Many thanks to everyone who has taken the survey. We have had 41 responses, and the feedback has been very useful.
I thought our users would be interested in seeing some of the results. Below is a summary of the responses.
It is somewhat surprising how dominant Chrome is in comparison to Firefox. This is consistent with results for the same question in other regions, but as far as I know it is not reflected in worldwide use statistics.
It's now confirmed, most of us are NS addicts who check this forum all day long.
There is a significant amount of cell phone browsing, though much smaller than when compared to other regions. This may have to do with the fact that many of our players are relatively old compared to the average NS player.
Corroborating the above, most of the forum use remains from conventional large-display devices. As with the previous question, the percentage of "Yes" is much smaller than in other regions.
Still, we have a considerable amount of cell phone browsing, so we should look to make the forum friendlier to those users.
It's troubling that about 1 out of 20 users disables Javascript (all "Yes" respondents said they do so for security and privacy reasons), because the main forum skin makes very heavy use of Javascript. We should look to reduce that, or at least create appropriate non-JS fallbacks.
Aqua is the clear winner here. I think we should consider removing all non-Aqua skins (with the possible exception of Burnt Triangle), given how hard it is to maintain the other skins.
Despite the fact that this issue shows up often in the admin forum, the majority of users seem to be satisfied with the number of forums on the index page. In the suggestions, the University is the most suggested forum for removal from the index, and Elections is the most suggested forum for promotion to the index (at least during ongoing elections).
This is another generally contentious issue but, based on the survey, there seems to be a strong majority of users who prefer that we keep the News Box. Even among those who want to keep it, there are several suggestions for improvement. I also include here the suggestions about the links on the forum header, as many of them relate to the News Box.
A majority of our users prefer our forum to other NS forums they use, which is good. I should say, though, that in my experience there is strong bias in this question (in part because many of the respondents do not use any other forum), and as a result a majority is always favorable to the forum where the survey is taking place. What is more worrying is that the majority in our case is much, much smaller than the majority in other similar surveys I've done.
I won't list the specific forums people mentioned as better or worse than TNP's, but I will only list the reasons they provided. It's worth noting that "more index forums" shows up in both categories
.
Finally, there were a few interesting suggestions in the last two open-ended questions.
I thought our users would be interested in seeing some of the results. Below is a summary of the responses.
It is somewhat surprising how dominant Chrome is in comparison to Firefox. This is consistent with results for the same question in other regions, but as far as I know it is not reflected in worldwide use statistics.
It's now confirmed, most of us are NS addicts who check this forum all day long.
There is a significant amount of cell phone browsing, though much smaller than when compared to other regions. This may have to do with the fact that many of our players are relatively old compared to the average NS player.
Corroborating the above, most of the forum use remains from conventional large-display devices. As with the previous question, the percentage of "Yes" is much smaller than in other regions.
Still, we have a considerable amount of cell phone browsing, so we should look to make the forum friendlier to those users.
It's troubling that about 1 out of 20 users disables Javascript (all "Yes" respondents said they do so for security and privacy reasons), because the main forum skin makes very heavy use of Javascript. We should look to reduce that, or at least create appropriate non-JS fallbacks.
Aqua is the clear winner here. I think we should consider removing all non-Aqua skins (with the possible exception of Burnt Triangle), given how hard it is to maintain the other skins.
Aesthetically pleasings, suits TNP's atmosphere. Too lazy to change from default.
It's beautiful
I don't know, it just seems more TNP than the others.
It's the least obnoxious.
tradition!
default lol; also there are no good light-on-dark skins (Burnt Triangle's shade of red is more garish than a Jamie Oliver dish)
Looks TNPish and is easy on the eyes (the other ones aren't).
It just feels like TNP to me.
Just got used to the default
Nicest one to read the content
I'm used to it
It is simple and doesn't distract, easy to use with and isn't too extravagant.
It's default and it looks the best.
I have used it for a long time, the other skins look strange to me as a result.
Works and looks nice
It was the original, and, in my opinion, the most aesthetically pleasing.
it's just great
Aesthetics
It looks more suiting in terms of an RP forum.
Looks cleanest. I prefer light themes.
It's the default one, I haven't ever changed it.
It is quite pleasant. Although the slightly different shade of blue in the top left hand corner drives me nuts.
It's red, and it looks cooler than the default
It looks neat
It's the only correct one.
I don't, it's just the default one and I'm too lazy.
It was the default when I started, doesn't look right without it anymore!
Too lazy to change it lol
I just haven't bothered with changing the theme
Dunno Which skin i use
It represents TNP
It causes the least eye bleeding.
It's beautiful
I don't know, it just seems more TNP than the others.
It's the least obnoxious.
tradition!
default lol; also there are no good light-on-dark skins (Burnt Triangle's shade of red is more garish than a Jamie Oliver dish)
Looks TNPish and is easy on the eyes (the other ones aren't).
It just feels like TNP to me.
Just got used to the default
Nicest one to read the content
I'm used to it
It is simple and doesn't distract, easy to use with and isn't too extravagant.
It's default and it looks the best.
I have used it for a long time, the other skins look strange to me as a result.
Works and looks nice
It was the original, and, in my opinion, the most aesthetically pleasing.
it's just great
Aesthetics
It looks more suiting in terms of an RP forum.
Looks cleanest. I prefer light themes.
It's the default one, I haven't ever changed it.
It is quite pleasant. Although the slightly different shade of blue in the top left hand corner drives me nuts.
It's red, and it looks cooler than the default
It looks neat
It's the only correct one.
I don't, it's just the default one and I'm too lazy.
It was the default when I started, doesn't look right without it anymore!
Too lazy to change it lol
I just haven't bothered with changing the theme
Dunno Which skin i use
It represents TNP
It causes the least eye bleeding.
A drop-down menu displaying the government and other information, like r3n has done in other regions, would be great. Those always look really nice and are easily accessible.
Modernize it. Seriously.
less CSS, no images
Make it more attractive.
Make the colors match!
Destory the news box.
Night mode (Maybe as an alternate skin)
Larger text.
Modernize it. Seriously.
less CSS, no images
Make it more attractive.
Make the colors match!
Destory the news box.
Night mode (Maybe as an alternate skin)
Larger text.
Despite the fact that this issue shows up often in the admin forum, the majority of users seem to be satisfied with the number of forums on the index page. In the suggestions, the University is the most suggested forum for removal from the index, and Elections is the most suggested forum for promotion to the index (at least during ongoing elections).
World Assembly Legislative League
I don't really want to but if I had to it would be The North Pacific University
Roleplay
NPU, SC, Embassy Row from first pref to last
The North Pacific University
WALL, or something from Port Thel besides the Docks
The North Pacific University
Embassy Row
North Pacific University
Security Council
News Box
The North Pacific University
University
TresVille
World Assembly Legislative League
I don't really want to but if I had to it would be The North Pacific University
Roleplay
NPU, SC, Embassy Row from first pref to last
The North Pacific University
WALL, or something from Port Thel besides the Docks
The North Pacific University
Embassy Row
North Pacific University
Security Council
News Box
The North Pacific University
University
TresVille
World Assembly Legislative League
WA Affairs
Games and Arts
Hyacinth House
North Pacific University could be slid into The Docks
I would like Elections to move from the Agora to the index page during election cycles.
General Announcements
National Roleplay
everything under the Agora
Communications
Citizen Application
Citizen and Resident Registry, but I may be biased
Elections
National Information
Elections
Games and Arts
Hyacinth House
North Pacific University could be slid into The Docks
I would like Elections to move from the Agora to the index page during election cycles.
General Announcements
National Roleplay
everything under the Agora
Communications
Citizen Application
Citizen and Resident Registry, but I may be biased
Elections
National Information
Elections
This is another generally contentious issue but, based on the survey, there seems to be a strong majority of users who prefer that we keep the News Box. Even among those who want to keep it, there are several suggestions for improvement. I also include here the suggestions about the links on the forum header, as many of them relate to the News Box.
Very useful to see regional happenings.
Because we can know what it's happening in tnp
It's too large and seems outdated. I feel like something more modern could be created.
Seems to be working pretty well.
It is (or can be) a good way for new or uninformed users to see what is current.
forgot we had one
It's useful for new members I feel however, this depends on someone actually updating it. >.>
The News Box is very helpful to new citizens.
Never up to date
The news box takes up a lot of space, and is sometimes out of date. Also, it is ugly.
It's a quick way of getting information across
It's a useful tool when it's properly maintained
It contains useful information that new members need to see when they first join the forum and it shows when things of importance happen.
It's working fine.
The newsbox sometimes contains information about events that I do not otherwise notice.
The box at the top right? It's handy!
It allows people to stay in the loop without searching past the box
just something I have to scroll past every time I load the page
Yes...?
The News Box's purpose was for the people of The North Pacific to pick up on "current" events, yet the News Box has not been used since 2012. This is also part of the reason why I am in favor of the Communications sub-forum to be on the index page, for the exact purpose the News Box could not fulfill.
It helps me know whats going on in the region.
It's notoriously difficult to update and frequently out of date
It's just the worst fam.
It's very informative and gets the word out about a lot of things.
It's genuinely useful.
idk
It's a useful place for forum wide announcements
Dont visit the forums that much.
It's too lengthy
It's too much extra clutter that makes the forums overwhelming for newcomers.
Because we can know what it's happening in tnp
It's too large and seems outdated. I feel like something more modern could be created.
Seems to be working pretty well.
It is (or can be) a good way for new or uninformed users to see what is current.
forgot we had one
It's useful for new members I feel however, this depends on someone actually updating it. >.>
The News Box is very helpful to new citizens.
Never up to date
The news box takes up a lot of space, and is sometimes out of date. Also, it is ugly.
It's a quick way of getting information across
It's a useful tool when it's properly maintained
It contains useful information that new members need to see when they first join the forum and it shows when things of importance happen.
It's working fine.
The newsbox sometimes contains information about events that I do not otherwise notice.
The box at the top right? It's handy!
It allows people to stay in the loop without searching past the box
just something I have to scroll past every time I load the page
Yes...?
The News Box's purpose was for the people of The North Pacific to pick up on "current" events, yet the News Box has not been used since 2012. This is also part of the reason why I am in favor of the Communications sub-forum to be on the index page, for the exact purpose the News Box could not fulfill.
It helps me know whats going on in the region.
It's notoriously difficult to update and frequently out of date
It's just the worst fam.
It's very informative and gets the word out about a lot of things.
It's genuinely useful.
idk
It's a useful place for forum wide announcements
Dont visit the forums that much.
It's too lengthy
It's too much extra clutter that makes the forums overwhelming for newcomers.
Nothing.
nothing
The size. It should be smaller.
Nothing really.
Less on it, but more important and current stuff. "news" that is months old is not news.
the fact that we kept it; also clearly delineating static info (How to get involved & the RA links, which currently bookend the news box) from dynamic info
Maybe make it smaller.
Have someone actually maintain it
Make it collapsed by default, or make it a link in the header.
Make it more attention grabbing. For a long time I scroll passed it without knowing what it was.
New players seem to miss the Validating part. I'd try and make it more noticeable.
Improve the formatting (don't have everything centered), organize it into sections (news, information, announcements and other) and change the colouring (it's a bit too much and should fit the North Pacific theme (dark blues and light blues).
Modernize it although I assume that would go with the skin.
Nothing
It's great for alerting elections
remove the stuff about endorsing the Delegate. people will see that in the WFE just fine.
Please condense it more and keep the information up to date. It is too big.
If the News Box should be kept, I feel it should be moved to the Communications sub-forum, hence it fits in that category. It should also have to be updated every week, with only content related to the region, forum, and NationStates altogether.
It should also be in control of the Communications ministry, for it is THEIR duty to inform the people.
More active news.
Make it easier to get to so updating it is a regular part of regional life? Might need to mix it up a little too, it kind of blurs and gets forgotten when it looks the same most of the time
Make it tiny.
Nothing!
Slightly nicer formatting.
See Above
Allow it to be used in different forums/subforums with different texts
Make the messages shorter
nothing
The size. It should be smaller.
Nothing really.
Less on it, but more important and current stuff. "news" that is months old is not news.
the fact that we kept it; also clearly delineating static info (How to get involved & the RA links, which currently bookend the news box) from dynamic info
Maybe make it smaller.
Have someone actually maintain it
Make it collapsed by default, or make it a link in the header.
Make it more attention grabbing. For a long time I scroll passed it without knowing what it was.
New players seem to miss the Validating part. I'd try and make it more noticeable.
Improve the formatting (don't have everything centered), organize it into sections (news, information, announcements and other) and change the colouring (it's a bit too much and should fit the North Pacific theme (dark blues and light blues).
Modernize it although I assume that would go with the skin.
Nothing
It's great for alerting elections
remove the stuff about endorsing the Delegate. people will see that in the WFE just fine.
Please condense it more and keep the information up to date. It is too big.
If the News Box should be kept, I feel it should be moved to the Communications sub-forum, hence it fits in that category. It should also have to be updated every week, with only content related to the region, forum, and NationStates altogether.
It should also be in control of the Communications ministry, for it is THEIR duty to inform the people.
More active news.
Make it easier to get to so updating it is a regular part of regional life? Might need to mix it up a little too, it kind of blurs and gets forgotten when it looks the same most of the time
Make it tiny.
Nothing!
Slightly nicer formatting.
See Above
Allow it to be used in different forums/subforums with different texts
Make the messages shorter
I would like to see the links in the forum header and the links in the news box incorporated into a drop-down menu in the header, as previously mentioned.
DISCORD!
Instead of the links taking up so much space, maybe making them in tabs, such as on Europeia's forum.
Rename "WA Ministry"'s name with something more informative, like "WA Voting" or something like that.
I'd add an FAQs link, but I don't think removing any of them would benefit the forum.
I would switch the North Pacific University with the Citizenship Application.
IRC - it's over guys, come on now. Also, might be the bias talking again, but maybe get the RA up there in some fashion? I wouldn't mind Elections, but for the same reason I didn't suggest making it a normal forum, I think it would be too infrequently useful to merit a spot there
I'd make the forum header smaller.
DISCORD!
Instead of the links taking up so much space, maybe making them in tabs, such as on Europeia's forum.
Rename "WA Ministry"'s name with something more informative, like "WA Voting" or something like that.
I'd add an FAQs link, but I don't think removing any of them would benefit the forum.
I would switch the North Pacific University with the Citizenship Application.
IRC - it's over guys, come on now. Also, might be the bias talking again, but maybe get the RA up there in some fashion? I wouldn't mind Elections, but for the same reason I didn't suggest making it a normal forum, I think it would be too infrequently useful to merit a spot there
I'd make the forum header smaller.
A majority of our users prefer our forum to other NS forums they use, which is good. I should say, though, that in my experience there is strong bias in this question (in part because many of the respondents do not use any other forum), and as a result a majority is always favorable to the forum where the survey is taking place. What is more worrying is that the majority in our case is much, much smaller than the majority in other similar surveys I've done.
I won't list the specific forums people mentioned as better or worse than TNP's, but I will only list the reasons they provided. It's worth noting that "more index forums" shows up in both categories
. More modern design. And not to beat a dead horse, but: Drop-down menu.
Easy to navigate.
Because it's mine
It looks better.
more front page forums, makes for easier navigation, IMO
more front page stuff, dark theme
Aesthetics
Better forum software with more features.
Better forum host, better layout
Looks better. The number of forums/subforums matches the traffic.
Easy to navigate.
Because it's mine
It looks better.
more front page forums, makes for easier navigation, IMO
more front page stuff, dark theme
Aesthetics
Better forum software with more features.
Better forum host, better layout
Looks better. The number of forums/subforums matches the traffic.
Navigation difficulties and general aesthetics.
Because it's Proboards.
have you seen it like seriously the colour scheme once opened a dictionary to the definition of the word "contrast" and ripped the page out to wipe its ass
Too many different "main" forums.
Zeta sucks
Too many top-level forums, gigantic news box
High volume of forums at the index level
It is horribly organized and boring, unlike TNP's
Hard to find things.
It's not active, it's very messy and disorganized.
Because it's Proboards.
have you seen it like seriously the colour scheme once opened a dictionary to the definition of the word "contrast" and ripped the page out to wipe its ass
Too many different "main" forums.
Zeta sucks
Too many top-level forums, gigantic news box
High volume of forums at the index level
It is horribly organized and boring, unlike TNP's
Hard to find things.
It's not active, it's very messy and disorganized.
Finally, there were a few interesting suggestions in the last two open-ended questions.
Drop-down menu.
I would remove validation. Little benefit from it.
Make top-level forums (i.e. Roleplay, the Agora etc.) read-only categories only, no-one even uses them anyway
Better skin.
More consistent transparency; some forums are viewable when not logged in however, validating members are unable to see them (I believe the Archives for SC Votes was one place).
Just a clean up of the forums and making it easier to get to where you need to go in terms of navigation.
Get it off Zeta
Seriously, remove the news box.
Ability to minimise sections so forums I don't use would be hidden and so make it quicker to navigate.
For the Winter theme, remove the if (sw) else clauses and simply have the normal snowflakes under the if part, and make it so the alternate snowflakes in the first snowsrc are static images instead of gifs. The easter eggs are fine, but a few of the links for the else part of the if (sw) else are broken (and also it overrides the user snowflakes setting) and the gif snowflakes are annoying.
It isn't a change, but I would add an inversed colours theme, so instead of being aqua background and dark blue text, I would have a theme where the background is dark blue and the text is a lighter shade of blue.
Make it look nicer, modernize it,.
Re-name each forum area
More front page forums
More ease of use. The format took a little getting used to, but works perfectly fine.
add a dark theme that isn't red
Generally condense it, make it shorter.
That old, unused sub-forums should be cleaned up or put to use again if they benefit the people of The North Pacific.
I'm not a fan of having the OP repeated at the top of every page.
Add the WAPD awards and the Northern Lights to the news column.
Those auto tools are buggy, and the way groups and permissions are set up (from what I hear, thankfully no hands-on experience) are a nightmare. I want to wave a magic wand and eliminate the phrase "that's just something zetaboards does" or the like. I feel like I might as well be wishing on a magic lamp though, but that's what I want, some reliable, consistent tools
make a more modern theme
Newsbox gone.
We need to get Theme3 from the Test Forum onto the main forum and have that be a new theme! It's about time!
A Night Mode of some sort.
Raise it from PG-16
Hotkeys for formatting in posts such as ctrl+B for bolded
Update the badges to the new arms. (JK Keep our historical imagery!!)
Remove/merge low-traffic forums, improve the look.
I would remove validation. Little benefit from it.
Make top-level forums (i.e. Roleplay, the Agora etc.) read-only categories only, no-one even uses them anyway
Better skin.
More consistent transparency; some forums are viewable when not logged in however, validating members are unable to see them (I believe the Archives for SC Votes was one place).
Just a clean up of the forums and making it easier to get to where you need to go in terms of navigation.
Get it off Zeta
Seriously, remove the news box.
Ability to minimise sections so forums I don't use would be hidden and so make it quicker to navigate.
For the Winter theme, remove the if (sw) else clauses and simply have the normal snowflakes under the if part, and make it so the alternate snowflakes in the first snowsrc are static images instead of gifs. The easter eggs are fine, but a few of the links for the else part of the if (sw) else are broken (and also it overrides the user snowflakes setting) and the gif snowflakes are annoying.
It isn't a change, but I would add an inversed colours theme, so instead of being aqua background and dark blue text, I would have a theme where the background is dark blue and the text is a lighter shade of blue.
Make it look nicer, modernize it,.
Re-name each forum area
More front page forums
More ease of use. The format took a little getting used to, but works perfectly fine.
add a dark theme that isn't red
Generally condense it, make it shorter.
That old, unused sub-forums should be cleaned up or put to use again if they benefit the people of The North Pacific.
I'm not a fan of having the OP repeated at the top of every page.
Add the WAPD awards and the Northern Lights to the news column.
Those auto tools are buggy, and the way groups and permissions are set up (from what I hear, thankfully no hands-on experience) are a nightmare. I want to wave a magic wand and eliminate the phrase "that's just something zetaboards does" or the like. I feel like I might as well be wishing on a magic lamp though, but that's what I want, some reliable, consistent tools
make a more modern theme
Newsbox gone.
We need to get Theme3 from the Test Forum onto the main forum and have that be a new theme! It's about time!
A Night Mode of some sort.
Raise it from PG-16
Hotkeys for formatting in posts such as ctrl+B for bolded
Update the badges to the new arms. (JK Keep our historical imagery!!)
Remove/merge low-traffic forums, improve the look.
This isn't really related to forum design/layout, but you need more active admins and mods much more than you need design/layout changes.
explode Delegate's Government into its own category, merge TresVille into Magicality City, make Embassy Row a subforum of the Agora, merge TNPUni into Out of Character, the 'Print' theme doesn't work on my Firefox 51.0.1
Make it so validating members may post in more forums that they can currently. This would make it easier for them to initially get involved and help in retention.
I'd create a 'General Questions' thread for new members, it'd be accessible to them along with the others when they join, and it would give them the opportunity to ask any questions about the forum or region BEFORE they decide to become a full-time member and make a proper introduction. It would also give them the chance to get used to forum posting, some of the members that answer their questions and how the forums work in general.
Please don't completely destroy how the place looks (I'm 70% joking)
generally really nice forum. way better than 10KI for sure (but that's not saying much).
I love how (comparatively) lively it is when looking at other forums (I only use 2 others but have visited and observed several others, not much to write home about).
Great professional staff, well-set up considering what it is.
explode Delegate's Government into its own category, merge TresVille into Magicality City, make Embassy Row a subforum of the Agora, merge TNPUni into Out of Character, the 'Print' theme doesn't work on my Firefox 51.0.1
Make it so validating members may post in more forums that they can currently. This would make it easier for them to initially get involved and help in retention.
I'd create a 'General Questions' thread for new members, it'd be accessible to them along with the others when they join, and it would give them the opportunity to ask any questions about the forum or region BEFORE they decide to become a full-time member and make a proper introduction. It would also give them the chance to get used to forum posting, some of the members that answer their questions and how the forums work in general.
Please don't completely destroy how the place looks (I'm 70% joking
)generally really nice forum. way better than 10KI for sure (but that's not saying much).
I love how (comparatively) lively it is when looking at other forums (I only use 2 others but have visited and observed several others, not much to write home about).
Great professional staff, well-set up considering what it is.