Lars really hits the details of the forum verses the NUG right on the head and I can definitely concur with this assessment. My experience with them is just about an exact mirror of his experience.
What's that old saying about putting lipstick on a pig... Lars Jensen wrote:
This decision is most unwelcome, as was the decision to siphon off much NUG traffic to the forums in the first place. I have tried the forums on a couple of occasions already. They are a great example of a tool that focuses on a data model instead of on patterns of activity. There is no single aspect that makes them unusuable; they are simply a pile of bad user interface decisions that have the cumulative effect, after I've poked around for about 15 minutes trying to find a way to be useful, of sucking the life force out of me and making me feel like I need a nap. There is nothing about them that invites a return visit Compare this to the mailing lists, which I get in digest form, so that a few times a day, I can scan a compact list of subjects and authors (it's important that they are right next to each other), and if I decide there is something of interest, I simply scroll down. A single, easy, one-handed motion, no waiting for page loads, no jumble of buttons, garish avatars (especially the animated ones -- Mike Bailey, are you listening?), line-happy formatting, blinking smileys, and oversized signature graphics competing for my poor eyeballs' focus, burying the text I am trying to read, no pogo-sticking for _every_freaking_post_... The same efficient browsing technique applies to threads I can learn from as well as those I can help with. If I take a few days off, catching up is quick and easy. The forums don't come close.
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