Things you want to see in a forum overhaul

[Titan]

I'm weighing options for the next iteration of this site. I own the new domain now and trying to figure out which way to go with the forum software. We will no longer be using the Simple Machines Forum as it's awful.

I have some ideas from when I took over that I never got to fully realize. Part of the problem is I turned this from a PS2 into a PS4 forum when the console generation was fully underway. The next generation can be a fresh start. I learned some things during my work on Project Bandicoot that I still want to incorporate. The thing that makes a good forum is the community and I want this to be entirely community centric. That includes a couple panels of featured user generated news and reviews. Members who post relevant news will have it bumped into that panel. Users will be able to submit their own reviews of games that can also be featured in another panel. This way they'll be seen on the main forum page on the sides without users having to fish through forums. These popular posts will also be featured on a new Facebook page.

So I'm throwing it out there as to what you guys are looking for in a forum. What features do you want? How do you want it to look? Anything lacking here that you would like to see in PSX5Central? Any other insight or opinions? No comments are stupid and everyone's opinion matters here

[Paul2]

how about make embedding youtube videos more user friendly on the new psx5central forums.  no more deleting the texts before and with the "=" of the youtube link to be able to embed the video.  even better, make it possible to embed it in bigger screen which means higher resolution than 360p.  so users can select the screen size they want to embed.

Just out of curiosity is the intention to change domain names with each generation? Wouldn't that kill search rankings and SEO? Just because you mentioned PSX5

I personally like the idea and I know we spoke briefly in a PM which I outlined my thoughts.

A couple of things:

Keep it minimal to start with. No point in having say 20 odd forum caterogies.

Example

Playstation General Discussion
Gaming General Discussion

To be honest you've got the categories well laid out here.

I did mention more in my PM.

[Jumpman]

Just out of curiosity is the intention to change domain names with each generation? Wouldn't that kill search rankings and SEO? Just because you mentioned PSX5

I personally like the idea and I know we spoke briefly in a PM which I outlined my thoughts.

A couple of things:

Keep it minimal to start with. No point in having say 20 odd forum caterogies.

Example

Playstation General Discussion
Gaming General Discussion

To be honest you've got the categories well laid out here.

I did mention more in my PM.

HOLY SHIT

SOMEONE OTHER THAN TITAN AND PAUL

TELL US YOUR LIFE STORY NOW

Please

[Titan]

Just out of curiosity is the intention to change domain names with each generation? Wouldn't that kill search rankings and SEO? Just because you mentioned PSX5

I personally like the idea and I know we spoke briefly in a PM which I outlined my thoughts.

A couple of things:

Keep it minimal to start with. No point in having say 20 odd forum caterogies.

Example

Playstation General Discussion
Gaming General Discussion

To be honest you've got the categories well laid out here.

I did mention more in my PM.

Probably. But since Sony puts an extra number in every generation, kinda don't really have a choice lol. Back in the day, search engine rankings were different. Now that it takes in account mobile accessibility, link ease of reading and all sorts of shit, we are, and have been, ranked low for a very long time. Thanks Google!

I know I probably should drop the X out of the name for SEO purposes but it harks back to the PS2 days of the site. In that generation, a lot of people called the PS2 the PSX2 (at least in the early days of the generation. The original PlayStation was called the PSX). I kinda like it and is this place's brand in a way, so I don't want to drop it. What I was toying with was grabbing the PS5Central domain and just putting a redirect on it.

For categories, I ain't going crazy. Just adding in a PS5 section. With the amount of traffic here, I may actually trim some things down if anything. Simplicity on these kinds of forums is key. You don't want to overwhelm people, especially if they're on their phone. I learned that the hard way a few years ago It took me some time to find the right balance.

My advice would br if you're going to get a new domain name each time is to put ap redirect of the old ones to the new one and if possible newsletter blast the members to let them know.

Yeah. Keep it simple.

Is the idea to keep with SMF?

[Titan]

My advice would br if you're going to get a new domain name each time is to put ap redirect of the old ones to the new one and if possible newsletter blast the members to let them know.

Yeah. Keep it simple.

Is the idea to keep with SMF?

Thanks for the advice on that. I'm going to hold onto the old domain during the next generation (it's 15 bucks a year. No biggie, lol) and redirect. If people are like me, they don't update their bookmarks, lol.

Absolutely not. Kurt knows from my regular whining in the Staff Forum my feelings on SMF

[Kurt Angle]

  yes SMF isn't the greatest thing out there thats for sure. Following on with layouts etc and keeping things simple we could have a forum for PS5 stuff obviously and then another section called "Previous Gen Consoles" which would obviously cover PS4, PS3, PS2 etc maybe even those Microsoft thingies too haha 

Keeping the sections to a minimum would make things easier on the eye when viewing I think

[Titan]

yes SMF isn't the greatest thing out there thats for sure. Following on with layouts etc and keeping things simple we could have a forum for PS5 stuff obviously and then another section called "Previous Gen Consoles" which would obviously cover PS4, PS3, PS2 etc maybe even those Microsoft thingies too haha 

Keeping the sections to a minimum would make things easier on the eye when viewing I think

What are you talking about Kurt?!?! SMF is the greatest thing since sliced bread! Definitely didn't ever break the forum with a simple update for days. And it definitely doesn't let you update to the latest version without first installing the buggy broken one without reinstalling the whole forum from scratch! Oh, and the control panel is so well laid out!!!! Not confusing at all!

Agreed. Things are pretty much set up that way now. Just a matter of tweaks and maybe merge the PS3 section with the PS Discussion section and rename it. Oh, and fix the descriptions Definitely room for some streamlining.