Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
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- pwhodges
- A Lilin in Wonderland
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Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Yes, I know there are things in the theme that are unfinished; to be frank, the forum transfer went from testing to doing quicker than I expected, and I was caught out at a particularly busy time. Still, the theme is at least workable. Over the next couple of days I will add links to restore more of the functionality in the menu box, fix the double-spaced signatures, improve the horizontal spacing, and the like.
As things stand, there are four themes, with only the most trivial differences. The design is supposed to be responsive, adapting to smaller screens in sensible ways. The width is limited to a maximum of 1200 pixels, or 1920 pixels in the wide variants. There is (with an eye to not wasting NemZ's efforts going into the future) a pair of themes in which the banner you see varies randomly, changing if you refresh it - I'd like to give people the option in the end to select their preferred banner, but to do that sensibly needs some non-trivial extra work.
What I'd like is for people to note in this thread any problems that they find with the theme, whether functional or aesthetic. I will then attempt to fix the problems, improve the aesthetics, or persuade you that it is really better as it is. Obviously I have a test forum where I do the actual work, so you won't see work-in-progress until it's reached a sensible point.
As things stand, there are four themes, with only the most trivial differences. The design is supposed to be responsive, adapting to smaller screens in sensible ways. The width is limited to a maximum of 1200 pixels, or 1920 pixels in the wide variants. There is (with an eye to not wasting NemZ's efforts going into the future) a pair of themes in which the banner you see varies randomly, changing if you refresh it - I'd like to give people the option in the end to select their preferred banner, but to do that sensibly needs some non-trivial extra work.
What I'd like is for people to note in this thread any problems that they find with the theme, whether functional or aesthetic. I will then attempt to fix the problems, improve the aesthetics, or persuade you that it is really better as it is. Obviously I have a test forum where I do the actual work, so you won't see work-in-progress until it's reached a sensible point.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
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Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
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- pwhodges
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
And just having made that post shows me that signatures are fine on some posts; hmm, need to think about that.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- Reichu
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
There's something about the current setup that strains my eyes, but without ability to compare old and new it's hard for me to say exactly what it is. One thing that did jump out at me is the absence of alternate light and dark shading with consecutive posts -- helped break up what is now a giant patch of off-white. I guess it's sort of there, but it's not as marked as it was before. (Signatures seem to be affected every other post, incidentally.)
Personal preference would also be to have URLs NOT be underlined in the bodies of our posts. Wasn't like that in the old style, and not like that anywhere else in the current style. The discrepancy is bothersome. :p
(Not necessarily style-related, but pertaining to conversion: Also noticing that the Japanese in my location is now a jumble of crap, and a special character in the Rebuild subforum description came out bad, too. I thought you guys had done extensive tests to keep this from happening?)
Personal preference would also be to have URLs NOT be underlined in the bodies of our posts. Wasn't like that in the old style, and not like that anywhere else in the current style. The discrepancy is bothersome. :p
(Not necessarily style-related, but pertaining to conversion: Also noticing that the Japanese in my location is now a jumble of crap, and a special character in the Rebuild subforum description came out bad, too. I thought you guys had done extensive tests to keep this from happening?)
Last edited by Reichu on Wed Dec 02, 2015 2:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
さらば、全てのEvaGeeks。
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「滅びの運命は新生の喜びでもある」
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- Monk Ed
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Having the names, boxes, and ranks below the avatars is throwing me off. Also...
I know! I'm having this problem too. Everything just seems too bright or something.
I know! I'm having this problem too. Everything just seems too bright or something.
System Administrator
"NGE is like a perfectly improvised jazz piece. It builds on a standard and then plays off it from there, and its developments may occasionally recall what it's done before as a way of keeping the whole concatenated." -- Eva Yojimbo
"To me watching anime is not just for killing time or entertainment, it is a life style, and a healthy one too." -- symbv
"That sounds like the kind of science that makes absolutely 0 sense when you stop and think about it... I LOVE IT." -- Rosenakahara
"NGE is like a perfectly improvised jazz piece. It builds on a standard and then plays off it from there, and its developments may occasionally recall what it's done before as a way of keeping the whole concatenated." -- Eva Yojimbo
"To me watching anime is not just for killing time or entertainment, it is a life style, and a healthy one too." -- symbv
"That sounds like the kind of science that makes absolutely 0 sense when you stop and think about it... I LOVE IT." -- Rosenakahara
Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
On it being "too bright" it's most likely the saturation of colors and their combination/composition into the scheme/layout. The white-lightgrey-cyan scheme was extremely comfortable (if not exactly eye-catching) and so easy in the eyes it fades almost unnoticeably into the back of your mind to achieve it's functions unobstrusively, as good design does. If anyone happens to have a screencap of it (or the masters themselves) then it should be easy to get the codes with a color-picker tool and apply them to the forum. The graphical design elements, however, might be a bit more difficult to replicate.
Btw, sorry if it seemed like me or others were rushing you guys about the layout or anything of the sort.
And yeah, i'd recommend getting the name, boxes and ranks above the avatars again. It's a bit too weighted to the low end as it is now. Functionally i have seen no problems so far and everything seems to be working as it did before the transition, so that's pretty nice.
Btw, sorry if it seemed like me or others were rushing you guys about the layout or anything of the sort.
And yeah, i'd recommend getting the name, boxes and ranks above the avatars again. It's a bit too weighted to the low end as it is now. Functionally i have seen no problems so far and everything seems to be working as it did before the transition, so that's pretty nice.
"Every line is a joy" -Kaworu Nagisa.
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
That's still there, actually. They alternate bluish off-white and brownish off-white.
But yes, everything does feel significantly brighter. Not sure if it actually is or if there's just more white space in the new layout though.
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"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
- pwhodges
- A Lilin in Wonderland
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
I'm aware that age is not showing in the profile box; I'll add that when I move the name to the top shortly.
Unless anyone wants a discussion of whether age should be shown at all, that is. Most forums IME don't show it, but I'm easy on the matter.
Unless anyone wants a discussion of whether age should be shown at all, that is. Most forums IME don't show it, but I'm easy on the matter.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- Rosenakahara
- Evangelion
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
I'll agree its a bit too bright, I would also like to add however that on the non wide version the deep blue at the sides is kind off-putting for me, aside from that though I like it.
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What is going on is a concerted effort from anti-progressives to silence anyone who disagrees with them.-Bagheera 2016
The Twelve Kingdoms discussion thread
I don't need a scabbard to sheathe my mind
What is going on is a concerted effort from anti-progressives to silence anyone who disagrees with them.-Bagheera 2016
The Twelve Kingdoms discussion thread
- Monk Ed
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
I'm playing around with name colors. Can anyone tell? Not exactly theme-related in that it has nothing to do with the stylesheets, but it's spiritually related.
System Administrator
"NGE is like a perfectly improvised jazz piece. It builds on a standard and then plays off it from there, and its developments may occasionally recall what it's done before as a way of keeping the whole concatenated." -- Eva Yojimbo
"To me watching anime is not just for killing time or entertainment, it is a life style, and a healthy one too." -- symbv
"That sounds like the kind of science that makes absolutely 0 sense when you stop and think about it... I LOVE IT." -- Rosenakahara
"NGE is like a perfectly improvised jazz piece. It builds on a standard and then plays off it from there, and its developments may occasionally recall what it's done before as a way of keeping the whole concatenated." -- Eva Yojimbo
"To me watching anime is not just for killing time or entertainment, it is a life style, and a healthy one too." -- symbv
"That sounds like the kind of science that makes absolutely 0 sense when you stop and think about it... I LOVE IT." -- Rosenakahara
- robersora
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Hm~, I love them. It kinda soothes the pages greatly and calm anchors the otherwise so bustling look (kind of garish colours, clustered elements without space to breathe).
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- pwhodges
- A Lilin in Wonderland
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Note that some theme elements have their width defined by % of the window size. This leads to the profile information to the left of a post being unnecessarily extended if you have a wide window (and the wide theme to allow the forum to expand to fill it).
Later I'll look at trying to improve the settings for wide usage (though it's something I hate, myself, as lines get too long to read comfortably). It's not trivial: I was able, for instance, to limit the expansion of the profile area, but the space was not then reassigned to the post area.
I'd welcome comments on how people would prefer to see wide windows used.
(BTW, there'll be no more changes today, as I'm going to London to a show shortly.)
Later I'll look at trying to improve the settings for wide usage (though it's something I hate, myself, as lines get too long to read comfortably). It's not trivial: I was able, for instance, to limit the expansion of the profile area, but the space was not then reassigned to the post area.
I'd welcome comments on how people would prefer to see wide windows used.
(BTW, there'll be no more changes today, as I'm going to London to a show shortly.)
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
pwhodges wrote:Note that some theme elements have their width defined by % of the window size. This leads to the profile information to the left of a post being unnecessarily extended if you have a wide window (and the wide theme to allow the forum to expand to fill it).
Later I'll look at trying to improve the settings for wide usage (though it's something I hate, myself, as lines get too long to read comfortably). It's not trivial: I was able, for instance, to limit the expansion of the profile area, but the space was not then reassigned to the post area.
I'd welcome comments on how people would prefer to see wide windows used.
I'm using the wide version now because it fills my screen completely, which makes it better to read stuff, that's something that didn't happen in the old version where I didn't use the wide version and still got a full screen of content (or maybe I'm remembering wrong?). Anyway, I noticed that the blue sidebars Rose noted above eat away at the space allocated for posts in the non-wide version, not sure if that's how it was before, but I felt that posts were a bit clustered there. Maybe this has to do with the horizontal spacing you mentioned, it's a bit uncomfortable to read posts right now.
Other than that though, things look great. Thank you for taking the time to improve the forum.
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- pwhodges
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Hmm; some people's undersized avatars aren't being expanded. I'll try to fix that tomorrow.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- Reichu
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
The smilies available when composing a reply should only include ones of the non-animated variety. I created such a selection intentionally in the previous version for the very reason that the composition area should be free of clutter and distraction.
さらば、全てのEvaGeeks。
「滅びの運命は新生の喜びでもある」
Departure Message | The Arqa Apocrypha: An Evangelion Analysis Blog
「滅びの運命は新生の喜びでもある」
Departure Message | The Arqa Apocrypha: An Evangelion Analysis Blog
- TehDonutKing
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
It is there, yes, but the difference should be more pronounced. The design also hurts my eyes slightly as well, but i'm not sure why.
I almost accidentally reported this post trying to quote it, so perhaps those buttons should be farther apart.
Are suggestions allowed here, or should they be posted in the announcement thread, or should i or someone else make an additional thread for them?
/hj
I said and did some dumb and hurtful things in my time here when i was younger. If i ever hurt you, i'm sorry. If you see any of this while reading old threads, i'm learning and trying to improve. Donut redemption arc in progress.
I said and did some dumb and hurtful things in my time here when i was younger. If i ever hurt you, i'm sorry. If you see any of this while reading old threads, i'm learning and trying to improve. Donut redemption arc in progress.
- pwhodges
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Suggestions are fine, and will be considered.
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
- ArgonLeviticusGospel
- Embryo
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Is this a different forum engine?
- Nuclear Lunchbox
- Agent Ahegao
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
When I check "last post" on the front page, it tells me who made the last post but not in what thread said post was made. Old forum did that.
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Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
Apophenia. Noun. The tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things.
They called me the Quentin Tarantino of hentai.
The difference between a blow-up doll and a dakimakura.
- Shamsiel-kun
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
Call me old-fashioned, but could the "quote post" button on people's posts actually have, you know, the word "quote" on it?
It took me ages to figure out how to quote a post I wanted to reply to, yesterday.
Please pretty please?
(or perhaps just an accessibility theme for idiots like me?)
It took me ages to figure out how to quote a post I wanted to reply to, yesterday.
Please pretty please?
(or perhaps just an accessibility theme for idiots like me?)
The singularity is the rapture for nerds, dude. It's not going to happen. - Chuckman
- pwhodges
- A Lilin in Wonderland
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Re: Forum Theme Issues - reporting and discussion
It is phpBB v3.1 from 2015, as opposed to phpBB v2 from before 2004 (and hacked out of recognition).
I'll certainly consider buttons with text; it's a bad modern tendency to design software with the presumption that nothing ever needs explanation!
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )
Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.
Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (discussion)
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