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IP.Board 3.2.0: Search/VNC Interface Improvements

Posted by Rikki , 06 April 2011 · 1,486 views

We've gradually been revealing aspects of the new IP.Board 3.2 front-end interface, and naturally there's much more to come.

In this entry I'd like to preview the new interface for the Search, View New Content and User Content views, since all three of these views essentially share the same interface elements. We previously covered the changes and improvements to View New Content, and these changes have been incorporated into the new interface.

As always, please note that screenshots are from development software, and are subject to change before the final release.

Overview

Attached Image

The biggest change is of course a brand new filter menu, to replace the myriad dropdown menus that we currently use. Content can be effortlessly filtered with single clicks - whether it's changing the app you're searching, the sub-section, or the time frame.

Search sorting

In addition to the main filter menu, search results also make use of a new filter bar to enable sorting and ordering (again replacing dropdown menus). This is an interface concept that you can expect to see more of in IP.Board 3.2.

Attached Image

Language

Non-English users will be pleased to know that we're now making use of IPSLib::getAppTitle() for tabs and titles in the search interfaces, so that the correct translation is always displayed.



We hope you like this brief preview of the new search interface! The changes we've shown here and elsewhere are a taste of the improvements we're making across the product to improve usability and aesthetics. There's plenty more to come, in our blog entries and public previews.

Feel free to comment on this blog entry below or, if you have feedback unrelated to this blog entry, start a new topic in our feedback forum. Be sure to check the What's New in IP.Board 3.2 topic for a running list of announced changes!

  • Donkerrood, NickČ, Black-Elmo and 16 others like this



fantastic! loving the new VNC (w00t) (w00t) (w00t) (w00t)
That looks absolutley great! :whistle:
Looks great. Can not wait to get my hand on 3.2
No incorporation of tags here, or is that yet to come?
improve the Search << The Search sucks, sometimes we search something and complete different things comes up.
    • AlexJ and aramlg like this
Sorry for the critism but I'm not keen at all. There seems to be too many selections on the left and the info to the right looks squeezed in due to the addition of the filter menu. Disappointing that the columns have gone as they make for much better viewing. I'm not a fan of xenforo overall but http://xenforo.com/c.../836686/threads is so much better on the eyes. No nonsense, latest posts there when you want them, 3 lines of info for each topic is bad. Add one more column in and it would be much improved.
View new posts has been ruined ever since 3.0 anyway and there seems to be no going back, and I will have to seriously consider upgrading now seeing the latest change. I'm probably in the minority, but its a crucial feature for a large forum. The skin looks like its going to be better though, would be nice of you to upgrade the site to 3.2 so we can see how it works? :shifty:
    • 7SiN, C.F.N.C. and crabpaws like this
The new search is looking goooood. :)
Does this view have the topic popup box on rollover? That would be nice to have!
    • AlexJ and dogpatch like this
marklcfc: the link you provided as an example looks just like view new content in IPB 3.1.4 :)

The big difference here is that the IPS Community Suite does more than just simple message board topics. We are a complete community platform with many different content types. This new interface lets you browse them easier. Want to see forum topics? Click forums. Interested in new files in the IPS Marketplace? Click IPS Marketplace. Perhaps you want to see unread blog entries? Click Blogs. It's great for content discovery.

Compare the 3.2 look to the 3.1 look and you will see what a vast improvement it is. No more tabs, no more drop down menus. Just simple clicks.
    • Tanax and Mikey like this

Does this view have the topic popup box on rollover? That would be nice to have!


Wait for a future blog entry on how we implemented topic-preview ;)
    • NickČ, Tanax and dogpatch like this

Language

Non-English users will be pleased to know that we're now making use of IPSLib::getAppName() for tabs and titles in the search interfaces, so that the correct translation is always displayed.


Absolutly fantastic.... :hyper: :thumbsup:
I know Charles, but if I recall when you first introduced VNC in 3.0 you had alot of complaints and changed it to what it is in 3.1. I have voiced my opinion on those tabs in the past, I wanted them rid as well but I'm not sure that the filter bar is an improvement, since its affected the width of the new topics table. The new VNC is too different, there is now only 3 columns, the column of the topic title has 3 lines of info due to lack of columns (that are not even seperated now, my main hate about the new vbulletin skin). Very, very bad news. No Posted Image images taking away the forum feel of the site. The avatars look abit out of place too.

I love some of the new features like ajax posting/replies, but this is offputting as its a popular feature.
    • AtariAge and AlexJ like this
Perhaps you can post a topic in the feedback forum on how you would propose we get rid of the tabs? We thought the filter bar was a great alternative but if you have a better idea now is the time to speak before final :)

Perhaps you can post a topic in the feedback forum on how you would propose we get rid of the tabs? We thought the filter bar was a great alternative but if you have a better idea now is the time to speak before final :)

I don't think its possible with the direction you've gone. Time period etc should be at the bottom of VNP invisible unless clicked to see the options, like where the filter options are in forum view. Maybe you should have an option to minimize the filter bar. Have Posted Image gone too?

The second picture of the new filter bar is good, just to add a positive.
Looks much improved. But please, PLEASE can we have a setting so that we can default the filter to what we wish users to see initially! In my case Forums and New Posts since last visit?
This looks great!! :D

I think the sorting bar on the search could become clouded though if more options are provided in the future, or custom options are added by the admin. Have you thought about that? How would it look if for example if I want to search topics and sort by author or tags/prefixes ?? Adding "Author" and "Tags" to the sort bar would most likely make it longer than the background bar.
What about "My Content". I use that a lot.
    • Donkerrood, NickČ and forum-olympus like this
Yeah, My Content and MY LIKED CONTENT as well! Please dont you dare to forget these ! >_<
    • NickČ and forum-olympus like this

Non-English users will be pleased to know that we're now making use of IPSLib::getAppName() for tabs and titles in the search interfaces, so that the correct translation is always displayed.

This would be good for whole board :)

What about &quot;My Content&quot;. I use that a lot.


My apologies, that's included too :)
    • Mikey likes this

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