Ukulele Underground logo should link to UU home page

cpatch · Feb 10, 2009

Clicking on the UU logo at the top of the forums should take you to the UU home page, not the forums home page. (You can already get to the forums home page through the "Ukulele Underground Forums" text link just below the logo.)

BboyEmperor · Feb 10, 2009

Good idea, but some people would rather click the big logo rather than the small words.
Personally, I have UU's home page on my FireFox bookmarks toolbar so whenever I want to go back, it's just a click away.

FiPfft · Feb 10, 2009

I agree with cpatch.

It's counterintuitive to have a site's logo link to anything other than the homepage. Also, as far as I am aware, there's no obvious links to the main site's homepage in the forum navigation bars. Scrolling right down to the bottom of the page and finding a tiny little text link hardly counts; it would often be quicker to type in the url manually in that case.

The logo link bothered me right from when I first browsed the UU forum (it's not the easiest to quickly find the forums from the homepage for a newcomer either, for that matter).

Considering every other forum link is a piece of text, I find it hard to believe it would be all that troublesome to go without a picture to take one to the list of forums. However, if having a picture link on the forums to the main forum page is that important, why not make a separate large "UU Forums" logo up the top but on the opposite side of the page and keep the main logo for the main site?

UkeNinja · Feb 10, 2009

This has been brought up a number of times, people. I guess there is a secret agenda we do not know about (hey, it's secret!) that necessitates the situation.
Another guess, the guys made it like it is now and are currently drowned in odd jobs to keep the UU as a whole and the forum in particular cool and running. I wonder if El Drine and Rayon are UU staff as well...

cpatch · Feb 10, 2009

FiPfft said:
It's counterintuitive to have a site's logo link to anything other than the homepage.

Precisely...that's the way it works on every other site I use and it's the way most users expect it to work. (If the logo had a stamp over the top of it that said "FORUMS" it would be different.)

And FWIW my browser bookmark for UU is set to go to new posts:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/search.php?do=getnew

UkeNinja said:
Another guess, the guys made it like it is now and are currently drowned in odd jobs to keep the UU as a whole and the forum in particular cool and running.

I'm sure they're busy and they're doing a great job, but this is a 2-minute change if that (here's how to do it: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213199). And if it's been brought up a number of times wouldn't that indicate that it's something that should be a priority?

FiPfft · Feb 10, 2009

UkeNinja said:
This has been brought up a number of times, people. I guess there is a secret agenda we do not know about (hey, it's secret!) that necessitates the situation.
Another guess, the guys made it like it is now and are currently drowned in odd jobs to keep the UU as a whole and the forum in particular cool and running. I wonder if El Drine and Rayon are UU staff as well...

As a pretty new member and even newer regular contributor, this is the first I've heard anybody bring up the issue. If I'd found an earlier thread about the topic, I would've pitched in over there, mind you.

It seems very petty, but these kind of navigation design matters are very important to a website and little awkward quirks like this one frustrate visitors. While regulars here might well bookmark the pages most important to them for easy access, a more casual user and all potential members will not have. If a site is not straightforward to navigate around, it will discourage otherwise valuable contributors from persisting with it. Not saying that I'm a valuable contributor, but the non-standard layout of UU kept me away for several months after I first felt the urge to join in.

While being cool is all very exciting, basic functionality is essential. And hey, exciting features often aren't accessible to everybody (my internet connection physically can't handle the live streams, for instance), whereas the basics affect all visitors.

UkeNinja · Feb 10, 2009

Well, the trouble is I am not able to locate the first mention of this problem right now, but there has been talk of it before. Yes, it would be a good thing to fix and improve the site/forum linkage big time.

Please understand that I did not negate the fact that it is a bit of a weird construction now.

The downside to cpatch's approach (link on your HP to new posts directly), which I use as well, is that I hardly ever visit the front page anymore...

HaileISela · Feb 10, 2009

I think that link back to UU homepage would be only natural. If you are on the UU homepage you find a link to the forums right on top of the page while here you have to scroll all the way down (what most people don't even know) to get back. first time I was on this forum, I klicked that logo a few times untill I realized it won't lead me back. plus you do have the text link right below...

I think it's always good to think for people who aren't as used to the www and computers as most of us, who grew up with that. keep it as simple as possible would be the best way to go IMO...

beeejums · Feb 10, 2009

It confused me at first, but now I'm used to it... if they changed it again, I'd be confused again :-(

Ukulele JJ · Feb 10, 2009

I'll just chime in along with everyone else. Sure, there are probably more important and pressing issues with UU, but still... If a website has a consistent logo at the top of all the web pages, that logo should be a link back to the home page.

But hey, don't take my word for it:

"One of the most crucial items in the persistent navigation is a button or link that takes me to the site's home page. [...] There's an emerging convention that the Site ID doubles as a button that can take you to the site's Home page. It's a useful idea that every site should implement." -- Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think--A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

"Place your name and logo on every page and make the logo a link to the home page." -- Jakob Nielsen, Ten Good Deeds in Web Design

JJ

FiPfft · Feb 20, 2009

FiPfft said:
The logo link bothered me right from when I first browsed the UU forum (it's not the easiest to quickly find the forums from the homepage for a newcomer either, for that matter).

I just realised why I had so much trouble finding the forums. The red navigation bar at the top far more often than not has not loaded properly, leaving a pretty red strip entirely devoid of labels. Take away that navigation bar and finding things quickly is kind of hard. Heh. Sorry.

experimentjon · Feb 20, 2009

I'd say that that logo link is the biggest change that I want made to UU. I too clicked it several times trying to get back to the UU homepage, but found that it didn't work. The text navigation is good enough to get back to the main page of the forum. But that logo has just traditionally gone back to the main page of the website on nearly every forum I've been on.

(The next biggest change I'd like to see made is to finally get a favicon on the site. There's a thread on it, and it really should just be a 2 minute fix.)

SuperSecretJohn · Feb 20, 2009

Like experimentjon, I agree:

UU logo linking to UU. Yes, please!

After, that... Favicon. Yes, please!

Captain Google · Feb 20, 2009

If not a logo link change, we need at least something to link to the main page from the forums.

cpatch · Feb 20, 2009

Captain Google said:
If not a logo link change, we need at least something to link to the main page from the forums.

There is a text link at the bottom right of each forum page. The fact that you didn't know it was there, however, is one more reason why the logo should link.

SuperSecretJohn · Feb 20, 2009

I wonder why the UU Staff hasn't chimed in yet to make any statements regarding this minor web design blemish. Have they?

Captain Google · Feb 20, 2009

cpatch said:
There is a text link at the bottom right of each forum page. The fact that you didn't know it was there, however, is one more reason why the logo should link.

Oh, now I see it. Not the most efficient place for such an important link.

HaileISela · Feb 20, 2009

SuperSecretBETA said:
I wonder why the UU Staff hasn't chimed in yet to make any statements regarding this minor web design blemish. Have they?

no, neither on the logo, nor on the favicon thread. I wonder about this. not even a single statement, though there are a lot of people pointing this out...

SuperSecretJohn · Feb 20, 2009

HaileISela said:
no, neither on the logo, nor on the favicon thread. I wonder about this. not even a single statement, though there are a lot of people pointing this out...

Awww... and they jumped right away to give us more smilies, but anything that has to do with extremely minor site architecture changes gets dismissed

All they have to do for the UU logo is change "index.php" from the logo's href link to "/".

Favicon is a little more work (uploading the image and adding a link tag to the head), but it should only take a max of 5 minutes.

deach · Feb 21, 2009

HaileISela said:
no, neither on the logo, nor on the favicon thread. I wonder about this. not even a single statement, though there are a lot of people pointing this out...

Between the D & D tournament and the new release of Pokemon, do you really think they have time?

Ukulele Underground logo should link to UU home page

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