SEEKING MEMBER INPUT: ATS.5/3 - give your feedback -- UPDATES May 28, 2013

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


In the words of the great Captain Picard........

"Very good, make it so number 1"

But this............

Except, this left-side menu is rocking responsive HTML5/CSS3 with pre-cached AJAX calls, images defined by CSS3, and fully-compliant List style menus.

Thats like Whooosh.......straight over my head - do you have a "SkepticOverlord Vocabulary for Dummies" you could link me to?

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by coven83
My opinion is dont fix it if it aint broke.

It's broke.

The current ATS is very difficult for mobile devices... and not compliant with modern browsers and current standards.

Love it. But I do actually prefer each topic in the colored squares like it is at present. The colors in the writing of this new format are hard to distinguish and will probably be even harder in mobile devices.

Why not keep it how it is but add in the side menu AND create a ATS App for phones like we've all been wanting for such a long time...?

ETA: Okay just read your past responses as to why you chose not to go down the App route and I agree. But I still like the colored boxes as opposed to just the text or at the least make the colors of the writing less pastel. Overall though well done. Makes me proud to be an ATS member.... So much better than any other forum on so many different levels.

My only complaint with it is the fact that the new page does not have my "myATS" link. Maybe you just have not put it on yet but please don't do what you did with the new home page and put it under the "more" tab. You are adding an extra step for something that is used, at least by me, the most. I live on that page as all the new threads come there in my favorite section. Once I go through those THEN I go on to the other topics if I feel like it. Please make the "myATS" tab easily accessible as it is now not with an extra step.

Niiiiice. Super fast and fancy. Will there be color customization? The current color scheme is a bit bland to read but that wouldn't matter if it were able to be messed with by the user.

Great job, guys.

reply to post by Cuervo


Agreed, I would not mind "blinging" it up a bit either.

Excellent suggestion

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by LightningStrikesHere
but on a side note when are we going to be seeing an APP for smart phones ?

never

However...

The new ATS will run as a web app on your smart phone, and for all practical purposes, look and run like a native app (including direct-to-ATS photo uploads from your device's camera/roll). So there will be no need to give up personal/financial info at someone's APP store to put ATS on your device.

heck ya !!!!!!!! SO you guy you ! thank you

Looks Great !

Can you add forum colors to forum links
Looks nice and speedy.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


As long as i can also find myats, get into my messages and inbox, and tools and search then yes I like it.
Dont forget the login button!

I like the top science & technology section and the other top sections there. It's a good break down ;-p

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by coven83
My opinion is dont fix it if it aint broke.

It's broke.

The current ATS is very difficult for mobile devices... and not compliant with modern browsers and current standards.

I think it's a pretty cool layout.....

And the way every one is using their smart phones, I can see why you would need to up-date the site to be more compatible for mobile devices.

Keep us posted......

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I was wondering, does this left side menu stay in place even when viewing threads, or only on the front page?

I ask because I have my computer hooked up to my TV, and browse the web from my couch. In order to read the text from such a distance I have to have my browser zoomed way in. This already makes it so I cannot even read the whole width of a post without scrolling side to side.

If this side menu is in place inside of threads it's going to be a nightmare to read ATS, there will be a big menu, then the big avatar/name block, then the actual content of the post. I'll probably be able to only read about 1/3d of a post before scrolling over. Which, when you have to scroll left-right-left-down-left-right-etc-etc a thousand times to read a thread gets to be a bit of a hassle.

Is it possible for users to have an option of which set-up to use, or is that a huge problem? I'm not familiar with website coding and all that so I'm not sure if it would be a simple or incredibly difficult thing to do.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I like it actually. its soft on the eyes.That what I really like about it. Not cluttered either. Its built just right.

double thumbs up from me,
easy on the eye,
stylish to boot

xplodr

I like this, but I would like to see the subjects and threads listed (that take up the bulk of the front page) take on icons and titles of their corresponding locations, instead of little hard to read forum subtitles that share the same text color.

To try to explain it better, when you look at the Forums page (by clicking on the Forums tab), It is visually cohesive and well designed, with every forum having reasonable icons and descriptions.

I would like to see these random smatterings of "front page ATS NEWS!" have their corresponding forum icon, with the forum name highlighted somehow.

I like it a lot. Less scrolling, ya! I agree, color choice would be nice, but I still like it either way. Yes to the MYATS button!!

How do I follow a thread without posting a reply?

The sidebar feels like an improvement, however I do have 2 things to add to that.
First, what are the "conspiracies" and "mysterious topics" pages? I get the "science and technology" and "politics", but looking at those two I'm not exactly sure what their purposes are. Perhaps the topics links on the side could be revised a bit? Maybe it could even be made so that each user could customize it to their personal preferences.
Second, it would be very nice to see the pieces of text for each topic on the right enclosed in an individual "box" rather than just having plain text on top of the blank background. I think it would look alot more professional, not that it doesn't already.

Tools and ATS Uploads is an important aspect of ATS for me. I love to upload pics. It took me a long time to get the back arrow and close tabs right so I didn't lose my post to the ether. Keeping that as simple as possible is one of those dirty details...

Other wise, its all good.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord



I really (no really) like this from a UI standpoint. All current research into user interactions with cross-screen information (same site on phones, tablets, desktops) is pointing toward sidebar menu systems, and away from top-of-page menus. Please spend some time playing with the available pages, and let me know if this radical change is something that will benefit our users

yes i think it will benefit others as well as me

thanks

phil ware

It's ok for me. Hard to tell until I use it.

I think you need honesty here.
As far as attracting new visitors to want to stay, the home page could look better. By better I mean the thread titles shouldn't be such large font. Some of the titles on here can be wacky at times and it might send people away. I never thought it needed forum icons. Nor is it needed for the fonts to be different colours for different categories. Instead of that you could make the table cell background colour different shades of Gray.

I like the preview of text being shown for say new topics.

I'm not keen on too many threads being listed on one page like that. Too much too choose from can be brain overload. The left side fixed navigation may as well be longer if the content on right is stretching down that far. It fit better on my tablet before. You have so much more to offer here than the short list of links you provide anyways, new visitors won't know this. Took me years to find all the forums, which I clicked on by accident. I think this is why sometimes people post in wrong forum because they don't know there's a Gray forum or highly speculative etc.

Please while you're doing this make it iOS6 compatible. I can't read messages.

I like that science forum is easy to find now.

The speed is same for me because my connection is fast anyways.

So long as I can easily access the list of new threads, hot threads and currently ongoing threads, I don't mind. I don't use the home page for the site, like ever. I use the Ribbon at the bottom to access "Current Topics", that is the only way I navigate through the site topics, literally, the only way and makes it easy to hop from topic to topic. So long as you keep the ribbon or a "Current Topics" button that has the same effect as the one on the ribbon along the bottom of the page that currently exists, I have no problem with the changes. I like that it's not a hassle to access the current topics page and I hope that easy accessibility does not disappear. My experience on this site would be significantly diminished if this feature disappeared, but I'm only one person, I guess.

Will this feature remain intact? Will the Ribbon along the bottom of the page still be there with the same options? Will the sidebar have an easy access to the current topics page? I love how the current topics page appears as slightly transparent and easy to close out or jump around topics. How will this feature be affected by new changes?

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I didn't read through all 10 pages. This one topic is really the only one I care about. Also, if you come to ATS and are not logged in, a pop up login box that automatically appears would also be very convenient or at the very least, having a "Log In" option in more places than just the top of the pages.