Redesign on ATS - Share your thoughts

I see the SO has been quite busy and currently testing his redesign of the ATS boards.

What do you like dislike about the new colors and functions?




I kind of like the way the threads are now easier to see. I think some pages are too bright like to the reply page and the view thread page.

Maybe a darker gray and lighter gray in response area instead of white.

The site looks great! The one thing I would like to see tho is a listing under the individual boards (like say aliens & ufo`s ect.) similar to the way posts are listed in recent posts. As it is you can see the top four posts or so in giant letter headlines and thats about it. This looks good , but is not very functional. I would like to know what others think about this , I know its a big change . __Bluemooone2

[edit on 26-10-2008 by bluemooone2]

I like the new design. It's pretty slick.

I thought the design was cool when i first got here, about a year and a half ago, but now when I come across the old design(s), I think, 'Wow, we sure have come a long way.'

Props to the three amigos and other ATS members for help making ATS what it is.

As an entry level graphic designer (with a little bit of experience on the matter) I will give my input on the interface / web site design of ATS.

Firstly, I think the 800 X 600 area layout design needs to be done away with completely. I recently attempted to convince someone of this just the other day. Wide screen computer monitors are the standard these days and that trend will only continue. The 800 X 600 format was the standard when 15 inch square monitors was the mid range monitor format for new computers. Many web sites contend that the 800 X 600 standard is still used by many people with 17 inch square monitors, but lets get with the times fellas. Do you want to be innovative, or obsolete?

But there is another reason why switching to a wide screen format web design makes a lot of sense for this web site traffic. Right now, your web site is 800 X 600, but some of that space on the right is being used by advertizing, so, your actual workable space is smaller than that. It is obviously constraining your design because you have way too much scrollable space on your pages that are not forum posts. Your Board home page scrolls for like 5 pages of forum categories. I think that you will find that for convenience sake most users of the forum use the hot buttons on the top of the toolbar for the site. Meaning that they use the recent posts button much more often then they do the actual gate way buttons for the forums that they want to get too. It is far too easy to use other navigator buttons to get to where your going verses scrolling down for five pages to search for a particular forum home page. IE clicking recent posts and then clicking the religion forum button from someone else’s recent post instead of searching for the forum home page button from the scrolling down the board home page. If your web format were more wide screen you would have much more space to categorize and differentiate your many starting points from your home page.

As well, I think your home page is completely wrong.

Firstly, you have placed 4 recent hot topics in text format in the center part of the page. However, is it really why people come to the home page of your site? These posts should be on the board home page of your site and they should be reduced in size a lot. There is very little reason to increase the size of readable text on the web greater then 10 point unless it is a headline. But with 4 headlines in a square pattern like they are listed they all compete for the same hierarchy of information slot. Instead of being informative, it is tiring on the mind because their proximity is too close together, and because they are all the same color then they are all of the same importance to the mind. So, the reader feels compelled to sort the information before absorbing it.

But most importantly, people do not come to the home page of your web site to find this information. People do not visit the Above Top Secret home page to hind out what are the “hot topics.” This information changes far too quickly with the kind of traffic that you are getting. Instead, people come to the homepage of your site to find our what Above Top secret is all about, not what is the latest forum post with high traffic at any given time. Basically, the information on your home page does not follow the logic of your site traffic. People do not go to your home page to find out what’s hot. They go to your home page to find out “What is ATS?” When people go to a forum, they usually go there with a purpose and intent. That intent is usually very specific for each person, IE aliens for one guy, government for the next guy, and religion for the third. Showing these people the latest hot topics on your home page conveys information that most people are not looking for at all, let alone looking for on your home page. By all accounts, the Board home page should be the home page for the site, and the board home page might want to be the place that conveys what topic is hot or not. From a marketing stand point, it is a chore to navigate your site in order to find out about ATS itself. Your home page should be all about ATS as a company and a web presence, not about what particular topics are “Hot” at any given time. This is precisely why you guys get so many requests from new forum members about, “What are the rules?” “Where do I go for this or that” “How do I do a certain thing in my posts?” People have to ask these questions because the home page of your site does not convey hardly any clear pathways to this basic information. And sadly, because of ingrained mental training, we, as web viewers, instinctively look for this information and expect it to be presented in a clear manner on your home page.

Well this is enough for now, if you want more let me know.

One more thing that I wanted to say was “Flash.”

I think your entire site needs to be redone in flash or another interactive button switching method of interface design. Basically a list of large icon buttons with text on the left hand side of the page in wide screen format and when someone hits the button then only a section of the page changes. I can make a preliminary of what I am talking about if you want.

Basically you have a lot of engaging information on your site and I think its time you went a little more flashy and graphically oriented. A much better interface and hierarchy of information is needed that is for sure and I think that flash and graphically switching groups of information at a time will present a more cohesive web presence for the site.

reply to post by TH3ON3


Would ideally prefer:

1. a QUICK EASY way to see any replies to any of our posts.
2. each post have a quickly easily identifiable and clickable number.
3. SEVERAL Color background and font color options.
4. page where all my posts were easily, quickly retrievable by a clickable button on available every page.
5. page where all replies to my posts were quickly retrievable by a clickable button available on every page.

THANKS FOR ALL THE HARD WORK TOWARD IMPROVMENT.

Definitely do NOT change to a wider page layout/screen!!

Yes, new computers have a wide screen but not everyone is going to rush out and buy one just for that. Lots of us are still going to be using our old ones until they conk out or something - and that's going to take awhile yet.

The newer computer/monitors still show this format easily, whereas, one has to constantly toggle back and forth with the right/left arrows to see all thats on a page that is too wide to be displayed -- very annoying that is.
Just my thoughts.
Otherwise my only comment would be that I thought it was better before when you clicked on a new thread you were taken to the beginning of it; now you're taken directly to the end. I still want to see what the original poster had to say before reading the rest.
cheers, nice work all around

If its not broken, don't fix it.

The basic design has been apart of ATS since I first joined and any movement to change it shall result in the ringleader being abducted to my secret liar inside a Volcano.

reply to post by infinite


I agree, I haven't been here at ATS too long but I get the feeling that it is the way this website is designed that makes it so addictive. No FLASH, please!

Sure, for newer members they will find it difficult to learn and get around. But I guess that's just one way of cutting the rifraf off of ATS...just kidding

Although, I wouldn't mind a few small changes.. like increased ATS points for every post , more background colors and customizations and these are just off the top of my head.

I could give more suggestions, but I know that the mods and admins probably won't make it to this part of my post

I love the homepage format good work SO!

Thats my two cents.

But one thing that really bugs me is those stupid scroll over ads once those are taken care of ATS will be 100% perfection in my book.

Well after trying to get use to the new layout on ATS I have to say I don't like the new background colors. It seems to be much harsher on the eyes than the previous colors. And where are our voting links??? I still think you need to allow members to be able to either vote up threads and replies or vote down.

Too many newbies are jumping on and interjecting their "expert" opionions against threads, especially the UFO threads. What is to keep goverment paid disinfo agents from drowning out and buyring the best threads and replies?

Again, the cream should be allowed to rise to the top instead of sinking to the bottom.

Couple of things already pointed out:

1) 800x600? Time to move forward and use more page space
2) Individual post numbers. It's a real PITA scrolling and looking for a specific post. Almost every other board I read has this feature.

Keep up the good work guys!

I do some of my ATS surfing on the bus using my Blackberry. The changes suck. Sorry, but honesty is a virtue.

I do not particularly enjoy the lighter gray.
The darker gray was easier on the eyes and easier to pick up contrasting colors.

When I have posts on various threads, I can go to myATS, and this is good. However. Then I have to try and find my post, to start there and see if any responses. myATS should take us directly to our last post.

Originally posted by TH3ON3
I see the SO has been quite busy and currently testing his redesign of the ATS boards.

There has been no redesign activity in the board section yet. We will be applying aspects of the new design to everything abovetopsecret.com/forum somewhat soon... but it has not yet begun.

Originally posted by Hot_Wings
Firstly, I think the 800 X 600 area layout design needs to be done away with completely.

The site is designed for 1024 wide... not 800 wide... not sure where you got that.

People do not visit the Above Top Secret home page to hind out what are the “hot topics.”

There are thousands of reasons people come to ATS... among them is to see what our members believe are important or popular topics. The site home readjusts every 30 minutes to display what our members are discussing. Since the most-recent redesign, new visitors hitting the home page spend more time with more pages than they did with the previous layout -- exactly the type of thing that demonstrates a properly functional page.

I think your entire site needs to be redone in flash or another interactive button switching method of interface design.

No Flash. As any web technologist/designer will tell you, Flash interfaces, menu systems, and content are barriers to effective and efficient search engine optimization.

Originally posted by BO XIAN
a QUICK EASY way to see any replies to any of our posts.

Most of what you're looking for is on the MyATS page.

Originally posted by surfinguru
Individual post numbers. It's a real PITA scrolling and looking for a specific post. Almost every other board I read has this feature

Every post has a "single post" and "this post" link.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
I do some of my ATS surfing on the bus using my Blackberry.

Use the mobile version: m.abovetopsecret.com

What I meant by redesign is the background colors. Seems a bit harsher for some reason than the other background colors. They have changed a bit haven't they? Unless I have been taken into an alternate universe and nothings changed except my perception of the colors.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
I do some of my ATS surfing on the bus using my Blackberry.

Use the mobile version: m.abovetopsecret.com

Oh that is nice! I humbly redact my earlier complaint. Is there anything you haven't thought of?

I'd like to see page numbers added to the bottom of the recent posts page.

reply to post by TH3ON3

NO they have not. You get new glasses maybe?

Springer...