[Albert Pujols]

Originally posted by paul w:
Yay! A magnifying glass that actually works! I think it's a bit cramped though.

I like it!

[MindFad]

Originally posted by paul w:
Yay! A magnifying glass that actually works! I think it's a bit cramped though.

Yeah, I went with the dimensions of 'Hooder's image. I supposed I could open it up some. I like yours, but I think it's not cramped enough!

[Demonhood]

Originally posted by paul w:

i like it, but it's a bit heavy on the blue space. and it might not go with the overall theme of the forums (which is why i kept mine simple until we actually have a look).

the current triumvirate of seal icons i have are:


altho i'm not married to them. and i definitely need to anti-alias them a bit better. hell, i may make them PNGs, just for funsies.

if anyone really wants to make icons, we could use some new ones for the following:

(these are the tiny page looking icons now)
-thread has new posts
-normal thread
-hot thread

(really small)
-report abuse
-online/offline
-aim/icq/msn

(thin)
-edit post
-reply
-quickreply

otherwise i'll just slap something together.

[paul w]

Just keep it white, and simple. The simpler the better. This forum works because it doesn't get in the way.

But seriously I may just redesign the whole forum a la effgee for my own amusement.

The logo is all I've had time for. But it's fun stuff.

[Superchicken]

I'd like to see something more along these lines.

clayshaker.com/mbp/forums.jpg

I took Eff's design for the main page and kinda brought it to the forum look. By having end caps and BG images you can make a forum look a LOT nicer than these with little bandwidth concerns. a few gifs makes a lot of difference. None of this would be that hard to implement.

[OreoCookie]

Keep the dots! But I hope for a better integration into MacNN's design.

[effgee]

Here's a (not so) quick stab at what I'd do. And before someone asks ...

read this (especially #3)

• No, I haven't done anything with the logo - color-wise and/or with the magnifying glass. For one, because I didn't have more time to work on this and secondly, making sure that a clearly recognizable magnifying glass (as part of a logo) actually "magnifies" something is like using an image of a CD as a logo for a music store and then - just to make sure that everyone really gets it - superimposing the word "music" on top of your CD graphic - but that's just my $.02. Nobody needs to agree here ...
  
  
  
• Yes there is a system to the icons (see below)
• No, even if you do like the icons, you can not use them on your site. It's not so much that I care but they (most of them) are modified stock icons I had recently bought for another project - so if the original author sees them on your site and realizes that you haven't paid for them he'll most likely send you a bill. And no, it's not really that important (to me) - I'm only mentioning this so no one can say "Ugh - I had no idea" later on.
• Yes, Zim posts a whole lot in my imaginary forum - a) because he's clinically insane and b) I got tired of typing different user names. Apparently, he's also a fast typer and can hit the submit button several dozen times in under one minute.

icons

• threads you haven't posted in (gray envelope)
  regular thread (< 50 posts):
  unread posts - green dot
  no unread posts - no dot, envelope only
  
  hot thread (>50 posts)
  unread posts - orange dot
  no unread posts - pale orange dot
  
• threads you have posted in (blue envelope - yes, I know, the blue needs to be quite a bit stronger to make it easier to differentiate bewtween gray and blue - I was too lazy to fix that; it is a comp, after all)
  regular thread (< 50 posts):
  unread posts - green dot
  no unread posts - no dot, envelope only
  
  hot thread (>50 posts)
  unread posts - orange dot
  no unread posts - pale orange dot

Here's the two versions - first one with HFA (huge fscking ad), and the second one without (so that more of the content remains visible without having to make the PSD file eleventy billion&trade; pixels tall)

• 

• 

[Xeo]

Originally posted by effgee:
Here's a (not so) quick stab at what I'd do. And before someone asks ...

Nice. I like it.

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally posted by effgee:
Here's a (not so) quick stab at what I'd do. And before someone asks ...

read this (especially #3)

• No, I haven't done anything with the logo - color-wise and/or with the magnifying glass. For one, because I didn't have more time to work on this and secondly, making sure that a clearly recognizable magnifying glass (as part of a logo) actually "magnifies" something is like using an image of a CD as a logo for a music store and then - just to make sure that everyone really gets it - superimposing the word "music" on top of your CD graphic - but that's just my $.02. Nobody needs to agree here ...
  
  
  
• Yes there is a system to the icons (see below)
• No, even if you do like the icons, you can not use them on your site. It's not so much that I care but they (most of them) are modified stock icons I had recently bought for another project - so if the original author sees them on your site and realizes that you haven't paid for them he'll most likely send you a bill. And no, it's not really that important (to me) - I'm only mentioning this so no one can say "Ugh - I had no idea" later on.
• Yes, Zim posts a whole lot in my imaginary forum - a) because he's clinically insane and b) I got tired of typing different user names. Apparently, he's also a fast typer and can hit the submit button several dozen times in under one minute.

icons

• threads you haven't posted in (gray envelope)
  regular thread (< 50 posts):
  unread posts - green dot
  no unread posts - no dot, envelope only
  
  hot thread (>50 posts)
  unread posts - orange dot
  no unread posts - pale orange dot
  
• threads you have posted in (blue envelope - yes, I know, the blue needs to be quite a bit stronger to make it easier to differentiate bewtween gray and blue - I was too lazy to fix that; it is a comp, after all)
  regular thread (< 50 posts):
  unread posts - green dot
  no unread posts - no dot, envelope only
  
  hot thread (>50 posts)
  unread posts - orange dot
  no unread posts - pale orange dot

Here's the two versions - first one with HFA (huge fscking ad), and the second one without (so that more of the content remains visible without having to make the PSD file eleventy billion&trade; pixels tall)

SWEET! effgee has got me listed as online in his graphic. I am flattered.

Oh, and your designs rock. They should just pay you to redesign the site. Seriously!

[demograph68]

effgee, very nice!

[alphasubzero949]

QuickQuote should be implemented for the times we quote different posts.

I don't care for post counts either way.

And I still insist that the Mac Mini gets its own forum.

[Cheetah223]

I'd like to see a darker color scheme...

I didn't read everyone else's replies so that's probably already been said, but the light colors kind of bug me when I'm up late with nothing to do.

[Superchicken]

Originally posted by effgee:
a lot of stuff

Can I bare your children...?

[effgee]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Can I bare your children...?

If I had any kids and you wanted to bare them, I would most likely have to take you out for an afternoon of electro shocks (*). As far as bearing my children is concerned, currently I have no travel plans that would lead me to the Winnipeg area, so "in vitro" would have to suffice. First I'm going to have to check with the boss (= wife), though - sounds like I could get myself into serious trouble ... lawsuits, alimony, etc.





(*) - no doubt, Lewis Black is the sh!t

[Mediaman_12]

Originally posted by Cheetah223:
I'd like to see a darker color scheme...

I didn't read everyone else's replies so that's probably already been said, but the light colors kind of bug me when I'm up late with nothing to do.

The light colours (light grays and the like) keep the focus where it's supposed to be, on the posts, and not on the surrounding graphics. I actually think this is one of the best looking forums I have sean (in-fact I am going to post a link to it as an example of what a vBulletin forum CAN look like if care is taken with the theme).

[Demonhood]

effgee, looks great. and i have some mail icons (for the threads) that i made a few months back that i had forgotten about, so i won't be stealing any this time around

i'll be making extensive changes to the current design and maybe posting a screenshot in the coming week.

in the meantime, keep the ideas/suggestions coming. and try not to let superchicken bare himself. we have decency rules around here.

[ajprice]

Get rid of the little line above the sigs. And have lots more smileys .

[macintologist]

Please keep the smileys as they are.

Please keep the color scheme as it is

Please keep the font size as it is. I hate other forums because the text is so big

[PurpleGiant]

Not a big fan of change are ya maci?

[macintologist]

Originally posted by PurpleGiant:
Not a big fan of change are ya maci?

I love the smileys here.

If you go on forums using PhPBB, the smileys are different, and just not as... MacNNish as these ones.

Some in particular I love and are so usful, like this::::

Maybe I shouldn't have sent that email

What's the name of the new Disney Ceo??

Geebus! Your Gf is HAWT

Read THE FREAKIN MANUAL

Why ask us when a little Google search can answer it?

I hope your sister's operation goes well

I'm sure France would have done a much better job promoting freedom

And so on....they are so fun

[starman]

effgee,
That design rocks! I'd trim a little space above and below the NN logo (mostly above), but other than that, it's nice.

Mike

[deej5871]

Originally posted by macintologist:
I love the smileys here.

I love the smilies too, but there is one that I've always wanted: expressionless with eyes dashing left-to-right-to-left... Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I've made one before (or tried at least), but I lost it when my HD died.

[macintologist]

Originally posted by deej5871:
I love the smilies too, but there is one that I've always wanted: expressionless with eyes dashing left-to-right-to-left... Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I've made one before (or tried at least), but I lost it when my HD died.

[Judge_Fire]

vB 3 is nice, I'm running one myself

Some light observations:

� I'm hoping you stick to the legacy postbit, with user details on the left side of the post content like we have here <--.

� I don't know how much the RSS/RSS2/XML feeds tax the server, but they'd be nice.

� More smilies. Like, a lot more. . Ok, so maybe not too many animated ones...

� Effgee's suggestion rocks. I'd love to see a thread view pasteup, too - typically there tends to be a lot of challenging clutter there.

J

[deej5871]

Originally posted by macintologist:

No, no, no. Not like that. It'd be a yellow smilie with the eyes always wide open (like in the rolleyes smilie) with the pupils dashing back and forth. Giving it that kind of guilty "I said something I shouldn't have" look.

[brapper]

Originally posted by effgee:
Here's a (not so) quick stab at what I'd do. And before someone asks ...

• 

• 

haha Zimphire's sure getting his $0.02 in on those posts eh?

looking good, I'm truly impressed.

[Turias]

Originally posted by effgee:

icons

• threads you haven't posted in (gray envelope)
  regular thread (< 50 posts):
  unread posts - green dot
  no unread posts - no dot, envelope only
  
  hot thread (>50 posts)
  unread posts - orange dot
  no unread posts - pale orange dot
  
• threads you have posted in (blue envelope - yes, I know, the blue needs to be quite a bit stronger to make it easier to differentiate bewtween gray and blue - I was too lazy to fix that; it is a comp, after all)
  regular thread (< 50 posts):
  unread posts - green dot
  no unread posts - no dot, envelope only
  
  hot thread (>50 posts)
  unread posts - orange dot
  no unread posts - pale orange dot

Here's the two versions - first one with HFA (huge fscking ad), and the second one without (so that more of the content remains visible without having to make the PSD file eleventy billion&trade; pixels tall)

• http://www.efflog.org/macnn/forum2.htm

• http://www.efflog.org/macnn/forum1.htm

Very nice! And it looks great with the images you posted in the front page redesign thread.

I do find the icon choices a little confusing, though. You have 2 different icon changes (dot/envelope color) for three different types of information you are trying to convey (thread popularity, new posts since last vist, and thread participation). It might be hard to do on such small icons, but maybe there is a way to have 3 icon changes for the three different status changes? Flames coming out of the top of the envelope for hot topics would do this, and would cause less confusion with the orange, pale orange, and green dots (especially for people who are color blind).

Also, the magnifying glass icon seems a little high with respect to the rest of the logo. But heck, maybe it's just me.

And again, I just want to say how much I like your designs. I really hope that Nick, Demon, and the other admins are able to work with you to use them.

[Person Man]

So, if you're doing away with post counts being displayed, will there be a way for us to check and see how many posts we ourselves have made?

Perhaps a way to log in to our "User Center" profile and see our personal post count there (I kind of like to know how many posts I've made, but I'm really not all that interested in seeing what others' post counts are).

[Weyland-Yutani]

Can a 'Respected User' list be implemented? Like in http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/ ?

It is a lot nicer than a karma system and really works nice!

Like I would add cipher13 on my respected user list and then in my profile it would say that he's one of my respected users and then there is a list of users that have me on their respected user list.

It's kind of like the ignore list but in reverse and it is not really visible unless you want to check someone's profile.

Just an idea.

Example: http://www.airliners.net/discussions...ername=Gigneil

(look on the bottom of the page for the Respected User list)

An explaination of the Respected User list from airliners.net:

"Here you can name up to 25 users that you feel deserve your respect regardless of whether you agree with their opinions or not. Before adding someone to your Respected Users list, please make an effort concluding that the user is really worthy of your respect. Check older posts by the person, different forums etc. The credibility rating of the user will in part depend on who he/she is respected by.

To update your Respected Users list, press Edit Profile below and type the exact usernames seperated by a comma.

Example:
User1,User2,User3,User4

Note: This feature is only active for users that have posted more than 20 posts."

[OwlBoy]

Use the effgee design!!!

Its as simple as our current one, yet modern!

-Owl

[CharlesS]

This is an old suggestion of mine, but since it happened to me again recently and since you asked for feedback, I'll send it again:

t would be nice if the e-mails you get notifying you that you got a private message could include the full text of the message, if not all the time, then at least when one's PM box is full. It seems that since MacNN sends out an e-mail anyway to let you know that you didn't get someone's message, it could at least let you know what the person was trying to say instead of basically just going BALEETED!

Just a suggestion...

[tikki]

Originally posted by CharlesS:

It would be nice if the e-mails you get notifying you that you got a private message could include the full text of the message, if not all the time, then at least when one's PM box is full. It seems that since MacNN sends out an e-mail anyway to let you know that you didn't get someone's message, it could at least let you know what the person was trying to say instead of basically just going BALEETED!

My suggestions: keep the design in tact with whatever you are going to have on thet main macnn site. It bugs me when I visit a site's home page with one design and then visit their forums or another section and its designed in a totally different style. Consistency.

That said, the new design mockup posted earlier is godly. Please make the main MacNN page look like that. kthx.

If we launch VB3 before the new macnn (which i assume we will) then expect the forums to look similar to how they do now. However, the forums will be updated to reflect the new macnn.com design once that is online.

[nredman]

whats up with the "Apple Mac and iPod Discussion" in the title of threads?
thats new...

[E's Lil Theorem]

Originally posted by nredman:
whats up with the "Apple Mac and iPod Discussion" in the title of threads?
thats new...

See this thread in the Feedback forum:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=250630

[nredman]

Originally posted by E's Lil Theorem:
See this thread in the Feedback forum:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=250630

there is a feedback forum

thanks for the heads up

[Lizard7]

Another vote for the effgee forum design!

[Truepop]

and yet another vote. it looks like it fits with tiger.

[dillerX]

another vote for the effgee design

[JohnSmithXTREME]

The only problem I have with effgee's design is that the texture, and especially the shadows, will become dated rather quickly. Also, it reminds me a bit of www.MacOSRumors.com

[Demonhood]

it appears that we'll likely be upgrading to vb3 very soon to get away from these db errors. and to give you all those spiffy new features, of course.

then, a short time later, we'd roll out the revamped theme. so you'd all have to put up with a hacked together theme for a little while. sound ok to everyone?

[effgee]

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
... also, it reminds me a bit of www.MacOSRumors.com

take that back.

now!

[Scotttheking]

Originally posted by Demonhood:
it appears that we'll likely be upgrading to vb3 very soon to get away from these db errors. and to give you all those spiffy new features, of course.

then, a short time later, we'd roll out the revamped theme. so you'd all have to put up with a hacked together theme for a little while. sound ok to everyone?

If it gets rid of the database errors, SURE!

[E's Lil Theorem]

Originally posted by Demonhood:
...sound ok to everyone?

�Si, se�or! Looking forward to them new features.

[brapper]

Oh... so this is a temporary "hack" theme.
um...good.

[Superchicken]

This is the hacked theme right?

I saw it and instantly cried inside hahaha... just because I was looking forward to our modern theme, and instead saw this... haha... I mean it's not sooo bad it's just that I'm looking forward to the new one! haha, but yah, we are getting one like the one that everyone likes right?
And just for the nut jobbers that are going to say they don't want to loose this them, you can always keep it as an option in system prefs eh?

[AKcrab]

May we have this please -->

[macintologist]

Can we move the font back to Verdana like how it was before?

[SamuraiDL]

all this change is scary

[budster101]

Make it all black.