New RPF Sites Issues - CLOSED (please search for or start a thread for new issues)

[mbmcfarland]

Most of those weird gradients are now gone for me, except for the one at the bottom of the thread page where "Similar Threads" are listed. I'm on IE8 at 1680x1050.

On an unrelated note, I tried clicking on the big Dredd picture on the home page just for fun, and it took me to the "Oblivion (Post-Release)" thread.

 

[Rylo]

Um, Why are other people pictures appearing in my Junkyard threads? See the cane stand thread...those are not mine and most certainly were not there yesterday. I was wondering interest came to a screeching halt??

I'll leave it there for another hour or so in case it helps figure out what's up.

-Rylo

 

[sumeragix]

also missing "search this threat" option, either its not there or its not visible

 

[The Mad Professor]

also missing "search this threat" option, either its not there or its not visible

Whoa! We can search for threats? Awesome!

 

[Idaho Jones]

Using the "new post" Button in the header, I'm not seeing the "go to new post button" (Chrome)

 

[Cenobyte]

There are so many posts, I hope I have not "jedifyfed" lol.

When replying to messages or posting, the first letter does not auto capitalize. I have to either manually cut and type it in Capital, or can space bar forward and then backspace for the capital option to do automatically.

I hope that makes sense.

Also do not see a member search option (to lookup member names)

I am using an iPad with the latest os.

Thank you,
Brandon

 

[toddbg]

I have been part of large redesigns and you really can't make everyone happy. But in this case it seems like you guys made things much worse and are having a take it or shut up attitude with it, rather than saying ok, we will see what we can do.

I have not gotten my 20 posts in yet so I am still getting the new member notification.
When I go to a forum index on my laptop I have to scroll down 1.5 screens BEFORE I even get to the content (forum subject lists). And then with the huge column of ads on the right side the content, in my opinion, is now second place to the Chrome and the Ads.

This is entirely non standard with how almost every website out there does design (especially for a user generated content website.

I would humbly suggest making the header chrome less than 100px tall and then give people the option of getting rid of the 300px+ graphic content before even getting to the forum list.

Also - grey on grey on darker grey is extremely hard to read.

I'm beginning to look at making a greasemonkey script to get rid of all these "upgrades"
Thanks

 

[TheNickFox]

I have to ask: how small are all of your screens that you have to scroll down to even see content?

I use my laptop almost exclusively and it's got what I'd consider a fairly average screen and the attached shows how the page renders for me. Looks good to my eyes. I see content immediately, then a few quick swipes of my fingers and I'm at the bottom of the page.

...HECK! I don't even stretch my browser to fit the full width of my screen, so I'm also not experience the side-to-side scrolling some of you claim is necessary.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd say the front page is rendered well on my screen, balancing out the header, featured content, and forum content. I'd be interested in seeing other people's screenshots of the homepage to see how much the header and banner are really taking up for you.

-Nick

 

[The Mad Professor]

But in this case it seems like you guys made things much worse and are having a take it or shut up attitude with it, rather than saying ok, we will see what we can do.

Have you had your eyes examined recently? Art's been making all kinds of tweaks to make the site easier for everyone. He's hardly exhibiting the my-way-or-the-highway attitude you seem to claim he is. In fact, he's sacrificed a lot of what he wanted to do with the site just to make people happy.

I'm beginning to look at making a greasemonkey script to get rid of all these "upgrades"
Thanks

Go for it, dude.

 

[msleeper]

I'm beginning to look at making a greasemonkey script to get rid of all these "upgrades"
Thanks

There's a few floating around at userscripts.org already.

 

[Luke Skyvader]

I'll echo a few of the comments made already and make these suggestions:

• Make links stand out more from regular text would help a lot.
• Can anything be done about the giant scroller with the ad beside it at the top of the page? It takes up about half the screen real estate meaning you have to scroll a lot before you can even see the list of threads. The sidebar with ads is less annoying, but with both, it gets a little unpleasant.
• For the menu at the top, how about opening it on hover rather than on a click? Expandable in terms of number items in the future, but no additional clicks required to access content.
• Making the icon for threads posted in more visible would certainly help.
• Creating a little more visual division between the topics in the list of threads would make those pages a bit easier to scan through as well. Reads a lot like a big block of grey with no easily visible links.

I agree. This new layout is very cramped & hard to read. Will there be more style choices than a choice of one, grey on dark grey?

 

[toddbg]

I have to ask: how small are all of your screens that you have to scroll down to even see content?
-Nick

I'm at 1366 x 768 on my laptop.

Have you had your eyes examined recently? Art's been making all kinds of tweaks to make the site easier for everyone. He's hardly exhibiting the my-way-or-the-highway attitude you seem to claim he is. In fact, he's sacrificed a lot of what he wanted to do with the site just to make people happy.

My apologies, I did not mean to disparage Art or the efforts he, and others, are putting in. I had simply read the "Why we changed things" thread and it appeared that that was the stated position. IN reading back through the 21 pages of *this* thread it does indeed appear as though some effort is being made to tweak and accommodate. It is much appreciated and again, my apologies.

There's a few floating around at userscripts.org already.

Cool! any particular ones?

Thanks guys - all the best,
Todd

 

[TheNickFox]

Man, that new member notification is a killer. Luckily for you it won't be there forever...hopefully. :lol

-Nick

 

[Art Andrews]

Art, should I still be getting an ad banner at the bottom of every forum page?

-Rylo

This should now be resolved.

 

[msleeper]

Cool! any particular ones?

There's one that changes the forum to be white text on black background, but I haven't used it. Honestly the people who complain about the new design "straining" their eyes, I wonder if they are sitting in pitch black rooms with their face 6" from the screen. And using 15" CRT monitors. Before the change I used the black text on white background theme, which apparently wasn't default for some people?

 

[Art Andrews]

Also do not see a member search option (to lookup member names)

It is there, on the left, but it looks like that text is suffering from some color issues and blends into the background. Will get that squared away.

 

[Art Andrews]

Before the change I used the black text on white background theme, which apparently wasn't default for some people?

The black text on a white background has been our default theme for over a year and based on your join date, would have been the default theme you saw when joining. However, for years and years the RPF's default theme was a Star Wars based theme that had a black star background and neon blue text. Because this site used to be predominantly Star Wars based and because that theme was the default theme for so many years, a number of members felt very attached to it even though 1) it was horrifically dated, 2) it only represented ONE franchise, and 3) it had no sense of branding (aside from using the Star Wars brand).

One of the main reasons we are seeing such a pushback here is that there were a lot of our longtime members who had never switched away from that Star Wars theme to the new default and while the latest update isn't a huge shock to most new members like you, because you are used to seeing a dark text on light background theme, it is a big change for those long timers who have always had a black background.

 

[robn1]

...I'd be interested in seeing other people's screenshots of the homepage to see how much the header and banner are really taking up for you...

I have a 1920x1080 screen, and I always browse the web maximized. The first pic is the main page unaltered. Second has my Nosquint tweaks, and is zoomed to better fit my screen. Third is a thread page.

Scrolling isn't a problem for me. I use the drop down menus at top to navigate, it's very quick and easy, easier than before in fact. I find the gray/gray scheme difficult to read. I don't give a squirt what the "science" says about it, the low contrast look is very fatiguing for me. It's like my eyes are a digital camera that can't find anything to focus on. Nosquint took care of that for me. I find the banners and such to be cold and "corporate" looking, and even tacky to be honest. But once I scroll down to read a thread it's not visible anyway, so no harm done really.

 

[dbuck]

a number of members felt very attached to it

Guilty. ( I do admit to changing out of the Star Wars theme and then going back because I liked it more) However, the eye strain with the new scheme absolutely killed me and I wasn't alone. Thank you for making the adjustments to accommodate us.
I know my patience would be sorely tested were I in in your place.

 

[Art Andrews]

Guilty. ( I do admit to changing out of the Star Wars theme and then going back because I liked it more) However, the eye strain with the new scheme absolutely killed me and I wasn't alone. Thank you for making the adjustments to accommodate us.
I know my patience would be sorely tested were I in in your place.

Haha. My patience is only tested when there are vague complaints thrown around or I am told what my intentions are. We will ALWAYS listen to legitimate concerns, especially when it comes to usability. We want the site to be very clean and sharp, but usability MUST come first and when you guys are giving us feedback that affects usability in an unacceptable way (like the initial lack of contrast issue), we are all ears and scrambled to respond with this updated look.

It may sound a bit pompous or a bit of "I know better than you" but we are trying to provide what is ultimately best for the community. Our decison to go with dark text on a light background wasn't a "preference" on our part. It was something I researched heavily quite some time ago and revisited when it came time for this upgrade. The decision was made from a logical standpoint, not one of personal preference.

I know some have argued again and again about how the light text on a light background is easier for them to read, and while I can't argue with someone's perceptions, as I said, I have done a lot of research on the subject and every single study shows that there is significantly less eye strain using dark text on a light background and it is even better when the light background is slightly grey... which is why we have what you see here. Granted, we blew it a but on contrast in underestimation the diversity of contrast levels different people see through a wide array of devices, but we have now addressed that in the latest changes.