Yes, please do. This goes to anyone that knows web design. I am a programmer, I can handle getting the needed features in, but when it comes to the visual portion I can use any and all help. I will go any direction that would look the most pleasing.
Maybe we can complicate the thing a little, at the resource center have a script that grabs all the submitted styles and display them through a drop down box. Then we will be able to really see them, and vote on them right there.
But as I say, I believe it is not just a color thing. Once you have seen the most voted one for 3 weeks you will think another one is "more cool".
Scream is well known to *never* keep an eye on the opposition
I hope that's not entirely the case... Believe me, in customizing my forum, I have probably been to every competing product site to see what features they have that I want, how others have designed sites, etc... And it's mainly because I know what I want on my forums, but I'm always open to cool ideas. I've tried to build my system around w3t that will match and beat ubb, vbulletin and espn forums, and even w3t to some extent, and I think I've done it.
Right now the only thing vbulletin has that I don't is the info on the main page that shows total reg'd users / threads / topics, last member and active topics (at least the last time I looked). The only reason I don't have them implemented yet is that my site isn't even live yet and I don't want to show 5 topics on my main page... And since from what I've seen with vBulletin really being a UBB clone, there isn't anything UBB really has that I don't have. And as for espn, the only thing they have that I don't is their recommendation feature, where you can recommend posts as another alternative for rating them compared to views.
And I think there are plenty of things I have that one or another of these don't - quasi-subcategories, a useful working poll, linking to the last post from the forum listing, limiting posts to last x days, poster info on each message (which gets updated daily so as not to show old titles), linking to replies in flat mode (okay, it only works when there are two pages or less), special notes in forums with no posts yet or in last x days, error info trapping into a separate table, importing users from a flat text file and probably a few other things I have forgotten. And the only thing I'm really waiting on to launch is a little feedback from my visitors and for someone to finish up all new buttons/icons for me.
So, I'm open to any and all suggestions. What can be done to improve the visual attractiveness of this product?
Scream, you probably aren't going to like my answer, but my suggestion would be to hire a professional web/graphic designer to focus specifically on page layout, logo development, all that stuff and all of it together as a whole package... From what I've read here in the forums, you've probably lost sales to other products because of the look. And if you think that's the case, then it's probably worth investing some money in the design, and you can continue to focus specifically on the code, which it sounds like is what you would prefer doing.
Trying to change a header here, a color scheme there is only going to probably make it look worse, because there are too many different elements involved in this. You have a reasonably impressive client list (even if a few are running older versions) and a good look on your home page (although I'm not really partial to sites that use black backgrounds), but it sort of dies after your home page. And I'd probably dump the logo for vwdesigns on your home page since they appear to have closed shop, at least according to their site...
Yes, it is true that I make a point of not visiting other forums. Naturally I surf the web and have come across sites that use other forum products, but I don't go visiting the competition. Why? Because when you do, no matter how hard you try you are going to pick up something from their site and try to put it into yours. And then everything ends up looking the same. I've been developing WWWThreads for almost 4 years now, and anything that I've added has either come from my imagination or from a user suggestion. So, when someone suggests a feature that another forum has I'll try and implement it in my own way, not in how I saw it on another site.
It's just a personal thing with me I guess.[]/w3timages/icons/crazy.gif[/] Like Eileen said, the user's here keep me very well informed on what needs to be added[]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/].
I've tried to work with a few professional designers and while they have had some good suggestions it has always wound up being something that wouldn't be good for a stock release. Again, as with the feature requests, I tend to heavily rely on the people that actually use the product. The users know what they need it to do and how it should look. Because they aren't going to suggest a change that is going to limit the functionality.
And I guess I am looking for more of a band-aid solution at this point. Like I said in another thread, it looks as if the PHP version will make templates a definite possibility so there is no use in gutting the thing at this point.
>>I would love to have an ugly plain text version of the PHP version, and just be able to give it the design I want.
I would LOVE that too. Perhaps one could be made available in the registered download area for people like us who prefer to do our own dressup. As it is, half our work goes into getting rid of the hardcoded layout before we can even start doing our own.
That will come. The initial port will have the same look as the PERL version. But, by the time I get done with the port I should have a good grasp on PHP and be able to dive into putting templates into it, which will make this very possible.
Very sound thinking. I've also noticed a trend over the years for everything on a webpage to get progressively smaller and neater. If I look back at stuff I did in the early days it looks hugely big, sprawling and crude by todays standards. We have narrower columns, smaller fonts and decidedly smaller graphics.
Yes, and if you do make a set of buttons for the menu bar, here is a suggestion. I would like to combine the "Edit Profile", "Send Private" and "Check Private" links into one button. Say something like a button called "My Page" or something of that nature. Need to clear up some screen real esate[]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/].
Yeah, because you can do all 3 things from there anyway. So the buttons still need to be somewhat small, but this would help clean up the upper area for adding some of the new things.
For example, here are some buttons that I was thinking of for when you are logged out. some buttons
"My Page" sounds a little ambigous. Or maybe that's the idea, "what the hell is 'my page', I guess I'll click on it." []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/] Something like "My Preferences" or "My Profile" would seem more consistent with general known terminology.
Well, it needs to be something that means alot. Because from this page, you check your private messages, you can send private messages, edit your profile. Eventually this will have your bookmarked threads as well. So, it's not necessarily just prefences or profile. Doesn't have to be called "My Page", so I'm open to ideas.
Very, very nice... although, small font looks nice to me, from a design point of view. []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/] I'll make something similar to that when I submit some style sheets... when I get the chance.
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