Forum will be under construction/New Layout

[Axiom Awaits]

Just to let everyone know, the forum will be 'under construction' for a bit this weekend while I move the new layout over. Hopefully I wont run into any major issues and it wont be down for very long. I'm pretty happy with the way everything turned out. I'm sure there will be some things I need to tweak, but I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks!

[Dax]

Loving the Heimerdinger avatar! I am also a LoL'er. xD

We get a shiny new layout?!

I am already loving the changes happening to the forum now, so I bet this new stuff will be even better.

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

Woohoo! I'm definitely loving and appreciating everything you have done for us, Axiom. All the little details and the bits of code you had to learn in order to install these cool new features will be well worth it, I think.


Hehe LoL is soooo addicting! I would probably play it all day if I could. I finally managed to turn Axiom onto it too. Though he's never actually played Heimerdinger, he thought the look of the character suited his role as "The Tech Guy" really well. ;]

[Ysopet]

I can't wait!

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

Pssst. Also, if you guys haven't already noticed, Axiom even remade all the little icons at the very bottom of your mini profiles under your avatar for the different ways of contact.

[The Ghost Writer]

Sick new icons! I think I have an idea now for what the new theme may feel like. My web-sense is tingling.

[Axiom Awaits]

Loving the Heimerdinger avatar! I am also a LoL'er. xD

Haha thanks! I play occasionally when I have time. I haven't actually played Heimerdinger, but he seemed to fit

Sick new icons! I think I have an idea now for what the new theme may feel like. My web-sense is tingling.

Thanks, dude. The new theme is a little bit of old with a little bit of new. I think the new features are cool. I hope they work well for everyone.

[The Ghost Writer]

It appears there is a break in the construction time, so I'll take this moment right quick to say the following message:

BRAVO, AXIOM! BRAVO!!!!

I know some Forumotion gurus that will have a web-design orgasm over this.

[Gunneh]

I'm, personally, not digging the light grey on the sides because it's clashing a bit with the stuff in the middle...and I don't really understand the grass that's blowing in the wind in the bottom-right corner... Plus, the Flash (or whatever) toolbar up top and the little tabs on the side may lag some of the users with slower connections....

It's shaping up alright, but that's just my opinion.

[Digital Muse]

I agree, the 'animations' are cool, but will slow things for people with slower dial-ups or iffy connections. For me, the tree at the top also takes up far too much screen space. I have to scroll down half a page to even see anything in the forums.

I also am slightly put off by the gray sides in the screen, it's as if the site has been 'shrunk' to fit some how.

A few tweaks and it should work better.

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

Well, as you guys have no doubt noticed, Axiom was able to get the new layout up tonight!

Some new features include the tabs on the right-hand side, which travel with you no matter where you scroll, thus granting you access to the most important things of the message board without having to go too far. This also includes a thesaurus, which is really handy for role-playing and writing in general (and is something I know I myself use quite frequently when I write). The thesaurus even opens up in the same window (something Axiom was adamant to figure out how to do), so you don't keep having to switch back and forth between windows just to use it. This bar can also be hidden (the the little arrows pointing inwards), and the arrows at the bottom pointing upwards will take you to the very top of the page, so you don't have to worry about scrolling all the way up any longer when you're down at the bottom of a long thread.

There is also a fantastic new navigation on the top of the main page with links to the central points of FoG. This makes the website seem more integrated rather than having that information found in stickies.

Your profiles also look a bit different and more like they're a part of the message board (rather than a part of the skin that got forgotten). The posts inside threads and the mini profiles look a bit spiffier as well.

Axiom worked many long hours on this, and missed some sleep (as well as some meals lol), and now the update is now complete. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as we do!

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

I agree, the 'animations' are cool, but will slow things for people with slower dial-ups or iffy connections. For me, th etree at the top also takes up far too much screm space. I have to scroll down half a page to even see anything in the forums.

I also am slightly put off by the gray sides in the screen, it's as if the site has been 'shrunk' to fit some how.

A few tweaks and it should work better.

Much of the new features were done in jQuery, not Flash, so there aren't any animations whatsoever. (They're "fake" animations, if you will.) Nothing should be slower than an average website. Also, the tree logo image at the top is the exact same size as the old banner was, so there shouldn't be any more scrolling for you than there was before (and actually a whole lot less, if you make use of the tabs on the sides).

As for the gray, is it just because you guys were used to it being darker before? It actually is meant to tie in with the rest of the grays and provide more contrast and visual interest rather than just being one really big dark page, as it was before.

[Axiom Awaits]

It appears there is a break in the construction time, so I'll take this moment right quick to say the following message:

BRAVO, AXIOM! BRAVO!!!!

I know some Forumotion gurus that will have a web-design orgasm over this.

Thank you very much, sir.


Not quite the reaction I was expecting, but oh well. If you don't care for the tabs at the side, you can hide them with the little white arrows at the top. They're meant to be helpful while you're writing. The navigation at the top and the side tabs are done with JQuery. It does have to load, but doesn't take nearly as long as Flash would. The background color ties in with other elements on the forum as well as give visual interest to the forum itself as Fate said (ie: twitter).

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

To expand a little bit more on the coloring of the new theme, the tabs at the top (Home, Profile, Messages, etc.), along with the "animated" tab navigation on the main page, the buttons (New Topic, Post Reply, etc.), the icons next to each forum and thread, and even this very text itself, is all gray and pulls everything together in terms of light and dark.

[The Ghost Writer]

I new it was JQuery when I saw it. For those that don't know, JQuery, in a sense, is a faster and more efficient cross-breed between JavaScript and HTML. The library was designed for speed in mind, as a matter of fact, and is ten times faster than straight JavaScript. A lot of your most popular websites use JQuery, but you don't even know it.

In layman's speech, JQuery is a compressed version of JavaScript. It's like compressing files on your computer through a .ZIP file. It saves time.

[Loki]

*Lets out a low, long whistle.*

I must say, I'm digging the new layout. Excellent work Axiom, it's very sexy.

[RavishingRen]

Loving the new layout already! I could barely contain how much I loved the old one, I'm about to burst here! Lol.

[Entity of Sin]

For me the actual message board is too thin. As in.. it isn't showing enough stuff width wise. Waaay to much gray on the left and right. In fact, half the page is pretty much consists of that gray left and right background.

I'm assuming this is going to change.

[Ten]

I was a little worried how things were gonna turn out but this is actually really nice(and those tabs on the side are awesome!). And hearing(reading) Fate explain all that you did for us and the reasons why, I'm also pretty much in agreement with the new aesthetic quality of things. Great job, Axiom! Beautiful work! =D

[Gadreille]

Everything is beautiful, well done. I agree that I am not really liking the grey on the sides. It's not really the color that is the issue for me...it's just wasted space. Those with smaller monitors won't even notice it, and I see why it was done, but it's just not very appealing to look at for those of us with larger monitors. I don't know if there is any fix for this, perhaps a soft image to give it the illusion of used space, or the ability to choose a wider version of the forum for those with larger monitors. If it stays like this, it isn't the end of the world, I just have to fight the urge to minimize the screen

[Tartra]

I like the tabs at the side. It's a smart feature.

Any chance the Shade Species images could shrink a bit? The Inkclaw wingtips; Bowtyne tail, nose, horns and front paw; and Grimalkin tail, nose and paws are all cut off. It's just their aura, but it looks messy and been bothering me.

(Oooh, Dictionary.com! I'm impressed!)

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

Thanks for all the feedback and comments, guys! I'm glad that overall, everyone seems to enjoy it!

It does seem that quite a few people aren't digging the width of the forum. It's the standard size for website content. However, we can change that if you guys aren't happy with it. I personally liked the thinner look, aesthetically, (although it is only 100 pixels thinner than the old layout) but I suppose we could use some more room for reading. Axiom actually made the mini profiles thinner too, to allow for more room in the posts. (He actually noticed that he has to fix it so that your avatar and the Shades stay inside the mini profiles, as they are extending beyond it at the moment).



EDIT: The forum width has been increased. It can't really get any larger than this, as it will start messing up how the top banner fits in, and the tabs on the side need room to expand, obviously. There's definitely much less gray space though on either side, so I hope that this is satisfying! :]



EDIT AGAIN: Also, for those of you interested, The Ghost Writer has taken the time to write up a review for the new them. Check it out!
http://recagenda.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/fog-comes-back-with-a-spooky-delight/

[Kathryn Lacey]

Wow! This looks absolutely amazing! I truly love the new layout. I know a lot of people are complaining about the "unused" grey space at the left and right, but the forum actually looks bigger to me for some reason. Maybe the colour contrasts simply create and illusion for me?

I love the tabs at the right. They will make my life a hell of a lot easier once I'm constantly aware they're there. I'll forget about them sometimes in the beginning and go through much hassle when I do.

The Thesaurus tab was extremely clever, especially how it stays in the window so one has no need to switch back and forth between tabs/windows.

I really love the grass at the bottom right and the tree banner. They're beautiful.

Thank you soooooo much, Axiom and Fate, for all of your hard work on this!

[Silvan Arrow]

I didn't really notice the gray on the sides until people started pointing it out. I could see where it could be a shade darker, but then it would take out the visual contrast with the side tabs and you wouldn't be able to see them as easily.

Overall, I'm absolutely loving the new layout! I had a bit of a double-take when I opened FoG for the first time today and was like, "WHOA! IT'S SO DIFFERENT! COOL!" I like that the layout is new and exciting but still preserves the atmosphere, the "essence" if you will, of the forum. The Shade icons were a fantastic touch before the major layout change, and now it's all come together very nicely. Thank you for all your hard work, Axiom and Fate!

[Dio the Awesome]

I must contain myself before I get too vulgar with how much of a hard on this new lay out is giving me. Oops, too late. The grey is not very noticeable on my laptop, but it may be an issue of my desktop, since I have a massive monitor, I'm not sure. I love the new art at the top, and I want to make sweet sweet love to the tabby things on the side.

Edit. Oh hey, the saurus opens up into the empty grey space, so that it won't end up covering text. Snazzy.

[The Ghost Writer]

I must contain myself before I get too vulgar with how much of a hard on this new lay out is giving me. Oops, too late.

EDIT AGAIN: Also, for those of you interested, The Ghost Writer has taken the time to write up a review for the new them. Check it out!
http://recagenda.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/fog-comes-back-with-a-spooky-delight/

How many times must I thank you today?

[Dax]

WOW

Ok, yes, my expectations were exceeded. I won't rant like I usually do because it seems to have been covered by most people PLUS that amazing article from Ghost Writer pretty much summed up how I feel about the new layout!

Nice job Axiom, very impressive.

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

It appears as if the Forumotion host has just decided to go down right now. Axiom is looking into it.

[The Ghost Writer]

Three letters. Who can guess them?

[Tryne, the Time Traveler]

FFU? (Forumotion Fuck Up)

It should be all working now, I hope.

Thanks so much for the compliments, guys. I know Axiom appreciates it.