@SaladStraightShooter I noticed that threads older than November 2011 are no more accessible. Maybe it would be better to only lock them instead of hiding them forever.
I used to find useful tips here and now I can't anymore
@MarkonTheIron, Yeah, trust me- we FEEL your pain with the login issue and between our GameSalad staff and our forum host we are trying to iron out those kinks ASAP!
Yup.... I can see how the plan is to cram more info into the screen... but like Tynan said, it could really do with some love from a design specialist... its painful to look at, and looks a bit of a mess.
Also.. for all the attention spent on the last couple of revamps to the website... access to the Tutorials, Wiki, and Cookbook videos seem to be getting worse. The new points/quiz system is fun the first time... but after that looking for good, detailed information on behaviours & attributes etc is a chore.
There doesnt seem to be a quick, highly visible link to the Tutorial videos... I mean, I know where they are on YouTube, but that might not be the same for a lot of the newer users.
Its easier to go use the Tutorials on YouTube and over on GSHelper.com than it is to find the information on the actual GameSalad website.... something not quite right there!
Get rid of the panels around individual posts Shrink our profile pics Get rid of crazy colour blocks around name
It should be about reading and a pleasant natural flow - at the moment the eye darts around the page looking for somewhere to hide - it is still a typographical disaster.
Braydon_SFXMember, Sous Chef, Bowlboy SidekickPosts: 9,273
Just a note - I dont like that the first post of the thread is a different color... The users name is orange.
Now, this might be ironic to my sentance above, but... It would be cool if the purple bar with the users mane changed color based opon how many times they've posted etc. Or how many questions they've answered.
tenrdrmerMember, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-ChefPosts: 9,934
Im really starting to love the new layout to be honest. It was weird at first but the Orange for the top post is even nice. And I also like that chefs have purple bars around their names. Its nice to be able to pick those posts out.
I think this new layout for the most part makes the forums feel very fun to be here.
@beefy_clyro the forums links all default to Recent discussions now so theres four places on the page to click for that now. Top bar, The forums Header to the left of the activity link, at the bottom of the page on the forums link, and the small one over to the right the says recent posts.
I still can't stand this. The new features are nice, but not worth it. GameSalad changes the forums every 6 months, so at least I don't have to put up with it for too long. I personally would like to just have the original forums back until all the problems are worked out of this.
I still can't stand this. The new features are nice, but not worth it. GameSalad changes the forums every 6 months, so at least I don't have to put up with it for too long. I personally would like to just have the original forums back until all the problems are worked out of this.
actually, this is only the 2nd major change in the past 3 years that I can remember.
I think the only problem is that appearance wise it is just too white, it always takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust so I can find where everything is. I think it needs some colour separation for different areas so it isn't such an assault on the eyeballs!
Feedback is very welcome on this - as are suggestions of improvement. Simply saying "This is ugly" doesn't really give me a better idea of what could be improved, however.
I'm very happy about the new forum. Oh sure, I'm not crazy about the look, but I am happy about signatures. That's something that should have been on the forum years ago. And now... it's finally here. This simple change gives me a reason to frequent this website more often! (Hey GameSalad... Is my signature OK, or is it against the rules?)
GameSalad's Faction standing with Photics has improved!
So OK, I will try to help you. I'm a professional Web Developer / Designer.
1 - There's too much purple. On the web, purple generally means a link that you've visited. I don't recommend using purple for link colors. I doubt that's going to change, but it's one of the main problems I have with the site's design.
2 - Too much gray. I think the plain gray background gives the forum an unfinished feeling. The gray highlight on the numbers (block on the right side) also seems wrong to me.
3 - The new buttons (Insightful, Disagree, Agree, etc) add to the gray feeling, as they're usually grayed out. Maybe this part should be hidden instead of grayed. It could be a fly-out menu instead... or maybe styled differently.
4 - Why not have a competition? GameSalad may not be a community of code warriors, but there are lots of artists and designers here. If you're short on time to make improvements, maybe open up the site's design to the community — or even hire someone from the community. (Heh, not me though. I know how difficult this stuff can be. I don't have that kind of free time.)
What's good...
I actually like the two-column layout. I think that liquid layouts for forums don't work. It's hard to read a long line of text. Sure, that messes things up with the 27" iMac... which is why I usually have two browser windows open on the 27" iMac... one for Firefox and one for Safari.
Although, I think forums work better when the user data is on the left of side of the box and the post is on the right. With the layout as it is now, each post has a large spot of white space in-between every post. Usually the poster data is in one or the other... top or left. Here's it's both... wasting space on the left and the top.
So, in summary... get your colors straightened out. That's the main issue... and then maybe add some flavor with background textures. Fuss a bit more about spacing and style. I think the layout could be tighter. Heh... "Tighten up the graphics". The blocks could be more consistent too. Make them look more similar, instead of blocks just dropped in.
Also, not everyone is familiar with HTML. A WYSIWYG editor seems like a good idea.
It should be about reading and a pleasant natural flow - at the moment the eye darts around the page looking for somewhere to hide - it is still a typographical disaster.
Aesthetics aside (and the silly amount of redundancy) . . . . I can't help myself, but months after being admonished for my 'robust' criticism of the forum software I have to say that this forum software can often still be awful at times, can the log in issues just be resolved somehow, it doesn't seem like much to ask, I don't know of any other forum where it's users don't know from month to month whether they can even log-in successfully and stay logged in.
Been away for a few days getting setup for my new job and come back to lots of changes Forums now look a lot better on the eyes and have managed to login 1st time without any dramas! Awesome
Comments
And also- we just adjusted the default main page of the forums to be "Recent Discussions" instead of "Categories". Hope that helps too!
Thanks very very much!, Thats helps much
I used to find useful tips here and now I can't anymore
There's still that little problem about the login though... :!!
Yep, it's a cluttered mess.
I see your post has been flagged 5 times as 'trolling' - simply for expressing your opinion
Also.. for all the attention spent on the last couple of revamps to the website... access to the Tutorials, Wiki, and Cookbook videos seem to be getting worse. The new points/quiz system is fun the first time... but after that looking for good, detailed information on behaviours & attributes etc is a chore.
There doesnt seem to be a quick, highly visible link to the Tutorial videos... I mean, I know where they are on YouTube, but that might not be the same for a lot of the newer users.
Its easier to go use the Tutorials on YouTube and over on GSHelper.com than it is to find the information on the actual GameSalad website.... something not quite right there!
Shrink our profile pics
Get rid of crazy colour blocks around name
It should be about reading and a pleasant natural flow - at the moment the eye darts around the page looking for somewhere to hide - it is still a typographical disaster.
Now, this might be ironic to my sentance above, but...
It would be cool if the purple bar with the users mane changed color based opon how many times they've posted etc. Or how many questions they've answered.
Just something I thought of today. :P
My GameSalad Academy Courses! ◦ Check out my quality templates! ◦ Add me on Skype: braydon_sfx
I think this new layout for the most part makes the forums feel very fun to be here.
@beefy_clyro the forums links all default to Recent discussions now so theres four places on the page to click for that now. Top bar, The forums Header to the left of the activity link, at the bottom of the page on the forums link, and the small one over to the right the says recent posts.
Vanilla made changes, making the old forum uncompatible.
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<< that direction and it might be better...
Cheers
It’s not a bug – it’s an undocumented feature
I'm very happy about the new forum. Oh sure, I'm not crazy about the look, but I am happy about signatures. That's something that should have been on the forum years ago. And now... it's finally here. This simple change gives me a reason to frequent this website more often! (Hey GameSalad... Is my signature OK, or is it against the rules?)
GameSalad's Faction standing with Photics has improved!
So OK, I will try to help you. I'm a professional Web Developer / Designer.
1 - There's too much purple. On the web, purple generally means a link that you've visited. I don't recommend using purple for link colors. I doubt that's going to change, but it's one of the main problems I have with the site's design.
2 - Too much gray. I think the plain gray background gives the forum an unfinished feeling. The gray highlight on the numbers (block on the right side) also seems wrong to me.
3 - The new buttons (Insightful, Disagree, Agree, etc) add to the gray feeling, as they're usually grayed out. Maybe this part should be hidden instead of grayed. It could be a fly-out menu instead... or maybe styled differently.
4 - Why not have a competition? GameSalad may not be a community of code warriors, but there are lots of artists and designers here. If you're short on time to make improvements, maybe open up the site's design to the community — or even hire someone from the community. (Heh, not me though. I know how difficult this stuff can be. I don't have that kind of free time.)
What's good...
I actually like the two-column layout. I think that liquid layouts for forums don't work. It's hard to read a long line of text. Sure, that messes things up with the 27" iMac... which is why I usually have two browser windows open on the 27" iMac... one for Firefox and one for Safari.
Although, I think forums work better when the user data is on the left of side of the box and the post is on the right. With the layout as it is now, each post has a large spot of white space in-between every post. Usually the poster data is in one or the other... top or left. Here's it's both... wasting space on the left and the top.
So, in summary... get your colors straightened out. That's the main issue... and then maybe add some flavor with background textures. Fuss a bit more about spacing and style. I think the layout could be tighter. Heh... "Tighten up the graphics". The blocks could be more consistent too. Make them look more similar, instead of blocks just dropped in.
Also, not everyone is familiar with HTML. A WYSIWYG editor seems like a good idea.
http://forums.gamesalad.com/profile/scitunes
If your logged in youll see it.
My GameSalad Academy Courses! ◦ Check out my quality templates! ◦ Add me on Skype: braydon_sfx
Now please, pretty please, pretty please with sugar on top, let the forum remember me when I quit and reopen the browser [-O<
Big button with multi colors that say " This member is a pro member, ultimate respect. " :P
My GameSalad Academy Courses! ◦ Check out my quality templates! ◦ Add me on Skype: braydon_sfx