New forum look?

[Slippers]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else, but I definitely prefer the older look compared to what is now displayed. Any reason for the change?

My main complaints are that it's more difficult to tell the difference between stickies and normal threads, and even the difference between unread and read threads. Part of that is due to the colors chosen for the various types of text.

I'm sorry to be so critical, but this one actually hurts my eyes to look at. The old one was very clean, smooth, and had the right amount of contrast between everything to make it very easy to read. Unfortunately there's no option to use the original style in the display settings, either.

[Army Chief]

Much more going on here than a new look -- the underlying code for the entire forum has been brought two generations forward, along with a host of new features. We'll get an announcement posted, but obviously at this point, we are still working on final functions checks and cleaning up the code.

Will take a look at your specific comments, though the manner in which stickies are marked has not really been changed. Icons have been altered somewhat, but none that affect those particular posts. Returning to the old template (original style) simply isn't possible, since it was designed to work with much older software. We'll be paying close attention to the readability issue.

Read/unread threads are annotated by icon coloration, as before ...

Red = New
Gray - Old

AC

[Quib]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else, but I definitely prefer the older look compared to what is now displayed. Any reason for the change?

My main complaints are that it's more difficult to tell the difference between stickies and normal threads, and even the difference between unread and read threads. Part of that is due to the colors chosen for the various types of text.

I'm sorry to be so critical, but this one actually hurts my eyes to look at. The old one was very clean, smooth, and had the right amount of contrast between everything to make it very easy to read. Unfortunately there's no option to use the original style in the display settings, either.

As with all forums, one gets used to the appearance. Then when a change is made there’s an adjustment period to go through until things begin to feel “at home again”. I too am in this “adjustment phase” after getting so used to the old boards appearance.

Give things some time.

[Slippers]

For me at least, I never did look at the icons. I look at the actual thread title.

I don't have any screenshots of the old version, but part of the issue may be that the "started by so & so" line is the same size font and actually brighter than the thread title, so my eyes are drawn to that instead. I bet if you knock it down a size or two and use a slightly darker color it will make a huge difference in how fast one can peruse the thread titles.

[Army Chief]

Concur.

Will see what we can do about that.

AC

[MoxyDave]

I like the new look, but text is more difficult to read. I can't tell you exactly why but I believe it's a contrast issue. Maybe a lighter background might help?

[John Hwang]

Thank you for all the feedback. We will continue to tweak our design so it's more user friendly. I do agree with a lot of the feedback. We will try to simplify some of the graphics so it's easier on the eyes.

[HeavyDuty]

I'm trying to get used to it, but I have to agree this was a hit against readability.

[rob_s]

I'm having a little trouble getting it sorted as well, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

[UDT]

Thank you for all the feedback. We will continue to tweak our design so it's more user friendly. I do agree with a lot of the feedback. We will try to simplify some of the graphics so it's easier on the eyes.

Thank you. For me with these old eyes it is harder to read than before it all seems to kind of blend in together for me.

[Konrad]

I would appreciate an improved 'search' function, one that would search three letter words or initialisms.
========

I have reading glasses, but for reading on screen information I frequently use [on Mac's] the "command" key with the "+" to increase the letter size, and "Universal Access" to switch display colors.


For longer articles I use this

http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/

on all three browers I operate. It is free and easy to use, their main page gives an example.


Konrad.

[Slippers]

I would appreciate an improved 'search' function, one that would search three letter words or initialisms.

I recommend using google for this. In the search field put the terms you want to find, followed by site:http://www.weaponevolution.com. Google works better than any search functionality built into forums if you're searching for terms and don't need to narrow it down to a specific user name or section.

[Army Chief]

One of the inevitable problems with fielding new software is that we're forced to update our style templates, etc., and most of our efforts in the test phase were admittedly geared toward pure functionality. Concerns over color schemes, text sizes and usability were not forgotten by any means, but it would be fair to say that they were of decidedly secondary importance to getting the coding right. Now that we've re-launched, of course, we're able to see what works well and what doesn't work quite so well.

Depending upon what machine/browser combination I use, the new configuration ranges from fair to very good on the visibility scale. Granted, I've had a few weeks to grow accustomed to the modified layout, but all in all, the status quo isn't bad -- it just isn't the simple and straightfoward interface that we've employed in the past. Drilling into the style settings is a slow and often aggravating process, so it might take some time to find the right balance, but we'll stay engaged on this.

AC

[John Hwang]

The background color was changed to black to bring out the contrast with the letters to help readability. We'll continue to listen and make tweaks until we come to a resting place. Thanks again for the feedback....keep em coming.

[UDT]

The background color was changed to black to bring out the contrast with the letters to help readability. We'll continue to listen and make tweaks until we come to a resting place. Thanks again for the feedback....keep em coming.

Thanks, much better IMO.