A new version of the Resources Module was rolled out today - and I know that you will be very happy with the enhancements and improvements.

A few of the new features are highlighted below.

And here is an example of the new detail resources page:

John S has made comment that the new logon procedure has reduced usability. I believe the new resources page is a much bigger reduction in usability which increases barriers to participation. Despite a steady rise in the number of user accounts on MyCatalyze participation has not increased.

The roadmap for 2008 leads me to believe that MyCatalyze communities leaders believe that the solution is more functionality. This flies in the face of evidence from related communities like IxDA and Accessify which have masses of discussion and link sharing with only basic functional websites. Communities like these thrive because they are easy to read, easy to contribute and everyone is made to feel welcome.

I was concerned of feature creep when I read the road map and this release confirms to me that the strategists and decision makers of Mzinga and MyCatalyze are more interested in marketing features than ways of improving participation in the community.

This release is a retrograde step because it introduces more barriers to reading content;

• Humans scan pages for interesting elements, but titles of resources are hidden in a narrow column so unavailable to scan without user intervention
• Widening the title column to make it readable requires use of a mouse, accurate vision and fine finger dexterity so titles are inaccessible to mobile devises, people with low vision, RSI, arthritis or those who are just plain tired. The same barriers make it difficult to expose the resource text
• Once exposed, the resource text cannot be read without user intervention again to scroll page internal vertical and horizontal scroll bars

Whether the rewards are worth the hassle or not, too many will give up this tortuous path before they get there. Improving the sign up form and adding new functionality is of far lower priority than fixing bugs that will make it easier for existing members to participate. For example;

• Linking direct to new forum posts from subscription emails (and removing links to inaccessible / unauthorised forums from subscription emails)
• Making page content readable without forcing people to expand columns or use page internal scroll bars
• Publishing front page links to latest blog comments and forum posts, and enabling people to read them without logging in
• Removing dependence on javascript for links so they are accessible to those behind capricious corporate firewalls
• Gracefully degrading all added value javascript functionality for the same reason

If we cannot expect the community leaders to prioritise basics of ease of use and accessibility in a community of usability professionals then how can we hold our heads up and offer anything of value to the rest of the world?

I am not a big fan of the new resources page.  I was looking at a file and when I was done reading the content about it, could not find the download button.  Why?  Because the download button is at the top and not very large or noticeable.  The button that says "Copy to Clipboard" at the bottom of the content did not actually do anything (that I am aware of).  I really think the download button should be at the bottom of the content and be a BUTTON clearly labled DOWNLOAD.  The arrow icon at the top is cute - but not really noticeable or in a good location. 

Also, I noticed a bug with the files maximizing and minimizing.  If I one line open and open another line, it does not load.  The maximize button changes to a minimize button, but no content displays.  (see screen shot).

Lastly, I can not remove my rating.  I accidentally rated the content and then found that I was unable to remove it! 

Agree with lucybuykx2, thanks for the improvements to the resources module. Here are some more suggestions:

1. Clicking the + in the tree doesn't expand or collapse anything. You have to actually click the "Articles" label to see any new content.
2. For that matter, why is a tree used here anyway? There's nothing at the "Home" level, and there are no sublevels... so what we have here is a list, not a tree. A waste of space...
3. Can we make an items title clickable, to expand/collapse the content? the + is such a small target... and not intuitive at all -- people are used to clicking text labels.
4. Increase the title column width. There's a lot of extra space now, that's being wasted in the unused "add tag" column
5. Eliminate the Type column in the Links category. It doesnt add any information.

Finally, and this is true for both the resources module and this forum page that I'm typing in right now -- why is the comment box so insanely wide? (IE6, WinXP)

[Whoa, I just noticed that I get a full-featured editor when I click to "edit" my comment.  But only some rudimentary formatting options when I originally compose it]

Took some time yesterday to use the new resources module and have some more feedback about the most important action you want people to do in the resource module.

To read a resource;

1. Click on 14px square + icon to expand title (this is unreachable by keyboard so is fiddly with mouse/glidepad)
2. Read blurb and decide to read the resource
3. Click on button "copy file url to clipboard" which makes an ajax pop up window (unreachable by keyboard)
4. use mouse to select text of url and copy to clipboard
5. click ok button
6. open new tab and paste in url, enter to go to file

3 thru 6 could be reduced to one action if the link were plain vanilla HTML with descriptive text

Only then to discover that "file url" is not the url of the resource at all but the url of the page that I am already looking at. i.e. I could cut n paste from my browser address bar in one action. So I'm flummoxed as to what value "copy file url to clipboard" adds. But I still have to find out how to read the resource.

1. Search screen visually and can see no link to resource anywhere
2. Use WebDeveloper to display alt attributes and discover an icon with alt text "Open Link"
3. Study icon and wonder what it is supposed to be, looks like a broken paperclip to me, maybe, definitely not something that provides the most important action for someone who has expressed interest in a resource
4. right click icon and open in a new tab
5. woopee finally have resource!

OK, now I know that the broken paper clip is the link I won't make the same mistake next time. But why did it take me so long?

1. There is a misleading button that takes 4 actions to discover its not what you want
2. There is no textual link to the resource
3. the icon is tiny (20 pixels square) so difficult to see what it is
4. the icon does not look like a link
5. the icon/link is not positioned where my eye is after reading blurb and deciding I want to read on (that misleading button is there)

So how to improve ?

1. ditch the ambiguous and tiny icon
2. use a plain vanilla descriptive HTML link at the bottom of the blurb

What's the advantages ?

1. No ambiguity of iconography
2. Its in the right position for eyes at the end of the blurb
3. Its large and easy to click on
4. Descriptive text confirms to user where they are going
5. Descriptive text provides context for search engines to index link
6. Enables additional information to be provided in title attribute (e.g. what type of file it is)
7. very simple code so easy to debug, easy to maintain

Disadvantages ?

1. none

yeah, seriously I can't think of any. Anyone else?

@wwwmarty

Yeah, that inconsistency is fun isn't it

If you ever leave a commend on the blogs you will find a third "editor" in this system that does not honour line breaks / new paragraphs.

Makes you wonder how many other functions are duplicated in the background making for maintenance and bug fixing headaches in the future let alone cries from users of lack of consistency. The application (in its broadest sense) clearly sits outside the 1-75% that are estimated to be usability tested before shipping.