Skin Testing - Changelog
- Thread starter zoogs
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AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
Damn right. I'm not old - I'm experienced!Sure, call everyone else old
See? The voice of experience!
knapplc
Active member
Old farts? At 40, I think I'm older than Eric, correct?
Someone had mentioned that this site was SLOOOW now for them. I'm getting the same thing, but only at home. I thought maybe it was the emoticons but now I'm thinking it's just the test environment. Is QB Test on a different server than QB Sneak?
zoogs
New member
I can't think of anything obvious that would make it much slower other than the flash module. Or the scoreboard, but we had a scoreboard on the old theme too. Not sure if the backend is very different. But in that case, it would be on both QBTest and QBSkin. We could experiment with making the forum marker icons a little smaller (the ones that read "HB") - but I don't think that would have any noticeable effect.
Don't know why, but I thought knapp and Eric were almost 60...gosh, now I'm embarrassed. :wacko:
Don't know why, but I thought knapp and Eric were almost 60...gosh, now I'm embarrassed. :wacko:
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AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
In Eric's case, the words of Indiana Jones are of particular import. "It ain't the age - it's the miles..."
Both skins are on the same server, so that wouldn't cause the problem. And I don't think the graphics would cause that much of a lag - unless, perhaps, it's the pebbled background. But I can't see the icons making much, if any difference. It would be interesting to see if the you and the other member had something in common in terms of software or equipment - speed of your connection, browser and version, whether you're running through a proxy, etc. That would help.
zoogs
New member
A few more wrinkles added in since the QB Live switch (not reflected in QBL or QBLive so far, but I can do that easily enough by updating globalTemplate and ipb_styles.css):
* Search popup altered Wasn't happy with the changes I made to the search bar earlier, so I changed it to emulate how it works in QBSneak. I also changed the 'advanced search button' from white to dark, so it's visible against the light background. Not sure if I like this look better, or dark-on-white (QBSneak).
* Secondary bars(.bars and the stuff under polls) had a bright red gradient that didn't go well with the solid red background of the title bar. See http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/46782-huskerboard-banner-contest-voting-open/ for an example. Changed to white text on solid dark red. The text that tells you how many people voted (.desc) was changed from dull gray to light, to make it easier to read against the background. Also the area that says "Pick Your Favorite Banner" has some space now on the bottom between it and the voting options.
* Moderated posts are now tinted slightly red as they were before, as opposed to slightly darker gray. The darker gray looks better, but then, it's harder to distinguish it as a post put under approval.
* 'Member Tools': this is less of a tweak and more of a different idea. The board right now looks different for moderators and admins than it does for members, because of the black bar we have going on top of the screen. That actually looks very nice and frames the page in a nice way for us, and it's disappointing that members are missing that. So this was just an aesthetics-driven idea, that members can get a bar of their very own up there. Instead of "Mod Tools", it says "Member Tools", and the three links I have now are "My Content", "Edit Profile", and "Active Content" - though I'm not wedded to these particular choices at all.
The idea was that these could be useful tools that could be less buried. 'Active Content' is a link on the very bottom of the page, and it show's the day's topics of conversation. Edit profile is probably a common operation that right now takes three clicks and a page transition to get to. And 'My Content' shows the threads you've been talking in lately. On the right, I added a static link to 'HuskerNation store' so we have something for that aside from the banner.
Originally I thought this would be a members-only thing, with the Admin toolbar a mods/admins only tool, but in case you want to use the members' toolbar as well, I added a down arrow right before "Mod Tools" in our toolbar, that expands and opens up the Members Toolbar so we can see it. I can commit the changes to everything but the last bit to QBL/QBLive, and want to get opinions on how useful you guys think the Member Tools bar is. I added it mostly for the looks, and it does look better (sign out to see the board without the nice black admin bar). This is only visible in QBTest, so switch to that if you want to see it.
On another note, a personal pet peeve of mine, is the popup moderating icons when you mouseover threads in a forum. For long thread titles, it moves them around and I often end up clicking one of the buttons instead of the thread title I'm trying to get to. I've accidentally pinned or locked threads before, and have gotten the 'delete thread?' prompt a few times too. Anyone else have that problem? Any ideas what to do about it?
* Search popup altered Wasn't happy with the changes I made to the search bar earlier, so I changed it to emulate how it works in QBSneak. I also changed the 'advanced search button' from white to dark, so it's visible against the light background. Not sure if I like this look better, or dark-on-white (QBSneak).
* Secondary bars(.bars and the stuff under polls) had a bright red gradient that didn't go well with the solid red background of the title bar. See http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/46782-huskerboard-banner-contest-voting-open/ for an example. Changed to white text on solid dark red. The text that tells you how many people voted (.desc) was changed from dull gray to light, to make it easier to read against the background. Also the area that says "Pick Your Favorite Banner" has some space now on the bottom between it and the voting options.
* Moderated posts are now tinted slightly red as they were before, as opposed to slightly darker gray. The darker gray looks better, but then, it's harder to distinguish it as a post put under approval.
* 'Member Tools': this is less of a tweak and more of a different idea. The board right now looks different for moderators and admins than it does for members, because of the black bar we have going on top of the screen. That actually looks very nice and frames the page in a nice way for us, and it's disappointing that members are missing that. So this was just an aesthetics-driven idea, that members can get a bar of their very own up there. Instead of "Mod Tools", it says "Member Tools", and the three links I have now are "My Content", "Edit Profile", and "Active Content" - though I'm not wedded to these particular choices at all.
The idea was that these could be useful tools that could be less buried. 'Active Content' is a link on the very bottom of the page, and it show's the day's topics of conversation. Edit profile is probably a common operation that right now takes three clicks and a page transition to get to. And 'My Content' shows the threads you've been talking in lately. On the right, I added a static link to 'HuskerNation store' so we have something for that aside from the banner.
Originally I thought this would be a members-only thing, with the Admin toolbar a mods/admins only tool, but in case you want to use the members' toolbar as well, I added a down arrow right before "Mod Tools" in our toolbar, that expands and opens up the Members Toolbar so we can see it. I can commit the changes to everything but the last bit to QBL/QBLive, and want to get opinions on how useful you guys think the Member Tools bar is. I added it mostly for the looks, and it does look better (sign out to see the board without the nice black admin bar). This is only visible in QBTest, so switch to that if you want to see it.
On another note, a personal pet peeve of mine, is the popup moderating icons when you mouseover threads in a forum. For long thread titles, it moves them around and I often end up clicking one of the buttons instead of the thread title I'm trying to get to. I've accidentally pinned or locked threads before, and have gotten the 'delete thread?' prompt a few times too. Anyone else have that problem? Any ideas what to do about it?
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knapplc
Active member
I'm not seeing the Member Tools and Moderated Posts changes. Where should I be seeing that?
I know exactly what you're talking about with the mod icons next to thread titles. I have accidentally "modded" posts before, too. The only suggestion I can think of, which probably isn't a good solution, is to shorten the allowable characters in thread titles. Or we could make the area for Stats and Last Post Info smaller, since both seem to be about twice as big as necessary.
One request – in the olden days, when a post was reported the Active Reports link in the Mod Tools up top would turn red. Now it stays white and shows the number of current reported posts. Can we make that go red again when posts are reported?
I know exactly what you're talking about with the mod icons next to thread titles. I have accidentally "modded" posts before, too. The only suggestion I can think of, which probably isn't a good solution, is to shorten the allowable characters in thread titles. Or we could make the area for Stats and Last Post Info smaller, since both seem to be about twice as big as necessary.
One request – in the olden days, when a post was reported the Active Reports link in the Mod Tools up top would turn red. Now it stays white and shows the number of current reported posts. Can we make that go red again when posts are reported?
AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
Have you changed to the QB Test skin? The changes he's talking about are limited to the QB Test skin for the moment.
AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
Definitely needs the contrast. I prefer a dark button-light background, myself.
Ummmm - I think this needs to be a black or dark gray. The difference is not noticeable enough to really tell that you're looking at two distinct lines or borders, but they are just different enough to catch the eye. What I mean, is that unless you really look, you can't tell there are two different colors - but it's enough that you start searching. Kind of like thinking you see something out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn your head to look, nothing's there.
Agreed. Much more distinct.
I love this. Very handy. One suggestion - I'd drop one of the two contents (Active Content or My Content) and substitue Manage Ignored Users (http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=members&area=ignoredusers). That's a useful tool that's kind of buried.
Never had a problem with them, and I like the quick functionality. I suspect I don't see the "movement" issue because of my screen and resolution - I have a lot of real estate (27" screen, 1920 x 1200 resolution). We are talking about the five icons that are "ghosted" until, as you note, you mouse over them? They include Pin/Unpin, Lock/Unlock, Preview Post, etc.?
AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
I made a couple of tweaks to the Mod Tools bar, and the Member Tools bar.
For the Mod Tools bar, I've added a separator (two colons) between the categories. Those changes are on lines 50-51 and 55-56. Perhaps it's old eyes, but with the text so small, it's a visual aide that helps me. You may not like it - if so, we can easily remove it.
For the Member Tools bar, I've also added the separators. Those additions are on lines 85-86, 88-89, and 91-92. I've also added the link to Manage Ignored Users - that change is on line 90. Again, if we want to remove them, we can easily.
Thoughts?
I realize that there's a more elegant way to code the separators, but for a down-and-dirty demo, this works.
For the Mod Tools bar, I've added a separator (two colons) between the categories. Those changes are on lines 50-51 and 55-56. Perhaps it's old eyes, but with the text so small, it's a visual aide that helps me. You may not like it - if so, we can easily remove it.
For the Member Tools bar, I've also added the separators. Those additions are on lines 85-86, 88-89, and 91-92. I've also added the link to Manage Ignored Users - that change is on line 90. Again, if we want to remove them, we can easily.
Thoughts?
I realize that there's a more elegant way to code the separators, but for a down-and-dirty demo, this works.
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zoogs
New member
AR, that's a great idea (Manage Ignored Users). I think we can consolidate My Content into Active Content. I don't like the separators really, but then again, when I get to AR's age I may need them
I think the :'s look a little too heavy/pronounced. What do you think of using smaller, grayed out | instead? I also spaced things out a little and made the link font bold, and the title ("Mod Tools") smaller. Not really wedded to this look either, so we can change everything back too.
In QBTest, if there are Active Reports, that link is now red. Funny thing is before it changed color too, but only so slightly.
I think the :'s look a little too heavy/pronounced. What do you think of using smaller, grayed out | instead? I also spaced things out a little and made the link font bold, and the title ("Mod Tools") smaller. Not really wedded to this look either, so we can change everything back too.
In QBTest, if there are Active Reports, that link is now red. Funny thing is before it changed color too, but only so slightly.
Fair enough - must be a screen res thing. Hopefully there's a solution for smaller resolutions, without affecting larger ones. If not we'll leave things as is.
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AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
The vertical slash works for me. Oh, and don't worry about what will happen when you get to my age - all of a sudden the odds of that happening for you look real slim, buster... :cop:AR, that's a great idea (Manage Ignored Users). I think we can consolidate My Content into Active Content. I don't like the separators really, but then again, when I get to AR's age I may need them
I think the :'s look a little too heavy/pronounced. What do you think of using smaller, grayed out | instead? I also spaced things out a little and made the link font bold, and the title ("Mod Tools") smaller. Not really wedded to this look either, so we can change everything back too.
In QBTest, if there are Active Reports, that link is now red. Funny thing is before it changed color too, but only so slightly.
Fair enough - must be a screen res thing. Hopefully there's a solution for smaller resolutions, without affecting larger ones. If not we'll leave things as is.
As for the icons in the row with a topic title, what about this - remove two of them. The two I never use is the Rename Topic and View Topic Preview. Do any of you use them? I'm thinking that if we remove those two, it might create space for all but the longest titles.
AR Husker Fan
Team HuskerBoard
Let's go ahead and commit the changes to QB Live and QBL - these are all excellent changes. By that, I mean:
1. Members' Toolbar
2. Bolded text/links, with vertical slashes, to the Members' Tool bar and the Mod Tools toolbar
3. If you can't meld the Active Content and My Content, go with whichever you believe would be best - I personally feel that Active Content would be best for most people, as it's a handy way to see all the new material by everyone.
4. Active Reports link to Red when there is an actual active report.
5. Moderated Posts changes.
Of the other changes, here's my thoughts:
1. Search pop-up alterations - we need to make that button more distinct. Too light now.
2. Secondary bars - still think that should be black, for a couple of reasons. First, the current colors are close enough that it looks, at first glance, like a single, large block. Second, there is just enough difference in the color that it kind of bugs you - you end up looking at it and thinking, "Something's not right here."
If you'd like me to help, let me know. I can either make the alterations noted above, or I can commit the changes to the QB Live and QBL, or both. Just let me know so we don't end up working over each other.
1. Members' Toolbar
2. Bolded text/links, with vertical slashes, to the Members' Tool bar and the Mod Tools toolbar
3. If you can't meld the Active Content and My Content, go with whichever you believe would be best - I personally feel that Active Content would be best for most people, as it's a handy way to see all the new material by everyone.
4. Active Reports link to Red when there is an actual active report.
5. Moderated Posts changes.
Of the other changes, here's my thoughts:
1. Search pop-up alterations - we need to make that button more distinct. Too light now.
2. Secondary bars - still think that should be black, for a couple of reasons. First, the current colors are close enough that it looks, at first glance, like a single, large block. Second, there is just enough difference in the color that it kind of bugs you - you end up looking at it and thinking, "Something's not right here."
If you'd like me to help, let me know. I can either make the alterations noted above, or I can commit the changes to the QB Live and QBL, or both. Just let me know so we don't end up working over each other.
zoogs
New member
I'll go ahead and commit those changes now. Few things:
1. I reverted the bold on the links in the menu bar.
2. Keeping both Active and My Content for now, but moving them next to each other.
3. I put the original search button back, and made it a dark background again.
4. Oops, forgot about this! It's now a dark gray. There seems to be one other variation of the secondary bar (aside from the one appearing under polls), but I forget what it is/where it went. Can anyone find that? We may need to change that style definition to make it consistent, but I'm just not sure where it is anymore. I saw it once though.
5. Changed the member bar so that if the user is not signed it, it says "Welcome, Guest!" Another thought was that we could have the sign in form here, so you don't have to click a link to sign in. Wonder if the duplication of links would be OK though ('sign in' and 'register' are links on the red bar below the main navigation already)
6. Members can't access QBTest anymore. Mods/Admins should still see it in the drop down, for now.
I took off cacti's banner temporarily, to make it easier to commit changes to QBL/QBLive. I'll throw up a demo of that afterwards, also work on the pink that appears in the Articles section. It seems there's some unused stuff under "Categories" on the sidebar of that page too: http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/articles/board-reorganization-r9. These changes are isolated to ipcontent.css, so these changes can be committed independent of any logo image testing.
Also I'm starting to wonder if the thread marker icons only (not the former icons) from the old skin, aren't better than the entire set we have in the new one. What does everyone else think?
1. I reverted the bold on the links in the menu bar.
2. Keeping both Active and My Content for now, but moving them next to each other.
3. I put the original search button back, and made it a dark background again.
4. Oops, forgot about this! It's now a dark gray. There seems to be one other variation of the secondary bar (aside from the one appearing under polls), but I forget what it is/where it went. Can anyone find that? We may need to change that style definition to make it consistent, but I'm just not sure where it is anymore. I saw it once though.
5. Changed the member bar so that if the user is not signed it, it says "Welcome, Guest!" Another thought was that we could have the sign in form here, so you don't have to click a link to sign in. Wonder if the duplication of links would be OK though ('sign in' and 'register' are links on the red bar below the main navigation already)
6. Members can't access QBTest anymore. Mods/Admins should still see it in the drop down, for now.
I took off cacti's banner temporarily, to make it easier to commit changes to QBL/QBLive. I'll throw up a demo of that afterwards, also work on the pink that appears in the Articles section. It seems there's some unused stuff under "Categories" on the sidebar of that page too: http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/page/index.html/_/articles/board-reorganization-r9. These changes are isolated to ipcontent.css, so these changes can be committed independent of any logo image testing.
Also I'm starting to wonder if the thread marker icons only (not the former icons) from the old skin, aren't better than the entire set we have in the new one. What does everyone else think?
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