Design Update?

Discussion in 'Announcements, Site Problems & Feedback' started by Ian, Nov 12, 2008.

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  1. Ian

    Ian Administrator

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    I was wondering if it would be worth giving the site a re-freshed look to try and get more visitors in?

    I quite like the current design, but if was a popular choice to update it to something else I'd quite happily do so :)

    Would love to hear what you think!
     
    Ian, Nov 12, 2008
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  2. Ian

    Codex85 Mouse Potato VIP Member

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    I like it as is--simple and functional.
     
    Codex85, Nov 12, 2008
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  3. Ian

    Nickweb Resident Filmaker Moderator

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    me too, i think we need to possibly expand in terms of what we do, maybe reviews and such
     
    Nickweb, Nov 13, 2008
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  4. Ian

    Core in pounce mode Moderator

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    I like the current layout, however it is getting kind of stale. But on the other hand it does look relatively easy to navigate, and uncluttered, which is important for new people signing up. So just because I've been looking at it for too long doesn't mean I should insist on it being changed.

    What would be ideal is if there were additional styles that we could choose from. We could simply use whichever style we preferred. However, if the site's heavily modified then it may be difficult to add new styles.
     
    Core, Nov 13, 2008
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  5. Ian

    Ian Administrator

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    OK, it sounds like we should stick with this layout then :) If people would be interested in writing reviews, I could easily add a reviews section to the site where we can store them :thumbs

    As an example of site design, I recently added the template for :http://www.w7forums.com/
     
    Ian, Nov 14, 2008
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  6. Ian

    leadarrows American VIP Member

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    I don't like sites that are so ....mostly white background. Hurts my eyes to read them.
    I know I don't visit much but when I do come here I know I can get the help I need and like now, I just like to check in ocasinally. So I don't expect to carry much weight in this discussion and that's OK . But if it was my call I would tone down the white background with a light blue or ...I like tan for reading off of.
    I use to go to a site that had a nice mixture of brown and yellow. They weren't huge on visits but it wasn't to bad. They changed to a look more like this one and there visits fell off considerably. I can't say for sure the change in format was responsible but it was the only thing different.
     
    leadarrows, Nov 19, 2008
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  7. Ian

    Zeus Moderator

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    Going off the previous post, make the background color an option you can change.
     
    Zeus, Nov 20, 2008
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  8. Ian

    spike228 ST 38 VIP Member

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    Maybe we should implment a themes system. You know so people can choose what they want it to look like. I rather like the current theme but I actually prefer something darker.

    As a default, I would definitely keep it the current theme.
     
    spike228, Nov 22, 2008
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  9. Ian

    Nickweb Resident Filmaker Moderator

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    I second spike, keep the current as a default
     
    Nickweb, Nov 22, 2008
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  10. Ian

    leadarrows American VIP Member

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    http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/index.php?s=

    The brown and yellow might not be right for this site...I like it though..but see how the background is shaded just enough to be easier on the eyes? \

    I hope posting that link is ok. I made sure I picked an example that is not a competing site.
     
    leadarrows, Nov 27, 2008
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  11. Ian

    danperteet I broke it again. VIP Member

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    i've got some suggestions. how about adding some new forum categories. We can have hardware reviews, a place for ms-dos crap, compare your rig, contests, pictures of your rig, etc.
     
    danperteet, Dec 30, 2008
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    Core likes this.
  12. Ian

    Ian Administrator

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    The rig pictures bit could go into a gallery, I mentioned it a while ago but never got round to adding to it. I'll add this on to my (ever expanding :lol2) to-do list and see what we can add :)

    If there was a reviews section, would you be interested in writing threads in it? It would be good to have a reviews section if there are enough people interested!
     
    Ian, Jan 3, 2009
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  13. Ian

    Zeus Moderator

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    We had a review section once before. Members could write a review and submit it, then a mod would go in and check to make sure it had the correct format and spell check, etc. then approve it for the public to see.

    We didn't have a lot of reviews though. I'm not much of a writer mainly because I am such a slow typer, but I seen some of the work submitted so Iknow we have writers on the board.
     
    Zeus, Jan 3, 2009
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  14. Ian

    spike228 ST 38 VIP Member

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    I suppose I could do some reviews on the all the stuff in my new system. But I don't have much to compare it to, since my previous system is now a relic (Athlon 64 3200 with an x850).
     
    spike228, Jan 4, 2009
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  15. Ian

    Ian Administrator

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    I've re-enabled the old reviews section now - so we can get reviews going again :)

    HTML is now disabled though, as it should be possible to do everything in BBCode (I guess there was an article software addon before, as the HTML didn't do anything). I'll clean the old code up during the week so the old articles look ok.

    https://www.techiehq.net/reviews-and-articles-f4.html
     
    Ian, Jan 4, 2009
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  16. Ian

    Zeus Moderator

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    SO will the mods still have to approve the reviews before they are posted?
     
    Zeus, Jan 5, 2009
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  17. Ian

    Nickweb Resident Filmaker Moderator

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    I think that would be wise
     
    Nickweb, Jan 6, 2009
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  18. Ian

    Ian Administrator

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    At the moment they aren't, as I'm not sure how to go about doing that - but if someone posts one we can step in and correct formatting etc...

    Perhaps James will know how to enable this though :)
     
    Ian, Jan 6, 2009
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  19. Ian

    danperteet I broke it again. VIP Member

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    i co own a forum and i could help. send me a screenshot of the admin control panel to refresh me on the v bulliten layout(i forget which is which) and i'll tell you what to do. i don't need access just a screenshot.
     
    danperteet, Jan 6, 2009
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  20. Ian

    Ian Administrator

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    Thanks for the offer danperteet, but I think I've had a look at the forum settings and it was set up correctly from the last time with "Moderate Threads" enabled - I just didn't realise :)
     
    Ian, Jan 6, 2009
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