h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Please post your button usage to this Conversation, with 1 for the button you use the most, and 11 for the button you use the least.

Here's the list of buttons in the order they appear in Alabaster.

Register
Front Page (in Goo, the swirly logo)
My Space
Read
Talk
Contribute
Help!
Feedback
Who's Online
Preferences
Logout

Register - 11 (never use it as I'm already registered and don't log out)
Front Page - 3 (pretty often, just to see what's on the read page because I like this layout better)
My Space - 1 (this one I use the most only because when I wander far afield it's nice to go back home)
Read - 4 (every so often, mainly after I've read a front page entry and wandered off exploring links from that entry)
Talk - 6 (rarely do I use this because I guess I'm just an antisocial git)
Contribute - 5 (I'll wander in here on rarely, mainly to play with the picture libraries)
Help! - 7 (doing the guru thing I wander in here on occaision to make sure I'm still subscribed)
Feedback - 8 (same basic idea as the help pages)
Who's Online - 2 (I use this a few times a day to see if Peta has gone home yet *stalk, stalk*)
Preferences - 9 (I use it whenever there's an update to the skins)
Logout - 10 (I never logout, see 'register')

I'll be doing these in Goo order 'cos I never use Alabaster.

h2g2 front page - 2
My Space - 1 - use it all the time
Preferences - 3

I can't recall using any of the other buttons recently at all.

Register - What's that?
Front Page (in Goo, the swirly logo) - 3
My Space - Never.
Read - Never, I use Zen Navigation.
Talk - Never. I just wander around.
Contribute - Never. Use the links at the bottom of My Space.
Help! - 2
Feedback - Never I hear about it through email.
Who's Online - 1
Preferences - Just once. Set in my ways? You bet!
Logout - Never.

~§~
§hadow

[From time to time, every man is tempted to hoist the skull and crossbones and slit a few throats.]

10. Register
3. Front Page
1. My Space
5. Read
6. Talk
8. Contribute
7. Help!
9. Feedback
2. Who's Online
4. Preferences
11. Logout

1 My Space
2 Feedback
3 Front Page
4 Talk
5 Read
6 Who's Online
7 Contribute
8 Help!
9 Preferences
10 Register
11 Logout

I use h2g2 on my computer and occasionally on a public computer, so:

My computer:
1 My Space
2 Front Page (in Goo, the swirly logo)
3 Who's Online
4 Preferences
5 Feedback
6 Talk
7 Help!
8 Read
9 Contribute
10 Register
11 Logout

And on a public computer, 1 and 2 would be register and logout, and the others below in the same order as above. (if that makes sense)

In other words, I find them all useful except Contribute, Read, and Talk; and only use Help and Feedback because I'm a Guru and looking for confused people. These five are useful when you're starting to get to know the site, but I think they're more or less obselete for experts. Of course, it depends on what you use the site for; they're very useful for some people I'm sure. If there starts to be too many of the things, maybe there could be a on/off switch for them all individually in Preferences; or maybe they could only be visible on your user space.

In Goo:

1 My Space
2 Who's online
3 Swirly front page
4 Preferences

Read, Talk, Contribute, Help, Register & Logout - I rarely use, if at all. But may I offer a suggestion?

How about moving the "Advanced Search" Link from just underneath the banner and make it instead a clickable button? I use that a fair bit and it wasn't on the list.

Clive.

Good point, I hardly ever use the basic search, but then I use the advanced search for subediting so it's a bit different I suppose.

There was a fun feature before the search engine got revamped; when you searched for something that returned no results, it listed five edited entries at random. I'd quite often search for 'asdfghjk' or something similar which I knew wouldn't return results, on purpose, as finding entries at random was quite interesting. Perhaps a similar function could be added to the advanced search page, or Read page, as a button or link.

I don't use any of the buttons much!

1 Swirly front page - is probably the one I use most, because I use the other less!

2 My space - I believe many people use that one to see their conversation list. I've bookmarked the MP-page instead.

3 Logout - I admit it. I have more IDs, therefore I use logout. I don't use Register, I've made a local page, which lets me login without having to type my ID-info.

4 Preferences - Sometimes I don't use it for a long time, and then for a period I can use it every day.

5 Feedback - I normally go to the feedback pages via my conversations.

6 Who's online - The window's too small, I've made a bookmark instead.

7 Read

8 Talk

9 Help - I haven't used it since the Don't Panic days! (That's not true!)

10 Contribute - I hope to write a real guide entry some day!

11 Register

I think a button for advanced search is a very good idea, but shouldn't we have another thread for that!

Ottox - I'm shocked

As to my use of buttons (xcept those in me shirts <toungueout&gt:

1 My Space (rather often, I go via bookmarked MPxxxxx)
2 Front Page (in Goo, the swirly logo)
3 Who's Online
4 Preferences (as I switch a bit btw Al & Goo)
5 Help! (GuideML thingies mostly)

Not really the following:
Read
Talk
Contribute
Feedback
Logout
Register

And didn't you forget usage levels for Linda/Yikes??

10 Register - just the once.
02 Front Page - Fairly regularly
01 My Space - Very regularly
11 Read - Never used it
11 Talk - Never used it
11 Contribute - Never used it
03 Help! - Used to use it for Guide HTML problems
11 Feedback - Never used it
04 Who's Online - Ex ACE, but still occasionally looks in.
05 Preferences Once in a blue moon, then I might have a flurry
11 Logout - Never used it


Despite not using most of the buttons, I find it reassuring that they are there!

I use the search feature quite a lot, and am delighted that early limitations have been resolved.

Like a few other researchers, I used to like the quirky random things that came up if a search failed to produce a proper result! I'm glad that I was not the only person who would deliberately put in garbage just for the fun of seeing some unexpected entries!

Buttons used most:
1 My Space
2 Front Page (though I usually click the logo)
3 Who's Online
4 Preferences
5 Register (the first time)

Buttons never used:
All the rest

1 - My Space
2 - Front Page swirly thingy (about once a day)
3 - Preferences (every couple of weeks)
Others - I think I used Who's Online once Just set in my ways I suppose.

I use about 3 of these all the time:

My Space 1
Who's Online 2
Front Page 3

I do use Preferences ocasionally, but all the others I have as links on my browser. I just didn't get out of the habit when the new buttons appeared.

1 Who's Online (coz' I'm a nosey parker )
2 My Space (tend to use the 'back' button on my browser more)
3 Front Page (about once a day, just to see what's new)
4 Preferences (if I need to change my nickname etc)
5 All the rest (very seldom, as I've simply bookmarked the login page and tend to get to new conversations through the '/info' page.

Say, there's a thought; any space on the already-groaning buttons bar for a button going to the stats page? I'm sure all those heavy posters like Shea, Orcus, Ottox et al. would be most grateful...

In order of usage:

My Space
Front Page
rather seldom: Read
Other buttons are not worth mentioning.

and: search, when doing research for to-be-subbed entries.

1. My space
2. Who's online
3. Front page
4. Preferences
5. Search

1. - My Space
2. - Who's online
3. - h2g2
11. - the rest, never used them once.

1 my space
2 the h2g2 logo leading to the front page
3 search
4 who's online

I never use any others