How well do you like the new skin? [Archive]

Nov16-05, 02:38 AM

I REALLY like the text color scheme (I'll have to steal it sometime :biggrin:), the oranges, grey-blues etc.. The title bars, end bars, new flash banner, and user navigation bar are superb.

The color scheme makes the text more difficult for me to read. Also I don't think the usernames stand out as much as they should (but the size is perfect now, after more use heh.). Also, I think the idea that the gray area around each post should be blueish-gray. It would be much easier on the eyes I think by just changing the sea of gray to blue-gray.

How do you like it?

loseyourname

Nov16-05, 02:46 AM

It seems to be working a lot better on Safari, as Moonbear and I aren't having any trouble with fonts, size, or text contrast. I'm actually getting used to the post face and background, but I still don't like the graphics. I guess I'm just being an old man, but they remind me a bit too much of Club Buzz (Lightyear, that is) at Disneyland; it kind of makes what is otherwise a pretty serious forum come across as childish.

Nov16-05, 02:53 AM

After a little more use I would also like to add that the "go to last post in thread" buttons are too small. I use those a lot and would like them as big as the last ones. Or maybe they just look small. Also, the thread rating levels are WAY too big, very unappealing, overly-bubbley, and they distract your attention away.

dgoodpasture2005

Nov16-05, 03:23 AM

I like it, I think it's pretty neat.. but that's just me, i get bored of things really fast, so change is always good.

Dimitri Terryn

Nov16-05, 03:58 AM

I'm using Firefox, and it's not giving me any problems either.

El Hombre Invisible

Nov16-05, 04:10 AM

There's an awful lot of... grey. Kind of bland, really. Oh well.

Pengwuino

Nov16-05, 04:12 AM

The skin isn't even working for me on firefox.

Reshma

Nov16-05, 04:49 AM

I like the new look!!

PIT2

Nov16-05, 05:41 AM

The skin is fine, but the grey colors look really boring.
I prefer the blue + white colors.
The flashlogo is superb.

The_Professional

Nov16-05, 05:49 AM

I prefer the classic one. Just looks space/high-tech in an odd way to me. How about putting an option in the User CP of either using the Classic skin or the Updated one.

sid_galt

Nov16-05, 06:03 AM

Now, it doesn't look like a physics forum. It looks more like a game forum. The website needs its serious old look back.

marlon

Nov16-05, 06:21 AM

Let's give it a week to get ourselves adapted to the new environment, ok guys ?

marlon

FredGarvin

Nov16-05, 06:34 AM

I prefer the classic one. Just looks space/high-tech in an odd way to me. How about putting an option in the User CP of either using the Classic skin or the Updated one. There is an option dialog in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Just switch it back to PF classic.

IMO, the new skin is a bit too, I don't want to say "cheesy", but it is a bit too video game-ish for my likings. I actually like the kind of "all stainless steel" look of the new one. I think it's the buttons and small icons that turn me off. I also like the old forum banner more. All in all though, both skins make this site look much, much better than other forums I have seen.

sid_galt

Nov16-05, 06:42 AM

For new visitors, the default skin IMO should be the old one. They can switch to the new one if they want later. However for a serious engineer/scientist coming here for the first time, the new screen could be a major turn off.

Greg Bernhardt

Nov16-05, 09:25 AM

Now, it doesn't look like a physics forum. It looks more like a game forum. The website needs its serious old look back.

This has been noted a few times, which elements exactly make it look like a gaming forum? Also some say space age, if you could do the same and describe which elements give you this feel? I have a certain feeling that there is one element that makes everyone feel this way and I want to see if I'm right. I don't think it's the site header nor the buttons if you consider them independently. Anyway please describe and we can go from there.

Astronuc

Nov16-05, 09:47 AM

The new skin reminded me of that old game Invader (or Invaders from Mars) - perhaps it is the icons.

The new skin is fine, but I like simple and the old one is fine with me. I don't really go for fancy - but that's just me. :smile:

Monique

Nov16-05, 10:03 AM

amcavoy

Nov16-05, 10:16 AM

I think it's the green and those little stars and such. It looks good though.

shmoe

Nov16-05, 10:31 AM

It's definitely loading slower for me, and feels chunkier when I scroll down. I am on a 28.8 modem though.

I don't like the animated banner. It looks pretty but I prefer as minimalist a layout as I can get. The menu at the top right (wth "Home", "User CP", etc.). Is touching my scrollbar. I have bad aim.

The thick black lines around the buttons and the border thing that appears around every 15 posts makes it look like a gaming forum to me. I actually like the look around the buttons, but the "quote" button on every post really jumps out compared to the text of the messages. The border thing looks like a stretched face at the top, the blue dealies on the left and the right the eyes- very video gamish.

I do like the colours though, it's easy on the eyes and nice and simple.

-Job-

Nov16-05, 11:27 AM

It looks like a spaceship, the spaceship of physics. Fire the phasers...

Gokul43201

Nov16-05, 02:19 PM

This has been noted a few times, which elements exactly make it look like a gaming forum? Also some say space age, if you could do the same and describe which elements give you this feel? I have a certain feeling that there is one element that makes everyone feel this way and I want to see if I'm right. I don't think it's the site header nor the buttons if you consider them independently.I don't know why you think so...to me these are the things that make it look sci-fi/gamey. Well, not so much the header as the "eyes" and the page-bottom graphic bar - specifically, the green circles and blue designs that don't obviously represent anything.

Also, on the flash header, would it not provide more visibility to the graphics, if they were on the right half of the header, and not obscured by the title ? Looks like everything's crowded over on the left side, with the right side completely empty.

I also think it would be smart to break out of the cliched "three ellipse" representation of the atom as a prominent theme. That is just so wrong, it is unbecoming of a serious physics board !

I like the gray (grey) backgrounds !

Danger

Nov16-05, 02:41 PM

I like it. Still haven't been home to see it on the Mac, but it looks nice on the office PC. As mentioned elsewhere, I have to turn my screen brightness down a touch to make it easier on my eyes. Then again, I'm photophobic so my opinion on that shouldn't be relevant.

marlon

Nov16-05, 02:46 PM

I'm photophobic so my opinion on that shouldn't be relevant.

Impossible

how can you be ? with this 190° vision of yours:wink:

marlon

Danger

Nov16-05, 02:50 PM

That's laterally. I have only 10* vertically because of squinting.

PS: How the hell do you get a degree symbol on a PC? There's no Opt-0 like on a real computer.

marlon

Nov16-05, 03:00 PM

PS: How the hell do you get a degree symbol on a PC?

That is one of the few advantages of living in western europe

marlon

Danger

Nov16-05, 03:04 PM

:confused:

Entropy

Nov16-05, 03:26 PM

The new layout is wicked sick! I love it! Really gives it a sciency feel to it.

zanazzi78

Nov16-05, 06:04 PM

I agree with some of what Gokul stated.
The blue 'eyes' at the top of the first post are very gamey, similaly the graphic at the bottom of the thread.

I like the header, the lay out, colour and placing of the buttons, the vertical colum on the left and the horizontal section starting on the right separated by that nice little arc is very well done, However the header graphics look superb and should not be hidden behind the banner.

I understand what Gokul is saying about the 3 elipse model of an atom but it's what the lay-person has the image of an atom therefore it speak to the masses saying "this site is about science" so even if it`s inaccurate, as a peice of advertising it works.

I personlly don`t like all the grey but then i have this highly irrational dislike of grey so maybe you should ignor this comment.

One thing i did like about the old skin, that you haven`t kept, was the little green light that let you know who was online (except Evo who is always in stealth mode!) but it`s been replaced with text, not good, people will find an icon easier ansd quicker to recognise than reading text but then maybe it`s not an important function, i don`t know but i did like it and found it usefull.

It was truly inspired allowing the option to keep the old style you obviously understand human nature very well, the reluctance to change and familiarity with what one knows, however, and this may seem a bit strange since i did have a moan about the new skin, the content is more important than the look, you shouldn`t have given the option it will only perpetuate the reluctance to move on and wastes space on the server.

Oh, one more thing where is the groan smilie, GD really needs it!:tongue:

Gokul43201

Nov16-05, 06:12 PM

One thing i did like about the old skin, that you haven`t kept, was the little green light that let you know who was online (except Evo who is always in stealth mode!) but it`s been replaced with text, not good, people will find an icon easier ansd quicker to recognise than reading text but then maybe it`s not an important function, i don`t know but i did like it and found it usefull.Many members took several weeks before they realized that the little green light meant. No such confusion here ! I don't understand how you say it's easier to understand what a green light is telling you, as opposed to what a piece of text reading "zanazzi78 is ONLINE" tells you !

zanazzi78

Nov16-05, 06:13 PM

Many members took several weeks before they realized that the little green light meant. No such confusion here ! I don't understand how you say it's easier to understand what a green light is telling you, as opposed to what a piece of text reading "zanazzi78 is ONLINE" tells you !

ok may be not easier just quicker:blushing:

Evo

Nov16-05, 06:34 PM

ok may be not easier just quicker:blushing:Seeing the green light was easier, now I have to look over and read, I guess with time it will become second nature, but for now, I agree with zanazzi.

Hey, I'm not the only one hiding. :tongue: It's easier to sneak up on people this way.

Moonbear

Nov16-05, 06:42 PM

Seeing the green light was easier, now I have to look over and read, I guess with time it will become second nature, but for now, I agree with zanazzi.
Hey, I'm not the only one hiding. :tongue: It's easier to sneak up on people this way.
I did notice that invisible people remain invisible to mentors now. :grumpy: Now I have to look at the "who's online" list, I can't just look at the color of your button.

Greg Bernhardt

Nov16-05, 06:45 PM

I agree with some of what Gokul stated.
The blue 'eyes' at the top of the first post are very gamey, similaly the graphic at the bottom of the thread.
I like the header, the lay out, colour and placing of the buttons, the vertical colum on the left and the horizontal section starting on the right separated by that nice little arc is very well done, However the header graphics look superb and should not be hidden behind the banner.
I understand what Gokul is saying about the 3 elipse model of an atom but it's what the lay-person has the image of an atom therefore it speak to the masses saying "this site is about science" so even if it`s inaccurate, as a peice of advertising it works.....

zanazzi78, I think you have one of the more thoughtful replies to the new skin and I appreciate that. The secondary header (with the "eyes") is what I was thinking of when people said it seemed gamey too. Since that part is not really directed to any function of the forum I might be flexible and if I have time try to create a secondary header that meets peoples needs a little better. I certainly was not going for a "gaming" look nor really a "space" look, merely a modern, possiblely high tech and exciting enviroment. However with the staffs and members help I have tweaked alot to make things more usable and I will continue to do so.

As far as the atom symbol, it is merely an advertising and topical device, its extremely difficult to "express" science and even more-so physics in a pleasing graphical sense.

I would prefer to call the "grey" silver :smile: Anyway, my idea was to have the skin be mostly silver and have flashes of accent color. For those of you who think the skin is too distracting as is, imagine if I added even more color into the templates!

The status of the old skin is actually not so safe. The staff and I are discussing whether to create a no frills and thrills version of the new skin. It would help in forum updating and overall creates a consistant experience for everyone.

As gokul said the new member status indicator was fairly mysterious and not everyone understood or caught on what it ment. However if color is your thing, you can just think of it as orange text means they are on, grey text means they aren't, no reading involved :smile:

GENIERE

Nov16-05, 08:03 PM

Les Sleeth

Nov16-05, 11:28 PM

This has been noted a few times, which elements exactly make it look like a gaming forum? Also some say space age, if you could do the same and describe which elements give you this feel? I have a certain feeling that there is one element that makes everyone feel this way and I want to see if I'm right. I don't think it's the site header nor the buttons if you consider them independently. Anyway please describe and we can go from there.

Greg, I have liked every graphic change you've made until this one. If I were to give my impression of the "feel" you ask about it's that it is metallic, and too monotone. It gives me a headache, no kidding! My eyes are stressing trying to find stuff.

I like the softer and warmer feel of the last skin much more; on the practical side I could see all the choices better and it loaded substantially faster too (I'm using Mac system 10.4.4). I feel like I've been sucked into robot world. :tongue2:

vanesch

Nov17-05, 01:38 AM

I have to say that overall, I like the new thing. Yesterday, I switched back to the old skin for a few hours, and no, I switched back to the new one because finally I liked it more. I like it, it is less "imposing", and the nice thing about the grey (eh, sorry, silver :smile:) overall impression is that the few colored items stand out clearly.
The only thing I'd like to say is that the tiny symbols representing thread status (new posts...) are a bit, well, tiny. The green or grey arrow of the old skin was clearer in that respect.

Moonbear

Nov17-05, 07:04 AM

It's odd; I seem to have such an opposite reaction as others describe to the gray vs white background for text. I just switched briefly back to the old skin after using the new one exclusively since it was released, and it just seemed too harsh and bright. To me, the grays (erm...silver) are more calm and soothing and easier on my eyes (blues and grays are supposed to be soothing colors...this might make for an interesting psychology thread of what colors people find soothing and why). The funny thing is that when I first saw the skin, I was worried that people would react to it being too colorful, not that they'd find it too monotone; that actually really surprised me to see that comment. I like that it has a lot of texture to it. The colors are used to create light and shadows and give the whole page a feeling of depth.

I happen to like that bright colors are mostly only used on elements that should catch your attention now, but without clashing with the overall scheme. The color seems to have more functionality now than in the old skin, so no longer should new people be saying they can't find the quote button or don't know what the green light means, or hunted everywhere and can't find the forum guidelines. To me, this just makes it much easier to navigate. In the old skin, sure, we had those green quote buttons, but they clashed so horribly compared to everything else that they disrupted the calmness. And the former icons indicated threads with new posts, or hot threads, or locked threads, etc, were just so overly colorful that they began to lose meaning...it was hard to spot one color amidst the sea of color.

I just love the very modern feel. Then again, this is the sort of look and feel I like for a workplace. I agree with the others who have suggested the "eyes" on the header bar could go or be toned down to look less like eyes, but really, that's all I would change at this point.

Les Sleeth

Nov17-05, 10:10 AM

The staff and I are discussing whether to create a no frills and thrills version of the new skin. It would help in forum updating and overall creates a consistant experience for everyone.

Does that include eliminating guru status?

Greg Bernhardt

Nov17-05, 11:22 AM

Does that include eliminating guru status?

I'm not sure what you mean.

Monique

Nov17-05, 11:38 AM

zanazzi78, I think you have one of the more thoughtful replies to the new skin and I appreciate that. Ok, let's be more specific then. I think the font that is used in the site header is making it look very spacey. At least for me, the italized letters and the particular font remind me of the intro of the series 'Star trek'. You know the moment when, at the end of the intro, the starship Enterprise goes into warp and shoots of the screen and the title Star trek appears? That's my association. I think a non-italized font would take away most of the spacey-ness.
The secondary header (with the "eyes") is what I was thinking of when people said it seemed gamey too. Since that part is not really directed to any function of the forum I might be flexible and if I have time try to create a secondary header that meets peoples needs a little better. Yes, I think changing the eyes will take away the gamey-ness. Maybe change it for a balls-n-sticks molecule model or a double helix.

enigma

Nov17-05, 11:43 AM

Does that include eliminating guru status?

We're coming up on the votes for Guru 2006 pretty soon. I think they were removed to make space for the new winners. :smile:

Astronuc

Nov17-05, 01:19 PM

Interestingly the 2004 Guru badges are still visible in the PF classic skin.

Greg Bernhardt

Nov17-05, 02:22 PM

KingNothing

Nov17-05, 05:57 PM

The little green circles I think really contribute to the "game site" look. And the "pill" effects on just about everything. But overall, I like it, it's more visually pleasing to me even if it doesn't look as sophisticated.

cscott

Nov17-05, 08:47 PM

Greg Bernhardt

Nov17-05, 09:39 PM

I've taken off alot of effects off the secondary header, what do ya'll think?

Les Sleeth

Nov17-05, 09:56 PM

The main reason I took down the guru awards a little early was the fact the graphics background color clashed with the new silver skin and I didn't feel like editing them to match when we are about to replace them.

But why not allow past awards to show on members' posts, like with Marcus' "expert" award? It is a way of showing appreciation for participation.

Greg Bernhardt

Nov17-05, 10:00 PM

But why not allow past awards to show on members' posts, like with Marcus' "expert" award? It is a way of showing appreciation for participation.

Marcus uses his award as an avatar. There is only so much room in the postbit and the postbit template would be littered with conditionals after a few years.

Danger

Nov17-05, 10:08 PM

what do ya'll think?
I like it fine, as I did the previous version. I also think that the 3-D effect for the quote boxes is pretty neat.

KingNothing

Nov17-05, 11:28 PM

I think these things look good, but not necessarily good for this forum:

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/9093/gamesite18fn.jpg
http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/2910/gamesite25md.jpg

Other than that, I like it better than the old layout. It does look kind of "game-forum-like", but I have to say the very top that says "Physics Forums" is one of the prettiest designs I've ever seen. I love it!

KingNothing

Nov17-05, 11:31 PM

Contrast is poor, especially for my old eyes. I have four choices of `reading glasses’ to focus at ~ 6”, 14”, 24”, and 36’’. Normally I use the 36” pair to browse the web but for PF I find I have to use the 24” pair and move closer to the monitor.
Black text on a gray background in message area is a problem for me.

For you and for anyone else that might have a specific problem, you CAN use the old skin. It's at the very bottom of the options menu within your control panel. Select PF Classic instead of PF Nexus.

Bio-Hazard

Nov18-05, 12:53 AM

Wow, this dialog box sure took some time to load...

Ok, I like it, but I don't approve of it.
Reasons: Loading time.
Problem: Person on dial-up gets screwed.
Answer: Allow ability to change skin.

Me: I'm on adsl/dsl don't know.. but it did take some time to load which kind of kills the process of browsing and giving a quick reply which just annoys me having been on the web so long. I want it now and here, that's how I work.

Greg Bernhardt

Nov18-05, 01:00 AM

Wow, this dialog box sure took some time to load...
Ok, I like it, but I don't approve of it.
Reasons: Loading time.
Problem: Person on dial-up gets screwed.
Answer: Allow ability to change skin.
Me: I'm on adsl/dsl don't know.. but it did take some time to load which kind of kills the process of browsing and giving a quick reply which just annoys me having been on the web so long. I want it now and here, that's how I work.

I am working on optimizing things. Also you can change skins. Look to your lower left.

gerben

Nov18-05, 01:48 AM

I do not like the new lay-out, to me PF now looks like a sci-fi site.

The things that I particularly dislike are what KingNothing pointed at in post #50, and even more the vertical black and gray lines with a column of grey circles in between that are taking up screen space on both the left and right site of the screen.

zanazzi78

Nov18-05, 08:30 AM

I've taken off alot of effects off the secondary header, what do ya'll think?

That`s a lot better , it`s a sutbtle change (since i didn`t notice it at first), the removal of theose circles doesn`t highlight the bar as much, yet keeping the triangular shape draws the eye in and down.

Oooh, i've just found the arrows that make the reply box bigger or smaller, nice touch.

(Still not seeing the groan smilie:grumpy: )

Bio-Hazard

Nov18-05, 10:51 AM

I really bdon't like the sidebar menu because i have to move the mouse a few more inches over to the right. Of course you could call me lazy, but I liked it when all of the little buttons were next to each other. The sidebar menu with blog and etc.. just seems unnecessary and reminds me of early html techniques to create such a thing. usually people decided to stop using those types of things and go to a jump menu option.. the drop-down menu type thing..