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xbytor2
Inspiring
April 7, 2009
Question

Usability tweaks

  • April 7, 2009
  • 12 replies
  • 58385 views

Is there a thread anywhere that contains usability tweaks for the new forum UI?

I've seen this Stylish flex-width tweak http://forums.adobe.com/thread/414809#1870916

and Ramón has mentioned liberal use of AdBlock Plus to remove clutter and whitespace.

Is there anything else that would help?

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    12 replies

    A
    Anonymous
    July 14, 2009

    New GreaseMonkey script!

    Adobe Forums: Search this forum only

    This script hacks the Search Forum form to insert the current sub-forum Community ID as a hidden value. The result is that when you enter a search, it only returns results from the sub-forum you are currently viewing.

    Based on this tip posted by phyllisj9 over in the InDesign General sub-forum

    http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/dgarchives/designgeek76.php#search-forums

    and the fact that I figured out how to find Community ID in all community/* and thread/* pages.

    A
    Anonymous
    July 15, 2009

    So how much is Jive paying you to do their job for them?  You should ask for $150 an hour I'd say.

    Unfortunately I refuse to use hacks and scripts to fix this software crap so I will continue to simply post new messages if I need to research something, without attempting a search beforehand.  If Adobe doesn't like the extra threads in their forum database, they can fix searches.

    A
    Anonymous
    July 15, 2009

    Well, when I saw that absolutely nothing changed from the beta test (at least nothing major), I knew that the only way to keep using it without going insane was to do a little hacking. Even I'm willing to admit the lack of progress has been startling, but then again, I'm currently trying to figure out how to disable the mess their programmers made of shift-scrollwheel in InDesign CS3/CS4, lol, so I suppose I should be used to it.

    It is sort of amusing to see the Quark-like levels of hatred they're gradually building up from their userbase though. I suspect the fall will be just as hard for them eventually...

    A
    Anonymous
    June 11, 2009

    anyone interested in an afPlonkJive greasemonkey script for the jive-based forums?

    i got it working. i'll post it later tonight!

    Ramón G Castañeda
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    June 11, 2009

    Good news indeed!  

    Mark_A__Boyd
    Mark_A__Boyd
    Inspiring
    June 10, 2009

    I already posted this elsewhere, but for the sake of consolidation and so I can refer to this in another thread...

    This style sheet serves to bring the bottom footer breadcrumb links closer to the last reply in the thread. It also hides the Go/Reply to Original link, but you can delete or comment that out if you wish.

    /****************************************************/
    /*** Adobe Jive Forums - Raise Footer Breadcrumbs ***/
    /*** and Hide 'Go to/Reply to original post'      ***/
    /****************************************************/
    /* Author: Mark A. Boyd                             */
    /* Placed in the public domain 2009-05-09           */
    @namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);
    @-moz-document domain("forums.adobe.com") {
      /* Raise the breadcrumbs */
      .jive-thread-messages {
        margin: 0 !important;
      }
      /* HIDE the 'Go to/Reply to original post' */
      #jive-thread-reply-footer {
        display:none !important;
        margin: 0 !important;
      }
    }

    As always, remember to turn off all tweaks before providing feedback about performance/appearance of the forums.

    See also:
    FAQ Can I over write the forums style sheets to change the layout?

    (or http://forums.adobe.com/thread/416419 for email recipients)

    Eric @ MCA's heavyboots collection (Eric, feel free to add this if you like)

    I
    Ildhund
    Inspiring
    June 10, 2009

    Mark:

    See also:

    FAQ http://forums.adobe.com/thread/416419

    (or http://forums.adobe.com/thread/416419 for email recipients)

    Reading this in my mail client, those two links are identical. What is supposed to be the difference?

    Noel

    Mark_A__Boyd
    Mark_A__Boyd
    Inspiring
    June 10, 2009

    Sometimes internal links get truncated to relative non-links such as /thread/416419 in the email notifications. I am not clear exactly when that happens, so I guess I am erroring on the side of usability here.

    I suspect it happens if I copy/paste the link as presented on the Web forum. Or maybe it only happens when the source link is also a bolded title or a forum title itself. Let's try a couple:

    Can I over write the forums style sheets to change the layout?

    Forum FAQ

    A
    Anonymous
    May 21, 2009

    I manage to navigate around these forums quite successfully without any tweaks at all.


    It's called being adaptable.  

    It doesn't mean that I don't want the interface cleared of all the superflous stuff though!

    A
    Anonymous
    May 21, 2009

    Ramón G Castañeda wrote:

    Sounds more like being a wimp, a pushover, an unambitious conformist with low self esteem, low expectations and low standards, from where I sit.  

    I know – awful isn't it? – but I still manage to help a lot of people Ramón!

    Ramón G Castañeda
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    May 21, 2009

    One can also be picky, fussy, demanding, finicky, fastidious, exigent, challenging and taxing while helping a lot of other people as well.

    Except that this way one can also contribute to the progress, advancement and enhancement of the forums in ways the adaptable conformists do not.

    I know you understand this and are just trying to be your old annoying difficult self while claiming to be adaptable.  The irony…

    B
    Bob_Peters
    Inspiring
    May 20, 2009

    Kvetch alert!

    Well, kudos to everyone coming up with ingenious usability tweaks!  Unfortunately, user-generated tweaks should NOT be needed!

    This whole mess is beyond ridiculous without even passing through the intermediate stage of 'sublime'

    Ramón G Castañeda
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    May 21, 2009

    UPDATE:

    I've used AdBlock Plus to totally block the stats.adobe.com/* thing with no ill effects I can perceive, but with a noticeable, significant increase in speed.

    I'll try blocking some of the wwwimages.adobe.com stuff.

    Ramón G Castañeda
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    May 21, 2009

    This is an AdBlockPlus Export text file of all the filters I have currently active:

    (Adblock Plus 0.7 or higher required) [Adblock]
    ! Checksum: d7C3vU4RtdEBFrfysnij9Q
    |http://forums.adobe.com/dwr/call/plaincall/MoreLikeThis.getMoreLikeThisResults.dwr
    |http://stats.adobe.com/*
    |http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/adobeforums/resources/scripts/zapatec/styles/

    forums.adobe.com#DIV(class=jive-sidebar-body jive-sidebar-body-popular)
    forums.adobe.com#IMG(class=jive-avatar)
    forums.adobe.com#IMG(class=jive-author-avatar)
    forums.adobe.com#IMG(src=/resources/images/status/statusicon-47.gif)
    forums.adobe.com#UL(id=jive-more-like-this-1-294014)
    forums.adobe.com#UL(class=jive-sidebar-topmembers)
    forums.adobe.com#UL(id=jive-more-like-this-1-414276)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(class=jive-sidebar-usercontent)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_27635)
    forums.adobe.com#P(class=jive-sidebar-viewall)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_27635)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_26161)
    forums.adobe.com#A(href=/people?view=status&cid=3263)
    forums.adobe.com#H4(title=Become an participant by contributing content)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_26221)
    forums.adobe.com#A(href=/people?view=status&cid=3341)
    forums.adobe.com#A(href=/people?view=status&cid=3384)
    forums.adobe.com##*#jive-answer-bar > DIV
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=globalfooter)
    forums.adobe.com##*.jive-widget-empty.jive-widget-empty-people > DIV
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_27267)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(class=jive-widget-body-empty)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_27267)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_26221)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com##*.jive-sidebar-body > H4
    forums.adobe.com#A(href=/people?view=status&cid=3367)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_25937)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_25937)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_26149)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_26149)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#A(href=/people?view=status&cid=3267)
    forums.adobe.com##*[title="Become an participant by contributing content"] + *.jive-sidebar-topmembers + P
    forums.adobe.com##*.jive-username-link-wrapper + EM
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_27718)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_26591)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_26227)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#IMG(src=/resources/images/status/comm_expert_69x15.gif)
    forums.adobe.com##*#jive-widgetframe-header_31763.jive-widget-header > H4
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_31763)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_26227)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_31650)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_26391)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_28023)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_28023)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_33489)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe_28101)(class=jive-widget jive-widget-topmemberswidget)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_34723)(class=jive-widget-header)
    forums.adobe.com#IMG(title=Participant)(alt=Participant)(src=/resources/images/status/statusicon-48.gif)
    forums.adobe.com#SPAN(class=jive-link-answer-correct)
    forums.adobe.com#SPAN(class=jive-link-question)
    forums.adobe.com#SPAN(class=jive-link-thread)
    forums.adobe.com#DIV(id=jive-widgetframe-header_38218)

    Mark_A__Boyd
    Mark_A__Boyd
    Inspiring
    May 4, 2009

    Eric @ MCA posted another Stylish for me. This one expands the Private Message text editor to 300px height instead of the tiny 116px.

    http://userstyles.org/styles/17577

    I know many of you prefer a smaller editor here in the forums, but I found the PM version too small. (I don't really want to mess with the regular editor since they're supposedly working on getting the "sticky" feature to stick.)

    [Edit]

    Just a friendly reminder to to turn off all of these tweaks before giving feedback on the appearance or performance of the forum.

    A
    Anonymous
    May 4, 2009

    Mark A. Boyd wrote:

    Just a friendly reminder to to turn off all of these tweaks before giving feedback on the appearance or performance of the forum.

    Tweaks? What tweaks?

    D
    D__McCahill
    Known Participant
    May 5, 2009

    Not sure about tweaks, but this post is about usability.

    What moron decided that the little X to close an attachement should go in the upper left corner, when every other Windows application puts it into upper right? Is that a Mac thing?

    A
    Anonymous
    April 21, 2009

    FYI everyone,

    New Stylish style to expand the "Where" selection list area in the "More Options" of Search.

    http://userstyles.org/styles/17180

    This one is courtesy of Mark A Boyd. I'm just hosting it for him.

    Thanks, Mark!

    Ramón G Castañeda
    Ramón G Castañeda
    Inspiring
    April 21, 2009

    Thank you both, Eric and Mark.  

    Mark_A__Boyd
    Mark_A__Boyd
    Inspiring
    April 22, 2009

    Thanks Eric & you're welcome, Ramón

    I thought about creating an account and uploading my versions, but decided it would be easier for all if they're all in one place. And gool ole heavyboots already has a good collection going

    A
    Anonymous
    April 11, 2009

    Updated Show|Hide ACTIONS sidebar to v1.01 with some prettification tweaks.

    - Dynamically change text to say Show ACTIONS or Hide ACTIONS depending on current state.

    - Stole paginations style from Jive next/prev so I can have left & right arrows (ie, <-Show or Hide->).

    Have a nice weekend, folks!

    B
    Bob_Peters
    Inspiring
    April 9, 2009

    I'm all for usability tweaks.  The problem with them is they tend to be VERY browser-centric.

    It's the Jive Geniuses that need to fix what I still consider a space-wasting monstrosity.

    A
    Anonymous
    April 9, 2009

    Oh yeah, I also wrote another little Stylish hack to hide the "Answer Bar"...

    X
    xbytor2Author
    Inspiring
    April 9, 2009

    Thanks for these, Eric. It's helping to make life without NNTP a bit more bearable.

    -X

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