A big "Hello" to the Community

[Rolfskytte]

That is great! I am just glad there are passionate people at the reins, and I hope for all the best for the Nexus.

Survey done.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Rolfskytte

[TheTokenGeek]

In response to post #27264939.

Rolfskytte wrote: That is great! I am just glad there are passionate people at the reins, and I hope for all the best for the Nexus.
Survey done.

Thanks a lot, we're most certainly passionate about what we do, but judging my the uptake on the survey so is the NexusMods community. Thanks for completing the survey, every single one is appreciated.

[TheTokenGeek]

In response to post #27263679.

Madrias wrote: I mentioned it in the survey, but I feel it needs to be mentioned here as well. The notifications could use a light overhaul, nothing major, but for efficient functionality.

I'd like it if the notifications did away with the "More..." button and just gave me a scroll bar and all of my notifications at once. I find it mildly (and it is mild) inconvenient to click "more" all the time to see if I have notifications, only to have it tell me I don't have anymore notifications, thereby eliminating my "remove all" option. A scroll bar plus Remove All would be nice.

Also, another thing I'd like (and one I failed to mention in the survey because I didn't think of it then) would be a way to disable emoticons by default. I'm always unticking the checkbox that lets me use them because they always cause problems for me, having to work around the non-standard key commands you guys are using.

Hey Madrias, thank you for completing the survey. I'm going to go through all the results, but it's definitely been noted that things (such as the notifications and the comments etc) need a bit of an overhaul.

I've mentioned it a few times, but drop me a pm and I'll print it out and add it to the research pile :D

[TheTokenGeek]

In response to post #27263474.

JanT83 wrote: Welcome Paul. Hope you enjoy your stay ;)

Thanks JanT83, it's awesome being part of the community. I've had a cracking introduction!

[TheTokenGeek]

In response to post #27258759.

FnorDragonrider wrote:

Hi all,

If you’re reading this and you're wondering who I am then you might want to check out Robin's news post that briefly introduces me. But let me explain a little more about myself. Firstly, a big hello!

Okay, so my name is Paul and I go under the forum name BlindJudge - which comes from one of my favourite looking wakeboard tricks and no, I can’t do it - yet!

I’m a passionate gamer who enjoys pretty much any game going, my Steam collection is pretty vast (1100+ games at present) and contains everything from the latest blockbusters through to some lesser known but amazing gems of indie titles. Currently I’m playing games such as Battleblock Theatre, retreading my way through Skyrim (this time modded to the brim) and some of the old school games like the Homeworld remake.

I've been brought in alongside Robin to work in a Content Director role. It's a wide and very varied role but will initially focus on improving how the staff work behind the scenes and working on a complete redesign of the Nexus Mods site. That might be a little worrying, for a new guy to come in and tell you he's heading up a redesign of the sites, but let me try and put your fears to rest.

The Nexus site design is now a good 4-5 years old and it's starting to show its age. Not only that, but it's also splitting at the seams due to all the functionality that's been "tacked on" since the last site redesign was done. The current design wasn't developed with a lot of the new functionality that's been added since in mind, hence why some places can seem a bit cramped and it's often hard to find exactly what you want.

As has always been the Nexus way, we want this process to be as transparent and open to the community as possible and we would love people to come forward every step of the way to offer their suggestions, thoughts and any input you deem could help us deliver to you the site that you deserve. We're not keeping this a secret and just springing it on you once it's ready. We're not working in private with a couple of "respected users". We want to get everyone's opinion every step of the way through to completion. This is your site and your community and you guys are best placed to tell us what you think is best for it - not us and not a few "carefully selected" individuals. We would like it to not only look nice but be exceptionally easy to navigate and easy to find exactly what you're looking for while highlighting not only the bigger mods but also the hidden gems people may have discovered. Importantly we'd also like to to be future proof for any new functionality we add to the sites in the future to avoid that "tacked on" look.

We’ve already started collecting lots of behind the scenes data over the last month. Heatmaps have shown us where people are clicking and how many people scroll up and down the pages. Analytics are showing us where people are arriving from and which pages they are entering and how they're browsing between the various pages on the site. The next logical step for us is to get some really important information from you guys, the people who use the sites the most, on what you'd like to see from a new Nexus site design. To that end I've set up a quick survey, it only has 15 questions, which are mostly multiple choice and should (honestly!) only take 5 minutes to complete, unless you want to give us really detailed information (which we'd really like to read!).

So if you don’t mind, please take our survey, the information you submit will be used to make the site better for you, after all! As an added incentive we’re going to pick 5 names at random from the completed surveys and each of those people will receive a $50 Steam Gift Card.

I know, they are annoying and no one likes to fill in surveys - but the information that we can capture from you guys would be highly advantageous to all of us when it comes to a site wide redesign. We don’t want to just change things over and spring it on you in a “TA DA” kind of way, we would like it to be user driven and because of this, my posts will more than often be asking for help, input, or informing you where we are in the process - and it’s going to be a long process!

So what is our timeline and when do we start?

Well, as mentioned we’ve already started to collect important data behind the scenes and hope this will give us a good insight into what is currently working and not working on the site. There will be a few more bouts of research, such as the survey, so we predict this could last anywhere up to around 8 weeks. We’ll try and get wireframes drawn up and put out in the public eye to gauge reaction and see if anyone has anything they strongly agree or disagree with. Heck, if you feel that you can come up with any ideas or wireframes or even designs yourself then we would love to see them.

Following the research and initial planning stages we’ll jump into the initial design stages which we will announce on the site. This is where we will be consulting the community and UI/UX experts to come up with design mockups for the site, using wireframes and feedback for the designs. These will once again be scrutinised and discussed, shown to the community and your comments will help further these. This should last around 8-10 weeks.

We would love for the new site (the moment it reaches Beta) to be released alongside the current one like the Nexus did with the previous design. This means that people will be able to switch between the two designs, old and new, finding out what they like about the new site, but more importantly what they don’t. There will be a feedback form for you to report back anything straight to us. Every single one of these will be read by me and put into metrics to facilitate changes to the more disliked features or a bug tracker to get things fixed.

It will be exciting times for us over the next few months as the site is developed and coded. It will be done in parallel with the existing site, so nothing will change on the existing NexusMods.com site and, as we said, we'll consult you guys, the users, throughout the entire process.

Site launch day will be exciting, this will be the day when the site swaps over from what it is now to the new one. It will have been a long labour of love from not only the staff here, but also the community as a whole and something I am exceptionally excited to see happen.

Once the new design is rolled out we are going to make sure that site updates and features are then released quickly, no getting stagnant as we want to evolve at the same pace as (or ahead of!) the gaming industry, quick to react to changes taking place in the gaming world. It will be a part of my job to move the site forward quickly ensuring that we stay ahead of the pack. Through listening to the wants and needs of the community I believe this is very possible.

It’s nice to finally say hello and I’m looking forward to working with each and every one of you.

Regards

Paul

Welcome Paul

Why thank you, loving being here! :)

[TheTokenGeek]

In response to post #27245429. #27249109, #27255774 are all replies on the same post.

Farvahar wrote: It should be easier to donate, I'm thinking a system like the Steam wallet, where I can chip in a few cents or a dollar to a mod project with one click of a button (or two). Give the Nexus 5% of the donation, and you have a winning formula.

Percephere wrote: Sure, but one of the big selling points of the Nexus' donation (to modders) system is that 100% of it goes to the modder(s) you donate to.

levib12 wrote: Maybe have it as an option, like how online pizza sites let you tack on the driver's tip with only a click or two? Then the people that want to can and the people that don't won't have to.

Hi Dude,

We're still looking into the donation system, but there is things we can and cannot do due to Bethesda. However, what I can say is that we would never become a middle man or take any cut from donations to a Mod Author.

They deserve everything they get donated :)

[TheTokenGeek]

In response to post #27252514. #27253274, #27253959 are all replies on the same post.

aareyn wrote: I just don't understand am I the only one who hates the message system here? Notifications like so you want me to reread through 100s of comments to see if the mod author replied to my comment?

Using sites like:
- Newgrounds.com
- Deviantart.com
- Youtube.com
- imgur.com

I know have a comment system in place but nexusmods unfortunately doesn't have it.

You may think this isn't a big deal but it kinda is the "community" can't keep in contact with each other unless they're desperate.

EDIT: Also you open notifications it is a long list if you tracked a bunch of mods why not go to a separate page?

Lastly I wont respond due to me not receiving any indication of me getting a message.

1wolffan wrote: Agreed, this commenting system is strange, and hard to keep track of sometimes. I should have put that in the survey.

Also, the white text on dark background is a slightly tiring (to the eye) color scheme, but there are so many other sites out there that use it that maybe it's better for other things.

AaronOfMpls wrote: Yah, it is a bit goofy. I wouldn't mind having comment notifications, mod updates, new images, etc. on separate lists up there, or even separate tracking (sub-)pages like some art sites do.

The whole site needs to be looked at in terms of functionality, notifications and messages are definitely included in that. I'm having a hard time trying to track who I've replied to already! :D

[iXenite]

In response to post #27251069.

digitaltrucker wrote: As long as we don't wind up with a UI optimized for tablets and smartphones I won't be TOO unhappy. While that style definitely has it's place the mods here are aimed at a PC and I would imagine that most of the browsers coming here are on a PC of some sort.

Although it wouldn't hurt to have more support for those viewing the site on mobile devices. I've browsed the Nexus a couple of times whilst on my phone, because I was away from my computer, and the experience has never been positive. The forums also look bad on mobile in my opinion. Perhaps a Nexus app would be the solution. Would certainly be a interesting way of keeping up to date on the Nexus and mods we all like.

[Obscerno]

Survey completed. Congrats on the position!

 

The main thing I really care about: margins. So many websites are ditching margins and its making me sad. My screen is wide and my eyes get tired scanning. It's such a small thing but it drives me crazy.

[Fowldragon]

In response to post #27232604. #27232924 is also a reply to the same post.

Fowldragon wrote: people don't fear change...ESPECIALLY not gamers...What people fear is the game will cease to be enjoyable and they have been patterned to expect that often change that is necessary to adhere to contemporaneous methods or preferences...is invariably followed by changes to fix the changes...what people fear most is that the process will be drawn out.

BlindJudge wrote: Change is often good if done in the right way. With the input of those it is most important to!

Bit off topic, but COD4 is one of my favourite games of all time. When Infinity Ward released MW2, they did so without regard to the PC gaming communities that had been forged over the previous version. I truly believe that had they consult their loyal fan base and discovered what they were after in a new game, it could of been 100% better.

This change may be a long process, but it's so that we can get it right, listen to the community and make changes to better the NexusMods experience for them. :)

ONYA BJ..often knowing the best course is not nearly as important as knowing which paths NOT to take...your overarching objective and the fact that that you are a prolific GAMER GEEK...is reassuring...If YOU are looking at it and saying , " I would use this" it's a fair bet everyone else will as well...best of luck.