skip wrote:dlf_kenm wrote:skip wrote:
Get rid of the new graphics next to each thread to make them simplified.
Make topic names bold that weren't read and normal when they have been.
Move names and avatars back to the left.
Essentially as much as possible to get a simple, basic look like the old site.
OK Skip, I'll see what I can do.
I am sure I am being a pain here. Just not a look I care much for. If there isn't much you can do, so be it. Sounds like a lot of other people like it. Just wondering how much of it we can freely customize and what we can't.
Not a pain at all Skip. That's why I ask for feedback. If you don't speak up, I don't know what to address. Certainly I have to look at all of the feedback and make decisions on how to spend my time with the big picture in mind, but that's not to say your comments are not appreciated and will not be addressed. In fact I agree with much of what you say, though I think on some of the issues it comes down to a simple difference in personal design preference. Like the user info on the left. I didn't design it that way, that's just how this template came. And at first it kind of bugged me, but after a few days of working with it, I'm actually kind of liking it. I find that the content jumps at me a little more if the avatar and user info is not the first thing I see. I don't think there is a right or wrong there, just a preference thing.
For the stuff you mentioned, there are not user-level customization controls. phpBB (wisely) separates out the operational code from the presentation code, so we can apply the look and feel of the site through the use of various templates. But what can be controlled by the user and what cannot is dictated by the phpBB3 codebase, not in the templates. Now, I also am a huge huge fan of very simple, clean sites which focus on usability over flash. But my options were limited to the templates which were available for phpBB3. There were a few which were a bit more minimalist than this, but most were much more... ahhh... flashy, ugly, dark, cluttered, etc. I had to strike a balance between clean and simple, and a design which is vaguely consistent with the look and feel of the main site. I selected one which more or less fit the bill but which could be modified to better fit the needs of the community here as well as the overall design objectives of the site as a whole.
So to address what you brought up, what I am looking into is setting up a totally separate style template for the forum, a totally stripped down version. Then giving each person the ability to choose between this version and the stripped down version. And by stripped down, I don't mean functionality, rather just a very clean, minimalist look and feel. But that may take a bit, and honestly my priority right now will be fine tuning this template, and getting familiar with the new phpBB3 codebase.
So hang in there, it will come, just might take a bit.
Thanks
Let's hope there is an option to do so on the horizon (as in asap).
