ATS Site Layout and Navigation Feedback, page 1

Hello!

I've often noticed that navigating ATS is more difficult than it really needs to be, so I'd like to walk my way through some common site navigations, and offer some feedback and make some suggestions as to how we might improve ATS.

Let's start by logging out, and going to the main index page at

www.abovetopsecret.com

The first thing I notice is that there is no "login" link on the home page, and no obvious way to create an account. Not only is this inconvenient for new users, it's also a bit annoying for those of us who already have accounts, but are checking ATS from different machines.

To log in (or create an account) we have to be looking at a thread. This is both weird, and totally unintutive. So, let's click on "9/11 conspiracies." This takes us to the forum overview. We still don't have a login option, so click on the first thread in the list. When we do this, the "Search" and "Contact" buttons on the top menu become "Join ATS" and "Log in." Again...weird, totally unintuitive, and completely unconventional. Find me any other site on the internet that hides its login and regsitration buttons two links deep away from the main page. Also There really should be a standard top menu, rather than one than changes depending on which subpage of the site you're looking at.

So, go ahead and log in.

The first thing you'll notice is that the entire forum layout is now completely different than it was a moment ago.

www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/index.php?login=ats

Has a totally different layout from the main site page. Why? Just to be complicated, I suppose. From where we are now, we do have a "log out" option to the right side of the menu, but out "search" option has now moved off the menu bar and become a textbox and button beneath it. Personally I like having the search feature immediately ccessible, but as large as the site is, I never do a search that isn't an advanced search. And, in any case, having the search option move around like this is, once again, both weird and unintuitive. It would be nice if there were a standardized "basic" and "advanced" search feature, and if they were both consistently located in the same place rather than moving around.

So, let's now click on "site home" on the menu. We'll see that once again the search tool has changed, but we have also lost our "log out" button. Come now...this is a conspiracy forum. I'm supposed to be paranoid. Don't make me hunt around for the logout button. I don't want people using my account while I'm away. Also, the "U2U" link that was on the menu has disappeared, and the link to check our mail is now on the middle right, and called "Inbox."

Things are constantly moving around, changing the names, links, buttons...the whole site is terribly inconsistent like this.

So...next, look at the following:

"Your threads, ats, Inbox" which is on the right of the page.
"Current Events Forums" on the menu on the left.
"Speculative Theories" also on the menu on the left.

Ok...now, click on "Speculative Theories."

A number of things happen:

"Your threads, ats Inbox" has become "threads, MYats InBox" and has moved from the right to the left side of the page.

In the Forum Overview title, "Speculative Theories" is now called "ATS Skunk Works"

Now...look very closely at the "Current Events Forums" text on the menu. It's just text, right? Click on the top thread in Skunk works. Now click the back button on your browser. Poof! That static text has now become a dyanamic link.

...uhh...not sure what's going on here. When I mouse over "Current Events" I get a pop up image that says "Content Link event at Shopping.com" But, the browser link text claims that the link is actually to:

www.abovetopsecret.com/forum125.html#

But when I click on it, it actually takes me shopping.com, not forum 125.

Next, let's click on "Current Events" This takes us to forum 1, and gives us a nice overview of recent active topics. Why is there no "post new thread" button here? I see a list of threads, but no way to actually create a new one. To post a new thread in a forum, I have to be looking at a specific thread in a forum. There's no way to post a new thread from the forum overview, where all the threads are actually listed.

So, now let's copy and paste in the log-in URL:

www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/index.php?login=ats

We'll notice that, once again, the "Speculative Theories" forum is named "Skunk Works" here as well. I don't really mind either name, but it would be nice if the same forum could be called the same thing in different locations on the site.

So now let's compare the thread list here from the thread list a moment ago. We were just looking at the "Current Events" forum, so let's go there again. But...we'll immediatetly notice that the forum listing here is different than it was a moment ago. On our "right menu" layout from the site index page, the forum layout is:

* Conspiracy Forums
* Current Events Forums
* Expert's Forums
* Science Forums
* Mysterious Forums
* Special Forums
* Important Links
* Content Archive

But, where we are now, the sequence is:

* Conspiracy Theory Discussion Forums
* ATS Mix Show Forums
* AboveTopSecret.com Media
* Conspiracy Pros (new)
* Conspiracy Master Forums
* General & Shared Topic Discussion Forums
* Sponsored Forums
* Current Events Discussion Forums
* Science Topics
* Mysterious Subjects
* Information, Business and Development Forums

Similar forum lists, but called by totally different names, in a different seqence, and in some cases sub-forums are grouped in different categories, and things appear in one that don't appear in the other. There are 12 sub-forums listed under "Conspiracy Forums" on the site index, but 17 sub-forums listed under "Conspiracy Theory Discussion Forums" on the login page index. Why so different? Why change the names? Why change the sequence? Why is "Current Events" second from the top on the site index, but it's in position 8 out of 11 on the login index? Wouldn't it be reasonable to have the forum listing order be consistent?

[edit on 19-2-2008 by LordBucket]