134 replies to this topic

[Koala1]

Suddenly my messageboard pages look very strange - been fine all night and now there is no formatting / or structures to any of the replies.  All the boxes around the replies, etc have gone and everything blends into everything else making it hard to read.  Is there still work ongoing at the moment to move to the new format?

[Jogger]

no - no changes since about 7pm. Koala1 - if that happens, and it does from time to time, its just your isp/connection and a "refresh" of the page usually fixes.

[CoolwalkerDavid]

I like the way it is in FPT's link - but why messages???? as a topic - message boards or forum I could understand - messages made me think they were specific to me and I didn't go there at first - ok I know now and like Balri I only go to the homepage once in a red moon anyway - and now I know what messages means OK!!!  -

just wondering out loud what a new member or visitor might think.

Edited by coolwalker david nee newborn, 02 October 2007 - 11:06 PM.

[Jogger]

the previous software was titled "messageboard" which I thought at the time was more meaningful than "bulletin board".

[Whippet gal]

Looks loads better than it did earlier today, although (sorry to be a stick in the mud) I think the old site was much better - easier to read, easier on the eye.

coolwalker david nee newborn, on Oct 2 2007, 11:06 PM, said:

- ok I know now and like Balri I only go to the homepage once in a red moon anyway

Huh? People don't go to the homepage? Where do you go? (Seriously).

[Jogger]

I have made some smaller changes now. I'm done for today at least.
Hopefully the "scrolling right" issue is fixed. Have made the text a bit smaller.
Here is the old version for comparison. The news was always fairly prominent so not really sure what the issue is. Some people read it. Comments here are mainly from "avid readers" and I know we have quite a high "occasional readership".

I knew that the new format is plainer/ unsexy in comparison to the old but we are trading off ease of use for updaters and greater accessibility for more people to do the updating.

However, before any mentions it, we have had some bulky up of the html (mainly css files).
Using:
http://www.seochat.c...ools/page-size/
old homepage = 42389 bytes
new homepage = 56272 bytes

Using:
http://www.websiteop...lyze/index.html
old homepage = 97298 bytes
new homepage = 142870 bytes

you'd best let me know what other issues you can see.

[Beki]

Whippet gal, on Oct 2 2007, 11:27 PM, said:

Huh? People don't go to the homepage? Where do you go? (Seriously).

I have the Messageboard saved as a bookmark, so I also rarely go to the homepage

[Mouse]

I think it looks much better today, though I still like the old on much better.

But then again, I don't write it and I don't have to support it so I am not going to criticise!!  

Question, this may have been answered before but I have not looked - why is the news section so big?

[SlowManiac]

Looks really smart now  - like it! News is still a bit big and the screen is still too big. But I reckon it looks great.

[Jogger]

Quote

why is the news section so big

lots of news ? I will get the elves onto the case tonight.

Their task list is here

[MPHinLondon]

Much better now!

If the big white background around the pieces of text and ads at the top can be changed to something more subtle would look a lot better too, maybe a lighter shade of the grey already being used?

Also not a huge fan of the superfluous square bullet points, and the titles for the left menus should be the same Latest News IMO.

[Jogger]

mph - yeah good points. I will look at these.

I will email harvey998 the source code also.

An interesting digression is that we are using mediawiki which is kick ass software, however ALL the design/placement etc is via css and whilst its a good idea I never realised how fundamentally BROKEN it is as a technology. IE and firefox are just plain different, so much so that it is scary. Regardless of what's a better browser or not you expect basic stuff to just work. (not blaming the tools, I have dodgy design sense anyway - refer to previous discussions on CR gear and six foot tshirts !)

[TFive]

Looking much better  

[blair]

Whippet gal, on Oct 2 2007, 11:27 PM, said:

Looks loads better than it did earlier today, although (sorry to be a stick in the mud) I think the old site was much better - easier to read, easier on the eye.
Huh? People don't go to the homepage? Where do you go? (Seriously).

I start typing 'coo...' into my address bar and it pops up saying http://www.coolrunning.com.au/forums/. Then I just press the down arrow and hit enter.

[TRAVY]

My two cents worth.(2 cents is nothing). I do not like the changes . Just blue and white everywhere.

[Ron1]

.

Edited by littleaussie, 01 August 2008 - 05:22 PM.

[PlodBod]

Far be it for someone as technologically challenged as me to throw their hat in the ring, but I find the type just that little bit hard to read... maybe it's all those CR bullet points before each line of topic making it look busy... or maybe it's my pathetic old eyes...

I agree with others that the news section looks a little too wide, but hey, once you're in a thread it's just like home.  

[Koala1]

Hi Kev,

I think I know what the problem is on my end - I use opera to view the site and what I see in Opera is completely different to what I see in internet explorer.  Internet explorer still has all the structure, formatting and tables, whereas opera has none of that and everything all merges into one. I'm wondering if its just loading a variation of a low fi version as default, but I can't seem to change it to anything else.  Perhaps opera just doesn't support the new format.

I stopped using IE for coolrunning as it took a long time to load, but if I can't view CR in opera now, I'll try IE again, as hopefully IE will be faster now anyway with all the work you've done.

Any other opera users having this problem?

[sfGnome]

Whippet gal, on Oct 2 2007, 11:27 PM, said:

Huh? People don't go to the homepage? Where do you go? (Seriously).

I have this link bookmarked. It just takes me to the latest postings so I don't have to hunt around on the home page. Love it!

[Jogger]

koala - I have tested under ie and ff, but not opera, but I will do opera tonight and fix it. yeah sorry about that.

[Koala1]

Thanks Kev

[wombatface]

Kev, the home page is improving There is no horizontal scrolling for me at 800x600.

I wouldn't mind presenting some ideas on the practise wiki home page when I get some time. Can you email me the css?

The background colour I had in mind for the message columns was #eff3f7 so there is a little more contrast with the blue/purple text. Also, there are probably other colours (and fonts/sizes) from the messageboard pages that can be used on the home page (without having it looking like it's suffering from radiation poisoning). This would make the home page closer in look to the messageboard pages. I'm not crazy about the grey background colour (although it's better than that horrid green) I'll play around with it first.

Another thing that could be 'fixed' - no bullets and centre-aligned text on messageboard 'Main menu' column.

For my eyes, the text is now a tad small (in Firefox). Size is OK in IE. Not sure if this is purely a css thing or a browser thing. I know it can be made bigger with Ctrl +, but who wants to do that?

Edited by wombatface, 03 October 2007 - 09:05 PM.

[Jogger]

Wombatface, and anyone else.

I created your own personal homepage:
http://www.coolrunni...page_Wombatface
edit as you like, anything that looks good we will use.

For other people paste this link in to your browser to create your own page (and paste in the current page):

http://www.coolrunning.com.au/runningguide/wiki/index.php?title=Name_of_page_you_want&action=edit

[ladyjove]

I just tested the new site using Opera mini and the built-in nokia browser, and I can say it looks good and is functional from mobile devices.

[blair]

Koala1, on Oct 3 2007, 07:32 PM, said:

Hi Kev,

I think I know what the problem is on my end - I use opera to view the site and what I see in Opera is completely different to what I see in internet explorer.  Internet explorer still has all the structure, formatting and tables, whereas opera has none of that and everything all merges into one. I'm wondering if its just loading a variation of a low fi version as default, but I can't seem to change it to anything else.  Perhaps opera just doesn't support the new format.

I stopped using IE for coolrunning as it took a long time to load, but if I can't view CR in opera now, I'll try IE again, as hopefully IE will be faster now anyway with all the work you've done.

Any other opera users having this problem?

Koala, if you don't like IE have you tried using Firefox. I have found that, unfortunately, Opera is not well supported on a lot of sites but Firefox more or less works on every site that IE does.

[ingrid]

Sorry Kev,
but I also prefer the old homepage, it was much easier to read, and I miss the Messages home tab, I found that much simpler.
I will mention I am a creature of habit, and I get perplexed  when my favourite websites change!

[CoolwalkerDavid]

Whippet gal, on Oct 2 2007, 11:27 PM, said:

Looks loads better than it did earlier today, although (sorry to be a stick in the mud) I think the old site was much better - easier to read, easier on the eye.
Huh? People don't go to the homepage? Where do you go? (Seriously).

I just use a Favourites link to messageboards like Balri and sfGnome appear to

I assume I could do the same to the home page though - so force of habit I suppose

all the best  David

[Koala1]

Balri, haven't tried firefox yet, but might give it a go at some point.  Its a shame really that Opera isn't that well supported, as I quite like it and it is much faster for me than IE.

[CoolwalkerDavid]

coolwalker david nee newborn, on Oct 4 2007, 05:33 PM, said:

I just use a Favourites link to messageboards like Balri and sfGnome appear to

I assume I could do the same to the home page though - so force of habit I suppose

all the best  David

Incidentally I much prefer CR to another forum I frequent which has just been "yuku'd"

yuk is very appropriate

all the best  david

[TRAVY]

looks crap . I hate it .
But that is just me, and I am entitled to my opinion

[Ultraphil]

It's not growing on me.  I understand the need to conserve bandwidth etc and perhaps this wiki look is going to achieve that....but one really has to look to study and find out what is happening. sorry.

[Martin Dugdale]

the new look is not as good as the old look. but having said that I have not tried to edit pages and am not a complete geek, just my 2 cents

[THE LONE RUNNER]

sorry,dont like the new look etc. it might grow on me. cheers.

[Sportsman]

I don't really care how it looks, just the function, which is ok.

However, I do have a gripe.
The topic links on the home page can drop off very quickly.
eg The last post on "Other running" is not 2 days old, yet will drop off soon.
"Training"  and "Race threads" expire in 3 Days
I'd like to see the number of thread links increased, preferably to a date rather than a number of threads.
There seems to be plenty of space on the page.

Edited by Sportsman, 07 October 2007 - 02:47 PM.

[BoneyChic]

I don't go much on the new home page either.  
Got around having to look at it by simply bookmarking both messageboards and the calendar - usually the only 2 things that I look at anyway. Must remember to do it at work tomorrow on both computers.



Boney

[Teeds]

Hi all,

My two cents for the front page.  It is by no means a complete works just a quick mash up over the last few days.

coolrunning.teda.id.au

Wiki / forum template I thought could have the adverts moved to the top bar with the left and right columns deleted.  Wiki / forum starting below the top nav bar.  Took a little poetic license with menu structures as I thought there was to much on the front page.  Site maps I think are important for websites with lots of content so people can get to any page in two clicks.

Didn't mean to step on any toes and realise that implementing into a CMS presents it own problems (tried to stick to css classes to help with this) and may not work at all with media wiki (I have never worked with it, but it appears to have a very strict format / style).  Thought I would have a little play around for fun.

Edited by Teeds, 09 October 2007 - 01:12 PM.

[blair]

Teeds, I think it looks really good but it probably needs to be in the CR colours.

[Teeds]

Thanks Balri,

I think the brand regonition with the CR logo is great and the colors/logo should be used were possible however the one problem with it is it don't really work graphically as the colors don't really contrast and are a little to bright (color triad / contrasts and shades) etc which makes it hard to work in. Maybe with some tweaking (shades) it could work.

Using the blue as a base color (color 9 on the page) this is the color profile (triad with shades) that color theory says you should use (acording to the pros which I'm not)
http://coolrunning.t...d.au/colors.htm

Three main contrasting colors - Color 9 / 25 /41 the others are shades of them (up and down)

P.s. Not professing at being a graphic designer etc, just a few things I have read and learnt along the way.

Edited by Teeds, 09 October 2007 - 02:27 PM.

[Greg_Waite]

Looking at the new front page, its very basic which suits experienced and regular users as they can go to what they want. But for more casual users its pretty unappealing. Most sites are much more magazine-style. I know, I know, magazines are crap.

But there is real value in a more visual option which presents a revolving set of items which might draw in newer fun runners etc while broadening their horizons. In an ideal world you might have a prominent button on the front page which allowed you to toggle between major modes (eg news in bulk ie current / magazine-style / new forum items).

Of course this might be hard to build within your software, and selecting items to display + including graphics takes time. Just thought I'd throw the idea in there. CR always does a great job, many thanks.  

[sook54]

One problem I am finding as a frequent editor of the news wiki page is that the edit button and all the other wiki tabs get half-hidden behind the second row of ad banners (the plain-text one). Also the alignment of the images and text in the page banner looks clunky for me.

I'm using firefox 2.0.0.7 on a mac (OSX 10.4.10)

I also find it a bit frustrating that there's not a forum link somewhere near the top of the lefthand menu.

Teeds your linked webpages seem to be down today, is that right?

[IRISH RUNNER]

TRAVY, on Oct 6 2007, 05:01 PM, said:

looks crap . I hate it .
But that is just me, and I am entitled to my opinion

Sorry Kev but I have to agree with TRAVY, BORING to say the least. The home page needs a heart transplant and some decent vibes.

Maybe include some motivational sounds (sorry, I know, asking for too much).

[Bristol City FC]

I've given it a bit of time to try and grow used to it, how the homepage now looks, but I just can't. It's hideous, an assault on the eyes.  
The news part is far too big, and it is just 'too loud'! The old format was much nicer. Sorry Kev.

[wombatface]

I've been experimenting with the page Kevin gave me - here.

It's not the final version. I've used some background colours and fonts from the message board. I've also moved 'Community' to the bottom right-hand side. Unfortunately I can't change the whole page using Wiki. The left-hand column needs work. The headings are now black and in small type, so a bit hard to read.

I'd like to try a slightly bigger font for the left-hand column for those using Firefox (I've used 95% on the right for most text). There's probably a bit that can be done with white/blue space to make the whole page seem less busy, but I can't change this with Wiki.

I'd also like to try moving the search box up a bit - either to the top, or under the Main Menu list.

There's also a mistake on the home page I can't fix using Wiki. A horizontal white table starting just under 'Toolbox' with the word 'This' etc? which, for me, is obscured by the main columns of the page.

[Vurt]

As a suggestion- one thing that would make the front page a little easier to read would be to put some form of graphical divider between the news items. Maybe if you could divide it by the date it is posted ?

[wombatface]

Vurt, on Oct 14 2007, 11:59 PM, said:

As a suggestion- one thing that would make the front page a little easier to read would be to put some form of graphical divider between the news items. Maybe if you could divide it by the date it is posted ?

I've tried that here. I does look a little tidier. I've also added the introduction for new readers at the top of the page as used by Teeds. There's not much more I can do. I'd like a white background for the left side headings (main menu etc). The page is still very text-dense. I'd like to see how it looks with the number of feeds for each topic reduced from 15 to 12 (or 10). I'm guessing the page would still 'last' for a day or so.

I agree the home page is not as pretty or soothing as the old one. Even if it's more functional now, it would be good if it didn't "assault the eyes".

[Vurt]

wombatface, on Oct 17 2007, 11:40 AM, said:

I've tried that here. I does look a little tidier.

That looks a lot tidier.

edit:
I would also add that possibly one of the reasons that it look a bit messy at them moment is that there are to many columns and they are poorly aligned. If you read a lot of webpages and even magazines you will notice that most have 3 columns. Reducing the column count to 3 and aligning them so they all start at the same level would help.

I know that you like light webpages wombat but CR could really benefit from some well placed graphics to divide content. Teeds mock up is a good example of how this can make things easier on the eye.

Edited by Vurt, 17 October 2007 - 03:06 PM.

[FakePlasticTrees]

Without wanting to be too negative it just looks like we're applying makeup to the elephant man. I'm all for minimilism if it looks good but I think given the push for greater broadband in this country that we can do with some graphics or fancy stuff. The reason the page is still loading slowly is because each section of the message columns requires a call to the database to retrieve the appropriate message titles.

[TRAVY]

This page is very hard to read. Blue on blue ???????

Where are the results to the world 100 km champion race?

[CoolwalkerDavid]

TRAVY, on Oct 18 2007, 06:48 AM, said:

This page is very hard to read. Blue on blue ???????

Where are the results to the world 100 km champion race?

I find the black on blue harder

what would happen if you made these sub headings white wombatface?

[Stu Mac]

WOW, I've been missing from the forum for a bit, the last time I visited KT was starting to play around with the home page about one month ago... I just read the this thread and had a look at many versions and whilst I was quite surprised when I seen the 'home page' this evening and was not too keen, but when I compare it to the page of 12 months ago, I actually prefer the new version!

Well done to those doing the hard work!