Mod Browsing Overhaul Discussion

[urah1985]

51 minutes ago, llihP said:

I didn't ask why collections were there, I asked why they take precedence over content that keeps users coming back, and what keeps mod authors posting. New mods and updates.

I also mentioned that it can all easily fit, but empty space seems to be a draw card for some reason.

You are advocating for collections as much as I would, it doesn't mean they should be so large that they push down new mods and other tabbed content full of fresh mods, mods that have been updated or tracked changes (actually, I see tracked has disappeared too).

• Two collections push down mod additions and updates, things that should be above the fold
• New mods are now so far down the page that nobody sees them at a glance, and at 1080p it might take a few scrolls to reveal
• Do you expect an uptake in mod downloads now that the newest mods are out of view by default on game homepages?
• Google/SEO is going to serve the mod home pages as the first port of call, not the mods index page you just linked

All of that for 2 collections that will largely always be the same two things. Is that the trade off?

If collections need prominence, it seems odd that it's not even explained what they are until you navigate there, and that the title to such a prominent section isn't linked.

A few CSS changes with a lot of superfluous elements (double ups) removed:

Same monitor, same resolution, I can see more of what already existed (I added back the 5th tile under the main 2) and new / updated content are in view.

Your data will tell you something else in time. Good luck!

It would be great if the "new mods" section was also changed to the same way as "trending mods" - 5 mods in a row, 4 rows. That way we would have a view of 20 mods again, not 16 (which is weird).

 

Also, it would be nice if users could disable the collections section. I've been modding games for over 20 years and (at least for me) collections don't work because they usually contain a bunch of unnecessary mods that I can't disable without losing other functionality (due to various weird connections and dependencies between individual mods).

 

The last thing is the size of the vertical tiles - I use a 1080p monitor and with the current design I can't even see the entire "trending mods" section without scrolling or zooming out. This is not good design - it just artificially increases the time spent on the site.

[Kontrary]

Ah, Something I've just noticed is that on the homepage/games page for the game, when you're in the "more mods" section, with the new layout the Author's name is missing, although the Uploader's name is still readily visible.
I would argue being able to immediately see the original Author's name is quite vital information.

[urah1985]

I would say it's even more imortant than uploader's name

[Lollia]

I said it back in early February and I will say it again: Without the individual mods that go into them, Collections amount to very pretty looking but mostly empty gift boxes.

My linked comment mentions how poor to non-existant communication happens to be between Collection curators and the mod authors whose creations they utilize, so seeing Collections (which have their own part of the site to begin with) sharing space with individual mods is adding insult to injury.

If you are so intent on having Collections sharing space on the individual mods side of the site, then are you planning to do the same and advertise individual mods on the Collections side of the site as well? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[WileCoyote68]

2 hours ago, Iluviel said:

The rationale for including collections on game home pages is that they make modding substantially easier for the majority of new modders and have be responsible for the huge increase in mod downloads on Nexus Mods over the last 3 years.

If you don't like them or want to engage with them, all I can say is the majority of people do and anyone complaining about them in this thread is in a vocal minority. Our data proves this, I hope that as a developer with 21 years experience you'll appreciate a data driven approach.

The unwillingness to accommodate experienced users is remarkable. It can't be that difficult to make the display of collections a switchable option. As far as I'm concerned, switch it on by default, but give users the choice. I don't know why, but it sounds unbelievable that it is the minority of users. It is much more likely that a feature that has been worked on for years has to be marketed for profit. It doesn't matter how many years of experience as a developer you have; it's not a data-driven approach if the data is not publicly accessible. As long as you're just claiming that it's nothing more than anecdotal evidence

[Iluviel]

1 hour ago, JobiWanUK said:

Thanks I guess. How long before this is reintroduced please? And in the meantime, you expect me to scroll through all my mods to see if there any new comments? This makes it seriously more difficult for mod authors to engage with their users. Isn't this something you wanted to encourage with the DP changes?

We're discussing internally whether https://www.nexusmods.com/mods/trackingcentre is a better home for it. If we can, we'll move it there soon. I need to pull some developers in to look at it.

[Nom0ri]

There need to be an option to hide the "collections" section when on the main page of games... It feels way too big and just in the way, especially for games where Vortex doesn't even correctly handle the mods, making collections nothing more that a recommendation lists.

[Isguros]

2 hours ago, Iluviel said:

The filters are easier to use on the left, a lot of users didn't even realise they existed when hidden at the top.

There has always been Description, Author and Uploader filters. These aren't new and existed on the old page too, they work in exactly the same way.

And now they're hidden at the side, and the 'Show filters' seems a lot smaller. How does that help?

The issue was not about the Description, Author, and Uploader filters being present, but the fact that you can't filter on Title anymore.

For an update that only added a claimed better search functionality, it's mind-boggling you purposely left out the most basic of functions.

[Iluviel]

12 minutes ago, Isguros said:

And now they're hidden at the side, and the 'Show filters' seems a lot smaller. How does that help?

The issue was not about the Description, Author, and Uploader filters being present, but the fact that you can't filter on Title anymore.

For an update that only added a claimed better search functionality, it's mind-boggling you purposely left out the most basic of functions.

The filters on the left are actually expanded and open by default now, rather than hidden.

Thanks for the clarification on the search filters. I'm trying to understand better the exact problem you're having. Would you be able to provide an example search that isn't returning the mod you're looking for?

[Isguros]

3 hours ago, Iluviel said:

'Trending' is mods released in the the last X days (where X is determined by a database field, for SSE it is 7 days), sorted by endorsements. It is not, and never has been, based on download stats in any way. The "old" page worked in more or less the same way, so functionally nothing has changed here. All we've done is remove the 'Trending' sort option, because it does exactly the same thing as 'Endorsements'.

If you want to sort by trending, sort by endorsements and you'll get the same result.

If nothing has changed, why has it changed so much?