New Site Design v4.0

Jeremy · 05-05-2006, 11:12 PM

OK, you have all probably noticed that things haven't been updated as much the past couple of days, here is why. I have worked hard on getting a design that I think will please the majority of the users.

Everybody has stated that they like the community feel that we currently have, or they want it to look more professional. After three complete design trials, I think I have found something that will please the majority of tastes. Please let me know what you think of the newest design.

You can login to the new design with username 'demo' and password 'demo'. Please take some time to test things out but don't add or modify things to make it easier for me when we do migrate over, if we do.

Overview of some features:
Improved - More functional layout
Improved - In-depth forum system
Improved - Calendar w/ reminders
Improved - Shoutbox w/ chat feature
Improved - Private Messaging
New - Buddy lists
New - Should work on all browsers (if I've done a good enough job coding)
New - Standards compliant
New - Each section can be 'hidden' by clicking on the down arrow in the heading. Cookies will store your preferences and keep everything the way you had it when you visit the next time.
New - Detailed profile system for user preferences, images, and details.

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/smf/index.php

clone33 · 05-05-2006, 11:34 PM

i love the color scheme. it really pops out a you more than anyother design and kinda gives that sports feel. And it seems to be a little more organized and user-friendly. Great job Jeremy.

mpolley · 05-05-2006, 11:37 PM

Great job!!!! This new design is super!! !amazed

CrossCyed · 05-06-2006, 12:14 AM

Is there any way relative dates could be used on the forums? On our IPB board, it's an option.....makes it a lot easier to notice recent posts.

dbronco7sc · 05-06-2006, 01:16 AM

OK... I'm gonna be kinda difficult and picky... but that's what you get for asking for our opinion... I like everything about the new site... except I kinda dislike the look a little. I love the look of the forum better than any other one so far... and I love the features of the new site more... but I'm not a fan of the front page nearly as much. I thought the main page for version 3 was spectacular... but everything else about the version 4 I think I kinda like better. I guess the big reason is there are so many things on the front... and with the new version they all seem to run together a little to much... where as the previous versions... especially version 3 you can really tell that "here" is the shout box, "here" is the user section... but the overall functionality and features of the new site... as well as the layout of the posts in the forum are all very nice on the new site.

Rapplegt · 05-06-2006, 09:25 AM

Very nice! I especially appreciate the addition of the Women's Basketball Forum. Thank you.

Nedrick · 05-06-2006, 09:31 AM

Jeremy - this one is your best yet. I agree with the other positive comments that this new format seems more dynamic and bold and the tabs at the top appear to help with ease of use. This one's a keeper!

Jeremy · 05-06-2006, 11:55 AM

Thanks for the overly positive response. I think it incorporates mostly what everybody was wanting.

Everybody can go ahead and post test threads and things with the demo account to see if there are any additional errors/issues. Don't post anything to the calendar yet though.

dbrocos-
I will see what can be done to help the problem. One thing is that you will be able to hide the certain areas that you don't want by simply clicking on the arrow of that particular section. I will look at what else can be done.

pimp06 · 05-06-2006, 05:43 PM

i think that you should totally go with this one

CYCLNZ · 05-07-2006, 11:25 PM

Did you change something about the way read messages are marked? On most boards the indication that a post was read stayed on that computer. But with your old site it was great, because it didn't matter which computer I logged on to, the read message marks were up to date. The new design doesn't seem to work the same way as the old.

Maybe I've got somethings strange going on. I hope the design hasn't changed as that single features is what brought me to your site first and bring me back more often. I would never sign on to CR unless I was on a particular computer because of this function. That kept me from checking it out at work, or when using my laptop.

CYCLNZ · 05-07-2006, 11:28 PM

Hold the phone. I noticed I was logging in with the wrong login name. I'll get that taken care of and hopefully that will take care of it.

Psyclone · 05-07-2006, 11:32 PM

Yep. That did the trick. I don't know why I logged in with that other username. That was the one I setup when you first started and we were having registration problems.

cstrunk · 05-13-2006, 05:18 PM

I would like to propose two new changes in functionality, if they would be possible.

1. It would be nice if threads that had new posts in them could have their title bold, while old threads with no new posts be regular text. It is much easier to distinguish which threads actually have new information that you haven't seen that way.

2. In many other forums I have been a part of, there was a feature where you could hover over the text of a thread and after a couple of seconds a little message box would appear that included the first few lines of the post. With this feature it makes it easy sometimes to decide whether or not you want to open the thread or not. It's not a huge issue now, as the board isn't that huge yet, but it will be very helpful down the road when there are numerous new threads often.

Other than these suggestions, I think it works quite nicely! Good work Jeremy!

Cloney22 · 05-13-2006, 05:32 PM

I don't have any complaints about the new forman, however, I think it would be cool if we could have like a page that had all the prospects we were recruiting and their interest levels

root4clones · 05-13-2006, 06:39 PM

i agree with clone22 about the prospects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!