Site Feedback Aesthetics

[jakoz]

Hi folks,

I'd like to discuss the aesthetics of the site.

It looks far too bloated. The entire screen for every page I've visited is just taken up with crap from the logo, forum ads and headers. How are people meant to get into it when they can't see anything on any page without scrolling down?

I'm happy to cut it down. Give me a logon and I'll cut it back.

 

[jakoz]

Actually, this thread is a good example. I can't even see my message without scrolling down. WTF?

Cut the shit from the top. Make things easy to see and read. I'm happy to do it myself if you give me access.

 

[tambourine-man]

I agree to some extent, but we work with what we have.

Some of the graphical bulk was recently removed (although I'm not particularly a fan of the skin), but the forum notices are somewhat unsightly.

However, the forum mods run their sections, and we are led by their (and their regular members) needs. If that community wants a header/notice, then they have it.

Removing them is not done at the whim of the Admin.

Cheers,
TM

 

[jakoz]

There's a lot that can be done at the whim of the admins though.

Going from the top, the bluelight logo is freaking massive. Below that, the blue line does nothing except take up space and we should ditch it.

Below that, the home/forum/blogs section is cool.

Below that, the new posts bit is cool.

Going down, the thread bit is cool but wastes space above and below.

After that is the abomination. Does everyone need to see "Please note - there is a new thread in the..." to an extent that it takes up their entire screen for every page in this forum? The same goes for every forum here.

This interface is needs trimming. I'm volunteering to improve it.

 

[jakoz]

And seriously, from a UI perspective, can you imagine anything less inviting to a new user than having to scroll down to read the actual content?

 

[tambourine-man]

Thanks for the kind offer. Some of what you mention is on a list of things to tweak - particularly the blue bar at the top of the page.

We have an upgrade coming and, frankly, much of these minor issues will be looked at after that occurs.

Not sure what you refer to when you say: "Please note - there is a new thread in the...", however.

 

[jakoz]

Not sure what you refer to when you say: "Please note - there is a new thread in the...", however.

That's the quote from the forum header of this page (scroll up). That's the section of every page that's the (excuse my crudeness) lump of shit that's taking up half of ever screen.

The headers dont need to be there on every thread. Simple solution: just show them on forum listings, not in threads. Seriously, this is making everyone scroll down an entire page on every page. Horrible useability.

BTW, the offer was serious. I'll fix it in a few mins.

 

[tambourine-man]

Ah, I'm with you.

What you're seeing is a dismissable notice that points all members to a thread where recruitment drives are listed.

It only appear once per user (except in the case of a cookie flush, maybe). Click the red X (top-right) and it'll disappear.

The only reason you're seeing it is because you hadn't logged in for about a year.

We'll take a look at the header and forum notices in due course.

Cheers,
TM

 

[Lysis]

While I agree that scrolling down to see content is annoying, I don't agree that the aesthetics of the logo and blue bar are horrible. This is no different than about a million other sites, and it doesn't interfere with any usability. The logo is actually small in comparison to a lot of other sites. This forum has more at the top than the others, and I dunno if something is up there due to my mod status, but that is the only thing that makes you scroll down.

Are you new to coming back to the site? I didn't like the new skin at first, but no one fully likes change of a site they've navigated for years. I got used to it and it's not so bad anymore.

The navigation tabs at the top are useful as well.

 

[tricomb]

I really like the aesthetics, and as tambourine-man mentioned, as long as you don't clear your cookies upon exiting your browser, the bulkiest messages are dismissed.

I also find the navigation tabs very handy.

 

[jakoz]

OK then...

1) Log into (for example) the Aus Social forum: http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/forums/39-Australian-Social-amp-Events

2) Make sure that "X" is clicked (that I would have never known about if not for this thread)

3) Tell me if you can see anything on a laptop (edit: as in any content, not a header)


Seriously, there is a huge amount of bloat on this forum. Can't you see it? A good forum should be minimalistic. I appreciate the admins' coolness from a certain perspective, but we should make this forum useable and readable for new users (and the rest of them...)

I'm pushing to make this site accessible for new users. How are they meant to know to click an "x"? I never saw it. True that I hadn't been around for a while, but being familiar with a site shouldn't be a requirement to use it properly (and even then my forum still takes up a screen after clicking the "x").

Do you have a dev environment? CSS isn't my forte, but I've worked as a dev for the last 10 years. Give me a day and let me cut it back. Even better is to change the vB theme to a more minimalistic one.

-=j=-

 

[Tommyboy]

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate and welcome constructive feedback for the site, which is why we have the 'site feedback' prefix that I edited into this thread.

As the administrators have pointed out, many of the suggestions that you made have been discussed, and they will be addressed in a timely manner. We aren't going to change something right away because one person thinks the site would benefit from said change. There is a formal process which takes some time. Not everybody will agree with what changes should or should not be made, which is why the changes can take some time.

Seriously, there is a huge amount of bloat on this forum. Can't you see it?

This was answered in the thread already.

Some of what you mention is on a list of things to tweak - particularly the blue bar at the top of the page.

We have an upgrade coming and, frankly, much of these minor issues will be looked at after that occurs.

I'm pushing to make this site accessible for new users. How are they meant to know to click an "x"? I never saw it. True that I hadn't been around for a while, but being familiar with a site shouldn't be a requirement to use it properly (and even then my forum still takes up a screen after clicking the "x").

I find this site to be accessible. I thought that it was pretty obvious that you could click on the "X" to have the banner closed, but if we decide that it's not obvious to most people, then we will discuss adding a thread to the Announcements forum to let people know they can X it out.

As for having to scroll down to see posts, I don't think that is much of an issue, and you don't have to scroll down to see the first posts once you figure out how to navigate the site better. On any of the threads you can click on the 'view first unread' icon, and it will bring you right to the post.

Do I find the site a bit bulky? Yes, but not enough for me to think that members can't get what they need out of the site. If somebody is coming here to get some urgent harm reduction information, the site being bulky is going to be the last thing on their mind.

One of the ways that you can cut back on the bulk is to 'collapse' a subforum. After you click on the forum tab on the top left of the page, if there is any subforum that you don't want to see on that page, you can click on the triangle on the top right of that subforum. By clicking on that triange it will collapse the subforum so that all of the subforums in that section will no longer take up space when you are in forum view. This can easily be reversed by clicking the triangle again, it's just upside down that way.

 

[jakoz]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Tommyboy.

Yep, you can't just eradicate sections without consulting mods without a riot and rightfully so.

What you can do however is redeuce the padding in everything. Have a look at the forum link I posted in my last post and have a look at the content vs the empty space between elements. Picture it with minimal empty space between elements and you could fit half a page of actual forum in without changing the layout.

Have a look at the CSS sheet and look at removing margins and padding. The layout will still be the same but it will become more information dense. For an example, reply to this and look at the box you're typing in. The padding is the bit that makes the reply box sit indented from the outer blue and white borders. That's the element that should be cut down first... then you could look at other things to cut down.