We're going to be introducing a few changes to the forum, within the limitations of the software. The main aim is to make it easier to find what you want. To do this we will be making more of the forum visible "above the fold" - i.e. what you can see without having to page down.
One change is to remove the logos as they take up space at the top, but this on its own would make the forum anonymous. So, we're replacing the logos with a simple welcome text including Thom's name, and using the same background colour that Thom uses on his web site, to make the forums easily recognisable.
Another aim is to make the forum as easy to read as possible.
You may have noticed some changes already, such as using black text instead of grey to improve contrast, and widening some columns and narrowing others.
Another change will be to remove the Google adverts from the side bar, giving the messages more width, and just leaving the ones at the bottom. This will result in a reduction in the revenue which partly offsets the cost of the forum, so please click on the remaining adverts when you can!
I've also added a "new posts" link in the top right hand corner.
With changes that can be rolled out on a section by section basis, I'll be rolling them out in this section first, so you can comment. So please don't panic if this section changes!
Sue N.
Posts: 4624 | Location: UK | Registered: 16 November 2004
<Miles>
Posted
quote:
You may have noticed some changes already, such as using black text instead of grey to improve contrast, and widening some columns and narrowing others.
I like the new board generally and especially like the new post link. It should be on the main page. Thanks for he hard work.
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.
Posts: 8264 | Location: Fl | Registered: 05 July 2001
I think the inability to preview ones postings is a real drawback. The non-standard markup used on this forum means that attempts to use standard HTML will produce unexpected results.
If there is some way to add a preview feature, both for remarks and original topics it would make for cleaner threads.
A visible icon to provide feedback to the forum administrators would be useful also. It's not clear who will even read this...
Yes, a preview would be great, but the software does not seem to support it, so we are in the hands of the software people.
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Originally posted by robertdfeinman: A visible icon to provide feedback to the forum administrators would be useful also. It's not clear who will even read this...
Well, I'm following this discussion because I started it. If you really want to bring a message to our attention, use the "Report this post" button - the triangle with an exclamation mark next to the 'reply with quote' and edit buttons.
Sue N.
Posts: 4624 | Location: UK | Registered: 16 November 2004
Sue N: What ever happened to "the customer is always right"?
I think a little feedback to groupee won't hurt, after all there are several other popular forum packages available that could be used instead.
PS. While you are at it, ask for a spelling checker as well. I don't know whether some of the posters are careless, or illiterate, but in either case running it through the spell checker before final posting would improve the readability of their remarks.
Page loading is noticeably faster since removing the Google ads and the banner image at the top. Good work!
Further speeding up of the page could be acheived by limiting the actual text on the page, rather than the number of posts. As it is now, a new page is spawned after some number of posts, while people are pasting entire articles and slowing the loading.
I would like to suggest on the "New Since Last Visited" page a preview line of the text like we had on the previous boards.
-- The only time we see the middle of the road is as we run from side to side. R.O.Clark
Posts: 3959 | Location: Santa Fe | Registered: 11 June 2003
If you are still having speed problems on a Comcast broadband connection, then I submit once again - something is either broken or mis-configured.
My office has roughly 30 users on a lowly 1.5 mbps DSL connection, with MANY active WEB users (we have a web based application that many in our ofice have to acess continously).
I have no problems loading any of the pages on the board. If you are the sole user on a Comcast high speed connection, then you shouldn't be having any problems - I can spec out a good PC system for you cheap
I'm trying to work out how to make the adverts more relevant and interesting to you. It seems to be more of an art than a science. Over in the Today Senator Byrd Broke my heart! He voted YES on Alito! discussion, Blueinmo happened to mention toilet paper, saying "My copy has just become toilet paper (for real)!" and now I see a couple of adverts for toilet paper supplies in the UK at the bottom of that page. Your mileage may vary. I wonder if I will start seeing them here, too, now that I have mentioned the magic words?
Have you noticed any adverts really relevant to the topic under discussion - or any really silly ones like the toilet paper ones?
Sue N.
Posts: 4624 | Location: UK | Registered: 16 November 2004
When you get over to forums for Thom's books on eco/politics, I vote for green. For a long time I referred to stuff in "Last Hours" as "the Green Space."
Kate
--------------------------------------------------------------- "if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got." ---------------------------------------------------------------
Posts: 6804 | Location: usa | Registered: 09 February 2006
Originally posted by --Kate: This color is sort of blonde.
I hope nobody makes any blonde jokes about it.
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When you get over to forums for Thom's books on eco/politics, I vote for green. For a long time I referred to stuff in "Last Hours" as "the Green Space."
Yes, we are considering different colours for different sections, and green is definitely under consideration for the environment section.
Sue N.
Posts: 4624 | Location: UK | Registered: 16 November 2004
Well, color/colour naming is a tricky business... especially when printing processes/cyberspace/monitors/etc. all impart their effects... and our eyes might very well see things a bit differently... and color manufacturers in various materials use different standards... and our language undergoes shifts... as do our perceptions, and what is 'in vogue'...
Trust me, as someone who's been working with dye and glass colors, it's a 'beatch'!
Posts: 5740 | Location: Exile | Registered: 24 March 2003
