new look front page

Capt'n Midnight

FireFox's Remove this permanently sorts out the Blogs
But they keep popping back - now using Adblock

nearly down to 1024 without scroll bar at side

if it wasn't difficult to do.. maybe put the bottom new posts in a smaller font to the top so you fit even more on without affecting the readability of the top 10 ?

Orion

A previous poster mentioned the drop-downs going behind the ads. It's happening to me right now in FF on XP. The ad in question is the Top-up club War of the Worlds one.

Basq

Macros42 wrote:

A previous poster mentioned the drop-downs going behind the ads.

Yep.. you're right! (see attached)

Seems to be fine on the Board Beers one! Possibly because they're just static JPEG with a hyperlink.

And War Of The Worlds ad / U2 ad are Flash (SWF).

AARRRGH

I don't really like it (apologies.)

Not because it's not "good", but because I think it has no individuality (like the previous design did.)

Kind of reminds me of the p45rant page, which is not a good thing...

Nuttzz

no like, too cluttered...

Webmonkey

i dunno. i still havnt gotten used of it. it looks too forumy. Rather a homepage

Sleepy

I like the return of the boards.ie guy.

Overall, it seems to be an improvement in the works. A few things are jarring with me:

1. Lack of uniformity on the icons at the top. I think the seven round icons should be replaced with ones like those on the left and lined up with them so that there's just one line of icons instead of a line, a gap and a line of different icons.

2. Can the ads and welcome box be moved left a little so that the right edge is in alignment with the tables below them?

3. Ad Sales and Email should go to email forms rather than simple mailto:'s

4. There's no need for a Recent Blogs pane on the left AND a Latest Blog Posts table underneath the main list of recent posts (maybe the pane on the left could include a list of forum links for a users subsrciptions?)

5. I think the Filters are too prominent in their current location as a table on the left. This is a feature that I personally rarely (if ever) use. This might be different for other users though?

6. The 'WEB' link leads to a 404.

Like I said overall I like it, major improvement on the old 'lunar' theme.

Cloud

Probably the most constructive post so far.

I'll address them one by one...

Sleepy wrote:

I like the return of the boards.ie guy.

Overall, it seems to be an improvement in the works. A few things are jarring with me:

1. Lack of uniformity on the icons at the top. I think the seven round icons should be replaced with ones like those on the left and lined up with them so that there's just one line of icons instead of a line, a gap and a line of different icons.

Good point. I am working from an old set of icons provided by FreaK_BrutheR, so I can only do so much with them at the moment. I have created vector forms of each one so can do some manipulation but not as much as you've asked for... But the idea is that the round icons can be used elsewhere, in sub-sections or moved to the bottom half of the page if necessary... Coincidentally, the round icons width is equal to the banner width, 7 x 66 buttons + 6 x 1 spacing = 468.

2. Can the ads and welcome box be moved left a little so that the right edge is in alignment with the tables below them?

The welcome box is in alignment with the tables below, at least as far as I can see in IE/FF on Win/Lin. Show us a screenie if it is different for you.

3. Ad Sales and Email should go to email forms rather than simple mailto:'s

Should but this is a short-term solution until we set one up...

4. There's no need for a Recent Blogs pane on the left AND a Latest Blog Posts table underneath the main list of recent posts (maybe the pane on the left could include a list of forum links for a users subsrciptions?)

This can be tweaked, at least since it is all text-based it is easy to change and I'd expect to see lots of changes in the blogs section as I try and change to WordPress MU.

5. I think the Filters are too prominent in their current location as a table on the left. This is a feature that I personally rarely (if ever) use. This might be different for other users though?

Yes. And we'll be adding more filters - Virgin Posts, Most Recommended Threads, etc.

6. The 'WEB' link leads to a 404.

Oops!

Like I said overall I like it, major improvement on the old 'lunar' theme.

RuggieBear

My display is 1280 x 1024 which means there is a lot of space on the front page.

The Thread Title (Replies) are still abbreviated despite having loads of space in the column. Is it possible to tweak this so that the full thread title is available for those with higher resolutions

BlitzKrieg

cheers cloud for disposing of that annoying gap...now it is perfect.

Cloud

RuggieBear wrote:

My display is 1280 x 1024 which means there is a lot of space on the front page.

The Thread Title (Replies) are still abbreviated despite having loads of space in the column. Is it possible to tweak this so that the full thread title is available for those with higher resolutions

I haven't put any resolution specific stuff in so far - you can get the full thread title with a mouseover I think.

Velcrow

Cloud wrote:

Probably the most constructive post so far.

You want constructive criticism!!!!

My Typical User Scenario:

1. Link into boards from email alert, read the new post and then click the boards logo top right hand corner to go to the home page.

2. On the home page I view the latest posts and from here I usually link on a post or use the main menu to go to a specific section.

My Constructive point for today is that the layout of the old home page was more suited to this typical path the new layout uses the screen real-estate in a less effective way.

For example you have placed links that are hardly ever used in the most prominent place on the home page
View Image
And instead of grouping links that are used most often, you are now increasing the distance between them - meaning more mouse movement for the user

And finally how many people looked at the new home page for the first time and said "where is the main menu gone" its size and new position bears no relation to it being the most import menu on the site.
View Image
Of course I have no statistical evidence to back this up - this is just my own rant for today

The Sweeper

OMG!! OMG!!!

I know it needs some work - but I LOVE IT!!

I've been sitting here at my desk, blue as can be, loaded up the browser for a sneaky work-a-day peak, and there it was!!

I feel like one of those skanky ho american trailer park dwellers who's been out for the day shoplifting flip-flops and bourbon, returning home only to discover that the Extreme Makeover people have taken my camper van and transformed it into a four-bed mansion with a swimming pool. I keep clicking on things and going "cool! OOO!! LOOK! It's the funky cartoon - oh hang on... where's my... oh THERE!!! COOOOL!!"

Why am I so delighted? Perhaps I just needed something new in my day...

/me goes off to reload homepage to see it all again...

Cloud

Hi Velcrow - so how should we draw attention the main menu? It's exactly the same size as it was before... We can make it bigger but then it will be too big for those with > 800 x 600 displays. As I've said earlier, the blank space (which is on all vBulletin pages, just look up top) is a compromise to those who do use lower resolutions...

Regarding the icons, the idea is to provide quick entry points:

(1) to two important sets of users who may be visiting the site for the first time or who want to support the site - newbies, with a page telling them where to signup or where to get more information - subscribers, with info on how to get subscribers services (this was difficult to find before), and

(2) the next five buttons are quick entry icons to the five main discussion methods - forums, blogs, chat, wiki and usenet.

Hobbes

Its pretty.. I know your busy and all but when ever you get around to it, any chance of having a theme that will display on a PDA without having to scroll left/right (assume PDA is using wifi not mobile phone).

WizZard

I do like it. But I think it still needs a little work.

I run 1024x768 here in work and I find the text above the top icons ("I'm new here" etc) to be a little blurry and unreadable. These are text/links that should be quite apparent to encourage new users.
Actually all the text in the top images seems to be a little blurry to me at this res. (20/20 vision BTW )

What's the @513 (number changes) after the date and username welcome bar?

New Features:

1) Could a filter be added to just show new posts by those users in our buddy list? I've been meaning to mention this for a while. I think it would be very useful.

2) Maybe a way to selectively choose how many new threads/posts to display on the front page, similar to the current one for threads in the User CP. So those people at different resolutions can choose how much/how little to be shown on their screen.

3) Maybe long term use something like Google News' customizable page (choose where things will be shown) for the blogs/filters/new threads tables.

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I second Sleepy's idea of email forms for the ad sales etc.

All in all, good work Cloud. Keep it up

Sleepy

WizZard wrote:

What's the @513 (number changes) after the date and username welcome bar?

I'm getting this too...

In relation to the right allignment, I'm runnng IE on Win XP SP2 with a resolution of 1024 * 768. Screenshot attached.

I'd also like to re-itterate my suggestion of a list of subscribed forums. This would be my main means of browsing boards.ie and I'd be surprised if I'm alone in this. A great feature on the frontpage would be a listing like that which appears on the drop-down menu, the list of subscribed forums with an asterix beside those that have new posts.

RuggieBear

internet time

WizZard

It's always internet time Ruggie

<edit>Aha, now I've got it! For anyone else it is explained here</edit>

RuggieBear

WizZard wrote:

It's always internet time Ruggie

indeed it is

have a gander here

Goodshape

The link to the 'Arts' filter on the left is going to the Subbed filter instead.

petes

Its growing on me.....(the new look that is).

sanncoo

Liking the new look front page

Cloud

Arts link fixed.

I'm currently applying the "look" to the other sections.

Links
Chat
Gathering
Members Web (nearly complete) Edit: done
USENET News (in progress) Edit: done
PhotoPost Albums (to do) Edit: done

J.
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Tar.Aldarion

good man,nice job.

Velcrow

Hi Cloud,
It's a challange...with no short answer but....ok less talk more action here is a possible way to go for improving the main menu

Cloud wrote:

Hi Velcrow - so how should we draw attention the main menu? It's exactly the same size as it was before... We can make it bigger but then it will be too big for those with > 800 x 600 displays.

What about this - Subtle background box on the main menu and a font increase to 10px bold Tahoma, font colour change to "Boards Blue" to improve readibility ( if thats really a word!)
View Image

Capt'n Midnight

Hobbes wrote:

Its pretty.. I know your busy and all but when ever you get around to it, any chance of having a theme that will display on a PDA without having to scroll left/right (assume PDA is using wifi not mobile phone).

Rabies

I think it is ok. Will take a few days to get used to it. Glad the recent posts has been increased from 15 to it's original 20.

Would it be possible when a person is logged in to use the skin of their choice on the front page?

Cloud

WizZard wrote:

I run 1024x768 here in work and I find the text above the top icons ("I'm new here" etc) to be a little blurry and unreadable. These are text/links that should be quite apparent to encourage new users.
Actually all the text in the top images seems to be a little blurry to me at this res. (20/20 vision BTW )

Images sharpened.

RuggieBear

I like it....