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  • We just completed a significant update, but we still have some fixes and adjustments to make, so please bear with us for the time being. Cheers!

New Forum Design

hcsharp

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
3,370
1,335
Vermont
Please consider changing the template. It's gimmicky (ie., red dots) and difficult to read. Consider just using the standard Xenforo template. For example, IGN Boards . This will probably ease a lot of people's concerns as the most important part of forum design is readability.

OMG is IGN Boards using Xenforo? It looks SO MUCH BETTER!!!! It's faster to find things, easier to read, better density, dynamic scaling, quotes look more like quotes... If you have to use Xenforo, please consider taking some ques from that site!!!
 

AustinPowers

Total Smeghead
Jan 27, 2012
2,065
1,023
Frankfurt, Germany
Well, where to start? Let's try on a positive note: I certainly appreciate the effort and the willingness to improve TMC's look, feel and functionality.

That said, the current form of the redesign doesn't work for me at all.
There are things I just miss (reputation bars, getting to the point in the thread where you last posted, easy access with few clicks) but those might return or perhaps I just won't be missing them any more in the long run.

But the worst aspect imho is the new layout itself. As others have pointed out, the "white on white" scheme is headache-inducingly difficult to read and make out what is where.
The large unused white spaces everywhere make it hard to get a quick overview as you need to scroll endlessly.
Plus the overview of the forums seems to be missing out on much of the info you used to get on that page. Or at least it looks that way. Very hard to find what you are looking for.

I know I am often against radical changes, but this time it "hurts" even more as TMC is my favorite forum and I have so gotten used to the established look that I have a very hard time finding my way around the new version. I am sure that will get better after a while, but right now I am just feeling "exhausted" (literally) just trying to read on.
 

WarpedOne

Supreme Premier
Aug 17, 2006
4,326
6,319
Slovenia, Europe
Remember Linus's mantra Don't break the ABI?
Well, when it comes to forums, navigation options and features like reputations, whats new and similar nonstop used features are the ABI, and this change broke it totally. There are good changes and there are changes like this.

Point out one good new thing so I won't be these all is just pure ...
 
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redevries

René de Vries
May 22, 2013
2,443
502
Oosterhout, Netherlands
Suggestion: put 'watched threads' in the floating menu bar.

Perhaps there is an easier way, but I mostly reads posts from threads I have subscribed to. Watched threads is the reason I need to go up on the page, since that is the only place I've found it.
 

R3D-83

Member
Feb 2, 2016
53
0
EU
I like this new style (the old one looked like the sites in the late 90s), but the two columns layout on the home page is not really transparent. It's hard to read and the line height in the list of threads should be smaller. It's also hard to browse through.

Anyway, a big thumbs up for the developer! Nice job! I like it!
 

vinnie97

#WalkAway
Jul 24, 2014
1,110
392
southwest
I've looked through all the forum preferences in my profile, and I see nothing about themes nor am I able to adjust the number of pages per thread as was possible with vBulletin. I hope this means it just hasn't been rolled out yet.
 

Auzie

Tree Hugger Member
Jul 29, 2013
1,898
37
Sydney
Many thanks for creating this great meeting place and for keeping it civil. Ii is my view that the forum appearance and presentation come second to the content, they do not take away from the quality of the content and the purpose of this forum.

Since feedback on the new forum face/functionality was invited, here is some:

I love new visuals, especially color choices at the top of the page - black looks quite sleek as compared to old rusty red, which was a bit aggressive on the eye. Black background, red and white letters = cool, elegant look.

I also like more spacing and lower density of information, but it is likely that I am in the minority regarding that preference

Font size and avatars appear too large. Avatars do appear a bit too much 'in your face'.

I would prefer not to see the avatar of the person who started the thread on a forum overview page, at least not so prominent. Such visual just feeds into some people feeling territorial and possessive about the threads they started. It might also feed into the impulse to start multiple threads on the same subject (check this forum feedback section, there are several feedback threads, same topic)

The green triangles on avatars indicate who is online, but there are no visuals which members are reading the particular thread. I'd like to think that such info feeds into strengthening the social bonds on the forum. Also, there is no info on how many viewers are in some forum sections. The old format had that information available. In principle, loss of information is a negative.

Reputation points - I like the leveling of the playing field that new 'no visual reps' forum provides. If posters can't be judged based on their reps because there are no visuals (green bars), then their post is more likely to be considered on its own (contents) merits. That said, much is lost with a loss of reputation system. Major losses: Rep system facilitated single post specific feedback (great utility) and it was quite enjoyable for both giver and receiver (even greater utility). If it were my call, I would consider carefully before taking away something that makes people happy (bad food choices and other unhealthy intakes are an exception to that).
 

vinnie97

#WalkAway
Jul 24, 2014
1,110
392
southwest
Hi everyone. We appreciate and welcome constructive criticism on the new design, interface and functionality. We've worked hard on this and know that there is a lot more still to do. What we have now is a work in progress and we are well aware of, and are working on filling, many of the functionality gaps or potential UI improvements that have been mentioned.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to post here and/or contact us via private message (now called "conversations"). In doing so, please be specific about what you feel could be improved, and detailed in your explanation as to how you think it should be done.

One of the features we have been working on is improving groups functionality. We believe what we have is a substantial improvement over the previous groups module, however there is much still to be done. If you have any questions or suggestions about Groups, please mention @danny and I'll do my best to assist.

We appreciate your patience and input, and look forward to improving the site further.
Just saw this, thanks. I'll remain patient.
 
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jkirkebo

Model S P85+ VIN 14420 EU
Jun 13, 2010
961
12
Fredrikstad, Norway
I always used the "subscribed forums" functionality of the old forum, which shows all the threads from the subscribed forums in one single thread view. How do I do that now, I cannot find a similar function? I haven't time to wade through all the (way too many IMHO) sub-forums one by one to find interesting content. The "watched forums" function only seems to show the forum view and not the thread view?
 

WarpedOne

Supreme Premier
Aug 17, 2006
4,326
6,319
Slovenia, Europe
I'm totally turned off.

Been here since 2006, yes 10 years. And this change is just painful.

Optimized for iPad? Doesn't look like it at all.
I can see half of a post per screen and have to constantly scroll to read anything.
And all this white space...

Guess I will live this forum to new members to enjoy the modern look and I will go hunt the content where the forum is about content and not about the looks.
 

jkirkebo

Model S P85+ VIN 14420 EU
Jun 13, 2010
961
12
Fredrikstad, Norway
Take a look at this new posts view from Endless Sphere forums. This is a truly efficient use of sceen estate. No whitespace and pleasure to navigate.
 

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MacroP

Member
Jan 12, 2013
120
6
West Oz
Sorry this is a big step backwards, even for mobile devices, unless I turn my display/monitor 90 degrees to portrait mode. Now my scroll wheel is doing overtime. So much wasted space now for information. I'm not worried about the 'look' just the layout. I don't understand the upgrade. The old layout was at least efficient and adapted well to different display resolutions. This is terrible - the mods should perhaps run a poll.

Catch you later.

Edit - I've found the 'full width' button at the bottom left. Fills my 27inch monitor better now.
 
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