The new forum look

[Romero]

We got a new forum skin some weeks ago, I have tried getting used to it.

The general style is okay I think, but there are two things that bugs me.

1. The header band keeps following when I scroll down, it eats a large amount of pixels. So much space wasted on the page. I do not have the luxury of using 4k resolution on a 60 inch screen, so this is a problem to me. I use a laptop on 1600 x 900. I want the header band (or top bar it's called maybe) to stay on the top, when I'm done on the page I'm reading and want to navigate elsewhere, I can hit the Home key and get to the top of the page instantly. I don't need that thing following me as I scroll down. Some pages that have a fat top bar are auto hiding it when you scroll down, and you get it back if you scroll up a little. But the one we have here don't do that. It keeps eating window space no matter what.

2. Two big arrows in the botom right corner. They are handy perhaps? But they get in the way too, they are big. Maybe I'm stupid and don't see how great they are. Earlier we had an arrow up at the bottom of the page, wasn't that OK? A PC keyboard - even those on laptops - have a HOME and END key, usually beside the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys. Have people forgot how to use the keyboard?

I have tried to use Adblock to hide the up/down keys, but they keep coming back. :lol:
And for the top bar I only need to block the script that makes it follow the page, but I haven't figured out which script that is. Blocking all scripts does more harm than good for my user experience so that's not an option. Using Adblock on the topbar removes it completely and that's not what I want either.

I don't know if @Steve will change some of this, maybe everyone else thinks this is perfect. But some help for a work-around on my end are very welcome.

 

[Springhosen]

The new layout is fine as is; it looks great and navigates quite well on both a computer and a mobile device. I don't think any changes are in order.

 

[Steve]

Hey hey! Logged in after so long and thrilled to see some feedback about the new look! While I was not responsible for the design of the style (the credit must go to the wonderful ThemeHouse team!), I am very much looking forward to further shaping the look and feel of the forum. My main goal was to better distinguish the Resi forum from the DMC one, but in an equally fun and engaging way.

The way I see it - you guys have a lot more experience with the style than I do, so you are all better equipped to suggest alterations.

@Romero In response to your points:

1. Let's give it a try! I myself have witnessed this issue when browsing on my phone, and the navbar can take up a aggregious amount of space.

2. Agreed. They seem pretty pointless. Perhaps they are primarily for touch-device users? I am not very well-versed in that sort of area, to be honest. If I can find the option then I'll disable it/them.

@Magnolia Grandiflora Please let me know if you prefer the sticky header approach I may be able to install a second style that maintains the same look and feel but with a more 'vanilla' experience (i.e. all default features enabled or something)

Also: I genuinely, genuinely welcome all feedback. It really is a huge motivator for me to really muck in.

 

[Springhosen]

@Steve I don't think it's necessary for the mobile version but, in that same vein, I have no problem with it for the desktop version either. (I guess I'm just not picky, lol.)

I'm sorry I'm not very helpful.

 

[Romero]

Thanks for the feedback on my feedback.

I did completely not think about the mobile aspect of it, the touch screen users. I don't have any experience with that so I don't know what they need to navigate easily.

Is more than one skin an option? I'm just throwing this out as an idea - maybe mobile users can use one skin with the extra buttons they need/want, and PC users another skin more suitable for mouse and keyboard?
Maybe we aren't technically talking about skins now, because we are talking about buttons and features rather than colors and looks.

Bus as for the looks: Many forums have a couple of skins users can choose, some forums have many skins, like one skin for every game in a series, letting users use the skin that features their favorite game. I can imagine it takes much work and I don't suggest having one skin for every RE game (lol), but if any of the previous skins can still be used, maybe they could be made available for anyone who loves them?
I have of course no idea about the technical bit, maybe it won't work well or it's too much work to implement it.


I don't know what I prefer, the new skin or one of the older ones. I like how text in this new text editor is much easier on the eyes, I can without problems read what I'm typing. The new look is better in some ways, but I don't think it is prettier. It's been a while so I don't remember the previous look in detail, but I do remember the previous main forum page as being prettier. But the forum threads looks pretty on the new skin IMO.


Edit
Thanks Steve for keeping the top bar at the top, I love it. (It's not a top bar if it keeps floating away from the top. :razz: )

The big buttons in the bottom right corner becomes invisible if I scroll the page up one line, but from a PC perspective they don't seem to have any use. Maybe touch users needs them though. I can live with them, but I wish I could get Adblock to hide them (the same way as I blocked all traces of Facebook haha).

 

[Jonipoon]

I like it, although I have a question: Why is the RE3: Nemesis forum the only forum section that has an one-liner?

I'm thinking about this one:
"Glamorising the "hooker-look" since 1999. Jill's still got it."

Shouldn't there be like.... at least some other one-liners for other forum sections? Like, maybe this one for RE1: "The one that started it all..." or this one for RE2: "A rookie cop and a college student meet in the middle of a zombie apocalypse."

 

[Jen]

2. Two big arrows in the botom right corner. They are handy perhaps? But they get in the way too, they are big. Maybe I'm stupid and don't see how great they are. Earlier we had an arrow up at the bottom of the page, wasn't that OK? A PC keyboard - even those on laptops - have a HOME and END key, usually beside the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys. Have people forgot how to use the keyboard?

For me, the arrow keys work well on my mobile. With the menus being more towards the top of the screen, I think it's handy to have those there for a quick way to get back to a menu, and I don't think they're too obtrusive.

I'm probably in a minority here but I'm not a huge fan of the rectangles being so big as you're scrolling down different sections on the front page of the forum (this is, again, on mobile). I get that it's to accommodate pictures and I can live with it, but I just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Smedident Evil]

It looks great! :smile: