I gotta pile into the usability complaint.  I apologize in advance for being annoying, but... I'll do it anyway.  Forgive me.

Searching is getting worse by editions, not better.  Searching should be functional, fast, and intuitive to the user.  Right now, all the filtering options are everywhere so it's not quick.  Many of the interactions between the search options surprise me and take me awhile to figure out which hurts intuition.  That I lose my place in search results while I try and filter out something else hurts functionality.  To wit:

Meant purely in the spirit of making things better, not to be critical for its own sake.  Please take it that way.  Thanks.

edit: I apparently can't spell "cart" either.

done as per Brad's request

thanks for the feedback I think I can touch on almost everything in your image... 

1) Search results sticking:  this was a bug, it should be fixed now.   so you know, there are still some issues with the way "most popular" sorting works, I am still looking into the backend reasons why this is happening but be assured this is not desired functionality, its just not all working yet

2) The reason the results sorting is on the left:  this is because this is the most common thing people want to set as a filter.  By default when you hit the explore page with no filters on (not from a search) the filter menus on the right are minimized.  This is to keep the page simple for people who don't care about filters and for those users they can still just change the sorting real quick if they want (technically sorting isn't really a filter anyways).  Also its worth noting that if you ARE using the filters on the right you can also use the dropdown box in the filter list to change your sorting there, you don't have to go back to the left and change it in both places/twice.  Its just a convenience thing, if you always use filters feel free to completely ignore it.

3) Location of the search box:  The reason the search box is up here is to keep it consistent across all pages on the new site.  Unlike current WC, you can actually jump to a search of multiple different individual galleries directly from any page.  Moving the search box just on the explore page would be a bit jarring, and having two search boxes on a single page would be confusing. 

4) Jumping filters: Filter menu is now a click toggle...  Enjoy.

5) More filters seperated:  These are seperated because there are potentially so many of them depending on the gallery that it could move the "Apply" button off the page.  Also a large majority of users rarely use them and thus there is no need for them to be bombarded with a bunch of checkboxes they don't care about.  This is my understanding of why this is like it is, the decision to seperate them was made before I started here so I cant say FOR SURE this is why.

Thanks for the responses.  Let me return in kind.

 

1) Search results sticking:  this was a bug, it should be fixed now.   so you know, there are still some issues with the way "most popular" sorting works, I am still looking into the backend reasons why this is happening but be assured this is not desired functionality, its just not all working yet

You can't say fairer than that.  Thanks for it.

2) The reason the results sorting is on the left:  this is because this is the most common thing people want to set as a filter.  By default when you hit the explore page with no filters on (not from a search) the filter menus on the right are minimized.  This is to keep the page simple for people who don't care about filters and for those users they can still just change the sorting real quick if they want (technically sorting isn't really a filter anyways).  Also its worth noting that if you ARE using the filters on the right you can also use the dropdown box in the filter list to change your sorting there, you don't have to go back to the left and change it in both places/twice.  Its just a convenience thing, if you always use filters feel free to completely ignore it.

That the sorting is repeated salves things.  I can see the function of a "quick button" on the left, so I'm convinced there.

 

3) Location of the search box:  The reason the search box is up here is to keep it consistent across all pages on the new site.  Unlike current WC, you can actually jump to a search of multiple different individual galleries directly from any page.  Moving the search box just on the explore page would be a bit jarring, and having two search boxes on a single page would be confusing.

I'll just have to disagree on that point.  The context for searching anything in that location is "Whole Site".  That it also functions as "Refine Search" is just as jarring.  Every assumption from every other website I've used is that if the search location is at the periphery of the site, it functions solely as a search for site-wide stuff.

Analogy: In radio and television, you have what are essentially "layers of truth".  The anchor cedes the talking floor to the reporter or analyst who either cedes to another reporter or an interviewee.  Each layer gets the view/listener closer to the primary source and lends greater credibility the further in you go.  That's why you never see an anchor directly interviewing the "man on the street".  The anchor has no context for credibly interviewing the subject.  It's the reporter who does that.

Likewise, the website's function is built like layers of an onion.  The outer site-wide search has to do with the onion as a whole.  When you drill down into a smaller context, you search within that context, not put the outer layer of the onion back on and search from there.

Suggestion:  Re-locate the search below the menu bar.  Associate it in some way closer to the search results (picture something like this: WindowBlinds->Brad Pitt->By Highest Rated->"search here").  Then when you have the homepage up, it functions as a site-wide search (or specific depending on the drop-down operatoin).  When you have search results up, it functions in the context of those search results.  In this case it both makes contextual sense and remains in the same location, alleviating the confusion you speak of.

Now I suspect that this is probably cast in stone by now, so I won't speak further.  But I did want to say my piece on the matter.  I hope it makes sense and that I made a reasonable case.

4) Jumping filters: Filter menu is now a click toggle...  Enjoy.

Much much better.  Thank you.

5) More filters seperated:  These are seperated because there are potentially so many of them depending on the gallery that it could move the "Apply" button off the page.  Also a large majority of users rarely use them and thus there is no need for them to be bombarded with a bunch of checkboxes they don't care about.  This is my understanding of why this is like it is, the decision to seperate them was made before I started here so I cant say FOR SURE this is why.

But if it were ensconced inside the "explore filters" section and closed by default, it would only jump down by the height of the "more filters" bar.  Then you could open "more filters" if you wanted to and then the apply button would be below making more sense.  Dunno, it just seems weird to have "more filters" open, "explore filters" closed and just have checkboxes without an apply button visible.

Thanks for your time,

Michael

ps- and if someone could explain how I do quote blocks a'la UBB, I'd be grateful.

If the search box is supposed to be consistent, why do we have to use a separate one for articles?  Also, what if I want to search a specific gallery that isn't included in the search box dropdown without having to go there?

I think once the Explore menu customization is in place, having the galleries that we have chosen for that menu in the search dropdown would help a lot.

ok well I guess this first point actually kind of makes it more apparent why the search box is up top still and not in the filters...  technically its not a filter on the current results set...  You are saying you want something that will search through the pre-filtered results which we don't have right now, if you search in the top bar it will just search the gallery you want to search and then you can filter after the fact.  Maybe after bugs are fixed this is something that could be added, however, it may not be worth the added resources it would take (it may slow down paging on the explore page). 

For the later comment, the articles search is different because its a totally different system, the database/backend stuff facilitates a different front end approach. 

As for the second comment about filters, I agree the more filters shouldn't be open with something selected and the explore filters be minimized still...  I used to not let you close the explore filters if more was open, instead now it just opens it if you select an option in more to make sure you can see the button.  I still like this better then running the button of the screen.

I see the points.  Still retain my opinion on the filter arrangement, but thumbs up otherwise.  And it is a much better version over the current system.

I miss seeing the number of downloads being listed by the skins in my personal gallery. Are they listed in the main galleries? I like to see what works and is popular so I know what the folks like.