Forum Redesign Thoughts

The old design was far superior. The thread names were closer to the center of the screen, where my eyes are usually fixed. It was also a lot easier to read the posts in each thread since there were no giant gaps between posts.

have to agree with Eggy...the slim format is a lil better

I think it's fine, but could use a couple of tweaks... I'd like to see the names of the posters at about half the size they are now, and the message text about twice the size. I kinda preferred having the poster info on the left and the post on the right instead of the way it is now, but that's a minor quibble. The new post editor is great

I would please like adjustable color schemes as well... when I go to make a new post, the colors are easy to read, and there's a pleasant bright-blue background! Normally I find it very difficult to read the Forums, including the small text which I have to enlarge manually by default. At least an option for alt-color schemes would be nice!

I also liked the small icons in the topic list. I really don't like the big XP-style 'toons.

When it comes to forums, I like things lean and clean. The point of being here is to READ the posts, not look at purty icons.

I just started to feel that the current forum is kinda like http://forum.gateworld.net/ ... I think they use the same underlying software?

give em a day or 2...the new 3.x format of VBulletin is a lil complex when it comes tho themes and styles and they probably just need to adjust the rest of the templates.

There are bunches of em and changing one doesn't change all of em..like the post editor...its a seperate template and so on..

There is too much eye candy on these new pages. I liked the style that promoted the text and not everything around it. Its like taking a good painting or photograph and then putting a gaudy frame on it - it totally detracts from the read. Now it I was about 12 or so- I would probably like it better - no offense to those who like it better.

I also say to give it a little time for them to clean it up, but my first reaction is ugh. Whose idea is it to keep forcing us to read text on a black backround in 8 pt fonts anyway? Not very useable. At least offer some other skins for us to chooose from. This new design gives me a headache. I don't understand the giant box with the user's name who posted either - it is distracting. I am sure I will get used to it - but other than a beautiful new posting interface, this is rather unpleasant.

And the award for the busiest forum thread screen ever goes to...

The Display Modes help a little - but yes the Toonish sized text need smallerizing.

I refuse to get crow's feet around my eyes from squinting!

Very, very underhanded way of making us not use the forums often, LL.

Very, very sneaky.

I'm impressed.

Now, can we please have some color-coordination, larger text and um... less size of the AV names?

I like the blue color scheme better, the new buttons and the new bar at the top. With the white text, it makes it easier to see against the dark background than the dark red that there is still a bit of.

Two Words: Usability Study

I do like many of the new features, including this simpler WYSIWIG text editor. However, some layout and button placement issues make this site very difficult to use.

Also, group forum moderator tools have changed -- BEWARE cuz it's easy to make a mistake and hard to un-do it.

PS: I am viewing on a 1024x768 monitor. Text should never span across the entire width of the browser window...

Hey everyone, thanks for all the forum upgrade thoughts.

Please note that in your "User CP" (Control Panel) under "Settings & Options" and "Edit Options" you do have the option to show or hide various elements of messages, which may be of use to users on slow internet connections, or who want to remove extraneous clutter from posts. You can show/hide Signatures, Avatars and Images.

Also, the "Thread Display Mode" allows for Linear, Threaded or Hybrid display of threads.

Be sure to check out the vBulletin FAQ for more tips:
/invalid_link.html

I think the color scheme is good enough. may need 1-2 days to get used to it, but it's most often like this with new schemes anyway. The new post/new topic area is really nice to use too, very clean and light

The two things I really don't like is the avatar/name locations (these were honestly better on the left of the posts), and the, uhm, icons on the main page (they seriously look like hastily generated poor GIF files *lol*). But I can live with that, as long as I have content to read.

What happened to the 'View Latest Posts' button? I used to use that all the time, and can't imagine spending much time in the forums without it.

Is there any way it might be restored, please?

Okay... let's get real specific here.

By having a poster's name above his/her post, I have some unnecessary waste of screen space vice a lesser amount to display the same info with the old/two-column display.
1. A line separator
2. A date/time post descriptor
3. Another line separator
4. A name line - this is an oversized type line... on the right the same space holds two lines of text
5. A self-label text line
6. Yet a third line separator
7. A a post title... not usually used by a majority of posters replying
8. Yet ANOTHER line separator
9. A line/area for Quote and Reply buttons - the buttons are not on the same line as the text, so more vertical space wasted
10. Finally, the last line separator for this post....
oh.. wait..
11. a space between the above post and the next one...
12...which begins with --- wait for it ---- wait -- waaaaaaiit..... ok.. you guessedit.. a line separator! (see #1 above)

So, to read a single post, without the info.. I have 12 lines taken from my display.... not very conducive to scanning quickly.. not very reader friendly due to the small text.. not very "information or post"-oriented as someone said before me. This style of presentation highlights the poster, not what is being said. It simply wastes my screen space frivolously.

It just looks so ugly to me.. I've never used forums before so SL was the first, SLUniverse was the second, and even SLUniverse looks better than this new format.

The posting message window is better looking because its bright and colorful. But the regular page requires serious visual scanning of the entire monitor. Stressing.

Briana Dawson

It's at the top on the blue bar, between User CP and Search

It's been clearly stated the upgrade isn't finished.

Rather then breaking it down to how many lines are in each post or how hard it is to see...why can't people just post helpful suggestions or constructive criticism?

LL already posted that we are seeing just the software upgrade itself. I have moderated forums that have gone through complete software upgrades and even replaced one with a completely different product. Takes time to deal with all the aspects of it and those who are complaining need to understand that this is temporary, and they could have jsut as easily kept it offline until it was complete. Instead we are being allowed to view content and even offer suggestions. So keep it positive and offer ideas. How hard is that?

Things noted by many in this thread include:

Different Skin options (For contrast variants as well as styles of buttons)
Larger font options
Keeping the Poster information smaller then the Post body

I think some of the funcitonality and user controls are definately moves in the right direction and i have been on enough vB boards that i know the possibiliites for other options are vast. I for one will be patient as i know it's already scheduled for more changes Wednesday. The hover summary for the posts and the drill down button for the new posts in that thread are welcomed!!!

*edit for spelling*

I am bugging! This is crazy different. I think I like it.

I do like the green smiley face.

The letters are too small for me. Oooh, but I like these new smilies.

I agree with Korg - the overabundance of space and lines is distracting and annoying.

Moving the PM stuff to the top is nice.

Overall I'd like to see it after they upgrade it a few more times.
It's more fluff than substance.

I like the smilies.

For those of you who use Internet Explorer...try AvantBrowser instead!

It IS Internet Explorer, but contains some useful tools, such as tabbed browsing, and a handy ZOOM tool! Yes, you can slide the size of any browser window from 25% to 500%! VERY useful if you are having trouble reading the text. Also includes built in ad-blocking/popup blocking. Check it out here: http://www.avantbrowser.com/

I think the zoom feature may only be available in their beta version, available here: http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/142207-E5ZB/abbeta.exe

The beta is now my default browser. It's pretty stable.

Personally, I prefer standard forum software, like vBulletin or PHPBB, since most sites use them and it's easy to use since it's just like any other website that uses it. So Kudos to LL for switching! Some minor UI tweaks may be necessary, but I'm hapy with the switch.