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Ok before I start I just want to say that it's very minor, but I still think it's worth spending 5 minutes fixing if you guys agree with me.

Recently links to facebook, twitter and email have been added. This is fine, but I'm not a big fan of how it's displayed. Here's why:

alt text

Maybe I'm just easily annoyed and no one care about this, but I feel like sharing links shouldn't be on the same level as a title. It makes the "your answer" text a bit more hidden and clutters this whole area. Also it's set as an h2 which is not very semantic.

So instead we could have something more in the line of this:

alt text

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  • 11
    Agree as it is now it's too much In my face. It's jarring and annoying.
    – Nifle
    Jan 7, 2011 at 11:35
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    Those links have been there for a very long time, but they've recently been moved up so that users will actually notice it: chat.meta.stackoverflow.com/transcript/message/436987#436987. Well, at least now we know this worked...
    – Yi Jiang
    Jan 7, 2011 at 11:42
  • Added a bounty, because it's Meta
    – marcgg
    Jan 17, 2011 at 9:21
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    @YiJ They noticed it and they don't like it.
    – abel
    Jan 17, 2011 at 9:41
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    Also it goes down onto 2 lines when it really should be one. Making them smaller and right aligning them would be a lot more balanced and nicer looking
    – Tom
    Jan 17, 2011 at 11:39
  • +1 I'd also like to see "email, twitter or facebook" not split in two lines
    – bw_üezi
    Jan 24, 2011 at 7:55
  • Declined... [sad smiley face]
    – marcgg
    Jan 25, 2011 at 14:13

3 Answers 3

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These links were not added recently, they have existed for a while, but nobody saw them.

That's why I moved them up.

Note that these links only appear on 0-answer questions. So if you want the links to go away, answer more questions. :)

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    I don't have anything against having them more present, I just don't like that a sharing link and a title have the exact same styling. Getting more people to answer is great, but it shouldn't harm UX
    – marcgg
    Jan 7, 2011 at 11:54
  • @marcgg mmm, well, IMHO they are on the same level -- either you have an answer or you know someone who can answer. Equivalent actions that both lead to getting an answer.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Jan 7, 2011 at 11:55
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    Jeff, while I agree with you point I also think that the styling of the sharing link is wrong. I also think that @marcgg's mockup looks better.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Jan 7, 2011 at 11:57
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    @jeff I guess that makes sense even if I don't really agree with this. My opinion would be that actually giving the answer has a greater value than just sending it to someone that might answer.
    – marcgg
    Jan 7, 2011 at 11:58
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    When you put an entire sentence in bold it looks like you're shouting. But, then again, maybe you are since it's only on 0-answer questions. Why not use the standard share this content buttons from each of the providers? I typically look for these, not text when I want to share something.
    – tvanfosson
    Jan 7, 2011 at 12:01
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    I'm not entirely sure about putting icons, but I do agree that putting the entire sentence in bold feels a bit weird.
    – marcgg
    Jan 7, 2011 at 12:08
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    @Jeff Related but offtopic: How much traffic does facebook/twitter give SO?
    – abel
    Jan 17, 2011 at 9:42
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    I'm curious how you determine if people saw them? I admit I've learned to ignore links like that since they've been plastered on every site on existence. They're almost spam. But the two times a year I want to share something, I also don't need links to do it. I already know where facebook and twitter are, and I can compose an email myself.
    – Brad Mace
    Jan 17, 2011 at 13:32
  • IMO it could be an addthis icon under the post vote up/down. I don't click down there because they are links and not icons and are too far from the question.
    – BrunoLM
    Jan 21, 2011 at 15:25
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I will admit that I never noticed the links until they became more prominent. But I do agree with @marcgg that they are a bit "in your face" and do--albeit in a minor way--detract from usability in that they add clutter to the area of the page where I want to get work done, namely, post an answer.

I'm not sure if this "share question" message is security/reputation/time trimmed, but if not, my suggestion would be to increase the prominence of the message based on:

  1. Time the question has spent with zero answers.
  2. Reputation of the current user.
  3. Anonymous/Authenticated status of the current user.

Ultimately a minor point, but IMHO it detracts from an otherwise excellent user experience.

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1

Ok more space? How about

Know someone who can answer? Share a link to this question via email, twits, or fb.



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