V7 Changes - Some good, some bad

[Dragonballzman]

While it's obvious that you guys have put alot of effort into this, I gotta say, it just doesn't feel right...

Everything seems so squished together...The main problem is the page width. What's wrong with having the sidebar all the way over to the left and the forum part stretching all the way to the right? Everything looks mashed together like this. >_<

You say it's organised and more enjoyable, I say it's made browsing the site alot [I]less[/I] enjoyable. V6 was great. Easy access to all the forums. Now I have to trudge through subforums on separate pages...It just wastes time.

On the other hand, the sidebar is quite handy, and the "thread preview" thingie is also useful when searching for a particular thread.

I could live with the new "sub-forums", "teams" and username and avatars placement, but PLEASE, make it spread out again! >.< It's TOO DAMN SMALL!!

Oh yeah, and merging all the gaming forums into one? Bad, BAD idea.

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1][B]Atleast someone other than me thinks it's too "pushed" together.

Somethings are handy, but at first I couldn't find the "New Post" button. I love that button because I'm too lazy too look around each forum for new post, but I see it's in the side bar. I think this is a little too crammed up for my liking, but the who's online thing is there on the side bar too!

It's hard for me to find threads and different bits now, and... and... the adventure forum is right at the bottom, so I have to scroll all the why down (I'm lazy)! ;_; I just don't like the width, everything else is fine (except the Adventure forum being at the bottom). It seems too crammed together, but it looks great, but looking for things is a little hard. There's lots of handy things, but the width... not too keen on it (though it does make my post in the Adventure section look longer)

EDIT: Also, the member titles that we can pick are cool, but what happened to the titles you made like "Otaku" and stuff...?[/SIZE][/B]

[Kinetic]

[size=1][color=royalblue]Honestly, it was bothersome to me at first too (but I'm slightly claustrophobic and I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I'm a basket case ^_^'), but it has definately grown on my and I enjoy it much, much more than v6. They did an amazing job and I love the layout. It might be possible for them to make a new skin that's widescreen for people who prefer it that way. I was wishing for it to be wider until I remembered how much I detest widescreen forum skins :p[/color][/size]

[size=1][color=#4169e1]They might even have a widescreen skin in the process of being created, I have absolutely no idea.[/color][/size]

[Epitome]

[B][size=1]I agree with DBZ Man on both the squishing together and on the gaming forums and I also have some pet peeves of my own. I dont like how you made so many changes to the Topic Names and all the Sub-Forums as well. I also dont like its alot different than the way it used to be... but with bad, comes good. I love the new avatar placement, the sidebar is also great, and I love the new sigs. And I know you all put a TON of work into this but making the width a little bigger wouldn't hurt, would it?[/B][/size]

[Warlock]

[FONT=Tahoma]Hmm. Well, I haven't had the chance to look around much, so I won't be able to comment of everything.

I do think it is slightly squashed together, but then again, we're all perceiving it as so because we're all used to the previous versions. A new member, whose first visit ever to Otaku Boards today, might notice slightly, but probably wouldn't find a problem with it, unless he/she was used to visiting really wide boards, and even then...

I guess we'll really have to wait and see how it affects us as time goes by. And seriously, the only place I might find this to be a problem would be areas like Adventure Arena, where big posts might look a little... different. Though granted, if people simply used the smallest text there, it probably wouldn't be a problem.

Oh, and um... I happen to agree with vicky. [B]Get Adventure Arena off the bottom![/B] *cough* Okay, so I'm biased. If I could have my way, my favourite forum would be in neon flashing colours. And seeing as the [I]purpose[/I] of this board is Anime, that's fair enough.

But on the up side, I love heaps of it. The sidebar, and really, just the whole new look in general... And the problems we're discussing? Well, as soon as I adjust, I doubt I'll find them at all bothersome. Go James and Justin! ^_^ [/FONT]

[Semjaza]

It's been up a few hours and already you're complaining about how things are going to work? How would you really even know yet? Give it time. lol

First of all, putting the game sections together makes sense. The Xbox forum was all but dead, Pokemon and Zelda had a few active threads and Nintendo, Sony and Square were lucky to get a few posts per day. I was in them every day and I can tell you right out that they were stagnant. Other than a select few threads, literally nothing happened in some of the sections.

So what, pray tell, is wrong with putting a bunch of forums together to encourage more discussion? Instead of someone hiding in Sony, they're instead in one gaming area where they might be more likely to intermingle and discuss other topics. Hopefully a singular game thread (and there can be others on one game depending on their topic) would discourage people from posting lame crap like "Who Likes Link!?!?" (which actually happened before). I'm failing to see how it was a bad idea or how it would be remotely confusing for anyone.

The subforms really don't seem all that different to me. Other than ones that existed in the first place, the only "new" ones are archive sections that you cannot post in anyway. The web design forum's placement makes sense to me.

As for the gaming area, topic names had to be changed so it was obvious what they were referring to. "HELP ME!!" or some other nonsense doesn't help anything and it would make the forum hard to go through. This way a game gets a thread and all is taken care of.

The forum layout is different, so I'm sure it'll annoy a few people. It took me a bit to get accustomed to the new placement and I agree it's a little odd right now. You'll get used to it. I admit I still prefer the old forum order as of right now.

Anyway, people naturally don't like change on average. I think people will grow to like it. When I first saw the beginning stages of v7 weeks back it was a bit strange, but it has grown on me and I much prefer it.

[James]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]I'll respond to each point individually I think.[/color][/size][/font]

[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Forum Size[/color][/size][/font][/b]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I'm not sure I agree that everything is mashed together, really. If you actually look at the way we've used space, things are still pretty well-spaced and even.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]One of the problems with the previous boards was that, to some extent, everyone was seeing something different. By creating a "standardized" system, we know that everyone is experiencing the same thing.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]In addition, bear in mind that the postbit is on the top of your posts, not on the left side. This creates [i]significantly[/i] more room in terms of post width. Had we used a traditional vertical-aligned postbit, you'd see a much smaller width.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I think it's something you'll get used to as time goes on; I do understand that it's a bit odd right now. Even I felt that way when I first used it. It just takes a moment to adjust to the new surroundings.[/color][/size][/font]

[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Trudging Through Sub-Forums on Seperate Pages?[/color][/size][/font][/b]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I'm not sure what you mean by that. Nothing has changed in regard to sub-forums. The only difference is that they are now accessible from the [b]main page[/b], which means that you don't actually have "trudge through sub-forums on seperate pages". So if anything, we've put more stuff at your fingertips, so that you don't have to do as much clicking.[/color][/size][/font]

[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Merging of Gaming Forums[/color][/size][/font][/b]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]This was actually a really good idea. And I'm incredibly glad that I went along with it. Let me explain why.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Firstly, having seperate forums on v6 meant that discussion was being diluted. It lowered the activity level in each forum. Microsoft was a barren wasteland and Sony wasn't much better.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]With the new "Play It" forum, we're centralizing discussion into a hub, where all gamers can meet and discuss games. This is handy because of multiplatform releases and because it ensures that reaching the desired thread is easier than before.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I understand that many of these elements will come as a shock to longtime members. I expected that. But I assure you that these changes are for the better. When you see the vastly improved quality/quantity of gaming discussions, combined with the incredibly easy in-thread search function, you'll find that it's actually [i]easier[/i] to get to where you're going.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Understandably, there are features that take some time to learn. But as I keep reiterating, the information you want is far, far closer to you now than it ever was with V6.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]A small example would be the Your Picture forum. You used to have to go into Otaku Lounge first and then Your Picture (that's if you didn't use forum jump). Now, with the way we've organized sub-forums, you can immediately visit the sub-forum without heading into its parent forum first. We even have update icons to show you that a sub-forum has new posts, directly from the front page.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I don't know how that can be interpreted as anything other than "clean", compared to OBv6.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I think maybe there's just some growing pains here. ~_^[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]When you play with things a bit more and you get used to things, you'll definitely notice the overall improvement. It just takes a little time for the idea to grow on everyone. But it will. ^_^[/color][/size][/font]

[wrist cutter]

It seems a little squished but I'm sure we'll all manage.

But what I'd like to point out to you is that [b]not everybody is running at 1024x768[/b]. For people whose monitors are set at a resolution of 800x600, this page fills their screen.

If they were to make Otakuboards any wider, all of their 800x600 users would complain that they have to deal with sidebar scrolling and whatnot. Unfortunately there are still a lot of people running at 800x600, and so in designing a layout they must bear that in mind.

You're probably thinking, "but didn't the old version fill my screen? wouldn't that be too big?". Nope. I'm guessing the old OB used percentages for widths instead of specific pixels, so the width of the table would depend entirely on which resolution you were on would therefore span the width of your screen no matter if you used 800x600 or 1024x768.

So why didn't they do that here? Well I'm not entirely sure as I had no part in designing this OB, but it probably had something to do with keeping images aligned properly.

[SaiyanPrincessX]

I also agree with DBZman. I don't like the width of the page atall, but the side bar does make searching a bit easier. I like the Geisha layout alot aswell. I suppose I'll get used to it in time as Kinetic has. ^_^

[James]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]wrist cutter makes some good points there.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]When we designed this site, we had to ensure that it was appropriate for people using 800x600 dimensions. You wouldn't believe how annoying it was to methodically go through everything and ensure that it was right.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]We use a standard/locked width setting for various reasons. Some of the stuff we've done with the design would be far, far more difficult without that. And it would be harder for us to adjust various settings and repair certain bugs.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]When I first used this site, I was a bit freaked out by its size too. But that's only because I was comparing it to what I was used to on v6. Once I got used to V7, I realized that it's not necessarily better or worse -- it's just different.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Again, I think it's something that people will get used to. I pretty much expected that there'd be some adjustments going on.[/color][/size][/font]

[Semjaza]

I also wanted to add one last thing. I don't know if anyone has seen the default VB3 skins, but the design Justin and James came up with is far more organized and streamlined. When v7 was in Beta testing, the default skin was still setup and it was incredibly mazelike.

This is such a massive improvement over that that it's insane. I literally got completely lost in it by following just two links... And while this was a bit odd at first, I managed to get completely used James and Justin's revisions. They just make more sense overall.

So in retrospect, I think that people would have been far less happy with what VB3 looks like on default than what has been put together here. Things such as the width concerns are just passing problems, really. I can see the concern, but I feel it makes the board look less bloated and also has a better sense of design. The top banner, for example, would have been very hard to design for varying resolutions.

However, I've been seeing these boards in some form for quite a few weeks now. You will get used to them and I think many of you will prefer them... or so I hope lol. One really never knows I guess heh.

[Vicky]

[B][SIZE=1]I guess I could get used to it... but for once I dread having my wide screen laptop, heh...

Everything else looks great, though! Handy things on the sidebar make things a little easy to do (like editting stuff). Also it's easier to see the online list now, believe it or not. So... yeah it's pretty cool, and I'll get used to the width...

(But I won't get used to the Adventure Arena bit... I am so lazy I won't even scroll down... oh well who cares?)[/SIZE][/B]

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]When I first refreshed the boards and found that the ?Wait until V7, it?s coming soon? thing was gone and had been replaced by this ?squishy? forum, I was disappointed. I too thought it was a little awkward. Then I posted.

About an hour later, I really didn?t care anymore. This layout looks fine and is already growing on me. Right now, the only thing that fazes me is the rearrangement of the forum?s sections. It?s more appropriate this way and I simply collapse sections that I don?t care about.

I urge people who feel uncomfortable with this layout to wait a little bit before passing final judgment. As Semjaza said, ?Give it time?.

I suspect that it?s the innovation and unfamiliarity of this new style that is throwing people for a loop.[/color]

[Semjaza]

[QUOTE=vicky][B][SIZE=1]I guess I could get used to it... but for once I dread having my wide screen laptop, heh...

Everything else looks great, though! Handy things on the sidebar make things a little easy to do (like editting stuff). Also it's easier to see the online list now, believe it or not. So... yeah it's pretty cool, and I'll get used to the width...

(But I won't get used to the Adventure Arena bit... I am so lazy I won't even scroll down... oh well who cares?)[/SIZE][/B][/QUOTE]
I don't know if you visit every forum, but I've collapsed the ones I never visit by clicking that little double arrow icon. No reason to take up space with stuff I never look at. Of course, you might have known that already... I don't know lol.

[James]

[QUOTE=vicky][b][size=1]
(But I won't get used to the Adventure Arena bit... I am so lazy I won't even scroll down... oh well who cares?)[/size][/b][/QUOTE][font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]There's an easy way to fix that. You can collapse the categories that you don't want to see. So you don't have to view every category by default.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Other than that...scrolling down isn't too hard. ~_^[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]EDIT: Oops, I posted at the same time as Semji. ^_^;[/color][/size][/font]

[Vicky]

[QUOTE=James][font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]There's an easy way to fix that. You can collapse the categories that you don't want to see. So you don't have to view every category by default.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Other than that...scrolling down isn't too hard. ~_^[/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1][B]Oh... that's a lot better then, didn't know that... lol. Hey, I think I'm starting to like everything now, or getting used to it!

(Scrolling down makes me dizzy when I do it too fast... O.O)[/SIZE][/B]

[James]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Yeah, I think that I'm my own best example really.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I've been looking at this design for about a month. I've been posting with it...editing, all sorts of stuff. So I'm very used to it.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]When I first saw the site at its current size, I did think "wow, that looks really small". But once I got used to it...I went back to OBv6 and thought "Geeze, these boards are so fat!"[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]It's just a matter of what you are used to.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]If this had been v6...and we used the v6 design for v7, I think people would be saying this same stuff, but in the reverse. So they'd be talking about everything being way too fat, rather than too thin.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]I think once you guys spend more time with the site, you'll come to understand it. I knew that there'd be an adjustment period -- give OB a week before you decide how you feel. After a week, you might be surprised at how comfortable it feels. It's like buying new shoes; you have to wear them for a while before they feel nice around your feet. ~_^[/color][/size][/font]

[Epitome]

[size=1]James does make a very significant point. And Semjaza, we werent complaining, we were just trying to say what we thought of the new boards. And now that I have been getting used to it and using it more, it not bothering me nearly as much. But anyways, what is the deal with the teams though. I really dont get what those are for, and how do you join/make a team?[/size]

[James]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Well, the teams only relate to staff. As we build the staff team homepages and stuff...that will all become a lot more clear.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]As time goes by, you'll see things actually start to change...in terms of new events and specific things for certain forums. Right now I think we're still in that adjustment process. It'll take a couple of days to get into the swing of things.[/color][/size][/font]

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Hataki Vash][size=1']James does make a very significant point. And Semjaza, we werent complaining, we were just trying to say what we thought of the new boards. And now that I have been getting used to it and using it more, it not bothering me nearly as much. But anyways, what is the deal with the teams though. I really dont get what those are for, and how do you join/make a team?[/size][/quote]
I was just poking fun with the complaining thing... that's why I stuck in the "lol" heh. Obviously people won't love every last aspect of something new. We'll see what happens. I agree with James about giving it a week or so, because having any remotely solid opinion on something like this in two hours just seems a bit too quick, in my opinion. If it's not any better for you by then, then I suppose that's just how it will be lol.

[Epitome]

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']I was just poking fun with the complaining thing... that's why I stuck in the "lol" heh. Obviously people won't love every last aspect of something new. We'll see what happens. I agree with James about giving it a week or so, because having any remotely solid opinion on something like this in two hours just seems a bit too quick, in my opinion. If it's not any better for you by then, then I suppose that's just how it will be lol.[/quote]
[size=1]I guess so lol, but I still am wondering about the teams/public group thing. What is there purpose and how do you join/make one. I see Semjaza is in one and I thought I saw one more person in one, so what exactly is their purpose?[/size]

[James]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Just a side note...try clicking the little icon next to people's usernames.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Stuff like that is really cool I think; it's a small feature, but a significant one. The emphasis is on the content of your posts...and not littering the site with billions of buttons everywhere.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]There are lots and lots of little things like that. Keep exploring. ^_^[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Hataki...regarding groups, I recommend visiting the FAQ. There, you'll find an item on "Staff Teams". That'll tell you all you need to know. ^_^[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=#696969]Note that this also relates to the team names you see on category bars. So, Team Koizumi is the staff team for The Prefecture area. And Team Miyazaki is the team name for Tokyo 3.[/color][/size][/font]

[wrist cutter]

I don't know if this is really deserving of an entirely new thread, since this seems sort of like a general "***** about the new forums" type thread.

I noticed that links are basically [url=http://musichour.sweet-insanity.net]indistinguishable[/url] from regular text. For example, did you notice that the word indistinguishable links to my website?

Oftentimes, I link stuff in my posts rather discreetly... so this might be a problem for me. I guess I could change my font color. But it's just something I thought I'd point out, or if you already knew and planned on it being that way.

[Warlock]

[FONT=Tahoma]I've been looking at the new version for a tiny bit now, getting some posts going, though it hasn't been until now that I've began to notice and appreciate the more subtle points of v7.

For instance, when you click the little square next to a person's name, a little menu appears with a list of options. Much better then when it was tacked onto a person's post. Also, nice to see it can go from blank to blue to tell you if the member is online or not - though that [i]might've[/i] already been there in v6. To be honest, I can't remember.

And for some reason, I only just noticed the 'Launch Jukebox' button on the sidebar. Yet another little, but very smart, addition.

I'm just beginning to see the truely colossal effort that went into this, and it's making the end result taste even sweeter.

[/FONT]

[Kinetic]

[size=1][color=gray]I have to agree with Semjaza. vb3 is horrid in my opinion. I don't know if anyone here visits Infinite-Forums, but when they upgraded, it was completely horrible. I couldn't have put it in better words than it already has been. vb3 is like a maze. A terrible unattractive maze full of annoyances and Justin and James have remedied that to a miraculous extent. To tell you the truth, it's been over an hour and I'm in love with the layout. The load times are a bit slower (althought that might be something with my connection), but this layout is simply amazing. And there is still more to come! What with the upcoming integration of myOtaku and everything else, I believe that these forums will continue to be the best that I have ever visited concerning not only quality, but visually stunning as well. I wouldn't mind seeing the WYSIWYG in the quick-reply but if it can't be done then I'm fine with hitting the reply button.[/color][/size]