Forum Update

echoecho_2

Hi,

My issue is with the colour scheme. I'm more than willing to try out the fixed mode for a while but the white at the sides is just too bright and hurts my eyes. It makes reading very difficult.

If the amount of white could be changed then I'm more than willing to try fixed mode.

Thank you team for your efforts on making the website and forum experience better.

heathcote123

wnoktnwbr wrote: »

Martin,

I think the biggest problem with the forum being hard to use is not one that you can solve with layout changes. Learning how a forum works and the principles of a forum are the most important part, these can't be taught to those who find new technology daunting just through layout changes. You can make the layout as "friendly" as humanly possible, but people will still be confused. What is a thread? How do I make a thread? Where do people make posts? Who can see my thread? What does quote mean? How do I know when someone replies? If a user understand the principles of a forum, no matter how complex the layout is they can still use it. If you visit a forum now, no matter how complex it is I bet you'd be able to use it. Just like car engines!
!

Forums are very easy to use. You just have to know how to read, and click on things. Even Mac users manage it. It's really not a difficult concept.

This forum is already huge - it works. Lets please not dumb it down in an attempt to appeal to people who are incapable of reading and clicking on things.

Is the bounce rate really that huge when compared to other forums?

heathcote123

JDPower wrote: »

Oh and do people really think just posting "I hate it" type comments when the thread is 17 pages long is serving any purpose (other than clogging it up with what's been said a hundred times already)?

Think of it as a vote. Without proportion, how are they to get feedback? and theres been tons of constuctive feedback.

heathcote123

gingerdad wrote: »

i have about 6in either side of white, how come it doesn't scale to the screen like the old one (have a 24in widescreen old site worked across the whole screen). hopefully just a gliche

You could set your resolution to 1024 * 768

JDPower

heathcote123 wrote: »

Think of it as a vote. Without proportion, how are they to get feedback? and theres been tons of constuctive feedback.

But the 'vote' has already been made, the team already know how dissatisfied most are, taking the thread to 20, 30, 40 pages isn't gonna change anything. And I agree there has been some constructive criticism, most of which about the stuff down the right hand side, but that has already been stated many times over and addressed by Martin as something that will be looked at with the changes to come.

The thread has become so useless they've had to start another so they can address actual problems without having to dig through hundreds of posts repeatedly saying the same thing, something that this thread was supposed to be for.

jem16

JDPower wrote: »

But the 'vote' has already been made, the team already know how dissatisfied most are,

They know now simply because of the numbers posting on this thread and all with the same theme - fixed width isn't working.

To begin with it was simply seen as "get used to it and you'll like it". Now, owing to the vociferous complaints on this thread, it's being looked at. I doubt that would have happened if we had all quietly carried on as if nothing was wrong.

WestonDave

Personally I don't have a problem with the fixed width - stretchy is more of a pain when people post big photos etc which takes the whole forum out of shape. However whilst being a total ignoramus on different screen sizes and resolutions, I wonder if we couldn't have a wider fixed width - on my screen (a 15" widescreen laptop) the actual forum and right hand side column is only about 2/3rds of the available screen which makes it all feel very cramped.

Biggles

To be honest, I never noticed it being 'stretchy' (by which I assume you mean variable width?).

I have no objection at all to it being fixed-width. I just find the width that's been chosen so dreadfully narrow! You find yourself scrolling all the time to read a thread, much more so than before. Can't it be 20% or so wider?

shays_mum

Screen looks squashed & strains my eyes as i have to concentrate more .

It was much easier to read before & before anyone asks my resolution is 1280x800!

Anyways, loving the new mast!

Chris_M_3

Just switched back to old look and every time I click on a new page, my browser, Chrome, opens up a new tab. This never happened before nor does it happen on any other forum. :mad:

Reported in glitch thread.