and should appear in a bigger font in bold.

2) the "Customization Tips and Tricks" forum name should be changed to "MANUALS (NO NEW QUESTIONS TO BE POSTED HERE EXCEPT IN AN EXISTING THREAD)"
Lots of non english-speaking people do not understand the true meaning of the title and keep asking questions thinking its a forum where u would ask questions about customization and "how to" fix problems. its confusing for people who are not fluent in english. Native speakers of this language have to appreciate that fact. I am sure it will turn out to be a boon for moderators as well who will have lesser posts to move.

John.Michael.Kane
August 31st, 2005, 01:16 AM
Better way to get answers!!!!!

TristanMike
August 31st, 2005, 07:57 PM
It would be a good idea if the number of stickies in the chat forum are reduced. for example threads like "ubuntuforums cookbook" and "what kind of linux user are u?" do not deserve stickies. also "forum guidelines and rules" should have just one sticky. too many stickies make a forum clunky. hope this gets heard.I second this one for sure. What does it take to get a "sticky" by all rights one might think that something like the "What are you listening to right now?" thread should be a sticky too.

Lord Illidan
August 31st, 2005, 08:42 PM
At the top, near the lists of links Ubuntu.com, Offical Wiki, etc, a link to the Ubuntu Guide would do a world of good, I believe.. it would save most extra posts whose answers are solved by just loading the Ubuntu Guide...

Also, I enquire, what does it take to be a moderator on this forum? I just like it here too much...

Also, I wonder.. can there be something to limit the number of posts of new users? Because I think there has been an increase in the number of "members" who sign up just to post spam..

Doing a restriction of 2-3 posts per half hour until the user has reached 10 posts would help, I think...

occy8
September 10th, 2005, 11:33 PM
I'd like to see a multimedia forum. there are threads all over the place.
wouldbe easier to look things up

Deeze
September 12th, 2005, 05:31 PM
Is there a modification to VBulletin that gives the multiquote functionality of IPB? I really miss that board function (I love IPB). I would also vote for more board skins, no need to recode, just make different CSS files for them. Give us something other than brown/tan. Please.

YourSurrogateGod
September 13th, 2005, 03:15 PM
How about banning *all* political discussions? I've seen Gentoo's off the wall forum degrade into a craphole when politics was mixed into the pot and I don't want this to happen to this place. How are we going to be a friendly community if politics is allowed to poison the atmosphere :( ?

Brunellus
September 13th, 2005, 03:18 PM
How about banning *all* political discussions? I've seen Gentoo's off the wall forum degrade into a craphole when politics was mixed into the pot and I don't want this to happen to this place. How are we going to be a friendly community if politics is allowed to poison the atmosphere :( ?
not very enforceable in the long run. I support threadlocking when things degrade to incivility, but not an a priori ban on politics in the general forum.

YourSurrogateGod
September 13th, 2005, 03:48 PM
not very enforceable in the long run. I support threadlocking when things degrade to incivility, but not an a priori ban on politics in the general forum.
I think I should have been more specific.

Locking threads that have been started with the express purpose of talking about politics. I realize that sometimes, on certain threads, someone will mention something about some world leader, which is ok, just as long as the thread doesn't get hijacked and goes off on a discussion about politics.

Also, those posts that mention politics can be subject to the editting of the moderators, assuming they find the subject somehow inflammatory or offensive.

mike998
September 13th, 2005, 04:40 PM
I think I should have been more specific.

Locking threads that have been started with the express purpose of talking about politics. I realize that sometimes, on certain threads, someone will mention something about some world leader, which is ok, just as long as the thread doesn't get hijacked and goes off on a discussion about politics.

Also, those posts that mention politics can be subject to the editting of the moderators, assuming they find the subject somehow inflammatory or offensive.

I'll actually second this one. Sometimes threads get started with the express purpose of inflaming a flame war. People try to be polite about it, but inevatably someone says something by accident or deisgn that just drowns the whole thing into a mire.

I don't belive that the posts should be edited if they are inflammotory or offensive - They should be removed. This lessens the desire for someone to re-post an edited post.

YourSurrogateGod
September 13th, 2005, 04:43 PM
I don't belive that the posts should be edited if they are inflammotory or offensive - They should be removed. This lessens the desire for someone to re-post an edited post.
That's not a bad idea.

XDevHald
September 13th, 2005, 04:50 PM
Originally Posted by mike998
I don't belive that the posts should be edited if they are inflammotory or offensive - They should be removed. This lessens the desire for someone to re-post an edited post.


I agree with you on that as well mike998 in some points, but some mods don't see it that way. The fixing is needed to keep the posting moving and also gives the user a chance to fix it while it's in the line position of that topic.

If a user/mod needs to edit what is in there of that post and it's not there for them to do it, then they would need to redue to whole thing again in which if it's a long page post, then it would be absolutely pointless to repost it.

There are many ways of going about doing this, but this would lead to issues for both mod and user(s) in the long run.

Deeze
September 14th, 2005, 11:18 PM
I think I should have been more specific.

Locking threads that have been started with the express purpose of talking about politics. I realize that sometimes, on certain threads, someone will mention something about some world leader, which is ok, just as long as the thread doesn't get hijacked and goes off on a discussion about politics.

Also, those posts that mention politics can be subject to the editting of the moderators, assuming they find the subject somehow inflammatory or offensive.

I would agree with this as well. I know alot of other forums don't tolerate threads created about politics for a two-fold reason, 1 - they generally end up in a flame fest (and in record time), 2 - as such they are an unneeded waste of resources. There are plenty of world news centric places to go talk about such things.

papangul
September 20th, 2005, 01:51 AM
This thread should be moved lock,stock and barrel to the "Ubuntuforums Site Discussion" section. No need to increase the siticky's here!

Perfect Storm
September 27th, 2005, 10:34 PM
Perhaps moving "Beginner Community" forum up under Announcement forums. So newcomers to linux know where to go exactly without browsing in confusion.


.:=The AI Dude=:.

stoeptegel
September 28th, 2005, 07:37 PM
Maybe a diffent color for A:visited, i find it handy when viewing i.e. the "new posts" option.
Other then that, i simply love the new style as it is now.

imagine
October 1st, 2005, 11:03 PM
Two more suggestions:
Is it possible to display the date in a format chosen by the user, eg based on the time zone the user picked in his control panel? Or if that's not possible could you at least change it to the ISO format (see http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/iso-date)? Because the current format month-day-year is somewhat confusing for me.
Please reduce the number of stickies and let them only appear on the first page. Threads get pushed back very quickly and things like a closed screenshot thread or the anatomy of a troll may be funny but I don't really think they have to be on top of every page in that part of the forum.

XDevHald
October 2nd, 2005, 01:33 AM
Perhaps moving "Beginner Community" forum up under Announcement forums. So newcomers to linux know where to go exactly without browsing in confusion.


.:=The AI Dude=:.

This is not a bad Idea :) will see how it goes.

newbie2
October 6th, 2005, 07:53 PM
I would like to get other peoples input on stuff they would like to see here on the forums. :) So feel free to offer any suggestions, comments or ideas.. to make the forums rock even more.
maybe on a page ...the last poster's message above (except the threadstarter)...otherwise you have to scroll down everytime to see the last message on a page ;)

landotter
October 6th, 2005, 07:57 PM
I wish I could paste into the reply box. Doesn't even work with unixy highlight-middle click. :/

Otherwise, these forums are really well designed, stylish, and navigable.

:)

kassetra
October 6th, 2005, 08:41 PM
I don't belive that the posts should be edited if they are inflammotory or offensive - They should be removed. This lessens the desire for someone to re-post an edited post.

This is our balancing act.
If we delete a post, then the information still exists (unless we choose the permanently remove option.)

If we edit a post, then the information is permanently gone. (unless someone replied with the full post as a quote.)

We have to balance the need to not destroy information, even inflammatory information, with the need to promote productive conversations.

We are continuously working on finding a standard way of handling this balancing act. We'll get it, it just may take us more time. :)

kassetra
October 6th, 2005, 08:43 PM
I wish I could paste into the reply box. Doesn't even work with unixy highlight-middle click. :/

Otherwise, these forums are really well designed, stylish, and navigable.

:)

Ahhh, that may be a bug. We'll check into it and see if we can fix it.

Thank you for the compliment!

Seth
October 6th, 2005, 09:11 PM
I just figured out today there was a Kubuntu (blue) theme and it's great! However, the "important topics" background is still the old (Ubuntu) color when switching... and I don't suppose we could get a nice shiny header to match as well? :)

kassetra
October 6th, 2005, 09:18 PM
I just figured out today there was a Kubuntu (blue) theme and it's great! However, the "important topics" background is still the old (Ubuntu) color when switching... and I don't suppose we could get a nice shiny header to match as well? :)

I posted in the Kubuntu area about it. :) I'ts a sneak peek. ;) I'm still working out some kinks.

jimcooncat
October 13th, 2005, 03:03 PM
Will there be an Edubuntu forum?

kassetra
October 13th, 2005, 04:43 PM
Will there be an Edubuntu forum?
Eventually, that is very possible.

Most likely, we will make some space for the other versions of Ubuntu to be discussed first.

imagine
October 13th, 2005, 09:16 PM
There's a spelling mistake in the HowTo section: "Please post your HOWTO's and FAQ in the main Ubuntu wiki as well. And provide a link back to the forums for dicussions."
It's HOWTOs, not HOWTO's.

kassetra
October 13th, 2005, 09:21 PM
There's a spelling mistake in the HowTo section: "Please post your HOWTO's and FAQ in the main Ubuntu wiki as well. And provide a link back to the forums for dicussions."
It's HOWTOs, not HOWTO's.

That will teach us to do this a 2am.

gasparov
October 14th, 2005, 04:39 PM
:shock:


The msn functions only work when launched from internet explorer (MSIE)

adwait
October 14th, 2005, 06:25 PM
Hey,

In the Search>All My Posts section, it would be nice to have some way to know if any replies have been posted to a thread after you posted there. That way you can keep track easily.....

geofff
October 17th, 2005, 01:11 PM
Sorry I've not read whole thread[-X but I'm getting P....d off at having to search through loads and loads of so called relevant threads searching for answers. The search function lists any thread that has the noted words anywhere in it. You can be as specific as is possible and still have reams of useless irrelevant stuff to wade through. ................. and having read through it for hours still not find an answer:evil:

The longest most general threads have the best chance of being returned in ANY search!!!! but are the most irrelevant.

Can the search function be improved so that you can search by title not just by content, and allow linking of words ie " ". Can the search be listed by relevance? (although I suspect this would be difficult).

Can the search just list the specific pages where all the words appear on one page ie not spread out between page 1 and 63 of the thread!

Perhaps relevance could be judged by the closeness of all the words in the thread?

I really don't know the answer but I do know this really is P....ing me off. Sorry.:-({|=

Edit: Just a thought but perhaps if the search function worked easier the amazing people who spend so much of their time answering queries from people like me would have an easier job:-P

stoeptegel
October 20th, 2005, 05:17 AM
Just wanted to tell that the link: 10/13/2005 - Ubuntu Breezy Badger 5.10 is out! Grab a copy here. on top of the page doesn't link proper at the moment.

arnieboy
October 20th, 2005, 07:21 PM
It would be a good idea if all new threads in the Customization Tips and Tricks forum pass thru a moderator's approval before it actually appears on the forum. That way, we wont have people posting questions there (I think some of them do it deliberately to get attention). All that the mod needs to do is to make sure is that its indeed a Howto (doesnt matter whether it works or not) and then let it be posted on the forum. The customization tips and tricks is arguably the most important part of this whole site and it needs to be lean and effective (artifacts of questions (moved to other sections) makes it look unclean and unattractive).
I do hope this idea is approved and implemented.

jeremy
October 21st, 2005, 05:38 PM
That will teach us to do this a 2am.
Did you mean AT 2 am.? ;)

geofff
October 23rd, 2005, 12:31 PM
Further thoughts about the search function.

At the moment the default search searches contents and titles of all posts. This is becoming unmanageable. The number of threads is now so large that many searches come up with hundreds of results. A default search of titles would be better.

I note that I was wrong in my last (fraught) post. Searching for titles does exist. But it is not easily found. The drop down from the Search button shows 18 possibilities of which the first is Advanced. When clicking on Advanced the new page provides a box "search by keyword" and underneath "Search entire posts" with an arrow. On completing the search by keyword box I find that normally this opens a second box of possilities underneath completely obliterating the "Search entire posts" box. As a result, and not having been observant enough, I have then just clicked the Search Now button and wondered what the point was of advanced search. Had I taken the time to close the box over "search entire posts" I would have found the option to search by titles only.

The search function seems set up to help moderators in their function but at the expense of making it more difficult for ordinary users. If "Advanced" was bold, if there were far fewer items in the drop down menu, if the Advanced page had greater ability to do clever searching (see my post above #147) and if the the advanced search page didn't cover some of the options when in use the moderators etc might have less work to do as people would find answers and not repost re items already solved.

artnay
October 27th, 2005, 11:55 AM
Currently HOWTO section is quite confusing as people keep posting non-GNOME HOWTOs to GNOME section. There's lots of HOWTOs that do not belong to that place. Should the Customization Tips & Tricks section be divided into smaller sections? I don't know about that, but I'd like to see GNOME and KDE sections containing only tips for the programs that are included in the default DE install or that are known to work only in one environment. All other tips should be posted to the general section. So it needs cleaning/organizing at the moment. What do you guys think?

essexman
November 3rd, 2005, 09:29 PM
Hi Ryan

A couple of suggestions for the forum, to help make the best forum even better.


If possible, can clicking on the Search button automatically place the cursor in the search box? and can pressing enter after typing the search string invoke the search? This would be the same as many other sites and would make searching quicker for the user (me).
Is it worth changing the "Guidelines" to "Before you post" ? It would be great if more people could be encouraged to read this first. I've been doing a lot of searching and reading in the past week and my, oh, my! Keep up the good work

Essexman

poptones
November 3rd, 2005, 10:31 PM
Further thoughts about the search function...

I posted this search tool (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=77812) weeks ago and not a single reply...

It works. Try it.

xequence
November 3rd, 2005, 11:50 PM
Well, the only thing I can think that I would like on this site is to allow talk about piracy, though something tells me that you arnt going to do that anytime soon ;)

mlomker
November 4th, 2005, 12:46 AM
The customization tips and tricks is arguably the most important part of this whole site and it needs to be lean and effective (artifacts of questions (moved to other sections) makes it look unclean and unattractive).

I've been advocating for this as well. I'm not sure what the forum software is capable of, but the ideal would be if only the original poster or an assigned team could edit those messages. Include a link to a discussion thread from each post to another forum and handle it that way.

There seems to be a stronger push to go to a wiki approach, though.

Gowator
November 8th, 2005, 01:13 PM
Somehow the make or break issues are being lost (in my experience) in the prettyfying, gaming or nice to have issues.

Certain issues (like no internet connection) can very quickly make or break a new user. Not only to Ubuntu but to linux.

After some complaining ubuntu_demon suggested I make some positive suggestions. These are just my 2c looking largely as a forum outsider but as an Ubuntu user.

My first ever post was one of these in that I found the layout confusing... too many categories and not being obvious where to post a thread.
The unanswered posts query lists 500 in 5 days...

1) some posts don't require an answer. They are simply informative... therefore allowing a user or mod to make them such easily would reduce these. Of course people can still answer but they are not distracting people.

2) What is critical?
Hard to say.. some users will leave Linux fiorever if NWN doesn't work in 10 mins but mainly critical issues are (IMHO)

Networking ... it really pisses off noobs finding they are rebooting into Windows and typing a long list of stuff by hand they worte out from linux (I know they could save it to a FAT part .. but they are noobs)

Printing and basic office functionality:
Most of us live a digital life... I need to send correspondence etc. on a daily basis. I presume many others do. If you can't read your docs and print them then desparation soon sets in.

Look at it this way... it takes me 15 mins to reinstall kanotix with working OO and printing ... OK noobies going back to win might take a but longer. When correspondence is urgent the desperate move is to go back to something you know will work.

I also realise their are fAQ's etc. but IMHO you are discouraging other experienced users. Other forums are full of posts how 'difficult' issues are not answered here. Perhaps this is the case, perhaps not but it is an impression which is being given.
Again IMHO this is perhaps a cyclic catch-22 problem. People are posting Ubuntu problems in the OTW section of Gentoo or Other Distro's section of Mandrivausers because the response is both faster and more informative on 'difficult issues'

This is in itself preventing more experienced users onthe forums. I count myself as an experienced user of linux from slackware through RH and Mandrake then gentoo and debian. However I have come to regard these forums as a very last option for help for Ubuntu because except for Distro specific stuff (kdesu or gtksu) its much easier to find answers on other forums OR just work it out.

I don't even use mandriva anymore.... but I still support the forums and answer questions but I don't hang out here because I just try it as a desperate attempt at getting something working. I am sure (from other forums) I am not alone.

How to go forwards ????

Well perhaps seperate kubuntu again? Simplyfy the subforums.

Add priority icons which can say be assigned by mods or will push a question up the list?

maybe nominate some extra champions (sorry french concept that I don't know the translation of) that might not be mods but are resposible for promoting or demoting items and drawing experienced members attention to those items.

Seperate out the gaming (as suggesteed above) and also -look-n-feel- and add an unanswered posts seperately to 'critical subforms'

Just my 2c

mlomker
November 8th, 2005, 03:56 PM
Other forums are full of posts how 'difficult' issues are not answered here. Perhaps this is the case, perhaps not but it is an impression which is being given.

Undoubtedly true if it's a problem that others have not seen and solved before. If a problem is common then I'll do what I can to recreate it, but let's face it...we are all volunteers doing this stuff in our free time. I am not going to spend hours trying to recreate a problem for someone when the issue is probably unique to their install or hardware.


People are posting Ubuntu problems in the OTW section of Gentoo or Other Distro's section of Mandrivausers because the response is both faster and more informative on 'difficult issues'

I don't see a problem there. I'd call that creative problem solving. If I have a deal-breaking problem then I frequently use Google and other forums if someone has had a similar problem. Relatively few linux problems are unique to Ubuntu.


This is in itself preventing more experienced users onthe forums.

You'll have to elaborate on that for me. How is a lack of answered questions keeping experienced users from helping out here? If you're saying that more of our users are newbies then you won't hear any arguments from me. Have you tried hanging out at the Linspire or Xandros forums? By comparison I think our user base is middling.


Well perhaps seperate kubuntu again? Simplyfy the subforums.

I'm not sure that that means. Kubuntu has its own set of forums now...with Hoary gnome and KDE were mixed together and I found it more confusing. I'm willing to bet that most people use either the Search, New Posts button, or Uanswered Posts query (under search). In light of the aggregating effects of those queries I wonder how important the forum structure really is.


maybe nominate some extra champions (sorry french concept that I don't know the translation of) that might not be mods but are resposible for promoting or demoting items and drawing experienced members attention to those items.

That was begun a month or so ago. The don't have the power to bump threads, but that is an interesting idea since UG just gave mods an option for that.

You can see the team members (http://ubuntuforums.org/showgroups.php) and they are given those posts because they have devoted time to the board and have displayed some knowledge in their areas.

ubuntu-geek
November 8th, 2005, 04:14 PM
It would be a good idea if all new threads in the Customization Tips and Tricks forum pass thru a moderator's approval before it actually appears on the forum. That way, we wont have people posting questions there (I think some of them do it deliberately to get attention). All that the mod needs to do is to make sure is that its indeed a Howto (doesnt matter whether it works or not) and then let it be posted on the forum. The customization tips and tricks is arguably the most important part of this whole site and it needs to be lean and effective (artifacts of questions (moved to other sections) makes it look unclean and unattractive).
I do hope this idea is approved and implemented.
Agreed I am working up something to clean up this section.. Look for some changes soon.. :)

23meg
November 9th, 2005, 05:18 AM
Can we have a code tag button in the quick reply box just beside the quote button? It's a pain to manually type the code tag every time.

Gowator
November 9th, 2005, 10:40 AM
Undoubtedly true if it's a problem that others have not seen and solved before. If a problem is common then I'll do what I can to recreate it, but let's face it...we are all volunteers doing this stuff in our free time. I am not going to spend hours trying to recreate a problem for someone when the issue is probably unique to their install or hardware.



I don't see a problem there. I'd call that creative problem solving. If I have a deal-breaking problem then I frequently use Google and other forums if someone has had a similar problem. Relatively few linux problems are unique to Ubuntu.


The ones that are tend to be centred around the sudo policy. The problem is most apps are made to have root admin them not sudo. We can aruge semantics over the policy but the problem remains and means lots of distro-specific problems come from the altering of tools to run as sudo, especially (I find) in Kubuntu.

Don't think I am sayig Ubuntu is unique in this, Mandrake 90% of bugs are the Mandrake Control Centre and Suse its YAST.

It is the distro-specific bugs I find are unanswered and cause me personally the most problems. Because Ubuntu has had to customise the config the changes often run deep but I am trying to run a Pure Ubuntu system here as much as possible albeit with multiverse and codecs. This is just time related, if not I would be using Gentoo.
Its my experience though that keeping with a package manager is a good idea rather than customising your kernel and downloading everytihng as source and compiling it specially....honestly I would prefer the latter but time is more important ...

So i have the .deb configs and packages of Ubuntu .. not source and in places this has bugs... The first place I look is to see if this appears to be distro specific or not. If it is then the first place to look (for me) is the distro support forum.
It is by these problems being solved centrally here that they will be resolved and it does no good for them to be solved on another distro's forum because less relevant people will see them ...



You'll have to elaborate on that for me. How is a lack of answered questions keeping experienced users from helping out here? If you're saying that more of our users are newbies then you won't hear any arguments from me. Have you tried hanging out at the Linspire or Xandros forums? By comparison I think our user base is middling.


Ahem,... I also tried a while ago the Suse forums. but I just detest YAST and even after paying for the pro edition I ditched Suse. However the answers were quicker and more higher end forum members were helping compared to noobs.

So going back, I would class myself as an experienced linux user and reasonably experienced Debian user and a noobie Ubuntu user.
I will try and solve an obvious problem before posting. By the time I get round to posting it is a problem not usually 'user error'.
However I find the level of questions I ask (and other more experienced linux users in general) go unanswered.
A noobie asking what to do at the gdm login screen will get loads of responses but a technical question will receive less and maybe none.
Said noobie-Ubuntuer then tries his regular forum be it FC, Mandriva or Gentoo (or even Suse) and gets an answer. I can honestly say I post here out of desperation ... I really don't expoect answers to technical questions anymore... so why hang out? If I hung out I could probably help quite a few people .. instead Im helping Mandriva users I haven't even used the distro in 3-4 releases ...

So experienced users are maybe using Ubuntu but not hanging out here.



I'm not sure that that means. Kubuntu has its own set of forums now...with Hoary gnome and KDE were mixed together and I found it more confusing. I'm willing to bet that most people use either the Search, New Posts button, or Uanswered Posts query (under search). In light of the aggregating effects of those queries I wonder how important the forum structure really is.

That's just the point.
The new posts function is nearly useless because it lists everything.
Unanswered posts only returns the last 500 unanswered posts!
.. therefore its hard to tell which ones are relevant ....
back to what I said about distro-specific ... some probs will be Kububtu only so searching through everything looses them in the haystack. I would be more in favour of two seperate forums (in technical terms not to a user or as far as the mysql search engine is configured) so that searches are limited to the specific area for unanswered posts or since last visit and then the results become more relevant.



That was begun a month or so ago. The don't have the power to bump threads, but that is an interesting idea since UG just gave mods an option for that.

You can see the team members (http://ubuntuforums.org/showgroups.php) and they are given those posts because they have devoted time to the board and have displayed some knowledge in their areas.
[/quote]
Cool.....

mlomker
November 9th, 2005, 04:24 PM
The ones that are tend to be centred around the sudo policy.

I think that's actually a Debian-thing and not just Ubuntu. I recently started reading a general Debian book and they push the use of sudo. There's no doubt that Ubuntu is pushing it harder than anyone. Frankly, I think it's very smart.

Microsoft is slowly making windows usable as a regular user and it's just a matter of time before linux gains enough installed base to attract virus writers! I do some end-user support at work and most of them will click on any attachment that they are sent, regardless of education. Running as root is suicidal for general deployment.


The problem is most apps are made to have root admin them not sudo.

Agreed. They need to change that fact, per my previous comments. Linux can't be just for power users in the future.


However I find the level of questions I ask (and other more experienced linux users in general) go unanswered. A noobie asking what to do at the gdm login screen will get loads of responses but a technical question will receive less and maybe none.

This is a volunteer board. I agree with your assessment, but whose fault is it? How do we convince experienced users to answer more questions? Our users are generally a helpful bunch but they can't answer problems that they haven't seen before.

My brief impression of other boards is that the experienced users tell newbies to RTFM and will answer a question only if it is deemed intelligent enough for them. That type of user isn't comfortable in a civil environment and that's probably why they don't hang out here.


If I hung out I could probably help quite a few people .. instead Im helping Mandriva users I haven't even used the distro in 3-4 releases ...

So the answer is a chicken-and-egg thing? lol. That's really not an answer. A community is what you make of it. If you want to make this a better place then start hanging out and educating the user base with your replies. If you don't want to answer the same question 1000 times then write a how-to and post it once.

I became a mod here just by spending the time and answering posts. I'm no linux genius...I'm an experienced Windows network admin that recently switched to linux and am motivated to learn.


The new posts function is nearly useless because it lists everything.
Unanswered posts only returns the last 500 unanswered posts!

If you made specific suggestions then I'm sure the Admins would consider it. I don't visit other linux boards (I really don't have the time), so what boards are doing this differently?



specific area for unanswered posts or since last visit and then the results become more relevant.

You can do an unanswered posts search within a forum by doing an Advanced search and then searching for less than 1 response. I wish the board-wide unanswered posts search would honor the board exclusions under UserCP Options, but it doesn't right now...that'd allow you to exclude boards that you don't want to see results for.

Gowator
November 9th, 2005, 06:46 PM
I think that's actually a Debian-thing and not just Ubuntu. I recently started reading a general Debian book and they push the use of sudo. There's no doubt that Ubuntu is pushing it harder than anyone. Frankly, I think it's very smart.

Microsoft is slowly making windows usable as a regular user and it's just a matter of time before linux gains enough installed base to attract virus writers! I do some end-user support at work and most of them will click on any attachment that they are sent, regardless of education. Running as root is suicidal for general deployment.


Noone is suggesting to run as root (apart from Linspire) however its not a great deal of work to su to root to do a specific task. Not everyone might like it but that's the way stuff is written...

The main problem is with KDE/Gnome tools and/or third party stuff like Webmin or cpanel etc. KDE has specifically given admin mode buttons in many apps but the kdesu thing in ubuntu is trying the same thing a different way. ...

this means for instance that a lot of kde stuff needs to be rewritten (well tweaked) for Ubuntu ... which of course can introduce bugs but also it just ends up a set of dependancies.

As I said Im not arguing either way but a default setting of ALL:ALL in the sudoers file is worse because all a hacker/virus needs is your user password (or user rights to execute cgi) and root is comprimised.



Agreed. They need to change that fact, per my previous comments. Linux can't be just for power users in the future.
Fair point .. however its chicken and egg. I for one am glad Gnome and KDE finally managed to get together and make the config tools work across WM's.

Ubuntu starts its own initiative ... and we are back in linux world again ...everyone going very quickly in random directions???



This is a volunteer board. I agree with your assessment, but whose fault is it? How do we convince experienced users to answer more questions? Our users are generally a helpful bunch but they can't answer problems that they haven't seen before.

Most people are not bad ... if they see something they can answer a lot of people will do so. I think you need a way of putting the right people in front of the right questions.

This will take a bit of work... and it needs to be simple .. (dare I use the phrase one click?) i.e. a button for each subforum for unanswered posts?



My brief impression of other boards is that the experienced users tell newbies to RTFM and will answer a question only if it is deemed intelligent enough for them. That type of user isn't comfortable in a civil environment and that's probably why they don't hang out here.
I doubt its that simple. Perhaps a few but many very helpful people I know are amongst the Ubuntu users who don't. Speaking from my Mandriva experience the RTFM attitude was hardly ever seen and if anyone did then they were immediately jumped on. (of course everyone has a bad day)

I might suggest a thread asking passing experienced users their thoughts? (I realise we have this one but more what would make you stop and help questions?



So the answer is a chicken-and-egg thing? lol. That's really not an answer. A community is what you make of it. If you want to make this a better place then start hanging out and educating the user base with your replies. If you don't want to answer the same question 1000 times then write a how-to and post it once.

I became a mod here just by spending the time and answering posts. I'm no linux genius...I'm an experienced Windows network admin that recently switched to linux and am motivated to learn.


I guess the motivation is first you install, then you get everything working ... then you put back to the community that helped. at least thats why I do it. I think the problem is people are installing and then hacking it to work themsleves. This is my situation right now. When I have a problem I don't think to post it here because noone ever seems to answer my level of problems. I agree its chicken and egg but I do have suggestions



If you made specific suggestions then I'm sure the Admins would consider it. I don't visit other linux boards (I really don't have the time), so what boards are doing this differently?

Well I think the rise of Ubuntu has been very quick. Suse and Debian had mailing lists and so for years before a forum so when Suse got a forum they had ready made experts. This isn't Ubuntu's fault but the board has perhaps spread to quickly.... I think it needs breaking down and seperating out more.
The mods need more tool like bumping a post or tagging it critical or even non-critical. I guess users could tag their own if they are informative if there was a tool.



You can do an unanswered posts search within a forum by doing an Advanced search and then searching for less than 1 response. I wish the board-wide unanswered posts search would honor the board exclusions under UserCP Options, but it doesn't right now...that'd allow you to exclude boards that you don't want to see results for.
^like above it really needs to be one click....
Its like on other forums I will quickly check there is a question in areas I know and Ill spend time answering and handholding .... but I am less patiejnt finding posts... If I see em then I help.... I think this is normal ???

norwyn
November 12th, 2005, 12:35 PM
An Xubuntu section.
This is a total need.

Specialsauce
December 7th, 2005, 06:45 PM
this has prolly been said before, but count it as another vote for the idea: an Xubuntu set of forums, just like for ubuntu, and kubuntu

edit: heh, i just saw the post before mine..... oh well

ameerirshad
December 8th, 2005, 02:30 PM
Jabber (http://www.jabber.org/)!

Why does the User CP only give the option to fill in ICQ, MSN, Yahoo! and AIM Instant Messenger id's? I think many GNU/Linux users, as such ubuntu users do have and use a Jabber (http://www.jabber.org/) client, don't we? Or maybe the new Google Talk/GTalk client?

Then we can ask Mark (Shuttleworth) to install a jabber server on ubuntu.com and the members who have no jabber id yet can open or get an official ubuntu jabber id!

AlexMorin
December 14th, 2005, 02:20 AM
Will there be an Edubuntu forum?


Eventually, that is very possible.

Most likely, we will make some space for the other versions of Ubuntu to be discussed first.
I would love an Edubuntu section, just like Kubuntu. I'll be deploying a couple of Edubuntu LTSP labs in our school system, and will be hanging around here quite a lot.
Please, please! I'll be nice! :D [-o<

Luuraja
December 22nd, 2005, 04:37 PM
How long can Oliver Grawert hold using only mail or irc connections?
Personally I don't like mail and irc I refuse at all.

First must-have is Edubuntu forum. Just like Ubuntu/Kubuntu Forums, in same level

bored2k
December 22nd, 2005, 05:07 PM
How long can Oliver Grawert hold using only mail or irc connections?
Personally I don't like mail and irc I refuse at all.

First must-have is Edubuntu forum. Just like Ubuntu/Kubuntu Forums, in same level
As the Ubuntu popularity grows (i.e. as they days go by), more ubuntu-based distributions will surface. That said, I don't think we need a separate forum for _each and every one_ of them. Imagine of Debian did this. Heck, the next GuadaLinex will be based on Ubuntu, so we have to make a forum for that ? Do you even know what Guadalinex is? Not likely. My point is, there's no need for a separate forum. That's my opinion.

AlexMorin
December 22nd, 2005, 05:12 PM
I'm probably too "new" around here to understand the difference between Kubuntu and Edubuntu which would justify a dedicated forum.

macgyver2
December 22nd, 2005, 07:33 PM
As the Ubuntu popularity grows (i.e. as they days go by), more ubuntu-based distributions will surface. That said, I don't think we need a separate forum for _each and every one_ of them. Imagine of Debian did this. Heck, the next GuadaLinex will be based on Ubuntu, so we have to make a forum for that ? Do you even know what Guadalinex is? Not likely. My point is, there's no need for a separate forum. That's my opinion.
The difference here is that Edubuntu is official. It's not just based on Ubuntu, it's part of the Ubuntu proper. Furthermore (and this is just my opinion) the Edubuntu project, because it is targetted specifically at schools, is in some aspects more important (<--not quite the word I was looking for...) than the general Ubuntu and Kubuntu projects.

juantxorena
December 31st, 2005, 07:40 PM
I think more subforums on Ubuntu 5.10 Support Gnome or KDE are needed. Actually they have only 4 very limited subforums (AMD 64, Apple, Gaming, Desktop). Most of the questions must be posted in the root forum. In a few minutes, post go down and down because a lot of people post there, so a lot of posts are ignored because they are in the 4th o 5th page in the forum.

I've sometimes post there and my questions were ignored. After "uploadong" my post (by replying myself with a "nobody?" reply, and the like), and with a little of luck, someone replied it.

I think that in a forum with more subforums fewer post will be ignored, because people will see more post without moving through pages. For example, I read somewhere that, when using google and other search engines, people usually prefer searching a lot of times changing the words than search few times and advancing through pages with search results.

az
December 31st, 2005, 08:18 PM
The difference here is that Edubuntu is official. It's not just based on Ubuntu, it's part of the Ubuntu proper. Furthermore (and this is just my opinion) the Edubuntu project, because it is targetted specifically at schools, is in some aspects more important (<--not quite the word I was looking for...) than the general Ubuntu and Kubuntu projects.

Edubuntu is squarely aimed at a small group of people who will use it as a tool to get a job done. They will be people with less ability to solve computer problems than the typical forum user, under less comfortable conditions. I imagine a teacher who needs the computer to work and does not have the time or the inclination to fsck around like a home user who is playing around with Ubuntu.

These users would probably find it easier to ask questions in a forum, rather than a mailing list. I would also imagine there would be financial restraints which would prohibit them from getting the kind of paid-support they would get from a proprietary OS.

I think a lot of users would be really keen to help out a classroom full of ubuntu computers.

xequence
December 31st, 2005, 09:14 PM
Make all forum posts count in the post count.

You have no idea how annoying it is when you have posted like 1500 times but only have a 500 post count.

Titus A Duxass
January 7th, 2006, 01:22 PM
Can we consider having a "All Threads/Forums Read" button in the new post window?
It is available in other forums that I used to use (SuSE Support) and I find it a useful and quick way of marking everything as read.

kassetra
January 7th, 2006, 09:50 PM
Make all forum posts count in the post count.

You have no idea how annoying it is when you have posted like 1500 times but only have a 500 post count.

xequence, this is exactly the kind of attitude that urged us to fix which areas counted toward a post count. :razz:

We are a technical support forum, and at this time, we are not currently discussing changing our post count policy.

If all you care about is your post count, answer questions in the technical support areas and you will have a higher post count. :rolleyes:

kass

kassetra
January 7th, 2006, 09:51 PM
Can we consider having a "All Threads/Forums Read" button in the new post window?
It is available in other forums that I used to use (SuSE Support) and I find it a useful and quick way of marking everything as read.

I'll look into that - see if it's something we can do.

kassetra
January 7th, 2006, 09:58 PM
Jabber (http://www.jabber.org/)!

Why does the User CP only give the option to fill in ICQ, MSN, Yahoo! and AIM Instant Messenger id's? I think many GNU/Linux users, as such ubuntu users do have and use a Jabber (http://www.jabber.org/) client, don't we? Or maybe the new Google Talk/GTalk client?

Then we can ask Mark (Shuttleworth) to install a jabber server on ubuntu.com and the members who have no jabber id yet can open or get an official ubuntu jabber id!

Ok, I have a more definitive answer as to why we don't have Jabber or Google Talk available - the current IM protocols we do offer are special in that, in theory, you can click on them and instant message people through the forum. (Also, just adding them as 'extra' fields in the software doesn't make them show up easily in the UserCP - which is why we haven't done it.)

VBulletin (our forum software) doesn't offer Jabber or Google Talk protocols with it's install. I am currently looking into some extra plugins that may offer these two protocols in addition to the ones we do offer.

Sef
January 8th, 2006, 01:46 AM
... so a lot of posts are ignored because they are in the 4th o 5th page in the forum.

If you do like to post, it is good to check pages further back and answer questions that people have written about. Sometimes you can even find answers to your questions. I had problems with my floppy not automatically mounting. I just was going through the forums page by page, and found the answer. It was on page 29 then. I went back through more pages and found a number of people who had the same problem and were looking for an answer, so I answered their posts.

Dragonbite
January 27th, 2006, 02:15 PM
I don't know if there is already a feature or not, but in the Gentoo forums you can update the title of the message even after other people have posted.

This was handy in being able to put [Solved] into the title so in a quick glance you could see if it is solved (and may answer your questions) or that it is already solved (and can continue to another unanswered / unsolved questions).

It wouldn't have to be the ability to edit the title of the post, an icon would work just as well of some sort. Just something the original poster can flag to easily note whether a situation is answered.

angrykeyboarder
February 2nd, 2006, 09:36 AM
never mind..

dcstar
February 20th, 2006, 07:19 AM
I would like to get other peoples input on stuff they would like to see here on the forums. :) So feel free to offer any suggestions, comments or ideas.. to make the forums rock even more.
When Dapper is released, please (PLEASE!) restructure the order of the Support Forums in the following order:

Installation and Upgrade Help
Hardware Help (and sub-forums)
Networking
Video and Sound
Laptop Support
Gnome Support (and sub-forums)
KDE support (and sub-forums)

And the rest I don't care about their order.

I am sick of so many inappropriate posts in the Gnome forum just because it is at the top of the current list and people do not read past it to find a far more appropriate forum to post in.

The current situation cannot help with people getting the quickest (or best) advice for their issues, and it isn't doing those of us trying to help any good either!

RKF
February 21st, 2006, 12:43 AM
SUGGESTION FOR THE SITE GURUS:

Being newbie to site and to Linux - period, I find the site just a wee bit confusing, apart from the the actual installation etc threads.

However once past that point, one needs a "How to - ". Not so much an advice, or thread site, rather a set of instructions with its own search engines. eg. How to move address book from Outlook Express to ........; How to install software... whatever; How to mount an additional hard drive ... etc.

All should be in plain English not Geeklish.

The poofy hair guy had the right sort of idea with his comparative programmes - just needs to be consolidated somewhere rather than an expanding thread and perhaps with links to the appropriate sites.

RKF

senorian
February 24th, 2006, 10:24 PM
I find the method of dating the posts confusing; would not using the actual date of the post be less ambiguous than "one day ago"etc.
Some months ago someone said:
... indeed a Howto (doesnt matter whether it works or not) and then let it be posted on the forum. The customization tips and tricks is arguably the most important part of this whole site and it needs to be lean and effective

Is it possible for an incorrect, non-working tip to be "lean and effective"?
MY own very limited experience suggests that one of the greatest problems facing the growth of Linux is that finding answers that work is very time consuming. Many solutions offered do not work; no doubt there are good technical reasons for this, but it is none the less depressing.
Another poster, on a different forum, observed that the sound on his Linux sytem, installed in 2003, worked; while in the latest version no sound worked.
2 years with negative improvement!
Anything that can be done to ease the use (and effectiveness) of the forum would be a blessing.

xequence
February 24th, 2006, 10:34 PM
Suggestion: Bring back posts. And where all the posts anywhere count.

Its annoying to know ive posted well over 2000 times, possibly going on 3000, and not having it counted.

WebScud
February 24th, 2006, 10:38 PM
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but I would like to be able to enter my hardware informaiton in my profile. Here's my profile (http://help.lockergnome.com/index.php?showuser=6836) on the Lockergnome forums to show you what I mean.

I'm sure having system info in profiles could help anyone that's helping a "newbie". It's also a convience when trying to remember model numbers like random Dell model numbers.

earobinson
February 24th, 2006, 10:39 PM
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but I would like to be able to enter my hardware informaiton in my profile. Here's my profile (http://help.lockergnome.com/index.php?showuser=6836) on the Lockergnome forums to show you what I mean.

I'm sure having system info in profiles could help anyone that's helping a "newbie". It's also a convience when trying to remember model numbers like random Dell model numbers.
That would actualy be kinda usefull, also noting gnome, kde, xfce and such would help

jvnn
February 25th, 2006, 03:24 PM
Is there any chance the search function can be tweaked to put howto responses first?

I just searched on 'enable dma' and got 18 pages of results.
I am pretty good at weeding thru search results, so I found something real quick on this one. Sometimes though, I don't exactly understand what I'm asking, don't even know if I'm using approriate search terms, etc. For times like this it would sure be nice to have some help from search when I get those large result sets.
I guess I could just add 'how to howto' to all my searches.

Thanks - Joel

Madpilot
February 28th, 2006, 04:15 AM
With Dapper's release coming in less than two months, this seems the right time to make a suggestion on the Gaming forums:

When the new Dapper forums become the top level ones, don't do seperate "Gnome Gaming" and "KDE Gaming" forums under Gnome/KDE, do one top-level "Ubuntu Gaming" forum.

If you look at most of the questions in both gaming forums, they're about games that aren't either KDE or Gnome-native - Enemy Territory, AA, Quake, etc etc. Forcing these questions into DE-specific sub-forums just means duplication of posts & more lost information.

So for Dapper, make the top section something like this:

Ubuntu 6.04 Support
-- Desktop subforum/AMD64 subforum/PPC subforum
Kubuntu 6.04 Support
-- Desktop subforum/AMD64 subforum/PPC subforum
Hardware Help
Install & Upgrade Help
==> NEW Gaming on (K/U)buntu <==
Customization Tips & Tricks

...and then the rest of the forums...

Thoughts?

Ozitraveller
March 3rd, 2006, 01:18 AM
For me, a Xubuntu section is definitely something that should be looked into.

bonzodog
March 9th, 2006, 07:38 PM
Yes, i'll second that, we need a xubuntu section. Also a Xubuntu Forum Team could be looked at? I am now putting in time with the Xubuntu people on IRC, and they all have said how much it is needed. Hopefully, Xubuntu will have it's own site soon.
Also, maybe consider a Xubuntu skin, similar to the KDE one as Xubuntu also uses blue, but Xubuntu is getting it's own logo.
Also, would it be possible to be able to list more than 20 threads on each thread index page? ( I know I've asked before, but this is submitting it formally as an idea.)

glotz
March 21st, 2006, 05:06 PM
Hi there.

Installed Breezy Badger 2 weeks(?) ago and like it so far a lot. Lost my Linux virginity. It's a good idea to have this kind of a support forum.

But why is this forum so ugly and useless? I'm talking about content here, not appearance. The sticky threads contain lots of completely useless entries. I think the sticky theads should be enriched in information. Edit the posts. Cut the crap right out. It is a big deal.

As of now, they're almost useless. And people will not read them because they contain so much crap but instead post same questions and remarks again and again polluting the forums. I know I will. I'm used to the quality of the excellent MozillaZine.org forums. (http://forums.mozillazine.org) That's what you can do if you want. Please do!

My 2c.

disclaimer: if you think that word crap is offending, do not read the word crap!!

Zeroangel
March 21st, 2006, 11:56 PM
What about a HOWTO board for common problems? Users can post thing howtos on various things like:

- How to access/use the terminal, if you're new to linux.
- Common fixes if X11 won't start (ie: if the restricted drivers don't load, just set the driver in /etc/X11/xorg.conf from "nvidia" to "nv")
- How and when to use sudo, gksudo, and kdesu, and what the password is
- Common fixes to common printing problems
- What to do if the login manager is stopping you from logging in because it can't write .ICEauthority file.
- How to share networked files in Ubuntu

and the list goes on...

This could have the potential to get rid of a lot of redundancy in the beginners section.

fairdoes
March 22nd, 2006, 03:54 PM
A section on new hardware that supports Linux would be good. As more people UPGRADE to Linux, the hardware manufacturers will be looking for our custom. The administration (ugly word!) could even cover some costs by having ads on that section ...

Apollyein
March 23rd, 2006, 01:09 AM
Well, first of all, I think that in the spirit of humanity, there should be LOTE support. That being said, I don't think that a seperate forum for each language is what is needed. I think a group of polyglots should be officially recognized, and made prominent. Any user who needs help translating would then contact these polyglots.

Second, I think a big-brother big-sister program should be established. Then, when a n00b is having an extremely difficult time getting started in Ubuntu, a big-brother or big-sister takes them under their wing, makes their sibling's problems their own, and provides personalized support.

Just a few quick thoughts.

~Polly

PS: An affilliate program would be nice... ;)

TeeAhr1
March 23rd, 2006, 08:28 PM
Re: the site facelift.

I like the Beginner's section being on top, good idea, but it kind of gets lost right above the big icons for Ubuntu and Kubuntu. Perhaps an icon for the Beginner's forum too, something to catch your eye before you see the (K)Ubuntu icons.

mdurham
March 25th, 2006, 02:20 AM
How about showing the date in a more sensible format instead of the ambiguous '12-03-2005' whatever that means!

Zeroangel
March 25th, 2006, 05:35 AM
What about a HOWTO board for common problems? Users can post thing howtos on various things like:

- How to access/use the terminal, if you're new to linux.
- Common fixes if X11 won't start (ie: if the restricted drivers don't load, just set the driver in /etc/X11/xorg.conf from "nvidia" to "nv")
- How and when to use sudo, gksudo, and kdesu, and what the password is
- Common fixes to common printing problems
- What to do if the login manager is stopping you from logging in because it can't write .ICEauthority file.
- How to share networked files in Ubuntu

and the list goes on...

This could have the potential to get rid of a lot of redundancy in the beginners section. I would just like to add that although the seperate documentation site seems like a good idea, it would be better if common problems were somehow searchable from this site, and searches prioritized if that is even possible, to list topics in the common problems section first.

Also, one great thing about the customization board is that anyone can author it if they have useful information to add, they do not need to sign up for a special account. We need only carry this idea over to the common problems board and we are set!

adam.tropics
March 25th, 2006, 11:33 PM
Re: forum facelift.

First off, let me say I like the recent changes to the site. I think they have definitely been useful and practical, so thanks to those responsible.

One thing though, on the forums home page, you have added the option to close areas leaving just the section titles visible. (the handy green arrows) Could you extend this to elsewhere on the site. My particular issue is with sticky threads. Frankly the system that deals with them is kind of silly. Everytime I visit say the development forums, I load the whole page, and cannot see (even at fullscreen) any new information at all, until the whole 'visible' part of the page is scrolled away! Overscrolling is bad.

I know some will argue the toss, given the point of having stickies, but you could always see if it is possible to put the green arrows in use, then just reset them if another sticky is added. I mean, do I really need to see xgl threads every time i load a page. No. As with all stickies, i think the point is just that we should be made aware of them, but this only has to be done once.

My 2 cents worth....

ubuntu-geek
March 26th, 2006, 12:39 AM
Re: forum facelift.

First off, let me say I like the recent changes to the site. I think they have definitely been useful and practical, so thanks to those responsible.

One thing though, on the forums home page, you have added the option to close areas leaving just the section titles visible. (the handy green arrows) Could you extend this to elsewhere on the site. My particular issue is with sticky threads. Frankly the system that deals with them is kind of silly. Everytime I visit say the development forums, I load the whole page, and cannot see (even at fullscreen) any new information at all, until the whole 'visible' part of the page is scrolled away! Overscrolling is bad.

I know some will argue the toss, given the point of having stickies, but you could always see if it is possible to put the green arrows in use, then just reset them if another sticky is added. I mean, do I really need to see xgl threads every time i load a page. No. As with all stickies, i think the point is just that we should be made aware of them, but this only has to be done once.

My 2 cents worth....
Hmm that is an interesting idea.. I'll have to toy around with it.. :)

jml
March 28th, 2006, 03:03 PM
A Wireless Forum:

As I look over the various forums especially the laptop and networking forum, its quite apparent that problems with wireless networking is extremely common. There is a lot of repitition in the questions and similar answers are posted in several locations. This is not to criticize the people posting the questions. I've had problems at times looking up answers myself. Would it be possible to create a new forum or sub-forum entitled Wireless Networking. The excellent Wireless troubleshooting guide on one of the Wiki's could be pinned to the top of the list just like the Networking troubleshooting guide is pinned to the top of the Networking forum. Just an idea.

If there is a better place I should post this suggestion, please let me know and I will be happy to forward it there.

Joe

LKRaider
March 29th, 2006, 10:32 PM
In the spirit of the "Latest Active Threads" main page sidepanel, a cool addition would be a panel showing the "Most Active Threads", which would list the topics that are receiving most community focus at the moment. It could be ranked with the most number of newest posts.

What do you think? :D

Wide
April 2nd, 2006, 11:20 PM
I dont really like the format change.

The site has just become to very hard to navigate.

Perhaps the amount of info here has out grown the forum software & a totally new approach/solution might be in order.

Sorry :)

ELD
April 4th, 2006, 07:34 PM
A note on a forum:



Installation and Upgrade Help
For questions about upgrading and installation Ubuntu or Kubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger 5.10.


Should that not read?:


Installation and Upgrade Help
For questions about upgrading and installating Ubuntu or Kubuntu Breezy Badger 5.10.


Two 5.10 look silly and "upgrading and installation" should be "upgrading and installing" for correct english :P

yabbadabbadont
April 10th, 2006, 10:27 PM
I have a suggestion, how about unlocking the forum feed back thread... What is the point of having a sticky forum feedback thread that is closed?!?

Anyway, why do I have to login just to be able to use the search function? What a stupid idea.

kassetra
April 10th, 2006, 11:00 PM
I have a suggestion, how about unlocking the forum feed back thread... What is the point of having a sticky forum feedback thread that is closed?!?

Anyway, why do I have to login just to be able to use the search function? What a stupid idea.

1 - the thread isn't where you put feedback, the stickied thread simply explains what this section is for - that's all.

2 - while I understand your frustration, you will attract more positive attention to your suggestion with honey than with vinegar. We work very hard on the forums, and while we have control over many items in the forum software, there are some things we cannot control/change without essentially re-writing the entire engine itself. I will look into the search functions and see if it can be altered.

DerekRom
April 13th, 2006, 04:53 PM
I think we need to add a little humour to the Forum. We're all too serious! Stop using jargon when plain English would do! E.g. Reply to thread! Perhaps some people lose their confidence when faced with all this Computereze! When I see Forum, I think of the late British Comedian, Frankie Howard with his line: "A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Forum"!

brentroos
April 13th, 2006, 07:50 PM
A spellcheck function might be kinda nice. Google toolbar has a forms spellchecker, but a builtin cross-browser spellchecker from the server end would be nice and sweet imo.

Would this be possible? I imagine it would be through PHP. Just a suggestion to the already nice wysiwyg. There's even plenty of room on the wysiwyg toolbar for another button ;)

I myself always make typos and splelling errors, and (no offense to anyone else) always see others who tend to make similar mistakes. Just my humble suggestion to increase form functionality.

ssalman
April 13th, 2006, 08:11 PM
I have posted this somewhere else, but I think this need to be here!

I like when I hover my mouse over a thread’s title and I see the first line of the post. This is extremely effective when checking the unanswered posts or today’s posts, as it will eliminate an extra step of loading the thread and read it, and then finding out that you are not interested in the topic, especially that some titles do not give you enough description.

Why not make it the first 3 lines, or may be the first 5 lines, I think this would be even more effective, as some people (and I’m guilty of this sometimes!) waste the first line or two writing useless stuff!

I imagine this won’t be a big change since the forum already fitches the first line.

That’s all… and Thanks for all the great work :grin:

adam.tropics
April 14th, 2006, 03:18 PM
This is pathetically trivial, for which I apologise, but would it be possible to change the favicon for the site to something more like the one here? (http://www.ubuntulite.org) Looks beeter without the background white IMHO.

adam.tropics
April 15th, 2006, 12:00 PM
Also, would still be interested in a way to hide stickies once viewed!! please!!

joelito
April 16th, 2006, 09:22 AM
Has anybody tought about a section where users may post their custom made packages for certain applications ( Original, Open source or with permission from the application developer) ?

htinn
April 19th, 2006, 04:26 AM
Has anyone ever suggested a "Thanks" button (in addition to "Reply" buttons) for posts? That might be handy for people (like me) who don't really like wasting an entire post on just saying thank you. :)

openmind
April 19th, 2006, 04:35 AM
A great place to come for help, but the Search Function needs some work in my opinion!

You can try typing in the exact title of a thread and it doesn't appear until the third or fourth page:confused:

And because of so many matches the 'Need a program?' post always appears on the first page, no matter what you type in!

There needs to be some kind of 'relevance' function.

adam.tropics
April 25th, 2006, 06:08 AM
I don't know much with regards to server side programming, but I keep reading posts that begin something like "First forgive me english i speak little very".

Is it possible, from your end, as with theme choices etc, to allow non-english speaking users to select their native language, and have the server do the rest. ie allow them to type their own language, us read in English, and visa versa?

I know there are translation applications that do at least half of this, but anyway, just a thought! The main reason being I really hate the fact that people feel the need to keep apologising for not being English speaking, they really shouldn't have to.

ssalman
April 27th, 2006, 08:15 PM
How about if the forum automatically don't list backyard and jail posts in the "Get Unanswered Posts" and "Today's Posts" as they are useless and take space that should be occupied by other useful posts.

Maybe "Ubuntu Users Mailing List Thread" need to be excluded also as we have daily (sometimes hourly) spam.

Just a thought.

stoeptegel
April 27th, 2006, 09:17 PM
Could the auto-logout timer be delayed some minutes? If i only get downstares for a sandwitch for a moment, i have to input my login again, that's annoying least to say.

zasf
April 28th, 2006, 02:16 PM
My very little forum suggestion: when you click on "get unaswered post", also posts from the jail come out. Is that for educational purposes? I think you could take the jail off from the list.

ncappel1
April 28th, 2006, 11:13 PM
It would be convienent if there were a setting in the user control panel to have subscriptions to threads automatically deleted if the thread is "X" days old.

endersshadow
May 3rd, 2006, 02:04 PM
Once Dapper releases, for the HowTo forum, have a sticky that compiles them all and indexes them. You have to approve each new HowTo, anyway, so an indexing of them shouldn't be too hard, and it would be a great usability feature :-D

jml
May 10th, 2006, 04:42 AM
I would like to suggest that the Wireless Troubleshooting Guide posted on the Ubuntu wiki be pinned to the top of the 5.10 networking sub-forum. Alternatively, I have suggested in the past that there be a wireless networking sub-forum. Then the guide could be pinned to the top of that. Just my two cents worth.

Joe

tonyr
May 13th, 2006, 05:01 AM
I'd like to see Unanswered Posts added to the list of searches that can can be
affected by
User Control Panel->Edit Options->Misc Options->Forums To Exclude From VIew.
The reason is illuminated a little more in this (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=174419) thread.

kassetra
May 13th, 2006, 10:46 PM
tonyr: Unanswered Posts are not a "forum" that we can include in the list of forums to exclude, they are components of the forum itself.

We can give people areas to exclude but not components.

tonyr
May 13th, 2006, 11:08 PM
I'm not suggesting that Unanswered Posts be added to the list of forums.
I'm suggesting that it be added to the searches that the exclusions
are applied to.

For example, I have selected Ubuntu Users Mailing List Thread
in the list of Forums To Be Excluded. Now when I choose Today's Posts
from the Searches menu, posts from Ubuntu Users Mailing List Thread
do not appear because the exclusion was applied to that search. When I select the
Unanswered Posts search selection, however, then the exclusion
is NOT applied, and the posts from the Mailing List Thread appear. My
suggestion is directed at the Searches, not at the list of forums.

SlugO
May 17th, 2006, 12:54 AM
I'd really really really like to have some way of jumping directly to the page in a certain topic where my searched word is. This is a problem with just about all forums out there but on a forum as popular as this it's more apparent than ever.

I mean, how in the world are you supposed to find the thing you're looking for if the thread in the search results has 59 pages and only one of them has the needed word/answer? Is the fastest way 59 Nexts and F3's? ](*,)

macdo
May 19th, 2006, 04:08 PM
The box that pops up when you want to insert a link in a post already has "http://". I have to say that that is probably the single most annoying thing (for me) here: i use middle click a lot to copy/paste, and each time I do that, I have to remember to go back to the begnning of the link and erase the extra http://

I understand the logic behind the automatic inclusion, that it saves time for people who are typing in a web address - but I can't think that most people don't almost always copy/paste.

Having said that, I do really enjoy and appreciate these forums :D

tonyr
May 19th, 2006, 04:22 PM
The box that pops up when you want to insert a link in a post already has "http://". I have to say that that is probably the single most annoying thing (for me) here: i use middle click a lot to copy/paste, and each time I do that, I have to remember to go back to the begnning of the link and erase the extra http://


Ya know, when I click the link icon in this editor, it comes up with the http://
highlighted, selected for replacement. That seems like a nice behavior for URL
type text widgets. Then you could either simply replace the text or click at the
end of the text to add.

macdo
May 19th, 2006, 04:32 PM
... unless you're middle-clicking...
It doesn't matter, in the grand scheme of things, but it's a bit like a camembert-scoffing Norman on a crowded train: incredibly frustrating :-)
(and yes, I do live in France, and yes, that has happened to me)

PhilOSparta
June 2nd, 2006, 12:53 AM
I'd really really really like to have some way of jumping directly to the page in a certain topic where my searched word is. This is a problem with just about all forums out there but on a forum as popular as this it's more apparent than ever.

I mean, how in the world are you supposed to find the thing you're looking for if the thread in the search results has 59 pages and only one of them has the needed word/answer? Is the fastest way 59 Nexts and F3's? ](*,)

Exactly! Not only that, it would be great to have a quoted search.
Example: "firestarter crash" would provide ONLY pages that have that string.
The search now will list ALL pages with the word firestarter and all pages with the word crash. So much time is spent trying to find the possible page with "firestarter crash" if there is one.

TrendyDark
June 4th, 2006, 07:14 AM
I want to suggest having a Dapper Xubuntu support forum.

kassetra
June 5th, 2006, 03:25 AM
I want to suggest having a Dapper Xubuntu support forum.

We already do - it's the general support area, and you simply use the Xubuntu tag.

brallan
June 5th, 2006, 07:29 AM
To better integrate the (IMHO better of the two) forum wiki (http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Automatix)(s), could we add a couple of buttons:

One like the url button "http:/___" , a wikibutton that would point a user to a wikipage "http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/___" within your post, simplifying this if you simply know the name of the wikipage.

And another button to put a wikinote somewhere at the top & bottom of the thread something like 'Wiki(s) associated with this thread: ___,'. Often a thread gets very long and all you want is the collective conclusion without having to read through pages & pages of dialogue. It could open up a text box and you could type the name of the wikipage (or more than one seperated by commas). If one already exists, the textbox would contain the existing links, too, so you could edit/remove those.

kassetra
June 5th, 2006, 09:31 PM
To better integrate the (IMHO better of the two) forum wiki (http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Automatix)(s), could we add a couple of buttons:

One like the url button "http:/___" , a wikibutton that would point a user to a wikipage "http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/___" within your post, simplifying this if you simply know the name of the wikipage.

And another button to put a wikinote somewhere at the top & bottom of the thread something like 'Wiki(s) associated with this thread: ___,'. Often a thread gets very long and all you want is the collective conclusion without having to read through pages & pages of dialogue. It could open up a text box and you could type the name of the wikipage (or more than one seperated by commas). If one already exists, the textbox would contain the existing links, too, so you could edit/remove those.

This is a nifty concept... trust me when I say we're pondering these ideas.

jml
June 6th, 2006, 10:01 PM
How about pinning the wireless troubleshooting guide to the top of the wireless sub-forum?

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WirelessTroubleshootingGuide

Just a suggestion

Joe

nigel
June 6th, 2006, 11:12 PM
I like the forums and the colour scheme, the only thing for me that is missing is a forum for the Ubuntu server distro, it could be a good idea to try and locate all that in one forum,

Cheers


edit: ok I found the server area not sure how I missed it as I thought I had searched the forum completely

Csabo
June 7th, 2006, 04:18 AM
I have two suggestions/requests regarding the forum search feature (which I still find very useful). Here's an example: try searching for kylix.

In the result list, I would like to see a new column for each thread, and in it would be the number hits. That is, how many times the searched term is found in the thread. This would help users see which threads could be more relevant.

The other (and more important) suggestion/request is that when a matching thread is clicked, go to the first page that has the keyword(s) on it. For kylix, a thread with over 1000 replies is found! Imagine how long will it take the user to find the first post that actually has the keyword.

rcarring
June 7th, 2006, 04:44 AM
I would like you guys to consider using a search engine like Google (example, I am not suggesting you actually have to use Google) on this site.

tonyr
June 7th, 2006, 04:52 AM
I would like you guys to consider using a search engine like Google (example, I am not suggesting you actually have to use Google) on this site.

That would be nice. Currently you can get almost the same thing by putting


site:www.ubuntuforums.org <search-target> [<search-target>...]


in a Google search box. 'Course, you don't get 'search in this thread' granularity,
which would also be nice...

Choad
June 8th, 2006, 11:08 PM
for some reason i find it extremely difficult to tell apart the "reply with quote" "quick reply" and "multi quote" icons attatched to each post.

i have to hover for the tool tip *every* time because they all look so similar. (you could perhaps make each one predominantly a different colour)

its nothing major but its something i've noticed about these forums that i have never noticed on another forum

also, why do you have to quote someone before you are allowed to type a quick reply?? it cant be to only allow people to quick reply with a quote because then there is the checkbox "quote with reply" as well that isn't even checked by default

LKRaider
June 9th, 2006, 05:24 PM
for some reason i find it extremely difficult to tell apart the "reply with quote" "quick reply" and "multi quote" icons attatched to each post.

i have to hover for the tool tip *every* time because they all look so similar. (you could perhaps make each one predominantly a different colour)

its nothing major but its something i've noticed about these forums that i have never noticed on another forum

also, why do you have to quote someone before you are allowed to type a quick reply?? it cant be to only allow people to quick reply with a quote because then there is the checkbox "quote with reply" as well that isn't even checked by default
I completely agree with Choad. I also have complained about this already.

I wonder if the mods actually read this thread, or take all the opinions into account? Can we infer that if we get no response, our idea was discarded?

speedsix
June 10th, 2006, 11:27 AM
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but I find the structure of the forum really poor. There's too many sub forums with duplicate links to other sub forums. For example if I click on the Dapper heading I get General Support with subforums underneath that are also repeated further down.

Also why are suggestions for the forum restricted to this sticky thread when there is a whole 'Forums Discussion' forum?? What is that for then?

Some of the headings take you to some really confusing sections, i.e clicky (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=125) Very confusing.

Also where am I supposed to post about bugs/problems with Ubuntu packages be they supported or not?

Dom

kassetra
June 10th, 2006, 05:05 PM
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but I find the structure of the forum really poor. There's too many sub forums with duplicate links to other sub forums. For example if I click on the Dapper heading I get General Support with subforums underneath that are also repeated further down.

Also why are suggestions for the forum restricted to this sticky thread when there is a whole 'Forums Discussion' forum?? What is that for then?

Some of the headings take you to some really confusing sections, i.e clicky (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=125) Very confusing.

Also where am I supposed to post about bugs/problems with Ubuntu packages be they supported or not?

Dom

The forum does not have "duplicate links;" it has a tree-structure for each level of link. If you click on the top-most level, you are shown the "tree" of subforums. We have many subforums (with many more being requested every day) and so the trees that appear when you look at a top-level link tend to be large. This forum is still in phase 1 of the changes that we have planned; phase 2 should begin soon as we were waiting on some external elements. We hope to have the trees changed, but for now, it was the best solution to a little bug we found.

Bugs should be posted to the official ubuntu bug tracking facilities. If you post them here, most likely community members will try to help you solve the problem, but the bug won't be "officially" reported to the developers. We are an independent forum not run by Canonical.

speedsix
June 10th, 2006, 07:12 PM
Hi there,

This (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=130) page has repeated links and is a little confusing imo.


Dom.

kassetra
June 11th, 2006, 03:43 AM
Hi there,

This (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=130) page has repeated links and is a little confusing imo.


Dom.

It's a tree structure, as I was trying to explain.

The top-level forum has two depths of subforums below it - so it displays the first depth (and it shows it's subforums) and the second depth - which *are* the subforums.

It's a branching tree... it's how the forum software displays nested forum areas.

adam.tropics
June 12th, 2006, 01:13 PM
People seem to have very mixed feelings about polls! Why not have an area just for them, and then perhaps a nice easy way to see/compare similar poles etc. Personally I am a fan of stats, and would find a polling booth very interesting.............as sad as that may seem!

kassetra
June 15th, 2006, 05:07 AM
People seem to have very mixed feelings about polls! Why not have an area just for them, and then perhaps a nice easy way to see/compare similar poles etc. Personally I am a fan of stats, and would find a polling booth very interesting.............as sad as that may seem!

polling booth... hmmm......let me think about that....

s3phiroth
June 16th, 2006, 11:59 PM
I have a usability suggestion which i consider rather important, and ask any "website usability specialist" and he'll probably say the same thing.

The logo on the top should be a hyperlink to the forums homepage. Sometimes i find myself trying to click there, because i'm used to this feature on many websites and forums. And it's really easier to click on it than on the Ubuntu Forums link below it.

Simple thing, but a great usability improvement i think :)

LKRaider
June 17th, 2006, 09:01 PM
also, why do you have to quote someone before you are allowed to type a quick reply?? it cant be to only allow people to quick reply with a quote because then there is the checkbox "quote with reply" as well that isn't even checked by default
Not only that, but the disabling of the text area breaks the browser ability to recover text from there when pressing the back button!

Sometimes I lose my conection when I am posting and get an error page. After reconnecting, I press the back button, and see my text on the quick-reply box, but all greyed out and impossible to select it! If I press the quick reply button, it erases all of it!

Please, fix this issue with the forum design!

Anduu
June 18th, 2006, 01:05 AM
Here is a suggestion I think would be handy.

I know a lot of people when replying with quote only include a certain portion of the original message to save space,address a particular issue etc.Many times I have found myself wanting to read the quoted message in its entirety however there is no way to get there short of searching through pages of messages to find the original one.

Perhaps a link could be automagcally inserted into the quote which could take you to original message?

adam.tropics
June 20th, 2006, 01:00 PM
A way of indicating in a thread title whether the issue is solved (with respect to the poster), without closing the thread. Gentoo sort of do this, however it isn't terribly successful. Perhaps we could do better?