In order to compete with the Steam Workshop, search functionality need

[DuskWulf]

In order to compete with the Steam Workshop, search functionality needs to be looked at.

 

(It's interesting that that got truncated after being posted.)

 

The Nexus lacks search functionality, plain and simple. The thing of it is is that the Nexus is likely going to lose people in droves - not at the moment, because Bethesda needs to fix up their stuff, but in the near future. The reason for this is search functionality. The Nexus has always skimped on it, but the Workshop hasn't. This is where the Workshop could very easily win.

 

Here are some points that make me want to use the Workshop:

 

1.) You can search inside description text. The Workshop does this by default, so if I search 'quest,' I get all the mods which mention that they're a quest or quest chain. You could have the option to either search by title or within the description. If there's an option to search in descriptions, I haven't seen it (it's obfuscated in that case).

 

2.) You need to offer non-adult versions of all of the hot files pages. For example, I want to be able to do a search for 'most endorsed files in the last 7 files, adult mods excluded.' I feel that I want to go straight over to the Workshop when I search for the most popular mods of the last three days and 90% of them are adult mods. Adult mods are fine, but once you've seen one of them, you've seen them all. However, the way they're dominating content on the Nexus means that stuff like valid game fixes and new content (dungeons and such) is buried.

 

3.) You need to offer a way to search by downloads, similar to the endorsements. So I can see the mods which have been downloaded the most in the last three days, rather than endorsed the most. This needs to be an option. That I can't do that makes me want to use the Workshop because that helps me find obscure new mods which deserve attention, but may otherwise get buried under the chaff.

 

4.) You need a way to offer more than 25 results in the above two cases. I think 100 results in both would be fair. But considering that the Workshop goes back through pages and pages of mods, you need to be able to compete with that.

 

If the Nexus doesn't compete with these features, which the Workshop already has, then by the time Steam and Bethesda fix up their crap, the Nexus will fall into obscurity, and the only mods on Skyrim Nexus will be the ones that aren't allowed on the Workshop. That's not the sort of fate I want to see befall the Nexus. The Nexus has always fallen short with search functionality - now might be a good time to do that. Lest the competition wins, really.

 

---

 

As an extension to this, you may want to hire a small staff to do things like 'mod of the day.' Where each day someone will pick one interesting mod to talk about. This provides people who work on content mods and such the chance to be seen. It would also entice people to bring their works over from the Workshop to the Nexus.

 

Also, allow mod authors themselves to apply for a spotlight. They may not get in, but at least they can. This would be different from the featured mod of the month, since it would just be a positive review of a mod which stays up for a day before it's replaced by another mod.

[amycus]

In order to compete with the Steam Workshop, search functionality needs to be looked at.

 

(It's interesting that that got truncated after being posted.)

 

The Nexus lacks search functionality, plain and simple. The thing of it is is that the Nexus is likely going to lose people in droves - not at the moment, because Bethesda needs to fix up their stuff, but in the near future. The reason for this is search functionality. The Nexus has always skimped on it, but the Workshop hasn't. This is where the Workshop could very easily win.

 

Here are some points that make me want to use the Workshop:

 

1.) You can search inside description text. The Workshop does this by default, so if I search 'quest,' I get all the mods which mention that they're a quest or quest chain. You could have the option to either search by title or within the description. If there's an option to search in descriptions, I haven't seen it (it's obfuscated in that case).

Use "advanced search"

 

2.) You need to offer non-adult versions of all of the hot files pages. For example, I want to be able to do a search for 'most endorsed files in the last 7 files, adult mods excluded.' I feel that I want to go straight over to the Workshop when I search for the most popular mods of the last three days and 90% of them are adult mods. Adult mods are fine, but once you've seen one of them, you've seen them all. However, the way they're dominating content on the Nexus means that stuff like valid game fixes and new content (dungeons and such) is buried.

Can agree with that since there is a "Only show adult-only files " box to check in the "advanced search", it might be logical to also have one that says "show no adult mods".

 

3.) You need to offer a way to search by downloads, similar to the endorsements. So I can see the mods which have been downloaded the most in the last three days, rather than endorsed the most. This needs to be an option. That I can't do that makes me want to use the Workshop because that helps me find obscure new mods which deserve attention, but may otherwise get buried under the chaff.

Um... you already can. After the search is finished you have a drop-down box that lets you to choose in what way you wish to sort the results in ascending or descending order. Downloads included.

 

4.) You need a way to offer more than 25 results in the above two cases. I think 100 results in both would be fair. But considering that the Workshop goes back through pages and pages of mods, you need to be able to compete with that.

Agreed.

 

If the Nexus doesn't compete with these features, which the Workshop already has, then by the time Steam and Bethesda fix up their crap, the Nexus will fall into obscurity, and the only mods on Skyrim Nexus will be the ones that aren't allowed on the Workshop. That's not the sort of fate I want to see befall the Nexus. The Nexus has always fallen short with search functionality - now might be a good time to do that. Lest the competition wins, really.

I was under the impression that the search function in the workshop was close to worthless, and even people on steams own forums seems to think so as well. I have never found what I'm looking for in the search bar, not even my own mod :P

And the fact that anyone can decide what tags they want on their uploaded mods means that people just tick all of the tags on. So if you look in the "magic" section you are likely to find armors and swords there as well.

 

That doesnt mean that nexus cant be improved on though, and some of the ideas you listed did indeed sound interesting.

 

EDIT:

One idea I have myself:

In the advanced search, you can only search one category at a time. I think it would be an improvement if a "tick-box"system was implemented, similar to the workshop. Only with the difference that if you click the box twice, the green symbol changes to a red cross, indicating that the search engine will exclude all the search results from that category.

 

Example: I might remember I have used an armor mod before, but cant remember the name of it. I do remember though that there was never any weapons included, and can as such decrease the number of hits to search through manually significantly by simply clicking to include all mods in the armor category, but exclude all mods that add weapons as well.

Edited February 24, 2012 by amycus

[LadyMilla]

Concerning the 'too many adult mods' issues:

Members page (accessed by clicking on the button showing your member name on the Nexus sites (not on the forums)) ---> Preferences ---> (In the Global Preferences section) Select Block Adult content in the drop down box.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

I wish that people would learn to use the search and advanced search function of the Nexus before complaining about it. Or better yet, search the forums for similar topics, even ones on the very same page before making a new topic. http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/580339-better-searching/page__pid__4689194#entry4689194

[Thandal]

For those who (like the member for whom I created this screenshot) didn't already know, the Nexus has ROBUST search capabilities:

 

Just hover over the "Files" button on at the top:

 

http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/imageshare/images/1678793-1324607284.png

 

But hey! Feel free to use the Steam Workshop. I'm sure they're lots more user- (and modder-) friendly. :whistling:

[Dark0ne]

It does amaze me how many people, even veterans of this site, still don't know there's an advanced search feature. It's been there all the time, it's not like I just snuck it in one day without telling anyone! :S

[DuskWulf]

I wasn't complaining.

 

There's no need for kneejerk, nasty responses. We're not a bunch of insecure children here, are we? :| No, the thing is is that some of my suggestions were misunderstood, and some of them point out that I'm right. I'll explain.

 

1. No, you can't search by downloads. You can provide a search term and then search by downloads, but you can't go to hot files and have that show you the downloads by the most downloaded files WITHOUT a search term, which is what I said. This is a necessary feature.

 

2. The advanced search isn't obvious to me, I've never seen it. I actually did bother looking, but I have poor sight. I'm also a coder/designer, and if I can't find it, then there's a problem there. It means that the feature has been obfuscated and hidden away, or that the text is small and placed in an out of clear sight location. That or there's some really weird Javascript going on which my browser doesn't allow. Either way, it means that the feature could be designed better.

 

3. Going into your profile to disable adult mods completely just to do a search which doesn't involve adult mods is incredibly counter-intuitive. We're not in the '90s any more. I'm trying to help, here. I'm highlighting areas of the site which, sites like Steam Workshop, have already taken care of. The thing is is that if I were new to Skyrim, and I had to choose between the easy to use, easy to understand Steam Workshop, or the obfuscated, and often confusing Nexus. I would choose the former for obvious reasons.

 

Also, you may want to note that I'm a premium, lifetime subscriber.

 

I'm just trying to help. But hey, if all you want to do is attack me, then perhaps it is best for the Nexus to just fade into obscurity. Look, this is coming from a long time fan. I don't want the site to die, but the site clearly has usability and accessibility issues which need looking at and addressing, and no amount of kneejerk attacking or character assassination is going to change that fact. I may not be the most pleasant person in the world, but you all know I'm right about this.

 

And like I said, it's an easy matter to just forget the Nexus exists and just move onto the Workshop. And once most people have done that because the usability and accessibility of Steam's Workshop are way better, how many of the 'loyalists' do you think will want to stay on board? Even the most ardent, stubborn, and seemingly genuinely loyal will shift over once they find that their mods are being ignored.

 

I am a user of the Nexus. I have been for years, and outside of this site I have been a vocal supporter of it.

 

Sticking our heads in the sand is not the way forward.

 

If we wish really hard Steam Workshop isn't going to just go away, it's going to still be there when we open our eyes. And right now Steam Workshop is gaining popularity as quickly as the Nexus is losing it. And a lot of that has to do with accessibility and usability. There's a lot about this site which is counter-intuitive and not friendly to the new user.

 

Some time working on the design of the site could fix all that.

[amycus]

I wasn't complaining.

 

There's no need for kneejerk, nasty responses. We're not a bunch of insecure children here, are we? :| No, the thing is is that some of my suggestions were misunderstood, and some of them point out that I'm right. I'll explain.

 

1. No, you can't search by downloads. You can provide a search term and then search by downloads, but you can't go to hot files and have that show you the downloads by the most downloaded files WITHOUT a search term, which is what I said. This is a necessary feature.

 

2. The advanced search isn't obvious to me, I've never seen it. I actually did bother looking, but I have poor sight. I'm also a coder/designer, and if I can't find it, then there's a problem there. It means that the feature has been obfuscated and hidden away, or that the text is small and placed in an out of clear sight location. That or there's some really weird Javascript going on which my browser doesn't allow. Either way, it means that the feature could be designed better.

 

3. Going into your profile to disable adult mods completely just to do a search which doesn't involve adult mods is incredibly counter-intuitive. We're not in the '90s any more. I'm trying to help, here. I'm highlighting areas of the site which, sites like Steam Workshop, have already taken care of. The thing is is that if I were new to Skyrim, and I had to choose between the easy to use, easy to understand Steam Workshop, or the obfuscated, and often confusing Nexus. I would choose the former for obvious reasons.

 

Also, you may want to note that I'm a premium, lifetime subscriber.

 

I'm just trying to help. But hey, if all you want to do is attack me, then perhaps it is best for the Nexus to just fade into obscurity. Look, this is coming from a long time fan. I don't want the site to die, but the site clearly has usability and accessibility issues which need looking at and addressing, and no amount of kneejerk attacking or character assassination is going to change that fact. I may not be the most pleasant person in the world, but you all know I'm right about this.

 

And like I said, it's an easy matter to just forget the Nexus exists and just move onto the Workshop. And once most people have done that because the usability and accessibility of Steam's Workshop are way better, how many of the 'loyalists' do you think will want to stay on board? Even the most ardent, stubborn, and seemingly genuinely loyal will shift over once they find that their mods are being ignored.

 

I am a user of the Nexus. I have been for years, and outside of this site I have been a vocal supporter of it.

 

Sticking our heads in the sand is not the way forward.

 

If we wish really hard Steam Workshop isn't going to just go away, it's going to still be there when we open our eyes. And right now Steam Workshop is gaining popularity as quickly as the Nexus is losing it. And a lot of that has to do with accessibility and usability. There's a lot about this site which is counter-intuitive and not friendly to the new user.

 

Some time working on the design of the site could fix all that.

I'm not sure if I was included among the ones who "acted rudely", but I apologize if thats case since that wasnt really my intention. Its just a bit funny that so many people seem to never have noticed the existance of the "advanced search" even though it isnt really hidden away (I have used it frequently even before the site redesign)... or thats what we thought at least. As has already been stated though, you havnt been the first among users who have managed to miss it, so it might still be needed to add an extra link right beside the "simple/common" search.

 

I also completely agree with point 3. I dont have the adult filter on normally, but being able to sort out them from some searches when I'm looking for something specific would be welcome.

 

For your first point however, you actually dont have to put any search words or anything in the advanced search tab. Just go to advanced search, and hit the submit button without making any changes. And then you can sort by downloads. Of course it can still be discussed if there shouldnt be a "top 100 downloaded list" for easier access, but the function is at least already there, if you want to use it in the meantime.

Edited February 25, 2012 by amycus

[Nephenee13]

It does amaze me how many people, even veterans of this site, still don't know there's an advanced search feature. It's been there all the time, it's not like I just snuck it in one day without telling anyone! :S

 

There really, really should be an "Advanced Search" link under the standard search box.

 

Also, even with Advanced Search, finding stuff is still somewhat hit or miss, but that is more the fault of less than amazing mod titles and descriptions, so hardly the Nexus's fault.

 

Edit: Also, RE: Adult Mods. One problem with excluding adult mods is that as it stands, "Adult" covers everything from outfits that have a bit of nippleage slipping out, to "summon a tentacle monster to you-know-what random NPCs" There could stand to be a bit more differentiation in this department as well.

[diosoth]

I don't like the fact that I can't default search based on game. I have to use tags or advanced search to find Oblivion-specific mods and weed out Morrowind stuff, and even that's not really perfect because it depends on proper tagging. If anything, each game should have its own separate search feature. Ideally, Morrowind should be on a separate site but I don't know if the mod list for that game is big enough to warrant a separate site for it.

 

I also agree that filtering adult mods could be a "by search" check box feature rather than disabling adult mods in the profile. Sometimes people way want to filter adult mods for just 1 search if they're after something specific.