Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > Feedback > New Theme and Forum Reorganization Feedback

New Theme and Forum Reorganization Feedback (Page 5)
Thread Tools
Thinine
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:21 PM
 
Loading time seems improved since last night, though I don't know what that's from.

Smilies matching the style of the stars would be great.

And like I said, the quick reply buttons still need to be styled or graphically replaced.
     
Rumor
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: on the verge of insanity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by rickey939 View Post
Mods, please update the "Forum Links" collapsable menu to reflect the pull-down menu list and the re-org of forum sections.

Remember, those links aren't dymanic, so it manually has to be done each time a forum section is changed.
You said that much better than I did.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
Gossamer
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: "Working"
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by Demonhood View Post
everyone will get used to the sigs on the right (and come to love it).
$50 says I don't.
Other than that I think I'm getting used to the rest of the design. The green blobs are a bit less easily seen than the red dots, but I guess they'll do.
     
Kevin
Baninated
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: In yer threads
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:31 PM
 
I LOVE the sigs to the right. At first I was skeptical however.

And I agree about the red dot business.

I think one posting "stage" should at least have a red dot.
     
Dakar²
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: The Annals of MacNN History
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer View Post
$50 says I don't.
Other than that I think I'm getting used to the rest of the design.
Give it time. You will turn. To the right side.
     
C.A.T.S. CEO
Professional Poster
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: eating kernel
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by Oneota View Post
...Or making Addicted to MacNN green again...or something.

I'll chime in on the sigs issue to say that I agree they should be on the left (or, it should be an option). I use the sigs to identify the poster, and having them on the right breaks the flow of the page when they're used for that purpose. Also, if someone's sig is text-only, the "-------" divider should be used to separate their post from their sig, just to eliminate any possibility of confusion.
I don't think we need a sig divider, but It would be very cool if we could have them at the left. Green would be cool if they brought it back

Originally Posted by Thinine View Post
We need new, glossy smilies to go with this new, glossy theme. Other than that, looks great.
<---- keep those if you change it guys
Signature depreciated.
     
Big Mac
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 02:48 PM
 
Very nice work, guys. It was really slick to hold off on doing the forum reorganization until the theme was ready. I really like the new Quick Reply. I don't have a problem with losing post count on individual posts, but the higher end star types (green, insane) should be returned. The new thread list sorting options are neat. And I suppose I'll get used to the new post markers. Finally, it seems like there should be a little more white space in the forum and thread lists, but I won't be angry if we don't get that.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
kick52
Baninated
Join Date: May 2005
Location: England
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
Try dropping your browser cache.

Again, the actually post count number is not that important.

There is still a star rating in place, just like the old one except more have been added. Which means you can still tell if the person is a high poster.
yeah, i have tried the cache.

the thing i meant was there was more colour coding in the old theme. this theme requires more looking around, which i dont like.
but i am starting to like it (perhaps)

though i am still angry about post count. which i find important.
     
Weezer
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Syracuse
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:06 PM
 
Comments:

1) I like the new title deliniations, but why get rid of the green stars at 1,000 and multi-colored at 10,000? I really liked that, please bring it back

2) Like others, I'm not used to the sigs on the right yet, it seems unnatural to look over to the side to see them, and creates a large gap of whiteness on the page

3) Smilies could match the theme a little better

Imac Core Duo 1.83/1.5 GB/20 inch cinema, ibook G4 1 ghz
     
kick52
Baninated
Join Date: May 2005
Location: England
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Weezer View Post
Comments:

1) I like the new title deliniations, but why get rid of the green stars at 1,000 and multi-colored at 10,000? I really liked that, please bring it back

2) Like others, I'm not used to the sigs on the right yet, it seems unnatural to look over to the side to see them, and creates a large gap of whiteness on the page

3) Smilies could match the theme a little better
yeah.

i REALLY miss the old stars.

maybe you could use the old stars, but make them all smooth and neat like the current ones?
also, the other status message things were better.
     
Oneota
Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Urbandale, IA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Demonhood View Post
i also like how no one noticed that we completely did away with the concept of a "hot thread."
Oh, I noticed. I just didn't say anything.

Just to add one more thought to the green-vs-red dot issue: You want the color of the unread dot to be very different from the yellow dot, because I know we have at least one color-blind user (friend of mine who also posts here), and for them, green and yellow tend to look very similar.
( Last edited by Oneota; Feb 2, 2007 at 03:17 PM. )
"Yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation.
     
brassplayersrock²
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:25 PM
 
i was going to PM you demonhood about this, but can not for the moment (see my thread in the feedback forum) is there a way to put pictures on top of text or pictures below text in the signatures??

Alex
     
Gossamer
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: "Working"
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar² View Post
Give it time. You will turn. To the right side.
But by this time I'm so entrenched in my beliefs that even if I do become convinced that the right side is better, I won't admit it due to pride.

 
     
Simon
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by Demonhood View Post
you'll grow accustomed to the green dots instead of the red ones.
Umm, it's not a question of becoming accustomed. If you're colorblind you have to rely on intensity. Light green vs. yellow or gray sucks compared to something like yellow vs. red or yellow vs. blue. It's not about color preference. It's about usability.
     
Dakar²
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: The Annals of MacNN History
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer View Post
But by this time I'm so entrenched in my beliefs that even if I do become convinced that the right side is better, I won't admit it due to pride.

 
 
     
slugslugslug
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:33 PM
 
I love the look of the new stars, but I agree that the old way of having a few colors to differentiate the levels was kinda cool. Also, the "half" stars look more like "blank" ones to me, á la Netflix ratings, so it seems like some folks have 3 out of 4, some 4 out of 5, etc.

The disclosure triangles all over and the styles menu are teh hotness. I like the theme overall, but wish the spacing would get a little tighter when I choose a smaller font.

I echo what rickey939 says about the fixing the f'in forum links.

I miss post counts, but like all the above niggles, I'll get over it.

Oh yeah, what ever happened to consolidating the MB/iB/MBP/PB forums into one Laptop Forum? Seemed like a great idea..
     
Velocity211
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Northern VA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:41 PM
 
time for a redesign. i love it btw! now if i could learn the ranks and if only the post count came back...
iMac 24" | Core 2 Extreme 2.8GHz | 4GB RAM | 500GB HD
PowerBook G4 15" HR | 1.67GHz | 2GB RAM | 100GB HD
R.I.P 1995 Toyota Supra NA-T
     
Dakar²
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: The Annals of MacNN History
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:51 PM
 
Just in case anyone missed it: post count is still in the profiles
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:55 PM
 
I don't know yet. I'm not sure that I like it, to be honest. I'll adjust, I'm sure, but I was shocked when I logged on today. I do like some of the aesthetics. I don't know about the sig pictures being on the right, for one thing. Also, I like the post count being visible without clicking on the member name.
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:55 PM
 
I'd like to add my voice to the requests for visible post counts. Mods can still see them in the normal place, I hadn't realized that regular members were getting short-changed.

Perhaps they are silly, but I'd rather call them part of the fun factor. Most things that are fun are difficult to justify logically. Especially the expensive ones, like that $30K sports car. This fun factor is fairly cheap to restore.

Another observation. Previously, Announcements appeared in a separate block; they were not part of the listing of threads in a forum. Now, they've gone back to being merged with other threads. This is distracting, since you read them once and then have to ignore them forever. Can we move those back to a separate block?

Alternative: use a Collapse link beside each, so members can zap Announcements they have already read down to something minimal, like "Visited Announcements". Something you could click to bring them all back.

Say, that's not a bad idea for Stickies too.
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 03:57 PM
 
OOOOOOHH!!! Hold on!

I like the way that a semi-transparent menu pops up when you click on a user name. Very nice!
( Last edited by Jawbone54; Feb 2, 2007 at 04:05 PM. )
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:05 PM
 
Can someone please direct me to an explanation for the new rankings?

[EDIT] Went through the pages, found it, and then came back to see you guys had already helped me out. Thank you!
( Last edited by Jawbone54; Feb 2, 2007 at 04:25 PM. )
     
Judge_Fire
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Can someone please direct me to an explanation for the new rankings?
Page 3 in this thread
     
rickey939
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Cooperstown '09
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Can someone please direct me to an explanation for the new rankings?
Thanks to the new "url" button...

http://forums.macnn.com/61/feedback/...3/#post3290052
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:37 PM
 
I would also like post counts back on the side, it's useful to be able to glance to the left to see what someones post count is, having to make two clicks to get there, load the page, click back and try and remember what you were reading is a PITA.

Good job on the redesign, it'll take some getting used to.
     
DuckRacer1
Forum Regular
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:49 PM
 
The user area is too wide, and there's no postcount number, but otherwise this is flawless. Excellent work.
     
Atomic Rooster
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: retired
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:53 PM
 
Any way for the user to switch back to the "classic" version as an option?

I don't like this at all. Too much white.

Yay!!!! no post count. That is great. Or am I missing it somewhere?
     
Velocity211
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Northern VA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar² View Post
Just in case anyone missed it: post count is still in the profiles
oh ok, well i liked it better when it was displayed with the name and rank.
iMac 24" | Core 2 Extreme 2.8GHz | 4GB RAM | 500GB HD
PowerBook G4 15" HR | 1.67GHz | 2GB RAM | 100GB HD
R.I.P 1995 Toyota Supra NA-T
     
chris v
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: The Sar Chasm
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:55 PM
 
I prophesied a couple weeks ago that this postcount bizness would cause a s**tstorm. I'm good with it, though -- I like things cleaner & leaner. (Plus -- do I really need a daily remainer of how much of my life I've squandered here?)

As to the sigs on the right, once you've had 'em on the right for a couple days, then they're thrown back to the left, you see the beauty of it & want them back on the right immediately.

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. -- Jonathan Swift.
     
Rumor
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: on the verge of insanity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 04:57 PM
 
Too many people are obsessed with thier post count and those of others.
Almost have 5 full stars...
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
rickey939
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Cooperstown '09
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:14 PM
 
Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
Too many people are obsessed with thier post count and those of others.
Almost have 5 full stars...
Amen, and I don't get the whole "it makes the forums more fun" tidbit that a few have suggested the post counts offer.

     
Kerrigan
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Apr 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:18 PM
 
Day 2, Year 0 of Second Coming: I have found the interface to be even more delightful than when first saw it. So far no trouble from the native peoples, must maintain low profile.
     
gorgonzola  (op)
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New Yawk
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:19 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
The user info bar is too wide. I'd rather have wrapped lines than a quarter of the window dedicated to meta info.
It's about 25 pixels wider at the highest setting. I can understand why people on smaller resolutions might want a slimmer user info bar, and we can talk to effgee about tweaking this when he gets back from vacation.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Post counts. IMHO either drop them totally or display them. But as long as you have them on this board they should be displayed where the other important user info is. And before you say there's not enough space, allow me to point out that the user's status is displayed which IMHO is not nearly as relevant as his posting history. This is a board, not a chat.
It's not because there's not enough space. But I actually fail to understand this kind of point. There is no material difference between the user status and the posting history. The status is a clear function of the posting history in the sense that more stars indicate nothing but that the person has more posts than someone else. If somebody can really explain what the difference is to me in a way that I can understand, please do it. I'm happy to listen, but all the posts thus far sound like the poster thinks the stars and the post count are two different things, which isn't the case.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
The default font is large. OTOH there is a style menu which allows you to reduce the font size - nice. I'd personally like to see an option for an even smaller font though. The new interface is very light so I believe the font size can be chosen really small. Also, the line spacing seems a tad too generous.
The default font being large is something I frankly could not care less about. I use it on the small setting myself, and if everyone thinks small sans-serif is a better default, this is easy to change. I don't happen to remember what the arguments in favor of larger fonts were, but there was some reason we did this.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Blob on thread icon for new posts and own posts. I think it's fairly difficult to properly recognize those icons - the grey blob is hardly visible. I'd increase the blob size, make the 'new posts' blob red and the 'own posts' blob yellow.
I'll let effgee comment on these icons when he gets back from vacation, but I will point out once again just in case it was not clear. The faint colors only appear when there are no new posts. When there are new posts, the colors are very bright. Why would you want threads you've posted in to be indicated so strongly when there isn't even anything new? The neon green "you've posted in this, and there's new stuff" seems like it serves the necessary purpose.

If there is some use case that I don't know about where people actually do want threads they've posted in displayed very prominently even when there are no new posts, please take the time to explain.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Jump to first unread post is broken! In the list of subscribed threads in my user cp I can no longer select a thread and have it jump to the first unread post in that thread. That just plain sucks! I'd really like the thread title in that list to link to the first unread post rather than to the first post. That's the only thing that makes sense in a list of subscribed threads.
This is probably just an oversight -- the wrong link was put in there. This should be easy to change (and you're right that this isn't the correct behavior), but we might wait for effgee to do this.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Apart from those details it's really a clean, simple and nice design. Thanks for your effort!
Thanks for your civil and constructive comments.

Originally Posted by Judge_Fire View Post
- The button shadows are too heavy IMHO and seem a bit out-of-place compared to other shadows, such as the roundrect around posts. 'No shadows' or 'sunken' style could be a better fit? (Ugly mockup follows)
The problem with sunken buttons is that sunken is usually used to indicate 'active' or 'pressed'. If you'll notice, if you click the "+" icon for multi-quote, it will actually turn into a depressed icon to indicate that it's active. If the button is sunk already, I think it's more confusing. But I'll let effgee address the more general issue of distracting drop shadow -- I personally think it's pretty subtle. The buttons do need to stand out from the background, so they have a bit more background and weight. We don't want them to just be a thin grey outline like a post.

Originally Posted by Judge_Fire View Post
- A vote for very slight alternating backgrounds from me, too.
OK. For the record (I won't respond to this point anymore for the moment), I'll let effgee think about the idea of alternating backgrounds and get back to us. That said, the previous theme did not have alternating post backgrounds. You're thinking of the way the forums used to look many, many years ago.

Originally Posted by utw-Mephisto View Post
Did you even change the progress.gif ? Looks more ... cleaner
Yes.

Originally Posted by kick52 View Post
no offence, but it SUCKS BALLS.
Thanks for your comments. You've managed to be the first ass in a pretty big thread. I suggest you spend some time reading other people's posts so you understand how to post properly. Next time you write stuff like this I'm not going to dignify it with a response.

Originally Posted by kick52 View Post
i guess the style is something i could get used to, but post counts have been disabled, WHICH SUCKS and there is no way to see if you have posted on a thread before, with/out replies.
This is false. The following two icons indicate whether you've posted in a thread before:



(no new posts)
(locked)
(locked, non-hot thread)

Originally Posted by kick52 View Post
i just hope you allow us to switch between different themes, or i'm outa here.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

Originally Posted by torsoboy View Post
Like everyone else who has commented on this, I liked the post count also. My post count is small, but I always found it interesting to see how many other people have posted. Having 10 titles, plus up to five stars on each level (I think?) is waaay more confusing. How do we know what title is above another? Giving one person 4 full stars and another person 4 plus an empty one seems like a weird way to say 4.5 stars.
You know what title is above another because of the stars that go with it. More stars = more posts. It's the simplest possible way of telling. See the legend above. The point of the empty star is sort of like, you have 4 stars, you're halfway to getting a fifth star, so an empty star indicates that the fifth star is "being prepared." Everyone found this completely intuitive in beta tests, but if you have other ideas that you think make more sense, please do share them.

Also, for what it's worth, we were anticipating that tweaks would be needed after rolling this out. The major design is set in stone, but a lot of the smaller things are still in flux. I'm not personally opposed to putting post counts back if somebody can explain to me what the difference is between seeing a post count and seeing how many stars someone has.
"Do not be too positive about things. You may be in error." (C. F. Lawlor, The Mixicologist)
     
brassplayersrock²
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:28 PM
 
okay nevermind, page three solved it
     
skalie
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Clogland
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:36 PM
 
[btw]
Viewing the forum defaults to a serif font for me using Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Win 2000 pro. I can change it with the styles button top left ( edit: I meant top right, do'h ), but returning to the forum means returning to the serif font.
[/btw]

Is there perhaps more vertical space between the normal lines of text perhaps? The whole forum just doesn't seem as easy to read as it did in the past.

No comment on the possibility to change styles, i.e. revert to the old version as of yet? I'd be happy with a vBulletin default style myself, is that not a "standard" option in vBulletin?
( Last edited by skalie; Feb 2, 2007 at 05:53 PM. )
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:36 PM
 
The reason I like and want post counts back is simply that I prefer solid figures rather than 'estimating'. If I see 267 and 269, I can instantly see that it's 2 posts higher whereas if I see Mac Elite, that could be ANYWHERE between 1000 and 2499. Putting post counts hidden in the user info is IMHO a Microsoft habit, and a bloody annoying one! Hiding information from the users/making them perform more steps to get there, bad! , one reason why Vista is less intuitive than XP and even more unintuitive than OS X.
     
gorgonzola  (op)
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New Yawk
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:39 PM
 
Originally Posted by skalie View Post
Um, is there somewhere in the usercp where I can change my settings so I can view the forum using the old theme?

( Unfortunately my combination of large monitor and big resolution make the new version of the forum hard going on worn out eyes )
Sorry, we won't be offering a legacy option. But we will be tweaking the new theme over the next several weeks. If there are certain minor things that are bothering you, please feel free to point them out.

Originally Posted by rickey939 View Post
Mods, please update the "Forum Links" collapsable menu to reflect the pull-down menu list and the re-org of forum sections.
I'll do this sometime soon.

Originally Posted by Thinine View Post
Loading time seems improved since last night, though I don't know what that's from.
I found that the new theme loads faster than the old theme over the last several weeks of testing. Last night's slowness may have been due to added load, not the theme. I don't think there is any performance issue with the theme at all, though you will find that threads with large images load a little bit slower -- that's because the image resizer is going through everything and resizing the images on-the-fly. Unless you spend all day in the hot babes thread it shouldn't pose a huge problem.

Originally Posted by Big Mac View Post
Very nice work, guys. It was really slick to hold off on doing the forum reorganization until the theme was ready. I really like the new Quick Reply. I don't have a problem with losing post count on individual posts, but the higher end star types (green, insane) should be returned. The new thread list sorting options are neat. And I suppose I'll get used to the new post markers. Finally, it seems like there should be a little more white space in the forum and thread lists, but I won't be angry if we don't get that.
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Umm, it's not a question of becoming accustomed. If you're colorblind you have to rely on intensity. Light green vs. yellow or gray sucks compared to something like yellow vs. red or yellow vs. blue. It's not about color preference. It's about usability.
Understood, but it's not light green vs yellow. It's bright green vs yellow (at least if you're comparing threads with new posts -- otherwise it's apples and oranges). Is the bright red really better than bright green? If so, I don't think this is a big deal to change.

Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
I love the look of the new stars, but I agree that the old way of having a few colors to differentiate the levels was kinda cool. Also, the "half" stars look more like "blank" ones to me, á la Netflix ratings, so it seems like some folks have 3 out of 4, some 4 out of 5, etc.
I can understand that confusion; I hadn't thought about it. If people continue to post thoughts on what might be a better way of differentiating levels, it will help me think about it more.

Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
The disclosure triangles all over and the styles menu are teh hotness. I like the theme overall, but wish the spacing would get a little tighter when I choose a smaller font.
Unfortunately I think this is hard/impossible to do.

Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
Oh yeah, what ever happened to consolidating the MB/iB/MBP/PB forums into one Laptop Forum? Seemed like a great idea..
It was a huge (and irreversible) change in the middle of lots of big changes. I got cold feet so we delayed it. We'll be revisiting the idea later.

Originally Posted by chris v View Post
I prophesied a couple weeks ago that this postcount bizness would cause a s**tstorm. I'm good with it, though -- I like things cleaner & leaner. (Plus -- do I really need a daily remainer of how much of my life I've squandered here?)
I can set up a cron script if you want.

Originally Posted by chris v View Post
As to the sigs on the right, once you've had 'em on the right for a couple days, then they're thrown back to the left, you see the beauty of it & want them back on the right immediately.
In fact, I'm almost tempted to switch them back to the left for a little while so people can see how much worse it is.
"Do not be too positive about things. You may be in error." (C. F. Lawlor, The Mixicologist)
     
christ
Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Gosport
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:41 PM
 
I like it - props to all that created it, and to the site staff for sponsoring it, and for delaying it until it was ready.

... and for delaying the time when I eventually become clinically insane.
Chris. T.

"... in 6 months if WMD are found, I hope all clear-thinking people who opposed the war will say "You're right, we were wrong -- good job". Similarly, if after 6 months no WMD are found, people who supported the war should say the same thing -- and move to impeach Mr. Bush." - moki, 04/16/03
     
Kevin
Baninated
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: In yer threads
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by seanc View Post
The reason I like and want post counts back is simply that I prefer solid figures rather than 'estimating'. If I see 267 and 269, I can instantly see that it's 2 posts higher whereas if I see Mac Elite, that could be ANYWHERE between 1000 and 2499. Putting post counts hidden in the user info is IMHO a Microsoft habit, and a bloody annoying one! Hiding information from the users/making them perform more steps to get there, bad! , one reason why Vista is less intuitive than XP and even more unintuitive than OS X.
I never realized people looked at postcounts that much. Is is really relevant?
     
Rumor
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: on the verge of insanity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
I never realized people looked at postcounts that much. Is is really relevant?
Apparently, to some that difference of two is a big deal.
I like my water with hops, malt, hops, yeast, and hops.
     
gorgonzola  (op)
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New Yawk
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by seanc View Post
The reason I like and want post counts back is simply that I prefer solid figures rather than 'estimating'. If I see 267 and 269, I can instantly see that it's 2 posts higher whereas if I see Mac Elite, that could be ANYWHERE between 1000 and 2499. Putting post counts hidden in the user info is IMHO a Microsoft habit, and a bloody annoying one! Hiding information from the users/making them perform more steps to get there, bad! , one reason why Vista is less intuitive than XP and even more unintuitive than OS X.
OK. Understood. I think your example of 1000 - 2499 makes a lot more sense than the other one, do you honestly care about a different in 2 posts?

Originally Posted by skalie View Post
[btw]
Viewing the forum defaults to a serif font for me using Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Win 2000 pro. I can change it with the styles button top left, but returning to the forum means returning to the serif font.
[/btw]

Is there perhaps more vertical space between the normal lines of text perhaps? The whole forum just doesn't seem as easy to read as it did in the past.

No comment on the possibility to change styles, i.e. revert to the old version as of yet? I'd be happy with a vBulletin default style myself, is that not a "standard" option in vBulletin?
Yes, there actually is more spacing between paragraphs. I will talk to effgee about potentially reducing this. I don't think we're going to offer a style switcher.
"Do not be too positive about things. You may be in error." (C. F. Lawlor, The Mixicologist)
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 05:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
I never realized people looked at postcounts that much. Is is really relevant?
Does it really matter if it's relevant? It wasn't impeding on any space that was needed, why get rid of it? I can't understand it. What I use it for really isn't important, it's just a useful short statistic to have and I would like it back. Please.
     
Simon
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by gorgonzola View Post
It's not because there's not enough space. But I actually fail to understand this kind of point. There is no material difference between the user status and the posting history. The status is a clear function of the posting history in the sense that more stars indicate nothing but that the person has more posts than someone else. If somebody can really explain what the difference is to me in a way that I can understand, please do it. I'm happy to listen, but all the posts thus far sound like the poster thinks the stars and the post count are two different things, which isn't the case.
I understand your point. IMHO it all boils down to this: They both show the same, but the count shows it with more detail. Why settle for the coarse scale when I can have the actual number? That said, it's not a big issue but I do think the count gives you more information than the (redundant) stars.

I'll let effgee comment on these icons when he gets back from vacation, but I will point out once again just in case it was not clear. The faint colors only appear when there are no new posts. When there are new posts, the colors are very bright. Why would you want threads you've posted in to be indicated so strongly when there isn't even anything new? The neon green "you've posted in this, and there's new stuff" seems like it serves the necessary purpose.
Maybe it's not a good idea to use the same type of icon with different colors for different messagess. What about using different symbols in order not to rely on colors? Like a tiny pencil on the envelope indicates i wrote something and the red (or whatever other bright color) blob indicates new posts. That way you rely less on the actual colors and it becomes more distinguishable.

Understood, but it's not light green vs yellow. It's bright green vs yellow (at least if you're comparing threads with new posts -- otherwise it's apples and oranges). Is the bright red really better than bright green? If so, I don't think this is a big deal to change.
For me it is. But my colorblindness is also fairly strong. I suggest you try to view the icons in grayscale. That gives you an idea of how well somebody like me can distinguish them. And I know it's not that easy to find colors that work for everybody. That's why I suggest you not only use a blob, but more 'modifiers' in that envelope icon. Colors are fine, but important icons should be distinguishable even in grayscales.

Thanks for your civil and constructive comments.
Thanks for openly accepting criticism and taking time to comment on suggestions. I really appreciate it.
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by gorgonzola
OK. Understood. I think your example of 1000 - 2499 makes a lot more sense than the other one, do you honestly care about a different in 2 posts?
No I don't care about 2 posts, I just tried to use it as an example, obviously a bad one.
     
MattJeff
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Right here
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:04 PM
 
oooo new names as well, i love the look!
good job Macnn team.
     
kick52
Baninated
Join Date: May 2005
Location: England
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:05 PM
 
heh.. i guess i like it a bit more..
a bit of time with it and it looks a lot more better.
     
Simon
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:11 PM
 
Oops! Is it just me or is displaying personal information broken? When I click on 'view public profile' for any user I don't get personal information like biography, occupation, interests, etc.
     
kick52
Baninated
Join Date: May 2005
Location: England
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Oops! Is it just me or is displaying personal information broken? When I click on 'view public profile' for any user I don't get personal information like biography, occupation, interests, etc.
yeah.. i dont see that stuff either.
     
gorgonzola  (op)
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New Yawk
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Oops! Is it just me or is displaying personal information broken? When I click on 'view public profile' for any user I don't get personal information like biography, occupation, interests, etc.
Might just be broken, not sure what the deal is. That will have to wait for effgee to come back. He'll be going through this thread from beginning to end carefully and collecting a list of all the bugs/requests to go through. So it may take a week or two, but it'll be fixed.

Also, for future reference, if you post a bug and don't get a response, you should assume that someone has looked at it and will fix it in the coming weeks.
( Last edited by gorgonzola; Feb 2, 2007 at 06:29 PM. )
"Do not be too positive about things. You may be in error." (C. F. Lawlor, The Mixicologist)
     
gorgonzola  (op)
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New Yawk
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 2, 2007, 06:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
I understand your point. IMHO it all boils down to this: They both show the same, but the count shows it with more detail. Why settle for the coarse scale when I can have the actual number? That said, it's not a big issue but I do think the count gives you more information than the (redundant) stars.
Because the coarse scale discourages post whoring while still recognizing important contributions over time. The original reason for removing the post counts came mostly out of that. But we didn't want to do away with the whole concept of recognition for contributions, so we kept the status ranks and doubled the number. It seemed like a logical compromise. You don't get visible recognition for making just 1 more post, you get recognition for making contributions over an extended period of time, and as you do so, you get more stars. That said, I don't care a lot about this, so I'm considering putting them back if people really like it. The forums are just for fun, after all.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Maybe it's not a good idea to use the same type of icon with different colors for different messagess. What about using different symbols in order not to rely on colors? Like a tiny pencil on the envelope indicates i wrote something and the red (or whatever other bright color) blob indicates new posts. That way you rely less on the actual colors and it becomes more distinguishable.
Understood. This is for effgee to respond to.

Originally Posted by Simon View Post
For me it is. But my colorblindness is also fairly strong. I suggest you try to view the icons in grayscale. That gives you an idea of how well somebody like me can distinguish them. And I know it's not that easy to find colors that work for everybody. That's why I suggest you not only use a blob, but more 'modifiers' in that envelope icon. Colors are fine, but important icons should be distinguishable even in grayscales.
Good point.
"Do not be too positive about things. You may be in error." (C. F. Lawlor, The Mixicologist)
     
 
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:47 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,