Forum navigation: Jump box?

If there is one, I can't seem to find it.

If there isn't one, you need one.

jump box ? I don't understand, have you looked at vb.org ?

Uh, no. I'm talking about the absence of a jump box here. Are you saying you don't know what a jump box is? If so, look at the "Forum Jump" box at the bottom of the list of topics here (http://www.vbwebmaster.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=11) on Joey's old forum.

there's never been one on this site. I was advised to remove it from my site as well, but I haven't yet.

there's never been one on this site.
Why not? The absecne of one makes navigation a royal pain in the butt - and clumsy navigation has always been one of my chief objections to vBulletin - not having a jump box makes it a total pain.

I was advised to remove it from my site as well, but I haven't yet.
Advised by whom and for what reason? That totally baffles me.

The forum jump box is what he's asking about...

I disable the Forum Jump menu, although it makes only a marginal performance hit, it can generate a large amount of HTML.

And having to go back to the index page, then to the subforum, then to the topic generates a lot more and creates more of a server hit.

It's a matter of convenience to your visitors, Joey.

Rule #1 for Forums: make it easy for your visitors to find their way around the forum, read posts of interest to them, and submit new posts to keep the forum growing.

I try to advocate the use of the new posts (http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/forum/search.php?do=getnew) button. However alot of people seem to use the forum jump menu. There is a bit of html overhead, but it should not be a killer in all instances. Although there are cases where it makes a difference if it is enabled. Such as a forums with a few hundred topics.

There is a bit of html overhead, but it should be a killer in all instances.

I think you meant "There is a bit of html overhead, but it should NOT be a killer in all instances", no?

As a general rule, I turn off the forum jump, but most of my forums are very busy. I turned it on here though.

I think you meant "There is a bit of html overhead, but it should NOT be a killer in all instances", no?

You are correct. Thanks for catching that. Good to talk to ya too.

I turned it on here though.
:D Thanks, Joey!

:D Thanks, Joey!

Your quite welcome.

I'm glad I didn't turn it off yet on my forum then! ;)

I see what your talking about now ;)

I disabled mine too, my users don't use it, the forums are clearly sorted and they use the "new post"

Mine use the "new post" as well, but there are a couple of die-hards who asked where it was the one time I did disable it, but I put it back a long time ago

Have a look at a forum like http://forums.digitalpoint.com - there are a huge number of new posts and new threads every day and most of them I have no interest in at all, so for me the "New posts" feature is useless. I monitor perhaps half a dozen forums there and occasionally check a few others. Not having a jump box there (or what Shawn has instead which is some sort of weird Ajax menu he built) would be a major inconvenience for me.

I think people who frequent forums using other software are also used to the jumpbox (it's a default feature on pretty much all forum software) and the bottom line, as I said earlier, is to make it easy for people to find stuff and post - that's what forums are all about.

As for the "hit", there are many other things that take more of a hit that people do not often disable - notably graphics... every little icon you have on the forum slows down page load times - the jump box is a little pebble in the pool by comparison.

yep I can see what you mean

Joey, I posted about this in the seo forum in the topic where you fix the header and navbar links to remove index.php from them.

With the forum Jump menu, that is yet another avenue that leads you to the index.php when you go to the forumhome. You know an easy fix?

I have turned mine off. One, I prefer a clean look and so eliminate as much redundancy as I can. Second, I'm a freak about fast response times, so though it's marginal, as has been pointed out, still, every bit counts. Also, I wanted room for my invitation/search term panel, and the forum jump was in the way. Lastly, a good top-navigation menu works as well, I think, as the Forum Jump. So from my perspective, it was an unnecessary extra bit that I could easily do without.

Lastly, a good top-navigation menu works as well, I think, as the Forum Jump.
As long as the forum has some sort of "quick jump" navigation, it doesn't matter to me whether it's at the top or the bottom or whether it's a standard drop-down box or some other form of menu (cf. Digital Point (http://forums.digitalpoint.com)). The important thing is not to have to do two or three page loads to get to where you want to go.

I have turned mine off. One, I prefer a clean look and so eliminate as much redundancy as I can. Second, I'm a freak about fast response times, so though it's marginal, as has been pointed out, still, every bit counts. Also, I wanted room for my invitation/search term panel, and the forum jump was in the way. Lastly, a good top-navigation menu works as well, I think, as the Forum Jump. So from my perspective, it was an unnecessary extra bit that I could easily do without.

I added a breadcrumb navigation to the bottom of my forum pages. Keeps you from having to scroll back to the top of the page.

Truthfully I had no idea that the forum jump menu was that big of a deal, as I've never used it, not once.

It's probably a bigger deal to people without high-speed access. I'm out in the country on rural dial-up and so far that's my only option without getting into big bucks. Each page load matters when you're working with effectively 28.8 kbs, trust me.

It's probably a bigger deal to people without high-speed access. I'm out in the country on rural dial-up and so far that's my only option without getting into big bucks. Each page load matters when you're working with effectively 28.8 kbs, trust me.yes I can very well relate to that. I've only been on highspeed for a year now.. the previous 10 years were dial-up and it was a nightmare.

I wanted room for my invitation/search term panel, and the forum jump was in the way..

ooh ya, I about fogot about that hack, I was having the same issue with the jump box thowing this off, thanks for reminding me,
/me heads to vb.org to install that hack again :)

ooh ya, I about fogot about that hack, I was having the same issue with the jump box thowing this off, thanks for reminding me,
/me heads to vb.org to install that hack again :)

wear your armor !!!

lol

it's not all that bad :p

No problem. Read that thread, there's an extra modification you can make to make it more efficient. I don't know if I updated the attachment or not...

lol

it's not all that bad :p

hahaha I was teasing ;)

Fascinating thread this. I dumped the forum jump from the outset. Reason: I had trouble trying to alter the color to match my choices. Daft, I know.

Hadn't thought about how useful it may be. Hmmm ... guess a rethink is advisable. I particularly take the point about those on dial-up services, which could be many of the target group of my site.

Thanks for this thread. Excellent. :)

Biggles

funny thing....... my jump box just disappeared yesterday. I have NO idea why. It is checked off in vb Options, but it's not there.

It occurs to me, Peg, that, chronologically, perhaps your jump box may have been inadvertently packed at the same time as the baggage of that mod who left your site in a huff. Teeheehee :D :rolleyes: A 'search' warrant might be appropriate in this 'case'. Oh dear, now I'm cracking myself up - or maybe just cracking :eek:

lmfao... uh..... just cracking up would probably be more accurate :p

lmfao... uh..... just cracking up would probably be more accurate :pYyyup! ;)