Forum Updates - Suggestions

[Forest 309]

Title is self-explanatory. I'm using this thread to convey any suggestions or opinions on the new theme(s) for Xeno Gamers' rebooted forums.

 

This is not to be mistaken for the Bug Reports thread in which you report any bugs/issues you may come across during the usage of the forums. For any information regarding that, please keep it in the following thread: Forum Updates - REPORT GLITCHES HERE

 

This post only applies to the new Dark theme (V9).

 

[spoiler=Tan/Sand Colour Schemes]

[spoiler=Tan/Sand Colour Schemes]

User "Name Box"

Image: Gyazo - dd8c038d7ee6eb892762e5bb660f998e.png

This was the first thing I noticed on the new page; the large box surrounding the User's name and icon. Assuming that it isn't just a temporary colour, I would recommend a different colour altogether as it doesn't seem to blend well with the current colour scheme (black/cerulean(?)/gray).

 

Profile Post "Interact" Background

Image: Gyazo - 312b02d3d94c734d48e7d8f0685cf7ec.png

For the same reason mentioned above, I'd recommend a different colour here as well as it just doesn't seem like it fits well. As boring as it is, I personally think a transparent/opaque shade of Gray would better suit it.

 

[spoiler=Icon Colours]

Image: Gyazo - 1c67c78061e641b424d63503ffd5181f.png

I honestly don't dislike the Teal colour, it's far easier on the eyes than the Tan/Sand and it certainly changes up the colours in play, though again, I don't know if this particular colour blends well with the current colour scheme. I noticed that there are pink/salmon accents around, I don't know how well it would look but what if the background of the icons were that pink/salmon colour with the icons themselves either white/black? If not, you could even use the shade of Green on our Home Page (Gyazo - 723e4bd59c571befdb893573b7abde71.png) and that might actually compliment well.

 

[spoiler=Overall "Dark" Theme]

Image: Anywhere on the Forums under Dark Theme V9

I really like how modern and formal the whole thing looks, it really comes together nicely. My only grievance is that the Dark Theme is just.. Too Dark. I would suggest toning the shade of black back a bit more, reason being that (I've been on two different PCs and it's incredibly difficult to see) I noticed there are actually rectangular/square borders around certain things however the shades used are incredibly subtle making it nearly impossible to pick up on unless you have the brightness/contrast/whatever cranked up.

 

[spoiler=Shout Box User Names]

Image: Gyazo - d418d02fd0cacc792241f9c97d542f23.png

Again, I've been on a couple of PCs now so I've come to the general conclusion that the names (User Names) do in-fact appear fuzzy/blurry in the Shout Box. Would recommend a different Font [just for the User Names]. I've also noticed that this occurs when Bolding the default font when it is White, even in posts. Example of Bold

 

[spoiler=Code Coloured Sections Under New Posts]

Image: Gyazo - 68defd33632ae5e7ea93e05a6f7090b4.png

I really like the subtle code-colouring (the fine coloured [orange] bar adjacent to the thread) to distinguish between threads made in General as opposed to a thread made in a "[Division] Discussion" section. I'd recommend that each Division's Discussion section have its own colour-code to distinguish them from other Divisions. I think it would look really clean and would organize the New Posts section of the Forums without titles or anything.

 

[spoiler=Highlighted Text]

Image: General text functionality in posts

Is there any way to add a Highlighter functionality to the toolbar when making posts? I feel it would be a good addition for highlighting important content.

 

 

Please note that these are only suggestions/opinions on the overall Forums and that these do not have to be implemented in any shape or form.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Forest (see edit history)

[Owl 192]

Honestly, I'm not a fan of any of this. The old theme was much more user friendly, and the colors were less in-your-face. Also the homepage is kinda lacking; there should be a shoutbox, and the news threads should be more organized (and less huge, ideally we should just update it when new big news posts are made and include gfx or something that just link to the thread with a short desc. below?), and there should be an about us (afaik that'll be coming soon, at least)

[Warriorsfury 12]

I agree highly with the icon colors. As Owl said (somewhat) when I first "updated" to this new forum, the icon colors threw me off completely, making it hard for me to understand what is what. If the sections for games, computer things, divisions, general/hellobyebyes, could be better outlined I feel that would help, but i'm honestly unsure of how that would be implemented in a... fashionable way.

[Warriorsfury 12]

Also a mode that is between this white and the black so it's more easy on the eyes than the white, but not as emo as the dark, would be greatly appreciated.

[Forest 309]

I agree highly with the icon colors. As Owl said (somewhat) when I first "updated" to this new forum, the icon colors threw me off completely, making it hard for me to understand what is what. If the sections for games, computer things, divisions, general/hellobyebyes, could be better outlined I feel that would help, but i'm honestly unsure of how that would be implemented in a... fashionable way.

Adding on to this, I also agree that the current set-up isn't User Friendly; it's overwhelming at the moment and appears incredibly disorganized. With the way it is, the sections seem to blend together and it just ends up with a mass of icons and text that appear jumbled and cluttered together.

 

My suggestion would be to implement an altering background for each section/line. By no means should it look anything like the following picture, but just to give an example:

[spoiler=Example Sectioned Categories]

 

 

Notice that it makes each category 'highlighted' so to speak, which in turn gives the user a far easier time navigating.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Guest (see edit history)

[Floppy 44]

I was using the light theme, user-friendly, modern style, and I wanted to try the dark theme; "omg my eyes hurts"

[Aegean 849]

Honestly, I'm not a fan of any of this. The old theme was much more user friendly, and the colors were less in-your-face. Also the homepage is kinda lacking; there should be a shoutbox, and the news threads should be more organized (and less huge, ideally we should just update it when new big news posts are made and include gfx or something that just link to the thread with a short desc. below?), and there should be an about us (afaik that'll be coming soon, at least)

 

I hate you. I literally told you the home page will be cleaner and have more features and that I'm writing an about us section and those should be done this week. I was in your channel on teamspeak. You were busy on your damn boat with mince to pay attention. This is why owl lives don't matter

Edited August 2, 2016 by Guest (see edit history)

[virr 808]

Dark theme is currently way too dark. A dark shade of gray would be better imo. Keep the mobile site black as it really helps battery consumption on phones with AMOLED displays.

 

The headers in the shoutbox options are currently black, making them invisible on dark theme.

 

[MEDIA=gfycat]height=84;id=UncommonPointedDowitcher;width=158[/MEDIA]

 

 

Other than that (and some of the things that have already been mentioned in this thread) i have no issues with the new forums. Mobile is 10/10 now!

 

 

Edit: The path shows up on the frontpage and serves no purpose except for taking up space

 

 

 

 

Edit 2: The page number box is white, looks very out of place

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by virr (see edit history)

[Forest 309]

I mentioned this earlier in the Shout Box at some point, but just to have it archived somewhere:

 

Is there any way to modify the initial five threads shown on the Home Page to only display threads that currently have the highest traffic or that have been viewed the most within a certain period of time (IE. A thread that has been viewed 20 times within a week as opposed to a thread that has only been viewed 5 times will be shown instead of the latter)? The reason I ask is that I think if it were a "Highlights" section, it would fit well with the image of the Home Page.

 

EDIT: This is assuming that isn't already the primary function and has yet to be tuned up just yet

Edited August 3, 2016 by Forest (see edit history)

[virr 808]

I mentioned this earlier in the Shout Box at some point, but just to have it archived somewhere:

 

Is there any way to modify the initial five threads shown on the Home Page to only display threads that currently have the highest traffic or that have been viewed the most within a certain period of time (IE. A thread that has been viewed 20 times within a week as opposed to a thread that has only been viewed 5 times will be shown instead of the latter)? The reason I ask is that I think if it were a "Highlights" section, it would fit well with the image of the Home Page.

 

EDIT: This is assuming that isn't already the primary function and has yet to be tuned up just yet

I believe @Aegean said that higher ups would be able to pick what would appear there, similar to a stickied thread. Could potentially be used as highlight page, assuming it gets updated frequently

[Aegean 849]

I dont know the full extent of our new home page as we just added it from Xenforo, but if it cant be done there is a tool called featured threads that seems like itll do everything we need. It would be accessible by mods and able to be updated frequently

[Thorax_ 539]

New Ratings :

 

-Face-Palm

-Neutral [-/+] (gray icon) ~ I just think it would be convenient.

Edited August 11, 2016 by TheSupremePatriot (see edit history)

[virr 808]

Mod and Admin tags just got added to forums and teamspeak! While i think its great it currently has some inconsistencies that i'd like to bring up.

 

Make the color on your teamspeak rank match the color of your tag on forums. On teamspeak admins have a purple color while mods have a green/yellowish color, while on forums the admin tag is orange and the mod tag is light blue. Matching them would bring a more consistent look between forums and teamspeak.

 

[spoiler=Example]

 

 

There's also an issue that has been bothering me for a while; how server groups are sorted. Currently, its a jumbled mess with hub novelty icons having priority over staff tags, donator etc. I tidied it up a bit, and in my opinion it makes it easier to see who's who while also making everything look more organized.

 

[spoiler=Example]

 

 

Thoughts?

Edited October 6, 2016 by virr (see edit history)

[Thorax_ 539]

Eww that purple burns my eyes, Good lord...

 

Anyway, yeah they should match. If anything change TS3 star colors instead of forum wise

Edited October 6, 2016 by Guest (see edit history)

[realBelloWaldi 1245]

Mod and Admin tags just got added to forums and teamspeak!

wtf thats amazing, good shit @Rhododendron @Aegean