SUGGESTIONS FOR EVALUATING FORUM

By Howard Rheingold

     FORUMS

          o Purpose of Forum Software

                     × Forum software design must support a user experience that encourages newcomers to participate and return, and encourages users to return frequently. The software must help the Forum Monitors (online hosts) to maintain and promote a high quality level in Forum conversations. The software must provide a variety of tools for facilitating the growth of lively, high-quality, enthusiastic communities of users, and for enabling users to move easily among and within these communities.

             o Nomenclature

                  × A "forum" is a collection of conversations about a specific subject area. "Automobiles" might be the name of a forum. A "topic" is a single, linear (unthreaded, unbranching) series of "posts" from different users. A topic within an "Automobiles" forum might be "Classic Chevys" or "Carburetor Repair." Each topic has an introductory post, followed by a series of posts by different participants.

           o Fundamental Requirements for Forum Software

                   × Not branching

                × "Threaded" or "branching" topics have their uses in appropriate discussions, with certain kinds of user populations, but for , linear, non-branching topics are essential to draw in new participants and to build a sense of homesteader-built community. A branching structure enables each person to respond to the root topic, or to post a lateral response to a specific post by another person. People can then respond to the topic, respond to the topical posts, or to any of the posts in any of the branches. A diagram of a topic would look like a tree, with a root that spreads out into a network of branches. Non-branching topic structures begin with an introductory post, and each person who comes along has the opportunity to respond to the series of posts that follows the root topic, but are not able to post responses to specific posts. There are no lateral branches, so a diagram of a series of topics would look like a comb, with each topic as a straight tooth, rather than a branch. Whether to use branching/threaded versus unbranching topic structure has been a matter of religious debate for some time, but it is worth noting that the best current webconferencing software -- WELL Engaged, Caucus, and Motet, do not allow branching, although a fourth product, WebCrossing, does include a branching option.

                    × Forum Monitor can control content and                         membership

                      × High quality conversations, an atmosphere of trust and safety, and a growing sense of community among a large and diverse population are not possible unless the Forum Monitor has the power to erase are hide posts, and to ban or permanently remove the account of users who break the agreed-upon rules.

                  × Authentication by password required, cookie                   remembers

                       × There is no accountability or responsibility in an online forum unless the people who are given the power to post have accounts that can be suspended or deleted. Each forum participant must agree to a simple set of rules before being granted the power to post comments. This membership registration should only have to take place once. In the best of the current webconferencing software, cookies are used so that users are not required to authenticate again after spending time offline or in other parts of the web -- unless they quit the forum or close their web browser.

                × Subscription list

                     × The software must make it easy for participants in forum conversations to select a list of forums and topics to follow, and add and subtract entries from this list. This subscription list should display at the subscription list level the number of forums that have new posts, and at the forum level the number of topics that have new posts. It should be easy for the participant to cycle through all the forums on the list, reading each new post (since the last time that participant cycled through the list) in each selected topic from each selected forum on the list, then responding or passing and going to the next. This should make it easy for participants to cycle through their subscription list weekly, daily, hourly, or continually. From the subscription list level, participants should also be able to go directly to specific forums, or directly to only the new posts in specific forums. All new users should have "help" and "practice posting" forums as defaults on their subscription list.

                        × Public and private

                    × The Forum Managers should have the power to create both public forums, available to all registered participants, and private forums with specific participants.

                       × Navigational menu at every level

                      × At every level of the user's experience, on each screen, there should be a simple navigational map that enables the participant to know exactly where he or she is, and is also an active menu of links that can transport participants to other levels: subscription list level, forum level, topic level, response level.  Caucus does this well.

                   × Levels of control over forums and topics

                      × Software switches should enable several different levels of control. Forum Leaders, for example, might be the only people with the power to create new forums, Forum Monitors might be the only people with the power to create new topics, or a new category of user might be defined for people who are willing to participate in very basic training to be granted the power to start topics.

              o The Beginner's User Experience

                        × The first screen a beginner sees

                      × The first screen that every beginner sees when entering any  Forum for the first time must make clear all the following information, in a succinct manner, with links to longer explanations:

1.  What a forum is.
2.  How to browse for interesting forums
3.  How to  browse within forums for interestingtopics.
3.  How to add forums to a personal subscription list
4.  How to mark all topics as read when joining a forum
5.  How to cycle through the subscription list
6.  How to post a response
7.  How to get help and more detailed explanations

                o The Experienced User's User Experience

                        ×  Indexes of All Forums and Each Forum

                × Hierarchical menus with navigation maps at every level enable users to see where he or she is at all times, and to see how to move around within forums and topics.

                   × Hierarchical menus should enable users to easily browse categories of forums, drill down to browse subcategories, moving down to the individual forums and back up to the top level easily. There could also be a hierarchy of a much smaller number  of "Featured Forums" that meet some set of criteria. Each menu entry should be no more than one sentence long, should describe the contents of the forum or topic, and should be an active link to the forum or topic. It should be easy to add forums to the subscription level when browing

                   × This forum's topics

                   × Upon entering a forum, the user is given the opportunity to see the menu of all topics,  or to immediately go to the first new postings. The menu entries should be one sentence, and should be active links to the topics. Along with the description and link to the topic, each topic should have a check box that enables users to "forget" the topic, and remove it from visibility the next time the user opens that forum's index page. Next to each topic should be an active link to the new responses and to the last response. A user can click on the topic title link and go to the beginning of the topic, can click on the new posts link and go to the new posts, or on the number that indicates the most recent posting and read only that one. If users are allowed to start topics (not recommended for the earliest stages of  Forums), there should be a link that enables the user to create a new topic.

                      × This topic's postings

                × When a user clicks on the title of a topic, the first page displayed includes the introductory posting and the first three subsequent postings. At the topic level, there are always links to the first page of the topic's responses, the last page, the next and previous pages. Each response in a topic has a header that contains the number of the topic, the name of the topic, the number of the posting, the name of the posting, if any, the time and date posted, and the user name of the person who posted it. Clicking on the user name displays that user's home page. HTML or a subset of HTML should be enabled in each posting, URLs or anchor-type links should work, there should be a syntax for linking to other postings, topics, and forums, and there should be a preview or edit function for each posting. The "go" menu of the browser should indicate the number and name of each topic visited, the back and forward buttons should enable users to revisit previous pages.

                        × Subscription list
                        × The subscription list is each participant's "home page" for participating in forums. It should be easy to add and  forums, browse forums, see which forums and topics have new postings, to see new postings on the ordered list, starting with the first forum on the list, or to see new postings in any specific forum.
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