currently, the smileys that you can select for your post title are underneath the text entry box. my small suggestion is that those be moved to a spot above it. my reasons for that are:

1) a very huge majority of posts don't use a message icon, and yet you still have to tab an extra time to get to the submit/ preview/ and spell check buttons. iow, they're very obtrusive. in the world of UI design, their positioning might be called an "impediment to reaching the goal." if the icons were at the top, they wouldn't interfere with what in 90% of cases is the goal: getting to the post buttons.

2) it's more intuitive to have the smileys at the top, since a) that's where they'll end up if you use one, i.e., at the top of the post, and b) most other forums have them at the top, so it's what people might be more used to. i also think that having them at the top makes people more likely to use them, because they're paradoxically more visible and yet also functionally less obtrusive.

anyway, just something that's been bugging me lately as i tab through them all the time to get to the posting buttons.

Thanks for the feedback. The top items (such as subject and content box) are required fields. You can completely ignore the icons, so having them above the required fields would not be good UI in my opinion (or at least not better than the current position).

--jeremy

okay, we can agree to disagree. however, i would just point out that the subject field isn't actually required in a reply, whereas the submit button underneath the icons -is- required (assuming you are submitting the post).

p.s.edit: i was thinking more of having the icons underneath the subject field, and above the text field. it seems to make sense in the logical flow of posting a message: first you write your title, then you decide if it needs an icon, then you type your message, then you hit the submit/preview, etc.