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2016-09-12 - New Forum Layout

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i used the new version for a couple of days, to see if i could get used to the brightness, but it gave me a bad headache. i have now gone back to the pale blue, which i love.

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Poor TJ, he probably put a lot of work into this new forum layout :c

 

Well at least colour switches aren't too long to do.

Edited by Ashywolf

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I know the site needs to move onward and stuff, but I can't help but prefer how the old forum looked. I feel it had much more charm (loved the little scrolls that showed the status of the thread) and had something that set it apart from other generic forum sites. While this new layout is sleek, it's also kind of sterile. Still, it's just as functional as the old one (probably more tongue.gif) and I'll get used to it eventually, I thank everyone for the effort they put into making this!

Edited by stagazer_7

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Whoa, that's new. Immediately switched back to the classic original skin. Thank you for keeping that available.

Same here. I find the older one a bit easier on the eyes since the text is black. I already used adblock on the background image on the new one...the black background was only a slight improvement for me. So old version it is.

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Nngh. Gotta agree with it being too bright. I gave the new skin a chance, but switched back to the old red due to the brightness. Perhaps the new skin is better on a mobile phone, but since I don't play anything on my phone and use my laptop for all of my gaming purposes, the brighter screen doesn't help any.

 

It looked good while it was up, but the eyestrain isn't worth the visual appeal.

 

And speaking of visual appeal, I also have to agree with an earlier commenter that the little scrolls definitely had more personality (and fit more with the theme of Dragon Cave) than the very generic, sterile star/paperclip stuff.

 

I know I'll be forced to get used it it as our old skins go away, but I can't say I'm a huge fan. Perhaps if the brightness of the new skin was toned down and the tiny scrolls brought back, it'd be awesome, but as it is I'll stick with the old.

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It would look good on the site to have the forum and actual main DC page to match with each other. Still it looks great, the new layout is a blast. smile.gif

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The new layout is too bright. I hope the blue version gets updated, too. The background isn't too bright and the contrast is enough for everything to be clear.

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I'm not surprised to hear it's easier on your mobile, I'm sure it was designed with mobile users in mind.

This is the case with so MANY things these days - it's really annoying for those of us who use - shock horror - desktops and lappies...

 

I can live with layout changes - different looking buttons and so on. But the contrast is just TOO much to bear. it HURTS.

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I can live with layout changes - different looking buttons and so on. But the contrast is just TOO much to bear. it HURTS.

Same here.

 

I love new/updated stuff but my eyes are complaining.

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I should say that I think it does look very attractive - though I don't actually want the cave background for the forum - that;s like drawing images round the edges of the pages of a book. But I just can't look at it for any length of tine - it is actually painful. It's like those on-line shopping sites where everything kind of has to stand out (to get you to BUY) but you heave a sigh of relief when you're done and can close the page ! Even amazon - where I go a lot - has got so pushy with it's bright ads and "look what you might like"s moving across the screen that I have actually resorted to blocking almost all the elements of the home page, so that I can arrive on a clean and viewable home page !

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Nngh.  Gotta agree with it being too bright.  I gave the new skin a chance, but switched back to the old red due to the brightness.  Perhaps the new skin is better on a mobile phone, but since I don't play anything on my phone and use my laptop for all of my gaming purposes, the brighter screen doesn't help any.

 

Actually it is not and that's one of the primary reasons why I switched back. Everything is smaller on mobile so the theme needs to be extra crystal clear or else it becomes very hard on the eyes as you can't keep pinch zooming in for everything all the time. I had a lot of trouble identifying topic names and reading text using new theme on mobile so I had to switch back as it caused me a headache in very little time. The overall theme DOES look much more "clean and sleek" on mobile, but it's not as much functional as the old red so I am using the older one now.

Edited by Amaterasu-sama

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Woah, I'd been away quite a while - to come back to this is quite cool.

The amount this site has evolved is absolutely nuts!

Edited by sevenstorms

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I will add my voice to the fact that it is *very* demanding on the eyes to look at the new site, even at the lowest brightness setting my laptop screen will go... I have fairly high brightness/contrast sensitivity, which means most light themes will be distinctly unpleasant to look at, with pure white being an onslaught. For a person who works with screens all day long (which I also do), it especially stands out. (For comparison, I generally use steel silver text on black background.)

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I LOVE the overall look. However, I agree that it's very bright. It's not bad for short visits, but I wouldn't want to browse the forum very long. There's usually an option in forum software to make more than one layout, and if they're identical other than colour of the main area (no graphical changes), all new updates should be very simple to integrate. Just a thought. smile.gif

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If anyone wants a side by side of the changes:

 

Main Forum:

New: user posted image

Old: user posted image

 

Topics:

New: user posted image

Old: user posted image

 

Icons:

New: user posted image

Old: user posted image

 

Posts:

New: user posted image

Old: user posted image

 

Note: I took the Posts screenshot on my cellphone. Now, on my phone, I can see the change in color between posts for the New layout. On my computer, however, everything is white. Completely white. Not even a remote difference. I can't even tell in the screenshot. So, it must be my computer screen vs my phone screen.

 

Actually, I feel like the forum as it is now is much more manageable on my phone compared to my computer, visual-wise I mean.

 

Edit: Newer Forum image, so you can see the entirety of the forum.

For the New page.

 

Maybe we should list pros and cons, so we can state what like about the new forum, instead of just what we don't like.

 

Like this:

 

Pros

  • Matches the Dragon Cave Main Site Better with the new graphics and logo
  • Has a much sleeker and more modern look and feel.
  • Easier to handle on mobile (for me at least)
  • Bolded names for updated sub-forms are easier to notice

Cons

  • New Icons and Buttons are smaller (such as the PM button), and thus harder to see
  • The loss of the Scrolls icons for Topics and Egg Icons for Sub-forums make the forum feel less attached to Dragon Cave and more generic
  • The new icons use a subtle decrease in color saturation and transparency to signal updated and not updated topics/forums, which makes them harder to notice than the previous scroll icons who had a visible shape change.
  • The high contrast theme with bright white backgrounds has caused eye strain and headaches in some forum users
  • Ads extend the page making it harder to see all of the forum in small windows
  • Current color choices for distinguishing between posts may be too subtle and don't show up on some computer screens

Anyone else want to make their own?

 

[b]Pros[/b][list][*]
[*]
[*][/list]

[b]Cons[/b][list][*]
[*]
[*][/list]

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Pros

  • Cave background, which I actually really like
  • Sleeker looking at the top with the logo

Cons

  • Text is small and squished together
  • Paperclips and stars are more generic and don't feel like DragonCave
  • Check marks next to new-reply threads are harder to notice
  • Subforms new-reply threads are bolded instead of having the bold egg, harder to notice
  • Are the reply-backgrounds in a thread supposed to differ in color? 'Cause I'm not seeing it
  • White background *way* too white and bright and overbearing and gives me a headache

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Pros
  • Sleeker
  • Links to main site
Cons
  • Text is too thin
  • Text looks grey on white bits, blue text on white has too little contrast, silver text on black is to low contrast
  • White background too bright against black/dark red
  • Background transition between black and white VERY distracting - my eyes want to track it instead of the pale text
  • Egg is too desaturated, hard to notice color fade
  • Don't think it matches site - the backgroundnd text would match more if the same font and point was used for text and backgroind was tan/parchment
  • Icons at top for contacts, etc don't have DC ambience (and are distracting), paperclips and stars don't match the DC feel
  • Checknarks and bolding are much too easy to overlook when you have to look straight at things to see them
Remember, this is from a Visually Impaired pont of view. And not AMD - others cover it, and ot isn't my issue5. I speak of Retinitis Pigmentosa. Sorry... Edited by Dusky_Flareon

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Since this was announced a week ago and members have had time to give feedback on it I'm going to close this. If anyone has any more suggestions or feedback concerning the new forum layout, please post in the Forum Feedback thread.

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