V7 Changes - Some good, some bad

[Shinmaru]

I just want to pop in here and give my support for the gaming forum merging.

I think it makes sense in a lot of ways (most of which Tony mentioned, heh). The gaming forums were far too stagnant, especially Pokemon and Microsoft. Nintendo, pretty much the most popular of the gaming forums, was lucky to get a few good posts a week. I'm really hoping the new gaming forum will attract a good mix of people and open them up to threads that they never would have seen before.

Another thing that I'm really excited about in Play It is how [B]general[/B] it is. It has the potential to not only encompass gaming as of right now but to open up discussion on the entire past, present and future of gaming. Of course, it was possible before to make a post like that in some of the old sections but it makes more sense to just have a general gaming area - I have a couple thread ideas that would make far more sense going into Play It than Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft.

[Ryu_Sakura]

One word sums up this change: YUCK!

I really absolutlym HATE it. It's all squshed it's confusing, and I'm not comming back until v.8. Thats how bad it is. NEVER EVER, do this type of thing again. It's so anoying.Plus what bugs the hell out of me is that our siggys were taken out. at least mine was, so now I have to search for it's saved file on my com. I'm paranoid so I always save it every time I change it. (on one document though) So I have all my siggies ever on one file. So now I have to go look that up. Normaly I wouldn't be so grouchy about this type of change, but now this place makes me think, "What in hell were they thinking?" If I was a guest, I wouldn't want to sign up. And normaly I'd sign-up at at a place like this.Well, I know I'm not logging in for a while. Over all I give this new look a: 2.

[Kinetic]

[color=gray]I honestly don't see what your problem with the new layout is. It's absolutely marvelous down to the very fine details. The organization is top notch and the forums are much more cleaner. Not to mention accesibility and stunning visuality. I don't think that everyone is giving Justin and James the credit they deserve.[/color]

[James]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Just so you know, I made an announcement about sigs well in advance. If you didn't read announcements, you shouldn't blame anyone else for that; I'm constantly reminding people to read 'em. If you don't, you don't at your own risk.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]As for your other comments...I don't really think there's any need for that type of stuff. If you have something constructive to say, that's fine. But just because the site is [i]different [/i]to how you remember it, doesn't necessarily mean that we've gone and done something totally random. lol[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Every single change has been planned for a long time. OtakuBoards is going to continue to push for higher quality, in all regards. If you don't want that...that's okay. Judging by the quality of your most recent post, at least, I'd say that maybe some of these "radical" changes are having the desired effect.[/color][/size][/font]

[Epsilon]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=SlateGray]No offense, Ryu_Sakura. But wasn?t that a little...Close minded?

Anyways, congrats to all of those who help make OB v7. It looks as though it took much time to create and make it just right. And it's well worth it, personally, I love the new layout and think it's perfect.

I can find nothing wrong with v. 7. The side bar makes it much easier to navigate, and move around. It also fits for all of us who use a smaller resolution the 800x 600, because it only takes a few seconds to scroll over. (And if they can't do that, they're kind of lazy. Heh) Yet also suits those who use one higher. So it's not really that smashed together when you spend awhile thinking about it. The new over all system is great. Never really seem anything like it, but it dose take awhile to get use to. I really like to two different skins. Both the, Gesiha and Liquid skins are great.

I think it was a good idea to merge the gaming forms together. Since some of them weren't getting that much attention. Since some OBer's wanted to keep them, so it saves space. And keeps game lovers happy.

The only thing I can find wrong is, OB seems to load slow. Other then that, perfect.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Ryu_Sakura]

[QUOTE=James][font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Just so you know, I made an announcement about sigs well in advance. If you didn't read announcements, you shouldn't blame anyone else for that; I'm constantly reminding people to read 'em. If you don't, you don't at your own risk.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]As for your other comments...I don't really think there's any need for that type of stuff. If you have something constructive to say, that's fine. But just because the site is [i]different [/i]to how you remember it, doesn't necessarily mean that we've gone and done something totally random. lol[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Every single change has been planned for a long time. OtakuBoards is going to continue to push for higher quality, in all regards. If you don't want that...that's okay. Judging by the quality of your most recent post, at least, I'd say that maybe some of these "radical" changes are having the desired effect.[/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]
James, I was sick a few days before the change, and was unable to get out of my bed, I would have. and I'm not blaming anyone for it, I'm just saying it's a little hassle for me to find the saved file on my com. But I'll do it. *sigh* But, I still think that the way this was done is *blip*. It's so squishy, and nothing's going to change my mind.

EDIT: Since I don't wanna be spammy... To Sara: Eh... I have free time. And I hate blank. So, as soon as I lose the lazy, I'll do it. And I'll come back to post new creations, and stories and such. But, I still hate the way this is set up. *confused and annoyed*

[Sara]

[quote name='Ryu_Sakura']James, I was sick a few days before the change, and was unable to get out of my bed, I would have. and I'm not blaming anyone for it, I'm just saying it's a little hassle for me to find the saved file on my com. But I'll do it. *sigh* But, I still think that the way this was done is *blip*. It's so squishy, and nothing's going to change my mind.[/quote][size=1]If you're not coming back until "v8" (heh, that's a kind of juice...), why bother looking up your signature? Seems like a waste of effort. [/size]

[G/S/B Master]

Well, the squish forum is nothing to worry about. BUt I just have 1 tiny little problem. Where can you integrate your mO account to your OB account so that people can add me as their friends and other junk.

In my opinion, v.6 was A LOT better, but the sidebar is very handy though ^_^. I wanna know one thing, is it just me, or Otakuboards is totally lagging. Usually it takes 7 seconds to load a page. Now it's like 1 full minute.

[Semjaza]

It sounds like she's more annoyed over the loss of a signature than anything. I've talked to a few people who were annoyed over this... and while I can understand a slight annoyance, for it to take over your entire opinion of the forum is rather ridiculous lol.

Based on that posting quality, I can't say the place would miss much anyway. There wasn't even any thing constructive in it heh.

The myOtaku thing isn't fully installed yet. It should be soon.

OB is lagging because of all the people who came on at once and have been loading things up for the first time. The place is noticably faster than earlier today.

[JCBaggee]

[color=red][size=1]James, I'm going to be the black sheep here and say good work. Its obvious a lot of work went into the creation of these, and its good to have OB back, even if I don't post as much anymore.

Is the squisy thing bothersome? Yeah, sorta, but only because its new. Everyone will (hopefully) learn and be used to the new layout in a week or so. If not...heh. They can switch to 800x600. I"m running 4 times that and it looks fine.

The new forums are a good idea. Combining gaming and anime forums into 2 big forums was a good move. The old split forums weren't getting a lot of new posts, and this allows more people to notice more posts. Its more convenient, and you don't have to worry as much about trying to figure out which forum a thread should go in.

Chris gives OB v7 a big Thumbs Up.

--Chris[/color][/size]

[James]

[QUOTE=G/S/B Master]Where can you integrate your mO account to your OB account so that people can add me as their friends and other junk.

[/QUOTE][font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Well, this is why I keep asking you guys to read the announcements. This feature isn't yet implemented, but it will be very soon. It's a lot more thorough than what we had on v6.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]In terms of the signature thing...there are two points I'd make about that.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Firstly, I made an announcement before the site went offline. That's the most I can do. Short of flying over there and knocking on your door...I can't do much else. If you miss an announcement (remember that you can scroll through old ones too), that's not my fault.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Also, I mentioned that the deletion of signatures was [b]unavoidable[/b]. This is how the software works when it updates. There is nothing we can do about it. This is why I gave advanced warning.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]So, that's really the most anyone can do. Unfortunately there are inconveniences when dealing with an upgrade of this size. But I am convinced that the benefits far outweigh the problems. Again, I'd ask you to take a week to settle yourself in and find out how everything works.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]I'm sure that many of these complaints will be non-issues at that point.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=2][color=dimgray]Note: If you guys read my announcement again (under the myOtaku connect area), you'll find details on how to connect your myOtaku to OB. The feature has been fully implemented now.[/color][/size][/font]

[G/S/B Master]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel]
OB is lagging because of all the people who came on at once and have been loading things up for the first time. The place is noticably faster than earlier today.[/QUOTE]

Ah, thanks. It's speeding up. I hope the mO/Otakuboards integration gets in tonight. I gotta update mine :P.

[jblessing]

[quote name='G/S/B Master']Ah, thanks. It's speeding up. I hope the mO/Otakuboards integration gets in tonight. I gotta update mine :P.[/quote]Yes, it is working. An announcement will be made about this tommorow.

However, you can attach your account by clicking the link in your myOB [user cp] or by accessing this url: [url="http://www.myotaku.com/account/preferences"]http://www.myotaku.com/account/preferences[/url]

Enjoy :D

[i]Note: Its at the bottom of the page ;)[/i]

[Japan]

At first, I thought that the new look was a tad bit annoying. After spending a couple of hours on the new Version 7 of OB, I am quickly starting to warm up to it. I feel that it is way more organized than any of the other past versions.

I feel that the combining of the gaming forums and the anime forums were a good idea. A lot less space would be used, and a lot less time modding the different forums too. I actually don't miss the picture forum at all. In fact, I am glad that it's gone.

I really like the side panel menu. It certainly is useful and makes things easier. I also really enjoy the profile layout very much. ^_^

I'll be another one to go against the crowd. I feel that you both did a good job, Justin and James on the seventh version of OtakuBoards. That also includes Desbreko, Charles, Semjaza, and others that helped to test out the beta version and reorganize the threads by renaming then, merging them, and moving them. Good Job!!

[TheShinje]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=1]The new boards look amazing, I haven't seen a board anywhere like this, yet I don't go to many others.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=1]The left mounted navigation is very cool, it's more modern and is very unique, I keep looking for avatars there lol, I guess it's just a matter of time before I get used to this layout entirely.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=1]I also like the way v7 embeds quotes graphically, they look more asthetically pleasing than they used to.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=1]Well worth the wait and downtime, congratulations ot all involved in this massive undertaking. [/size][/font]

[size=2][font=Arial Narrow][size=1]Oh, and the style editor, very cool indeed you have spoiled us well and truly James-kun ;)[/size] [/font][/size]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=1]Thank you for the great new addons and features, i have nothing but the upmost repsect for your dedication to this project.[/size][/font]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=1]btw, if my post looks all over the place, I'm just testing styles ^_^[/size][/font]

[Guest cloricus]

I also wanted to complain about width but even just reading this thread I'm noticing it growing on me so for the moment I want say anything until I work out if I like it or not.

Also I'd like to add another "bad" aspect; no where can I change how dates are portrayed and I'm locked into the silly American way of it. To me (and I assume other Australians) it is hard to look at the date and read it then realise that it doesn't work out and have to swap the month and day. So please add a setting so you can have custom dates or at least the choice of dd/mm/yyyy, thanks.

And just to clear up some thing...
[quote]Wrist cutter
But what I'd like to point out to you is that not everybody is running at 1024x768. 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.[/quote]
This is a complete misunderstanding of coding web pages, it is extremely easy to have support for several different screen sizes. All it involves is a simple php script on the page that calls up a modified (or sql on the fly) adjustment for what the users screen size is (each browser reports a list of information of the clients computer and this can be used to call up the modified styles) so that it looks right and fills the screen or to the size that is wanted.
[quote]James
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.[/quote]
Though it takes the site out of alignment for current standards though I notice you have moved to xhtml1.0 which is at least a start, a xhtml1.1/css2 system would have been much easier for maintenance but never mind... Though I must thank you for making it nearly 100% Mozilla compatible!

Other than that I love it and I think it's great work by all involved especially Adam, James and Justin! Thanks.

[Baron Samedi]

I must just say that people complaining about it's proportions already is absurd. It had barely been up. As has been [repeatedly] said, give it some time folks! How can you judge straight away. You'll grow accustomed to it.

Now, as for speeds. I believe it has to do with temporary internet files. If you go to a new site it will take longer to load, but if you visit more often it will come quicker.

So, that is the problem. After a few days it will load quickly enough.

[jblessing]

[QUOTE=cloricus]I also wanted to complain about width but even just reading this thread I'm noticing it growing on me so for the moment I want say anything until I work out if I like it or not.

Also I'd like to add another "bad" aspect; no where can I change how dates are portrayed and I'm locked into the silly American way of it. To me (and I assume other Australians) it is hard to look at the date and read it then realise that it doesn't work out and have to swap the month and day. So please add a setting so you can have custom dates or at least the choice of dd/mm/yyyy, thanks.

And just to clear up some thing...

This is a complete misunderstanding of coding web pages, it is extremely easy to have support for several different screen sizes. All it involves is a simple php script on the page that calls up a modified (or sql on the fly) adjustment for what the users screen size is (each browser reports a list of information of the clients computer and this can be used to call up the modified styles) so that it looks right and fills the screen or to the size that is wanted.

Though it takes the site out of alignment for current standards though I notice you have moved to xhtml1.0 which is at least a start, a xhtml1.1/css2 system would have been much easier for maintenance but never mind... Though I must thank you for making it nearly 100% Mozilla compatible!

Other than that I love it and I think it's great work by all involved especially Adam, James and Justin! Thanks.[/QUOTE]
1). For the time settings, just go to [url="http://www.otakuboards.com/profile.php?do=editoptions"]Edit Options [/url]and scroll down to Time options. You can customize your time zone, start of the week and DST settings as well. This is all the functionality vB offers for time settings and options.

2.) When I first started customizing vB3, the boads were XHTML 1.0 Transitional - compliant. All I have done is to ensure that the boards continue to be compliant. In the future, I might start customizing it to be 1.1 Strict but I do not see any point in doing that just now.

3.) The first thing we did befure setting the fixed width was ensure it would look appropriate in almost all browsers (mainly IE, Mozilla, Opera) and that no horizontal scroll bars would be present in 800 x 600 res. I tested it out myself on 5 different computer setups with 800x600, and it was fine. That is, with the page fully maximized.

4.) For your comment on browser-specific and resolution-specific functions, yes I know all about doing it. It isn't even just PHP, but also JavaScript. I use this to make sure setting parts of the site appear how it should in Mozilla just like it does in IE -- and of course, it does.

[RPCrazy]

Let's see...what can I say here?

Squishyness : Though a shocker at first, I liked it from the start. It makes OB different and stand out. Tre cool.

Collapsable Forums : That alone makes V7 rate a 10.

Lack of Post Count Display: -bows down and worships- Thank you!

Customable Member....thingie: -pays homage once again- May the Otaku gods be with you all!

Neat Button Beside Member Name: Sweet. ^_^

Girl Who Complained: :flaming: for you.

New Avie Size: Weee! More fun for me!

Severe LACK of PoisonTongue Modshipness? : WRONG! BAD! No like! -points to avie- Not a happy camper am I!

But other than that: Awesome job, people. ^_^ -puts on a black wooly coat and joins JCBaggee- Baaaa.

[Guest cloricus]

1) Do you see them releasing a patch for this or would complaining have some effect?
2) [url]http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.otakuboards.com%2F&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=%28detect+automatically%29&verbose=1[/url]

Also just a note that the jukebox has a few problems in Moz 1.6 and ffox.8 both on clean installs and with then with adding apple updates (for midi handling) in the size of applet and working at all areas. I assume since even Opera and IE6(sp1) are having some troubles that this is a work in progress?

[Break]

[font=arial][color=#CC0000][size=2]Personally, I think everything is fine. The only things I can complain about are the colours (we need a red skin!!11!11 ^^) and the square-ness of everything (don't ask what I mean, I'm not sure I know myself oO).. apart from that everything is just fine. I don't think it's squiged, mashed, smooshed or whatever, but that's probably because I'm running at 1280 x 1024. ^^;; I'll get used to everything else.

Nice work James and everyone else who helped. ^_^[/size][/color][/font]

[Dragonballzman]

Ai ai ai! Well, there's my daily reading intake filled. x_X;;

Anyway, now that I've looked around and explored a bit more, I think I'm starting to get more used to it. I guess coming on and seeing all the new changes was a big shock to me. XD The little button thingie next to names has brightened up my opinion on the new board style, last night I was assuming that I'd have to look at someones profile to do those options. XD

I'm also starting to get the hang of the new gaming forum...It makes it a tad harder to find something specific, but then there's the Search OB sidebar to handle that...

You're probably right about the "growing pains"...I'll give it a week, and I'll probably have grown to enjoy it by then. ^^

[Semjaza]

[QUOTE=Dragonballzman]I'm also starting to get the hang of the new gaming forum...It makes it a tad harder to find something specific, but then there's the Search OB sidebar to handle that...

You're probably right about the "growing pains"...I'll give it a week, and I'll probably have grown to enjoy it by then. ^^[/QUOTE]

I think as long as people title things well, it will go smoothly. Shinmaru, Desbreko and I went through there prior to the launch and retitled things so they could be easily searched out. As long as people keep with that line of thinking, it shouldn't be so bad.

We'll see though. I already feel like the Gaming section is a bit more upbeat than it has been recently. Yay.

[TheShinje]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel]
We'll see though. I already feel like the Gaming section is a bit more upbeat than it has been recently. Yay.[/QUOTE]
[font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=teal][b]I feel that the boards as a whole are more upbeat.[/b][/color][/size][/font]

[font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=teal][b]I've had a bit more time this morning to pour over the new boards to really figure out it's new capablilities, and I don't fell it's squashed at all. I think people are more used to the content of the boards beign dead center, and they were actually skinnier than they are now. [size=2][color=darkred]~_^[/color][/size][/b][/color][/size][/font]

[font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=teal][b]It's just the over to the right-sidedness throwing people of, methinks..[/b][/color][/size][/font]

[b][font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=#008080]Adn I've realised that my iespell applet is not working on the new editor, Is it possible that a spell checker can be implemented for us simpletons who miss typos when proof reading? *notices the microsoft-ness of the WYSIWYG editor* [size=2][color=darkred]^_^; [/color][/size]what i mean is, it feels as if I'm typing in Word.[/color][/size][/font][/b]

[Epitome]

[size=1]This goes to everyone who said they hated it at first... it definatley grows on you. I disliked it alot last night, but as I browsed more and posted more, it grew on me. Even though it might seem too small or be too skinny, the other unique things that have been added is crazy. So just keep browsing and exploring all of you who dont like it... it will change your feelings about it.[/size]