Some work needs to be done on the UI for group forums, I’m considering ways to include a “New Topic” button. On a side note – how did you post this forum topic? You had to first visit a sub forum and then post. It is the same, visit a group, then post.
Good point Andy, to which I have two replies.
One, is that I do not prefer to navigate to categories to post.
Two, is that the UI regarding Forum categories in the integrated bbpress install, and the stand-alone are definitely different. Personally I prefer the stand-alone because at least then the categories are in a list and don’t require avatars.
In the end I think it’s a fairly intriguing idea, linking groups to the forum categories. I’ve never seen forums done in such a way. Perhaps there is a lot of potential benefits from this, because I know that in many social networks, Groups are often quite useless. Maybe this structure you have in place helps change that.
I’m intrigued by the linking of forums to groups. But I think the main issue is whether people will understand without instruction. I know I didn’t get it at first. Right now you can click Forums in 2 ways, one through the main link and one through the group link. Both do different things, meaning that what happens when you click Forums (same word, different locations) depends on what “mode” you’re in (group or non-group). Confusing.
Maybe on the forum page a button for posting a new topic could lead them through the group finding/creation process?
Gotta say, though. BuddyPress is really pretty.
yeah, the “Forum” / “Forums” and posting is very confusing. I guess this way the Forums will be under-utilized by users, although a Discussion-Forum is one of the most important features for a Social-Networking website.
When you come to the point of having the need to explain the average user how your website works, then the website is crap and will never get any users signing-up. I saw many BP-websites which have videos in order to explain the use of the website.
Keep things as simple as possible, so that a user will understand how to navigate your website without having the need of watching 5 videos at which you explain how to navigate.
I would suggest to re-design the Forums-page in order to make it easier for users to understand how Group-Forums work and also make the posting-process a lot easier.
see this:
https://trac.buddypress.org/attachment/ticket/1389/sketch_2.gif
from the concept a little similar to this:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.org/forums/?forumID=6
Please also see the suggestion of changing the “layout” and “navigation” for the specific “Group Forum”:
https://trac.buddypress.org/ticket/1396
I believe with the new activity-stream coming up, there would be a very new and very interactive approach for posting into forum-topics… The question is, if it is possible (and if Andy wants to do this) that activity-comments are also forum comments/answers (or in other cases blog-article-comments etc). See this thread about activity-streams for more info:
https://buddypress.org/forums/topic/activity-commenting#post-29956
Ps: And leave your thoughts/feedback 
@sidianmsjones
I think you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective. BP is not so much about forums as it is about groups….that happen to have forums. That’s on purpose. If you want to crate a site that’s just a big forum with some sub-categorization then you already have the tools (style your own bbPress) to do that. BP lets a community of users create topically organized “groups” and aggregate content and activity around that group. The forum part is just one component of that. Soon, media, events – you name it – will all be a part of that group collective. With activity stream commenting, Andy is merely opening up avenues to add to those topical constructs from all over the site. The forums view that was added recently, imo, is more of a throwback to traditional bb styling that appeased the old way of interacting and helped make the transition smoother for some. On our site, users love the fact that engagement is silo’d when it needs to be and aggregated when it should be. Hope this helps.
It makes sense to me, but in my experience, it does confuse new users. They don’t get that the forums page is simply a directory lists of GROUP forums. It is a bit of a mental leap. Makes sense once you “get it”. But yes. I’ve had users in my test group ask me why we have both Groups with Forums and Forums. They don’t understand at first that it’s just two views of the same thing.
