poll Do you like the new NamePros theme/layout?

[VJB]

What do you think?

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

It grows on you.

 

[Name Trader]

I think it's too similar to the old theme. It's playing things too predictably. I understand why. Because this was a mammoth task anyway. But I think everybody was used to the old theme, foibles and all. So producing something similar but with stuff still not implemented, is probably going to upset a quite a few people. If it was me. I understand the problem. I probably would have gone the same route. But would have taken longer to go back online. In order to get more stuff working familiarly. NPs are trying to get forum for the 21st century with an interface designed for the 20th century. IMHO. Now, well almost now, I would start designing the wow me interface for the 21st century. Any new theme should be in addition to this old theme. And let the people to decide.

 

[bmugford]

I still can't get used to it. I have been less active since the change.

Brad

 

[Name Trader]

I think there has been a significant drop in postings from my perspective. I don't know how visitors are holding up.

 

[kite26]

I still can't get used to it. I have been less active since the change.

Brad

Me too

 

[meta]

Great update congratulations!

 

[Millionaire]

I still can't get used to it. I have been less active since the change.

Brad

Exactly. I'm feeling the same way

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

So producing something similar but with stuff still not implemented, is probably going to upset a quite a few people.

Agreed, but as it was explained to us, maintaining two completely different pieces of software was making everything take twice as long because each change had to be made in two places, so while it is rougher now, it’ll be a lot better in a few weeks.

I still can't get used to it.

Me too

Exactly. I'm feeling the same way

What could we change to improve it?

The tech team is making changes at a steady pace.

Please let us know.

 

[dncafe]

Feels like it's getting more and more bloated with useless features that most users don't even want, while core functionality improvements are being ignored.

 

[kite26]

In other words:
-Focus on the useful features only.
-Try to use a theme as similar to the previous as possible.

 

[Sutruk]

What could we change to improve it?

The tech team is making changes at a steady pace.

Please let us know.

I guess it's just a question of design, not about tech.
As easy as it seems, a design change can make people feel a completely different experience on the site.
That's why Google has not changed it's minimal and white search page since their inception.
They even haven't changed the colors of their logo... they know the day they change it to a "yahoo" like first page with worthless news and the likes, will be their end.

Sometimes, the simplest and easiest designs are the most difficult to reach.
NP previous design was one of a kind. Now I guess it's like the rest of xenforo designs out there.

Just for a test, make a new css that loads the site the most similar to the old layout as possible.
Same color, same columns, same font size.
If you still have a backup of the old forum, just take a look and make a new css layer as similar as that one.
Then place an option at user's preferences, to change css style, from the current one to the "old one".
And then see how many people change and use each style.
Just giving my two cents

 

[simonpan]

No no

 

[HotKey]

NP previous design was one of a kind.

 

[Future Sensors]

In the total spectrum of information transfer options, you have traditional text-oriented IRC, dull RFCs and IETF mailing lists on the one hand. Perfect to communicate with each other professionally, but perhaps a bit boring. On the other hand, you have Instagram, TikTok, and NFTs which do this very differently.

The form of communication largely determines the audience, the quality level of the individual contributions, and the frequency of participation. At the moment, NP has too much Windows XP feel, imo.

If the design of this forum is refined a bit further, and the focus is (even) more on the actual text content of the postings and less on the bells and whistles around it, I think it will be pretty fine again. NamePros' Tech team is working on it and I look forward to seeing the improvements soon.

 

[Future Sensors]

For nostalgic reasons

A screenshot of this forum at Archive.org, taken on November 1, 2021.

In that version, I especially liked the compactness, the smaller blue category pictograms, the font colors, the way "Latest" posts were presented, and the location of the "New Posts" section (completely above the fold). May you rest in peace.

Looking forward to any small improvements of the new version <3

 

[ir7]

Pretty nice!

 

[Future Sensors]

Which one is cleaner?

 

[Name Trader]

Which one is cleaner?

The first one of course The second won looks like some kind of childish scribbling and no identification of the poster. Is the second one really replacing the first one? I'm taking a guess. Is this the new chat? It looks AWFUL.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Which one is cleaner?

Show attachment 204997
Show attachment 204998

The first image and the second image are identical in terms of information except the first one cuts off the end of the title if it's too long.

For New posts and Auction activity, it seems to make sense to limit the length of the title. For the rest (e.g., Popular this week), it probably makes the most sense to show the full title.

What do you think?