Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » Rules page in Help dropdown

I just had to help a newbie find the rules page and it reminded me that I'd thought about suggesting this back when I first joined, because we both expected to see it appear in the Help dropdown instead of under Forums. I can see the line of thinking behind its current location, but my own line of thinking was that I was looking for help and placement at the end of a list of forums doesn't feel as intuitive to me.

As there's already the Help Forum link in both the Forums and Help lists, I thought I'd share this to see if relocation/a duplicate link under Help, or perhaps a separate button on the taskbar altogether would be something that others feel would be beneficial?

I'm aware that it is technically under Help if you click Help, but that's something I was unaware I could do as a newbie until I clicked by accident and I know quite a few other users have been surprised by that too. I also never use that route because quickest access is via the dropdown (at least on a PC).

Asking this while half asleep because the thought popped right into my head!:

Would it be more indicative of where the rules are if "Help" was retitled to "Help & Rules"?

While clicking on it may be more of a "trial and error/use" issue, maybe a rename of it might indicate better that you have to click it?

Granted I'm solely on the mobile version of the site these days, but even there I can see how folks would get lost while navigating.

Hi Copper! I think that would help a lot, but perhaps the rules can also be located in the dropdown to negate that trial/error? While it'll mean a bit of redundancy, it should ensure access to the page will always be visible and quick for people no matter the device.

I've wondered about the button issue before but I'm not too sure what could be done. On my kindle it's fine because the headers have to be manually expanded with a + instead. Maybe when hovered over they could look like indented buttons instead of the colour change so there's more of a visual clue? The only other solution I can think of would be duplicate header titles in the dropdowns but while I can see that working it'll look a bit ugly.

I would like that! I usually just scroll down to the footer because the site rules link is right there, but I definitely don't think it would be a bad idea to put that link under the Help dropdown as well.

Just a note: we have different rules pages depending on the area you're at. We have the general site rules that apply site wide, forum rules for the public forums and a page dedicated to explaining the rating guidelines. (I'm pretty sure you're aware, but just in case anyone isn't. )

I think that it's a good thing the forum rules are located in the forum dropdown because that's the specific area they apply to. Maybe it would help to move it to the top so that people will find it quicker rather than at the bottom where people look last? I wouldn't recommend a duplicate of the forum rules in the Help dropdown, rather I'd prefer a link to the general site rules. Those also link to the forum rules by default, and there are links in the sidebar, so it should be relatively easy to find.

Also, newbies who sign up have to agree to the Forum Pledge before they can post, which also links to the forum rules. This is a one time thing that, once you agree to, don't see again, but if you're showing a newbie around in the future it's worth double checking whether or not they've actually gone through this step too. It makes things a bit easier. Doesn't change the fact they're a little tricky to find later, of course, but it can help? (I'm not sure if you knew this, Kim implemented this a while ago but also after a lot of regulars had already been around, so a lot of old regulars don't know/remember it exists or what it does.)

Either way, I'd definitely love this, personally.

I totally forgot there were links down at the bottom of the page LOL. Along with having to scroll to reach them, with my poor eyesight they blend into the background. Since we're at this, maybe they can also be improved by using white text?

I was going to mention both rules pages separately but as the two pages link to each other and the Forum Rules come into play more often in everyday use I'd figured just an extra link to the Forum Rules would suffice. However moving it to the top of the Forum list and having Site Rules under Help (or Help&Rules) seems like a fair arrangement. Regarding duplicates, a little bit of extra visibility would be worth it IMO, but if we can optimize then that's even better as visual clutter is also a factor.

The Forum Pledge is an addition I adore, but as you say it's hard to refer to later.

I'm very happy to see this discussion blossoming!

I like the idea. I would prefer to put the general site rules in the help dropdown, and leave the forum rules in the forums dropdown - as was mentioned, they link to one another, so it's not a huge crisis which one you go to first.

Sounds good to me! Thank you!