Okay now the forum layout is a lot closer to completion. Note the Hide User Details and Hide Signature Area will condense the view down to something so light even Network54 lovers would be pleased.

I have a few more tweaks to do on moderator, staff, and vendor indicators. Oh and I will add a line in the profile area for "Modeling Since: YEAR".

Thanks,
Jim

PS: I removed that over topic that is pretty out of synch with what is going on now. I will rename the universal style sheet a bit so you shouldn't have to re-fresh your cache to see all the new changes.

So now it is hard to read long sentences have to scroll sideways to read.

Sorry only have a 19" screen

Edit

I guess it might of resized itself Jim.

It's been a couple of days and I'm now starting to get used to the new layout. Much like other changes, a little time passes and all's well.

Prior to this specific revision, like Jeff said, it was a pain to scroll to the right to read the posts. I'm not seeing this now which is good. I assume you've locked the left and right limits of the tables(?).

Regarding the "Hide User Details," I gave that a try...eh....may be my settings, but the "staff_jim says" or "sgtreef says" is so light, that it's very difficult (for me at least) to see. Maybe the font color should be darkened a bit....

Color looks better too.

Mike

Color now is better, after seeing pink for a while. Agree with Mike -- the "xxxx says" font color may need to be of darker shade. Tat

Overall I like it, especially that small translucent line "callsign says" thing. Nice work!

One small nitpick Jim, you may wanna distinguish the sig area vs the posted message a bit more than just the "reply and reply with quote button", because at some point, I though the sig was part of the posted message. Maybe a border line of some sort or a transition in color?

Just my 2 cents.

While everybody seems to love the new "username says" watermark, I still say ditch it.
If there's a message by "username X", isn't it obvious that he's saying it?
But if it's going to stay anyway, please make it at least smaller, and also make callsigns starting with a capital letter do so in the watermark too.
Just my 0.02€

I like it! Looks really cool

I like the modifications so far from the initial posting.

I second the motion to ditch the watermark. It is distracting from the message text I think.

I know who is "saying" the message because their name is right in front of me in bold black letters.

I was a little dubious at first but now there is some colour it is growing on me. my comments so far are:

1. Different colour schemes for each area of the network currently its all the olive drab and beige colours.
2. there needs to be a small gap between the user national flag and there "stats" as they currently almost merge together.
3. same as above for the rank and any of the other logos (e.g. Bulldogs, a-guard, etc.)
4. Same as above for the "M" ribbon that's next to some of the call signs
5. The call sign says bit could probably be a smaller font size as I think it can be a little distracting.
6. Is there really a need for the reply and reply with quote buttons twice? Personally I would say ditch the ones near the sig (don't know about everyone else but the buttons there have some pretty funky out of alignment thing going on, on the PC's I use)

That's all I can think of / suggest at the moment. I don't know if there's anything in the pipe line but I would also like to see these in the not too distant future.

1. The new posts in the forums being linked to the users log on rather than cookies, as (like many others) I read the forums from 3 different PC's and can end up reading the same post several times as I have already read it on another PC (as I my old age of 31 I have a short memory )
2. Maybe the introduction of some more rank choices? I personally would like to see the British Royal Air Force and Royal Navy (both officer and enlisted) I can provide images if needed as I generated some for when I teach rank structure to the Air Cadets at my local squadron.
3.Maybe have a preview post button so you can review and amend your post before posting it this will save on editing the post several times when you have spotted a mistake.

Jeff,
It sounds like you have your screen resolution set to 800 x 600 pixels. Or if you have say the "favorites" side menu open in IE this would also reduce your screen resolution down below a safe viewing level. Either way if you are having this issue on this setup you must have been experiencing something similar with the old layout as an English-set browser always displays info from right to left. So there would have been stuff missing on the right and you would have had to scroll to see that before.

For those curious about what everyone else is using for screen resolution here is the averages for the past month.

1. 1024x768 103,614 47.10%
2. 1280x1024 47,897 21.77%
3. 1280x800 14,606 6.64%
4. 800x600 13,438 6.11%
5. 1152x864 9,041 4.11%
6. 1440x900 6,895 3.13%
7. 1680x1050 6,574 2.99%
8. 1600x1200 3,234 1.47%
9. 1280x960 3,151 1.43%
10. 1400x1050 2,196 1.00%

Mine is 1280 x 1024 and I have a 19" screen size.

Jim

I am still trying to get used to the new layout...will need some time

Found it akward at first but its growing on me. I am sure we all will get used to it.

I have to say that I like this layout. Except for the red x

Jim,

LOVING the "new" call sign font and "loss" of "he who says:".

Any idea's yet how your going to do the Mod "ribbon?"

Regardless....gotten used to it already and like it.

Ralph's idea of an Horizontal Rule between the post and siggy block is a good one. Not sure of the code involved , but may well be worth looking into...it'd be a nice delimination between the two.

All and all....lookin' good!

Mike

p.s. Wonder how many noticed the "Officer" rank is horizontal versus the "Enlisted" rank which is normal (vertical) AND why? Those that have served will know........

Jim,

I think you have a winner. I really like the way it is looking right now.

I sure wish more people were providing feedback to you. You would think the users would want to step up and help "influence" their environment. I really thought this would have more than one page of responses by now.

Whoa, I go out of town for a couple of days and come back to see the very cool new look. Nice work Jim.

Thanks for the additional feedback guys. It was helpful.

I added another feature today that will come in handy I think. If someone inserts an image in the forums, that image will have an absolute maximum display size of 850 pixels. No larger. So that should do away with the terrible scrolling topics.

Thanks,
Jim

Don't forget most user only "hang out" in other areas of the network (Aeroscale, HF, MG, Bulldogs, Etc) and this thread is located in Armorama only. I certainly didn't know to come here to find info on any forum changes until someone elsewhere on the network suggested it

P.S. Like the changes so far Jim, can't wait to see what you pull of the the hat next.

kudos to jim and everyone who worked on the new lay-out! this site just gets better and better and you guys should know we really do appreciate the effort to keep things fresh.

i'm still a bit disoriented with the changes and the sudden "explosion" of colors can be a bit distracting. but i'm sure that's nothing a few more days won't fix.

Hell staff_jim! I had just one question. Perhaps I had overlooked it, but I can't find the "edit" button anywhere near my post?

Edit: I saw it here in my post, but checking my previous posts, like this one https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/102947#850618 and this one: https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/103279#853435 and lastly: https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/102015#842795

There's no edit button.

Ralph,
For users there is a window of opportunity to edit their original post. I forget the exact time period but it's somewhere around 24-48 hours. Once the post is older than that you will not see an edit button.

This has been the case for many months now.

Thanks,
Jim

Noticed it Mike, and whilst I first thought it was a temporary glitch, I too soon realised the thinking behind it.

Cheers
Henk

Copy that sir. Never thought it was implemented in the past. My fault.

I like the new look Jim. It took a few days to get used to, but I'm okay now and it looks great.



Bob

I agree, I really like the new layout and everything is easy to use.