I've decided to go with the full 5/5 Star Rating for the '[cXF] Enhanced New Threads Widget' because, (a) I don't do half measures apparently, and (b) I feel a bit guilty since I did hastily glance over this unassumingly titled upgrade several times before actually pausing to investigate just what on earth could be done with such a generic new threads widget.
Don't get me wrong, coz imo, Xenforo stock widgets themselves set a high standard in their own right.
My rating here, is only meant in a relative sense–strictly without any inkling of negative connotation whatsoever.
So I won't deny initially sensing anticipated incongruence arising while thinking of the word: 'Enhanced' - & wondering - "how could this possibly-justifiably be used as an accurate descriptor of a slightly tweaked stock standard XF 'New Threads' widget?"
Yes I was somewhat expecting it to be a slightly exaggerated claim for sure.
Well... guess what. This expectation was proven correct....oh no, wait
...ahh, I mean -my expectation was proven the opposite of correct.
Because it turns out 'Enhance' may very likely be understatement!
Why?
Here's why...
Imo, the, '[cXF] Enhanced New Threads Widget' transforms the stock XF widget into one of the best content showcasing widgets I've seen so far.
However, after lazily clicking the upload buttons then waiting 5 secs to install before excitedly setting up this enhancement...I've immediately noticed there is one glaring problem!
Unfortunately it's a rather significant problem too.
Which is, that by contrast, next to the 'Enhanced New Threads' widgets...
...literally all my forums other primary content showcasing widgets appear mediocre!
I am laughing about this but also not even joking either.
'[cXF] Enhanced New Threads Widget' almost entirely does the jobs of 3 separate dedicated showcasing add-ons and unlike them, it achieves this effortlessly without unnecessarily overcomplicating general members nor disturbing the arterial traffic flows.
Imo this upgrade greatly enhances fundamentally attractive forum aspects...
...at least for me, I first visit forums seeking inspiration, knowledge, insights, and of course hoping to reciprocate constructively somehow too.
Whenever visiting a new forum, if I encounter ads, or "onboarding"-tasks, or distractions, anything seemingly drawing away from where everything generally ought to be...ie: pedantically categorized within forums organized in an easily navigable main fora body.
By that meaning: The majority of everything being in one place—not spread over in several weird forum sidenav areas.
(
Even XFMG seems annoyingly confusing to someone who isn't an admin/mod and just came for the socially enlightening experience of the marketplace... like the old skool Greek agora...)
There is only one solution to this, as you've no doubt already guessed obviously I shall expedite replacing as many of my current showcasing widgets as necessary so I can enhance nzfsf.nz's overall accidental sexiness by a factor of 6 with the 6 '[cXF] Enhanced New Threads Widgets'.
Thank you, you are a legend!
@BassMan