Suggestion for Website: Make Forum-link More Prominent

[William Cartwright]

Happy New Year and my apologies for not having the perfect place to post this topic.

As a user, I've found this forum to be an invaluable source of information and inspiration over the years. Between the forum and the well-produced tutorials, any issues (learning curves) with transitioning to Affinity products were greatly diminished. I'm a fan.

When I've recommended Affinity software to others, I always suggest looking at the forum and the tutorials. But right now the link to the forums seems "buried" on the Serif/Affinity website. There is no link on the homepage and only by clicking through to the menu and then looking under the options for "Company" is it discoverable. I had trouble finding it this morning (and I knew what I was looking for). I'd consider making a link to the forum much more prominent.

Best,

Bill

[walt.farrell]

Just in case it helps you (won't help anyone without the program), on Windows Help > Support... will get you to the forums. The same might be true of Mac, but I can't tell.

[William Cartwright]

On 1/4/2019 at 1:12 PM, walt.farrell said:

Just in case it helps you (won't help anyone without the program), on Windows Help > Support... will get you to the forums. The same might be true of Mac, but I can't tell.

Good tip. It also works on Mac OS.

I still think links to the website should be more prominent.

The experience of a new user who has access to all the great tutorials and support from Affinity/Serif and fellow users here on the forum vs one who isn't aware of these resources would be hugely different.

Bill

 

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, William Cartwright said:

The experience of a new user who has access to all the great tutorials and support from Affinity/Serif and fellow users here on the forum vs one who isn't aware of these resources would be hugely different.

An actual user who is confused should probably start by using the Help menu, which will get them both to the forums (via Support, which I think could be renamed) and to the tutorials.

Also, the forum and tutorial links aren't as hidden on the Affinity site as you indicate. There is no need to use the Menu, and Company. Just select Photo, or Designer, depending on which you have and simply scroll down. At the bottom there are big links to the forums and to the tutorials.

[William Cartwright]

16 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

An actual user who is confused should probably start by using the Help menu, which will get them both to the forums (via Support, which I think could be renamed) and to the tutorials.

Also, the forum and tutorial links aren't as hidden on the Affinity site as you indicate. There is no need to use the Menu, and Company. Just select Photo, or Designer, depending on which you have and simply scroll down. At the bottom there are big links to the forums and to the tutorials.

I respectfully disagree, Walt.

I've used AP since it was in beta and wasn't aware one could link to the forum through the Help pulldown until you mentioned it. I think there are small percentages that a new user would discover this on their own.

The forum links are precisely buried as I described. They are not on the home page, except by clicking through to a submenu and there is is not a "bolded" option, but rather buried under "Company."

The forums and tutorials are better featured at the bottom of the individual program pages, but such features should be on the home page IMO.

Bill

 

 

 

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, William Cartwright said:

The forum links are precisely buried as I described. They are not on the home page, except by clicking through to a submenu and there is is not a "bolded" option, but rather buried under "Company."

Also respectfully: if you go to the Affinity website and click on Photo or Designer in the navigation bar, and scroll down, you get very obvious links to both the forums and the tutorials. No need to click on the Menu, and no need to find them under Company (and I doubt that's how Serif expects you to find them). So, yes, you have found some buried ones, but anyone interested in Photo or Designer would more likely click on those links, and find them very easily.

As for the Help pulldown, I suppose it may just be me, but visiting the Help menu is usually the first, or nearly first, thing I do with any new program I install. It's proven very valuable over the last 30 years or so