Forum Usage

[eteam00]

As the forums are currently setup, threads are displayed in a list sorted by date/time of most recent post.  This is most handy for folks (like me, for example) who occasionally "live" in these forums, quickly displaying the latest "new posts" activity.  But this may not be the most useful thread display for the new (or occasional) visitor with a problem which may be shared by others.

Here's a suggestion:

Provide the list of threads sorted by total view counts.  The most popular subjects or topics would appear at the top of the list.  The most read (or viewed) threads are also likely to be the topics of interest to the greatest fraction of new (or occasional) visitors seeking help or advice.

I would think the Xilinx apps and documentation folks would also be very interested in which topics generate the greatest viewing interest.  These are the topics which are probably most in need of better documentation or some bug-fix activity.

In a recent email exchange within a webcase, I referenced a thread topic I created roughly 18 months ago, suggesting an enhancement to a document on a specific technical topic.  I was surprised when I realised that this thread has been viewed almost 1600 times.  This suggests that the topic is one in which a fair number of forum visitors have a shared interest, and would also suggest that the topic is worthy of expanded 'coverage' in a related Xilinx user guide.

I wonder what other threads and topics are 'popular' for visitors.  A topic or thread list sorted by view count would be very closely related to a frequently-asked-questions display, but would require little or no maintenance.  The list would be self-updating.  Of course, once a thread makes it near the top of the list, it is likely to attract even more views, which would tend to ensure that the thread stays near the top of the list forever.

The best parts of this thread sort option are:

• It doesn't take much effort to implement -- the statistics are already generated and maintained
• The thread-sorting is optional and user-selectable.
• It might help newbies find useful information more easily and more quickly

Does this make sense?  I'm not a forums design expert, so I would assume that this is not a new idea.  I wouldn't be surprised if this (or something very similar) has already been proposed.

-- Bob Elkind

[eschabor]

Good idea Bob.  

An additional thought:

One potential downside to listing most-read threads first is that it can encourage thread hijacking - uninformed newcomers may see a thread only vaguely related to their issue and hijack it.  At worst, this could lead to a small number of immortal threads that keep getting hijacked and keep at the to of the list due to increasing view counts.

Perhaps the problem could be minimised by giving a choice of "sort by newest post" / "sort by most read" and defaulting to "sort by newest post".

[eteam00]

One potential downside to listing most-read threads first is that it can encourage thread hijacking - uninformed newcomers may see a thread only vaguely related to their issue and hijack it.  At worst, this could lead to a small number of immortal threads that keep getting hijacked and keep at the to of the list due to increasing view counts.

What you describe is, of course, both possible and inevitable.  Attracting attention to a thread is a double-edged sword.

On the other hand, the ~1600 view thread I mentioned in my first post has only accumulated 18 posts (total) in roughly 18 months, as follows:

• 4 posts I wrote to begin and continue the discussion topic

• 1 post: a thanks for the thread, with a link to another thread with a related problem (i.e. a non-hijack), plus my response

• 5 posts in a sequence which might be considered a (partial) thread hijack, but provided an opportunity to expand the discussion a bit

• 6 posts in a sequence which represented a failed and poorly executed attempt to follow my directions

• 2 posts representing a tangentially related feature request for a piece of Xilinx SW, plus thanks for providing the original thread to which the feature request could be posted.

All in all, not too bad for an 18-month-old thread.  So... most of the 1600 'visits' were 'read-only'.  And to be completely honest, this 18-month-old thread has accumulated only 375 views in the last 5 months.  The most recent post to this thread was 2 weeks ago.  Yes, there was a bit of what might be called 'thread hijacking' -- but not enough to render the thread unreadable or useless.

-- Bob Elkind

[rcingham]

I agree that 'Sort by most poular' as an additional board option would be useful.

[chughes]

Thanks for this suggestion. It sounds like this is something that could be very useful.

Let me investigate if/how this can be implemented.

Best regards,

~chughes

[chughes · Accepted solution]

I like this idea, but unfortunately, it is not possible to set up a board or category such that it lists the most popular threads first (or allows the user to select this view rather than the default view, sorted by date).

Well, to be specific, there is no way to do this from within the forums tool itself.

I've been told that we could create our own board browser component...but to be honest, we'd struggle to find the resources for that.

Sorry!

I can log it as enhancement to the tool and see if it gets implemented that way. (Don't hold your breath though!)

~chughes