You have me at a disadvantage (I haven’t used this forum quite that long), however, I can only guess that this popup bar might not have been compatible with the newer forum.
What you describe seems useful for urgent (or security related) issues. A similar in-your-face solution might also suit “Known Issues”; even if it is a cookie banner, as you describe it, linking to a separate page.
This is a particularly good suggestion, I think, from both the user and management perspectives. Highlighted issues could be maintained on a single page (per branch), and linked to from each Update page as needed, and users would have a central portal to the information.
We know to do just that and (I suppose) it’s reasonable to expect that others will also follow that logic. I’ve noticed that the Update announcement threads can become very long and unwieldly, despite moderator attempts to cull the content.
Some users might find it difficult to scroll back to the beginning - some browsers may even seem to freeze during this process - instead of finding the important information that should have been read, it can indeed be missed completely.
Note:- Edited for clarity.
In this case, I would simply hit Home to reach the beginning of the thread, but I imagine not everyone has this epiphany.
While acknowledging the hhgttg reference, one doubts that the information would be read by the intended recipients, even if it was made to rhyme.
However, a bibliography (of sorts); a curated sitemap of links to relevant contributions would likely be beneficial for newer users. Of course it would need to be easily accessible (and noticeable).
I recall @linux-aarhus composing something similar a few months ago, but I don’t know what became of it.
I agree. Something is clearly needed to encourage maximum engagement (whatever percentage that might be), but what? This should be the focus.
