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

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


well i think it looks great , so green light off me

Looks good, change, but not too much change. The focus on phones/tablets is a good idea as I like to browse on the train.

The only suggestion I can make is try to move away from flash adverts, if possible, as they tend to cripple slower computers and laptops.

EDIT: For the record, I am not suggesting losing advertising, I know the site relies upon it. I'm suggesting using a less resource hungry format, if such a thing exists.

Don't like it personally but then i don't massively embrace change so it is probably worth ignoring my views on this!

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


it would be nice to be able to see all the replies to ones comments on a post without having to scan the entire list
can we please have an extra click on that would show this on the ribbon

Overall it's a good step forward. Responsive layout is nice and logical, I like that and it's the wave of the future! The animated transitions aren't necessary IMO...not that they hurt the layout.

The header logo is very understated ... it doesn't "pop", but maybe that's what you're going for ... and it doesn't display at narrower view port sizes at all.

Are you still working on the top navigation? The wrapping of menu buttons needs some work.

The left/right margins are a bit too tight for my liking.

Also - speaking as a front end developer - as long as you're touching your templates it's a perfect time to add more semantic elements to your markup. Take full advantage of HTML5 and CSS3 to future proof the site and make it (more) accessible. Have you checked the color contrast to see if it passes W3C/WAI standards for the visually impaired? Some foreground/background color combos look a bit close.

Just my 2 cents

Looks groovy enough.

Originally posted by rigel4
reply to post by SkepticOverlord

 

keep up the good work.

Edit: It's actually the lighter background that i am not sure about, and the font colours might want to slightly brighter, i think it would give better definition.

edit on 12-9-2012 by rigel4 because: (no reason given)

I would have to agree with this ... the idea is sound but the definition of colour should more 'standy-outy'

Look forward to the end result ... and thanks for the updates ... you spoil us

Woody

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


The design (image wise) looks fantastic. But I feel like the text contents are a bit hard to follow. Maybe make them a little smaller, add some images (if available) that pertain to the thread and where it's located.

I viewed the page on both my MacBook Pro 13.3 inch and my iMac 27 inch. On the iMac it was a little easier to follow due to the resolution, yet I still felt it was "jumbled". No place for the eye to really go. It needs to be tied together a little bit more, maybe make some graphical image breaks so the eye has a line to follow when looking over the page.

My 0.2

I'm a little confused by the way the topics are scattered across the tentative new homepage. Wouldn't it be easier to have a grid of boxes, each designated with a clearly visible topic, and each box featuring the top 5 or 10 most recent/active threads?

In my humble opinion, that would make it easier to home in on the topics that interest you most, select whatever title catches your attention, and browse from there. That's all I have for now.

I am fairly sure I will be buried in this thread here....but here goes:

if the basic template of what you linked is to remain, it is an improvement. I do very, very poor with light colors, due to some photosensitivity. Should the design get too bright I would have to use a firefox app to override webdesign in lieu of darker colors (like greasemonkey or something).

Some functionality changes would be nice. For example, a MyATS link to responses to your posts (maybe in a bar on the right side that would be similar to "Subscribed Threads").

What is up with the friend/foe feature? To use it requires knowing where to find it. And it would be nice to know which post initiated being "foe'd" by someone.

For the most part, I appreciate your take on web and forum design. I liked it in 2005, i liked ATS 2010 (that was more like 2012 when the dust settled), and i like the cosmetics of the webpage you linked to. Just keep the colors on the darker side of the spectrum so that I don't have to use experience altering scripting in my browser.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Less is truly more. Slick, SO. Quite slick.

Question: As I click back and forth from this thread to the new site link you've provided, I'm seeing the new site's topics rearranging themselves. Is this in response to thread activity increasing and decreasing, or is it employing the new technology you've pitched on unpartial?

I like the dark background. It makes it easy to scroll through ats without disturbing my partners sleep.

I also like the current boxes round topics...t makes it easier to differentiate. Don't get rid f that.

Sometimes I get a star/stars and I would like to know which post are getting them. Not that I'm a star junkie and I don't care who they are from, but I would like to know when I've posted something agreeable.

If you liked the prototype home page, you're probably going to love this:
ATS.5/3 Recent Posts

Much more simple, four tabs, no pagination.

What? No pagination? Scroll to the bottom to see why.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
If you liked the prototype home page, you're probably going to love this:
ATS.5/3 Recent Posts

Much more simple, four tabs, no pagination.

What? No pagination? Scroll to the bottom to see why.

Excellent! and ive learnt a new word, pagination!

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I don't mean to be negative and I never use that page anymore, for years, though I think it is visually much more effective and appealing as it is now. I think the dull faded text blending into background and big type format is too draining to look at and doesn't visually stimulate.

Bright text, defined areas are enticing to look at and give the impression of a cleaner, neater more organised effect and easier to scan for anything interesting.

Essentially, most of us on ATS scan more than anything for things that interest us, a bit like a sweet shop, so the visual matters.

If all the sweets were just faded muddy tones they might not be as appealing.

ETA I know the design is for integration to technology but plenty of sites use bright visually appealing colours and it would be nice to keep the sleeker, eye friendly design.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
If you liked the prototype home page, you're probably going to love this:
ATS.5/3 Recent Posts

Much more simple, four tabs, no pagination.

What? No pagination? Scroll to the bottom to see why.

Wow - that's really cool. I got confused for a second, but once I figured out what was happening... I LOVE IT!

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Do you mean that I'll no longer have to get lost in pages trying to find a thread ?

Do have a question though. Why are some of the threads highlighted with a different color and bigger font?

I really like this new redesign so far !!!!

reply to post by SonoftheSun


Threads with a high number of flags, replies, or replies in the previous four hours get highlighted.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Great !! Thank you for taking the time to answer. And for asking feedback. Really like it so far !!