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Post #797426
user avatar


4:47 am, May 25 2022
Posts: 2658


Hello fellow readers,

MU is showing it's age. After 18 years, we still have the same design and user experience from 2004. The web and the world have moved on, and we are having a difficult time pinpointing our place in today's community. We need your help to define how we can continue to meaningfully contribute, and we need developers to help us make it happen.

What features do you find useful? Which ones do you think could go? What big changes to our capabilities do you think we should make to increase the relevance of this site? Perhaps internationalization (language support), reactive web design, or social features? Please give us your thoughts!

To make this a reality, we need developers and designers who are willing to volunteer to make these changes a reality. With the API out the door, our next goal is to redo the UI using React/Next.js or similar technology. With that, we absolutely need to focus on making site moderation more user-driven. These changes are critical for us to continue to be relevant in the years to come. If you are interested in helping make that happen, please email myself and lambchopsil (manick@mangaupdates.com and lambchopsil@mangaupdates.com).

Post #797430
Member

8:09 am, May 25 2022
Posts: 53


First of all, you should allow to use old version of this site (user setting).

Post #797432
user avatar
Member

10:11 am, May 25 2022
Posts: 24


I struggle to see the unchanging design and experience as anything other than a plus, personally. The site does exactly what it is meant to, and it does it extremely well, but maybe I'm just an internet boomer.
What sort of problem are you trying to solve? Low traffic?

Last edited by Hinokai at 10:13 am, May 25 2022

Post #797435 - Reply to (#797426) by Manick
Member

10:42 am, May 25 2022
Posts: 14


Yes, reactive design should get priority. Perhaps a discord community can be created esp. with the new API making the creation of bots a lot easier. This site has all the information and features I could ever want. But I think that the UI and UX is/always has been a little clunky.

Other random thoughts:

Why is the site (still) called baka updates when the url is mangaupdates?

Why is the home page filled with news and polls rather than latest manga, hot manga, greatest manga, recommendations etc.?

What is the cryptic Manga Fu? What is Team-Bu? Why do I have an Admin CP link when I'm not an admin?

Why is the main functionality of this site - My List - hidden so low in the menu?



I hope this helps. Thanks for all the hard work.

Post #797436
user avatar
Freedom is life
Member

11:09 am, May 25 2022
Posts: 178


I think perhaps there should be an emphasis on what's community driven. I agree with Xenophon that a discord community is a good idea and might further add some life to the website, what's more the IRC link on the left side seems to be dead as far as I checked. Discord is also used a lot by other communities and scantrad groups so I could definitively see that working.

I believe the forum really needs some modernisation. A lot of the current categories don't have a single message per month so it is difficult to pinpoint the active threads or new messages, unless you're using the "new message" feature, but I think it might be useful to reassemble some of the categories.

A notification system for new messages on topics where you post (enabled by default) would also be very useful. There's a subscribe feature but as far as I know it doesn't do anything other than showing a list of topics in the admin CP.

As far as redesign of the website goes, I'd say like many that I'm very attached to the strong and consistent design of MU. After seeing Mangadex' redesign and how stagnant it is, I'm pretty fearful of anything related to a complete rework. There are many points that could be modernised without going that far though, but I don't know whether that would be doable without rewriting everything and if that wouldn't be easier, especially if you want a more reactive UI. Not a web dev so I can't say much about this.

Member

1:12 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 217


Since MU isn't a manga reader, I utilize the site for it's ability to discover similar manga to the ones I'm reading. One thing I like is that if I really really like a series I can try and search it and look at the Category Recommendations to see if I can find something similar. (And usually if none of the ones in there fit what I'm looking for I can always just ask in the forums). However I am not sure how the "Recommendations" section directly below it populates -- is there some way for people to suggest series in the Recommendations section? And then people can vote on each one similar to how category tags work, and the highest one on the list would be something that would be most similar to the series you're looking at?

Adding onto the above, maybe another cool idea would be if someone makes a reading list, MU could recommend series based on a specific reading list?

I'm not sure if this is already on the roadmap or considered, but another thing I personally would like to see would be improved forum searching, specifically being able to limit a search by subforum, and sort (relevance vs new). If there is some way to do this, it doesn't seem apparent in the UI.

Adding support for scanlation status outside of just english could potentially increase usage. I remember when I started scanlating almost 10 years ago the group I worked with required other groups to ask us for permission to take our english scans and retranslate them into other languages (ex: spanish, french, italian, etc.) and I don't think there was a way back then for them to easily figure out whether or not another group was already working on that project in that language. They would ask "Can we scanlate Project X in Language Y?", and we basically just had to keep track of groups who asked prior and cross reference it πŸ˜• and then tell them "Project X is already being worked on by group Z, perhaps you could ask them for a collab?" (they didn't realize another group was already retranslating it in their language and in some cases they do end up working together). Although I'm not sure if it's worth the added overhead since each release needs to be approved manually... And I'm not sure if MangaDex already filled in that need or not.

Last edited by Nekomikoto at 1:17 pm, May 25 2022

Post #797438 - Reply to (#797436) by Katsono
user avatar
Member

3:41 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 5


Quote from Katsono
As far as redesign of the website goes, I'd say like many that I'm very attached to the strong and consistent design of MU. After seeing Mangadex' redesign and how stagnant it is, I'm pretty fearful of anything related to a complete rework.


^ This so much. Before Mangadex changed their layout, I used to go on it multiple times a day just to see if anything new was added because it was much more user friendly on desktop but then they updated it and pretty much lied and said it was a temporary mobile design for the desktop and THEN later said it was the final design but I digress, I now only check Mangadex maybe once every few days now because of the new design.

+1 for a Discord server though

Post #797439 - Reply to (#797430) by YuriM
user avatar


4:00 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 2658


Quote from YuriM
First of all, you should allow to use old version of this site (user setting).

Now that we are 100% API driven, we should be able to keep this version around without too much trouble.

Last edited by Manick at 4:00 pm, May 25 2022

user avatar
Lurking
Member

4:11 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 331


I see no issue with the design of the site. I know it's dated, but I like it.
The only suggestion I have would to perhaps give users a notification for any responses in forum topics they create or are interested in. There's not much site traffic here anymore so posts aren't being pushed off the 1st page of the forum topics, but who knows.
I use this site to find new manga/novels and to see their chapter releases. If anything, mangadex is a bit like a competitor now as some scanlators do not add these new series here, hence not coming up on search. Additionally, with more series getting simultaneous official releases in English, these new series may also not be added here. It would be great to see a way to encourage these kinds of series to be added here, either by the scanlator team or official publisher. I'm unsure of how to do that.
Just my 2 cents. Please keep up the great work managing this site!

user avatar
Member

6:22 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 16


So change for the sake of changing?
So progressive.

More like the beginning of the end.

Leave it alone.

See tower of Babal.

😐

P.S., did I miss the poll on this?

Last edited by Shippou_Incognito at 6:24 pm, May 25 2022

Post #797443
user avatar
Member

8:10 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 773


Personally, the only things I really want to see is a dark mode and maybe a few edits to Advanced Search (aka making most of the options checkboxes, so I can select, say "Show results for Manga" and "Show results for Manhwa" at the same time, or "Show manga on my reading list" and "Show manga on my on hold list", etc., instead of having to do multiple separate searches).

I've been using this site for so long that I'm used to the current design, so any super significant UI changes would probably take some getting used to. I'm not opposed to it, though, but I can't think of anything else I want changed.

Oh, wait! Maybe a way to add a release directly on a series page instead of having to go to User CP?

And maybe a page for us to see all the comments we've left on series pages, instead of having to look through our lists for it?

EDIT: Oh, and adding onto the "increasing search functionality" bit, a more accessible way to access the category list from the Advanced Search page would be nice. Maybe an auto-suggest when you're typing into that box, so you can find the tag/category you're looking for?

Last edited by Suxinn at 8:21 pm, May 25 2022

Post #797445
user avatar


8:22 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 2658


Thank you all for the great feedback! For anyone who still has thoughts, please don't hesitate to let us know what they are. If MU is going to evolve, it's important we have community input.

Post #797446
user avatar
Site Admin

8:41 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 168


I think as far basic functionality goes, some people have already mentioned it.
The priority is redesign, but while you're at it, I wonder if you can consider the admin side as well. The idea for discord is great. I will take this from two sides:

First, create a channel where users can ask what can be submitted and not, or if they have other doubts. This applies to follow-up questions that are not in the FAQ. I want to help them as much as I can before they attempt and end up getting rejected one way from me.

Second, a channel for updaters. Honestly, I'm itching to make a specific guide like other sites, but since it's community-driven and all updaters can update the data, I don't want to put too much pressure on this. Still, communication between us can be done because I myself am not always right. This is also important for database consistency and the updaters can be more careful to fix only what is needed. Me and most people, as you know it, can't stay forever. And passing on the knowledge of where and how it will help to keep this community going in the long term. I don't mean to take this as a burden or anything, making mistakes is completely fine, we all learn here.

Now moving on to the admin dashboard which needs some attention too. I feel like the notes there aren't very helpful, Manick. Is there any reason to keep the old groups info? I'd like to suggest creating a viewable box so I can leave messages for other admins. It's too far below, I also prefer not to do it via PM tbh.

Post #797447 - Reply to (#797443) by Suxinn
user avatar
Vector
Member

8:47 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 280


First of all, I would love nothing more than the integration of a cover preview function directly into the site, similar to this userscript that had been maintained for many years here. This might be a problem for people browsing on mobile since there's no real mouse over functionality, so maybe you could make it an opt-in feature in the settings page.

Quote from Suxinn
Personally, the only things I really want to see is a dark mode and maybe a few edits to Advanced Search (aka making most of the options checkboxes, so I can select, say "Show results for Manga" and "Show results for Manhwa" at the same time, or "Show manga on my reading list...

Seconding this, but I would also like to have the ability to modify a search that has already been made. Currently, having to re-enter all tags and search criteria if you just want to edit one aspect of a search is incredibly annoying and time-consuming.

Quote from Suxinn
Maybe a way to add a release directly on a series page instead of having to go to User CP?

+1 to this as well, I only recently started adding releases and I end up looking for an edit button on the page of the manga itself, every single time, only to remember I actually have to go to my User CP.

Still on the User CP topic, I think the "Subscribed Topics" section should be either collapsible or have a shorter, multi-page display function. Currently this section seems to extend indefinitely with every new subscription, making scrolling to the bottom to check your releases or pending changes annoying if you're subscribed to a lot of threads (I use subscriptions as a way of bookmarking threads).

Oh, and while I don't do reviews much myself, I know others have expressed a desire for a page to view all of their posted reviews for a while now, so maybe that's another feature to consider.

That's all I can think of atm. I'll make another post if other things come to mind.

Post #797448
user avatar
Member

9:00 pm, May 25 2022
Posts: 4


Aah there is so much in my head how we could improve this page.
not that its bad or anything. i really love MU because the database is so huge and it’s filled out so properly. also it kinda supports scan groups.

things i have on my wish list:
* modern view for personal lists (when i view or share my lists, i want to see the covers. most of the time i dont know the title but when i see the cover, i know the series immediately
*follow authors / artists (damn it! i have several artists that i really like and it is hard to keep track of them. a follow would be nice, where we can see new released series as well!)
*as someone mentioned before, a redesign of the menus would be great (i was so confused at the admin cp link first. this should be properly hidden for non admins.)
* the whole home area needs an overhaul imo. why are there polls and stuff? when i go to MU I am usually not here for the social aspect but because i either want to search or track series. recommendations (personalized when logged in) would be awesome.

and these are just the things that came immediately to my mind when i saw this post. i am sure i can get a few more when i think about it.

unfortunately i am not a developer. if there are other ways to help out, i’d offer my help though!

and yes, discord is a very nice idea. i’d join! πŸ™‚

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