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TBL XG2: The New Site Design - Feedback and Suggestions
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:25 am
by archibalduk
Please use this thread for an general feedback and suggestions or suggestions for new features.
If you want to report an issue or design issue then please use the following thread instead
http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... 9173#99173
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 2:30 pm
by grits207
Very nice, great job!

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:24 pm
by Círyatan
First of all, let me tell you that you have done a truly outstanding job, Archi. I can only imagine how much work it took. The new site design is beautiful, I totally dig it.
Now for suggestions. I really miss the log in fields at the bottom of the main page and would love to have them back. I find it tiresome to head to a drop-down menu everytime I want to log in, and the automatic log in is just not for me. With those fields, it only took hitting the tab key a couple of times, instead of having to point a mouse at a menu item. Maybe not much of an issue, but that's just me.
I'd also welcome a log out button on the menu bar, but it's really not that important.
I also remember suggesting adding a go to button where you could manually enter the number of the page you wanted to go, I hope you manage to pull it off. It would be a real help when browsing long threads.
Two minor things regarding the design:
I like the idea of the two-colour highlight (no. 1), though the second colour now seems to be the same as the colour of the drop-down menu. Also, I would change the drop-down menu border colour (no. 2) to something not white, I think it would work better that way. I remember you posting some examples of a blue-green concept. It look good to me, though it had less of that "icy" feel the current colour theme has. I like both ideas, to be honest.
Once again, great work, Archi! Can't tell you how much I love the new design.

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:50 pm
by getzlaf15
Incredibly good design Arch!
In each of our profiles. I see there is the Challenge Stats as a GM. How about incorporating the Create-A-Star stats in their somehow or something?
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:23 pm
by archibalduk
Círyatan - thanks for your excellent post!

There are a lot of extremely good points in there. Here is what I think:
1) The page number thing is on my list of functions to investigate. I expect there will be a pre-made mod for this but I reckon I could possibly write some code from scratch if needs be.
2) There isn't enough room in the nav bar for a Logout button. It's currently located in the Control Panel menu. Perhaps I could fit a small on/off logo somewhere between the nav bar and search box?
3) The colour scheme of the nav bar is one of those tiny things that has been a really difficult thing to design. The green just didn't go with the TBL style so I dropped it in favour of blue and white. But it could be better. Maybe the highlight could be whiter so that it doesn't blend in with the rest of the menu?
4) The white border is just to stop the blues on the page merging into the blues of the nav menu. However if you have any suggestions as to what colour we could try or if the border needs to be thicker, then I'm very happy to give it a shot.
Getz - I suggested to my brother about introducing a Create-A-Star section for the site. However he is currently unsure if he has the time any more to continue with CAS. Thus I didn't see the value in working on it if CAS wasn't going to continue any more. If we could find a way of making CAS less labour intensive (it took Nick hours to do the CAS updates) then maybe we could get it going again and I could add some CAS bits to the site.
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:53 pm
by Manimal
Love the new design! Great job!
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:54 pm
by Círyatan
Archi wrote:1) The page number thing is on my list of functions to investigate. I expect there will be a pre-made mod for this but I reckon I could possibly write some code from scratch if needs be.
Archi wrote:2) There isn't enough room in the nav bar for a Logout button. It's currently located in the Control Panel menu. Perhaps I could fit a small on/off logo somewhere between the nav bar and search box?

As I said, it's a minor thing. If there's no space, no problem. I'd much rather have my lovely log in fields back.
Archi wrote:3) The colour scheme of the nav bar is one of those tiny things that has been a really difficult thing to design. The green just didn't go with the TBL style so I dropped it in favour of blue and white. But it could be better. Maybe the highlight could be whiter so that it doesn't blend in with the rest of the menu?
Yup, I also think I prefer the "icy" theme. Seems like you have to try various shades of blue/grey/silver/white, and you'll sure find something that works.
Archi wrote:4) The white border is just to stop the blues on the page merging into the blues of the nav menu. However if you have any suggestions as to what colour we could try or if the border needs to be thicker, then I'm very happy to give it a shot.

Well I'm not sure on that one. I just thought it might be a little more different from the background. But as I said, I may be trying to correct something that doesn't need to be.

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:58 pm
by archibalduk
Círyatan wrote:Well I'm not sure on that one. I just thought it might be a little more different from the background. But as I said, I may be trying to correct something that doesn't need to be.

I think if you spotted it in the first place then it clearly doesn't look quite right. I'll have a think and see if I can come up with something better.
I forgot to mention in my post above that I'll add the login fields back to the index for you.

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 6:05 pm
by B. Stinson
I really like the new dropdown item highlighting. The lime green, oddly enough, looked pretty good, but the gradient really fits well with the design.
I also love the red post-related buttons. It creates a nice balance with the blue design.
EDIT: And of course, how could I forget the GM profiles! Without exaggeration, that's a truly awesome addition to the site - with career stats and attributes being tracked and everything. A+ idea.
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 6:37 pm
by archibalduk
B. Stinson wrote:EDIT: And of course, how could I forget the GM profiles! Without exaggeration, that's a truly awesome addition to the site - with career stats and attributes being tracked and everything. A+ idea.
It's definitely going to motivate me to get more involved in competing with the Challenges once I've got more of the site done. My GM attributes suck at the moment!
I think a neat extra feature would be to add a 'compare' button on other user's GM Profiles. Then when you click on it, it compares your attributes and stats with theirs. It would be a fairly simple addition seeing as 99% of the work is already done.
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 6:46 pm
by Loosie
Wow guys the site looks awesome. Great job done by everyone who worked on it.
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 7:33 pm
by joehelmer
Great job Archie! I really like the new design, now it's just hard to get used to it.
But it will come with time.
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 8:04 pm
by Deleted 25-08-19
This template is great! Brings come more users here i think! Gm profile is great idea, but i dont play TBL challenges so that is pretty sad ;(
Anyways, if there comes simplier rules, i could be in! My english isnt great, so thats why its pretty hard..

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 10:06 pm
by Danny
Very nice job archi.
Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 10:22 pm
by CeeBee
Great job Archi.

Love the new design

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 12:13 am
by bossman
Awesome. Just awesome! Great job!
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 12:24 am
by McQwak
It's cool!

I like those new titlebars, but the Ovechkin one.
What about resetting that "Most users ever online" (or maybe other stats)?
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:19 am
by Deleted 25-08-19
McQwak wrote:
What about resetting that "Most users ever online" (or maybe other stats)?
That would be nice! I support this also!
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:33 am
by BaerXIII
The design looks great so far but in all fairness I've only been on here for about 15 minutes with this design lol.
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:02 am
by The Hutch
Ba da pa da da I'm loving it.
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:33 am
by Círyatan
McQwak wrote:I like those new titlebars, but the Ovechkin one.

The titlebars are great!

How about making them clickable (maybe that could lead to the forum index)?
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:40 am
by cm_spitfire
Great job, Archi! It looks and feels fantastic!
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:09 pm
by bruins72
I'll just keep it simple and say this... "EPIC"!
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:44 pm
by archibalduk
Ronc wrote:This template is great! Brings come more users here i think! Gm profile is great idea, but i dont play TBL challenges so that is pretty sad ;(
Anyways, if there comes simplier rules, i could be in! My english isnt great, so thats why its pretty hard..

That's a real shame that the language barrier is stopping you from joining in.

If you're interested in joining then perhaps one of your fellow Finnish users could help you with translations?
McQwak wrote:It's cool!

I like those new titlebars, but the Ovechkin one.
What about resetting that "Most users ever online" (or maybe other stats)?
That's a good point! I did promise to do that. I'll try to do it either later this evening or tomorrow.
Círyatan wrote:McQwak wrote:I like those new titlebars, but the Ovechkin one.

The titlebars are great!

How about making them clickable (maybe that could lead to the forum index)?
That's a very good idea. I'll see what I can do
McQwak - I thought the inclusion of Ovechkin might be a little contentious!

Still, there's no denying his skill!
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:48 pm
by bruins72
From the Challenge Questions and Feedback thread...