Author Topic: It's A Shoutbox, Not A Search Box (Read 4081 times)

BlackBox · « **on:** January 08, 2007, 02:07:18 PM »

This is one of my pet peeves (if you haven't noticed).

The shoutbox near the top of every forum page (above the main content, it has a heading that starts with "IB Shout, IB Shout History, ..." is often misused and thought of as a search box.

The shoutbox is a simplistic form of chat. (Many other forums are using things like this, sometimes you'll see the name "tagboard." It's basically the same thing). It's not real-time but it's meant for short messages between users.

Often in the history (which is accessible through the link "IB Shout History" near the top of the box) I will notice entries that look like search terms, and have nothing to do with the conversation in the shout box.

Usually the people who post these are new to the forum, but not always. I can understand someone who is new to the forum getting confused about the location of things on the forum, but on something like this? The button to the right of the text box says "Post Shout" after all.. I don't see any possible connection to searching for anything on the forum. (If it doesn't say "Search", why is it assumed that you can use it to search?)

Or perhaps this is a "human thing" on many webpages, where the first text entry field on the page is assumed to be a search field (people are looking for a search function and spot a lone text box in the upper right area of the page). Anyway, the point to this post is to try to get people to realize that you cannot search with it. Typing anything into the box and clicking the button will cause the entered text to get posted into the shout box, not operated on as a search in any manner.

If this continues, one possible idea is to place grey text in the box that reads, "Enter your shout here" or something like that, as soon as the box gets the input focus the text disappears and the user is free to type whatever they want. I don't want to resort to having to remove the text entry field from there (it is all too convenient for posting shouts) or causing it to pop up annoying dialog boxes to force people to realize that it can't be used for a search field.

Anyway, if you have any other creative ideas for stopping people from unintentionally using the shout box as a search box, post them here.

instigator · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2007, 04:44:06 PM »

haha! I think I hit ophackers last nerve. I did a "search" for the word error in the shout box.

Eddy-B · « **Reply #2 on:** January 09, 2007, 01:32:39 AM »

You're nasty!

dm-horus · « **Reply #3 on:** January 09, 2007, 06:53:50 AM »

couldnt you set the default text in the shoutbox to something like "type your message here" so that people would HAVE to see it upon using it and conclude its NOT a searchbox??

spirit1flyer · « **Reply #4 on:** January 09, 2007, 08:27:31 AM »

what about dropping the shout box to the bottom?

RockNavator · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2007, 10:25:03 PM »

I must admit that I am guilty of the said offence. And that is after being part of this community for over a year. I find that it is indeed the fact that on many sites the first lone texctbox is assumed to be a search box. As to why people fail to notice that the button says Post Shout is that it is very unlikely that they even see it... They probably just hit enter and the screen is gone before they notice.

A solution:
-Disable the enter key's functionalty
-Put the grayed out text in the textbox

Leviathan · « **Reply #6 on:** January 10, 2007, 01:27:25 AM »

Lol lol.

My solution: Remove the shout box. We have IRC for chat!

dm-horus · « **Reply #7 on:** January 10, 2007, 03:51:23 AM »

No, the shoutbox is fun. Its a good way to see something interesting on every page added by the users. In general the people on the forum (the regulars at least) are on IRC and vice versa. If we shut off the shoutbox its not like dozens of people would flock to IRC. Theres no reason to get rid of such a nifty feature.

Savant 231-A · « **Reply #8 on:** January 10, 2007, 11:36:40 AM »

No, better solution, 5 ore fine for any shoutbox-un-related stuff.

BlackBox · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2007, 06:03:53 PM »

Well, since I saw yet another post in the shoutbox which looked like a search, I decided to go through and edit all the skins to give the shoutbox field initial text "Type your shout here."

As soon as the textbox receives focus, the text should be erased (preventing you from having to delete it yourself if you actually want to post a shout)

We'll see if this cuts down on the spam in the shoutbox caused by people typing search terms. Hopefully it should.

alice · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2007, 07:08:09 PM »

It looks like it might just work ^^

Savant 231-A · « **Reply #11 on:** January 25, 2007, 11:26:38 AM »

Thank you Op2Hacker!

CK9 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 25, 2007, 11:51:53 AM »

If you ever see anyhting by me that seems like a search term in the shout box, that's just my random self

White Claw · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2007, 07:41:49 PM »

Sweeeeeet. And now that I've done something, I got to use the shoutbox for something useful! (This post isn't going to make sense in a month from now.)

dm-horus · « **Reply #14 on:** January 27, 2007, 02:05:32 AM »

Nice work hacker.

op2rules · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2007, 07:38:37 AM »

Cool thanks

But i kinda find it unnecessary since the button under it clearly says "post shout here", and if someone makes a mistake, it's a one time thing.

:op2:

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Author Topic: It's A Shoutbox, Not A Search Box (Read 4081 times)