Cat Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

New Site Look and Feedback Thread

9K views 29 replies 11 participants last post by  Administrator 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone,

We're proud to announce that the new site look and feel has been completed for CatForums.com! Our designers and software engineers have been hard at work on this for several months. It's designed to modernize the site, make it easier to use, and to make it more attractive to new members and guests that visit .

The forum software we use, vBulletin, by default is not designed to be friendly to the eyes or to look modern. We went down to the nuts and bolts of the forum software and templates, and have done a ground up approach. There are several things you will notice now that the new design is live.

1) The site should be significantly faster.

We have applied every modern technique to speed up page load and tested with all modern browsers. We want the forum to be extremely fast and easy to use.

2) The site will work much better in mobile and tablet views

We've started applying responsive design, and have designed and tested against android and iPhone devices, Android tablets, and iPads. If you are sitting at your desk or on your couch, or just on your phone, the site will work much better than it did before, and load fast. We are still working on improving the experience even further in the months to come, but we wanted to launch this as quickly as we could.

3) The homepage is bright, crisp and clean.

We wanted the first page users saw to look beautiful, so that when a new guest arrives and is debating whether to join CatForums.com, they see a beautiful doorway, and they walk right in.

4) Users will be able to register with Facebook

5) The side bar can be hidden in your user options.

Click on my profile / user cp at the top right.

- click on edit your details on the left.
- Look for Show Sidebar on Forum Pages under Additional Information.
- Click disable and save.

6) Another new great feature is the @Mention user plugin. You can tag members by simply using the @ symbol.

7) Drag and Drop image uploader

We hope you enjoy it, and if you have any questions on the design, please let us know, feedback is appreciated.

If there are any issues you see. Post them up here and we will get them worked out.

Thanks,
-Your CatForums.com Team.
 
See less See more
#9 ·
Adelea, I think that those of us (me included) who prefer the simplest and most pared-down of techie things are a distinct minority. :) So, keeping that in mind, my feedback:

Overall, I'm fine with it, and I think it was probably a necessary update. It was a shock at first, but I do see that it has a warmer and more welcoming feel, and the layout is similar enough to what it was before that it's easy to navigate. I already can't remember what it looked like before, lol. I think the primary color was blue, though, and it definitely had a utilitarian look that's never particularly welcoming.

The only minor quibble I have is that I had a hard time finding a couple of things that I always use. I figured it was easier to show you than to try to explain, so there's an image below.

The two lines that say "Welcome [user]" and then list the forums: they're hard to see because of the bold colors above and below. Now that I know where they are, it's not a problem, and most people probably don't use those lines anyway. But if it's not a big deal to change, I'd suggest maybe putting those two lines in bold.

:)

PS: I *love* the drag & drop feature!!
 

Attachments

#16 ·
Hey there

Can you give us a little more detail about the functions you are having trouble with on your iPad?

Cannot post without javascript, avatars do not show without javascript, font too small and pale without major zoom.
I will see what we can do about the overall font on the site.

As for being unable to post and see avatars, are you running a 'no script' or something similar? It may be blocking the particular script needed for those functions.

What I don't like is that I can't click on the Forums tab and see all the subforums at once, I have to select one from a drop down list. I far prefer being able to see all the subforums at once to make my selection, that's how every other forum I'm on is set up, and it's far more functional. Other than that, I have no complaints about the new version.
I'm not sure if they can link that directly, since it is a drop down menu. But! The main header image does link to the forum list (click the kitties!). Does that work for you?

Dayle
 
#13 ·
I also am having trouble with the new setup. The font is so small and pale I cannot read it without readjusting the zoom. And in order to make a post I must enable javascript which I keep disabled for security reasons. Probably will not be posting much any more. Sad. :(

Like the pictures of the cats, that's good. :)
 
#19 ·
Ooh, I see the "welcome [username]" line is now in bold. Don't know if it's something I changed or the admin changed, but I like it - thanks!

One more comment: I posted a link in one of my posts, but it isn't underlined, the way links usually are. The link itself works fine; it's just that it's not possible to tell that there's a link in a post just by looking at it. Maybe our admin gods could make links look like links? :)
 
#29 ·
Just checking to see how the drag and drop works.

Yep! :) So now we have 3 options for inserting pics: drag and drop, attaching a file, or downloading from a image-hosting site. With drag and drop and attaching a pic, I didn't see a way to continue text below the image. I know it's possible with a downloaded image. But this is not a big deal.

One nice thing I discovered: It used to be that if I started to reply to a post but wandered off without posting, whatever I'd written was gone if I was away long enough to be logged out, which seemed normal. But now, even if I come back the next day and click on the thread I was posting in, whatever I wrote has been saved. A nice surprise. :)
 

Attachments

#30 ·
With drag and drop and attaching a pic, I didn't see a way to continue text below the image. I know it's possible with a downloaded image. But this is not a big deal.
Hey there

This can be done using the Paperclip icon (when you're in New Thread or Go Advanced reply). Once you've attached your images, the paperclip will give you a drop down menu. Just have your cursor when you want the image to go and select it from the list. The post will add [ ATTACH] tags with the attachment number inside.

Dayle
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top