Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Feb 7, 2014 19:04:45 GMT -8
Looking for feedback on visuals, concepts, organization, and/or content. Really anything you can think of that is jarring, wonky, or could be done better. And of course positive things are welcome too *The site may not appear properly on phones.* Please let me know what you think! Thank you to everyone who takes a look. *Note: Any comments before April 26/15 were for our 'Purple Forest' theme. Our current default is the 'Citadel'.
|
|
inherit
I need a new CT, thinking.... [insert Jeopardy theme song here]
110769
0
Aug 21, 2021 0:07:21 GMT -8
Tumbleweed
20,825
September 2007
tumbleweed
|
Post by Tumbleweed on Feb 14, 2014 18:48:40 GMT -8
Please remove the additional links you have. We only need one and that is a direct link to your forum. This is not a place to advertise or ask people to post on your site so modify that as well. Thanks.
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Feb 16, 2014 14:34:14 GMT -8
Apologies, I was just providing easy access to various parts of the site for those that give feedback based on content. None of it was meant for advertising beyond what all these threads do for that function. The links have been removed as per your request.
Was so excited to finally have a review! Then it wasn't xP
|
|
inherit
I need a new CT, thinking.... [insert Jeopardy theme song here]
110769
0
Aug 21, 2021 0:07:21 GMT -8
Tumbleweed
20,825
September 2007
tumbleweed
|
Post by Tumbleweed on Apr 14, 2014 3:10:08 GMT -8
Was so excited to finally have a review! Then it wasn't xP Felt bad about that, so noted to give your site a review, when I had time. Rate scale: Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good & Excellent (Very few forums get more than good, btw) First Impression: (Well, actually 2nd impression since I peeked at your site before) FairAt first glance, I had no idea what your site is about. Until I dug deeper did I realize it is a role-play site but what kind of a role-play? Layout and Colors: FairI always liked the tabbed categories. Makes it easy to find what I'm looking for and best of all, very little scrolling. I'm not a fan of the shout box right at the top. I think if I were in a thread writing a post, I'd want easy access to the shout box so I could easily multi-task without having to scroll up and down, so you may want to consider a plug-in for a side table that is in a fixed position to put the shout box in. That way you can have your post you are working on viewable as well as the shout box. Just a thought. I like the gradients in the titles and for the most part, your text color choices are easy to read. Not sure why, but something about looking at your boards, it seems messy and a bit confusing. I think part of it is, some boards have descriptions that extend above the "Last updated" part and there is very little space between them and then others, no description at all. Looking at how you have things set up, I think the "Last updated" part might look best moved all the way to the left since each one varies on width and zig zag in different locations on the page. (If you need help with that, you can post in the template board.) Another thing that bothers me a bit is I can't see the edge of the boards, in some parts when I scroll, as they fade into the background which makes me think it is not neat. Granted, my monitor does not like dark colors so it just may be me. Also, the longer "by so and so" parts extend a bit too much for me too. For example, "Safe Passage and beastly fighting, what more for a Templar?by Havien". Perhaps put a set width for that div so it doesn't extend beyond the threads/posts columns. Looks like it might be around 220px. As I said, most of your text colors are easy to read but there are some parts that the contrast is really good and other parts where it isn't. Like the shoutbox, the text color seems dim compared to all the colors of the boards. Kind of hard on the eyes, going back and forth like one might. Then you have the on/off (new/no new) icon that is very dim. I like the icon a lot, just not consistent with most of your visual things. You kind of have this low contrast/high contrast thing going on and I'm not sure it is a good thing. I also kind of miss not having the legend to tell me which are new and which aren't but it is your site so if that is how you prefer it, no big deal. Graphics: FairNo one says one must have graphics all over the place so I do like that about your site. Tons of graphics can make a forum look too busy. As I said, I like the on/off icon, although a bit hard to see. The banner is very plain to me although I get having it black and white. Still a really cool banner is probably the most important thing one can have to draw people in. Whether you use images of people or just a cool landscape, it could be in black and white just to stick with your idea, assuming that was intended. Also, since my first impression gave me no clue you were a roleplay site or what kind of roleplay site, it might be a good idea to have a sub-title in much smaller text and the lower part of your banner saying you are a roleplay site and maybe a hint at time in history or something (or at least clarify time in history/future in your sub board "In the beginning". Content: (including layout of board/sub boards) Fair(Please note, I do not role play so I'm totally ignorant, except what I've picked up being here on ProBoards support.) Since there was nothing that jumped out at me that this was a roleplay site or what kind of a role play, I went digging. Honestly, I found it frustrating I had to go to a sub-board to get the History, then to another sub-board for more info. To me, all those things should just be threads inside one board or at the very least, be boards and not sub-boards, especially since you are not actually using the board itself for any posts. Just makes for a lot of clicking to get all the info needed. I think what I didn't find easily is what kind of role player you expect your members to be. Beginners, Advanced? Maybe you clarified that and I missed it. Your grammar and spelling seem to be in good shape, from what I quickly scanned, so that kind of tells me maybe beginners wouldn't be welcome? If they are then speaking from no experience in roleplaying, it would be really nice if the first thing I read were the steps I needed to do to get going. Also, other than the shout box, where do I ask questions? By pm? I think having vital information on how you expect new members to get started would be helpful, whether experienced or not. I guess that is all I have for now. Hopefully, I might have helped a little or at the very least, given you something to think about.
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Apr 14, 2014 13:45:15 GMT -8
This is fantastic, thank you so much for all your feedback. A few of these have been on my list of things to fiddle with so is great to know I'm on the right track. The hardest part will be adjusting the colors due to the difference in monitors. Even just between the ones I have available to me on a daily basis between work and home it goes from a back light flooded beast that doesn't show any differences in the darker shades to a super attuned color monitor that makes it no question the boards are purple and the links are a pale gold color. My laptops seem to be in between these extremes. So it looks great color wise on my home monitor but at work is just... XD Has been a challenge that I'm still working on.
As for the above, yesterday was the first time this has come up and I was considering doing something that would keep the thread title to 1 line instead of it spanning 2. However I'm not sure I'm understanding your comment as the threads/posts row is in line with it and the top row never goes beyond even when I shrink my window; just puts the text on more and more lines of course which expands the height. Never even goes close to touching the borders until you get really small. Is this just me misinterpreting?
As for the icons, those all dim ones are cause there are no new posts. The new post icons are very bright gold/red, making it trivial to find the difference between boards with new posts and not. However since I just recently changed the boards to a translucent appearance it may not be a bad plan to bring out the 'no new posts' icons a bit so they are a tad more noticeable in and of themselves instead of just in relation to the 'new posts' icon so might brighten them slightly in accordance to your suggestion.
And yes, that banner is one of the few things I have yet to replace since I just redid the skin the other week. It is currently just plain text in the visual editor xP I just didn't feel well this past weekend which was when I had planned to fix it up.
The reason for some of those sub boards is because there will be stuff added over time as people play. The problem is no one has begun doing much yet cause we've only been open for 2 months as of today, and just happens to be cramming time for University and the like. However I have noticed a few places where that layering could be fixed up so much appreciated on that observation. The site is open to all levels of writing so I want to make sure people like yourself even don't get lost or frustrated with finding things. I perhaps may have relied to much on the content of the ad to describe some of the out-of-character features. I will also make the suggestions & questions board more apparent (is the Council Chambers under info category), as at the moment it may not seem as a questions place but just a suggestions area.
Once again thank you so much for your considerate feedback. I'll be working on some fixes and compromises for all of these points the next little bit based on your suggestions and observations.
|
|
inherit
188358
0
Jun 9, 2023 19:17:18 GMT -8
Dorothia
139
January 2013
aquarius1427
|
Post by Dorothia on Apr 14, 2014 16:52:31 GMT -8
Wow, I find it interesting that as I was advertising on that site, I even posted a comment saying that I thought the site was wonderful! (I'm anon4916 haha) Ratings: 1 (poor) 2 (fair) 3 (good) 4 (excellent) Layout/Design: 2. I love the tabbed table since it makes everything organized without having to scroll too much. My issue was the colors, I found that (even though I love dark scheme), it was a little too dark. Everything blends into everything so I got a little confused. Also, I saw that I had to go several places for key pieces of information which should not be the case. I suggest putting all important information in one board so that new members/guests don't have to look all around the place. I feel like everything is crowded into one page, while that's nice and utilizes space, it's confusing and overhwelming. I suggest creating a new page, as a home tab for the plug board and excess stuff, and then have a forum link Content: 3, I like that you allow people to use their own applications however, it would be a little confusing to me in regards to knowing what to put in the application exactly. Maybe you should have a list of required things that an application should have and then let members be free with it? Just a thought. I wasn't exactly clear as to what kind of members you were looking for either. Since there are quite a few things I find I needed to know, maybe it would be essential to have a "New Member's Guide" to help guests know their way around. Colorful Content: 2, I do like dark color schemes however when it's too dark, there's an issue. I like that you have a lot of banners at the bottom but they don't mean much to your site entirely. Your banner, stating black and whtie (in black and white) does not reveal much about your site. I can't tell what type of roleplay it is, can't see a time period or anything. Hope this helped you in any way!
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Apr 14, 2014 18:30:27 GMT -8
I saw you, quick as lightning you were in that chatbox. Didn't even get to say thanks before you disappeared xP But now I can! And include your great feedback.
Some of this I am currently working on as per p????lq?n?'s comments there so you just happened to be in the middle and before these changes as they're being made. For the colors of the site, they are in the process of being adjusted to suit light flooded screens. So it looks a bit ugly on my home monitor but on my laptop and another members laptop the borders are better defined and some color is coming out. (Yes I have done the monitor adjustments and the gamma, contrast, brightness, and colors have been adjusted several times... took me the last two hours to even get it close to my laptop... of which I also adjusted)
The initial important information had been split between an IC board and an OOC board, but being that you're now the second guest to mention that it is too many places I have moved them into one board and will be making other adjustments in the near future. These adjustments will include some content changes in the next couple days.
I'm not a huge fan of the look of custom pages that act as the home page instead of the forum home. It is an extra click and wouldn't be filled with enough information for it to be worth it at this time. An interesting idea I had considered at an earlier time, but I also don't want the first thing everyone sees when they visit the forum is the advertisements. Is there anything particular in the plug section that makes the entire main page look cramped? Will see if I can address that specifically.
I am going by a 1360 resolution monitor since a majority of my members have much larger screens, so if you have something smaller than that I can understand how it may looked squished; I have to try and balance it out and when not everything is available at % widths, such as the plug section... it breaks at % widths for some reason and the plugin creator has yet to get back to me on my inquiry about it.
Regarding the character templates, I modified the note about them that all fields of the existing template are required. The sample blank template underneath the codes is the list. I mainly allow alternate templates cause some people like organizing the information differently; which is all fine. Hopefully that clears that up.
The banner was already noted to be a work in progress. And actually the text is not in Black, it's in a deep red [that used to] matching the dark reds through the site ;D And the white isn't white either.
Many thanks for all your suggestions and comments! I'm doing my best to address all of these things in conjunction with notes from my existing members.
|
|
inherit
I need a new CT, thinking.... [insert Jeopardy theme song here]
110769
0
Aug 21, 2021 0:07:21 GMT -8
Tumbleweed
20,825
September 2007
tumbleweed
|
Post by Tumbleweed on Apr 14, 2014 21:35:19 GMT -8
Hey Nori, I totally understand about having your own to-do list and not having time to get them done. I did want to clarify what I meant as I should have been in bed sleeping when I wrote my critique, and reading back I can see where I wasn't very clear. Here is a image example of your site. The first segment is your site as it was a couple hours ago (I see you are changing things). One thing, the title of the board and the thread title should really line up so your idea of it all being on one line would be great except for the really long ones like the third one. That would just be too long. However, the gap between the title and threads and posts could be a lot less bringing the title way down to be more even with the board title. The second cut I re-arranged things by adding space/removing additional space not necessary and moving things. Mind you, this is again, just my opinion and if you and your members are happy with it then that sure counts more than my opinion. However, if you need help with any of this, just post in template help and I'll be sure to help or someone else will. By the way, the color now is much better as far as blending in with the background and I see you tweaked the icon. Much better but I know that messed up some other things, which I'm sure you are working on.
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Apr 15, 2014 5:31:23 GMT -8
Ah yes that is much more clear, and makes a decent amount of sense. Would be good to have things align properly. Will play around with padding and all that fun stuff later tonight after work. Once again thank you for your comments! If I can I'd like to make it guest friendly just as much as member friendly, and really, once someone makes mention of it suddenly the members are all 'oh yeah, that would be good' xP Funny how otherwise I can't get any words from them, hahaha. Last night I was able to address the following problems: - Most of the dark color issues, though there are still tweaks to be had; just the big issue ones were taken care of so far
- Added a welcome message that clearly states the general idea of the forum, time period, and key features among other notes including what level of writer is accepted
- All of the important information is now under a single main board, with only sub-boards for things that [will] have multiple posts regarding them and would be a jumble otherwise if mixed with the rules and whatnot
- Council Chambers board had 'questions' added to its description of things that it can be used for
- History was expanded upon to better clarify time period and initial setting
- Character template comment addressed Otherwise I have an idea for the shoutbox that is a compromise and will be getting into the works soon, last updated line, board text alignments... and the banner will likely be fixed next weekend... most should be able to get done tonight so yay. Hopefully can address the crowded plugin area if Dorothia gets back to me on that one. This has all been super helpful so infinite thanks to you two again for giving your feedback!
|
|
Former Member
inherit
guest@proboards.com
212918
0
May 7, 2024 21:04:20 GMT -8
Former Member
0
January 1970
Former Member
|
Post by Former Member on Nov 17, 2014 10:45:55 GMT -8
I like the pretty colors but try customizing the board icons and get a really nice header
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Nov 17, 2014 12:43:54 GMT -8
Thank you for your feedback but I'm a bit confused. The board icons are custom drawn... Or do you mean the thread icons? And I do have a custom made header for both skins so if you could elaborate on what 'a really nice header' is that'd be much appreciated.
|
|
Former Member
inherit
guest@proboards.com
212918
0
May 7, 2024 21:04:20 GMT -8
Former Member
0
January 1970
Former Member
|
Post by Former Member on Nov 17, 2014 13:16:53 GMT -8
Thank you for your feedback but I'm a bit confused. The board icons are custom drawn... Or do you mean the thread icons? And I do have a custom made header for both skins so if you could elaborate on what 'a really nice header' is that'd be much appreciated. For some reason the desktop version of your forum on my phome shows the default board icons and doesn't display your header. I'll take a look on my laptop and give you an updated review when I get the chance.
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Nov 20, 2014 6:22:30 GMT -8
Ah. Unfortunately I do not have a phone to even begin testing with the mobile version or appearance on thereof. I look forward to reading your updated feedback!
|
|
Former Member
inherit
guest@proboards.com
212918
0
May 7, 2024 21:04:20 GMT -8
Former Member
0
January 1970
Former Member
|
Post by Former Member on Nov 21, 2014 11:24:38 GMT -8
Ah. Unfortunately I do not have a phone to even begin testing with the mobile version or appearance on thereof. I look forward to reading your updated feedback! Just took a look at it! I like it, but the header, or background, or something could be a little brighter. Things are a bit too dim/hard to see. Other than that, I like the appearance, the chatbox position, and mini profiles/post setup.
|
|
Nori
Junior Member
Posts: 483
inherit
182806
0
May 5, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -8
Nori
483
September 2012
nori
|
Post by Nori on Nov 21, 2014 15:46:53 GMT -8
Many thanks on getting back to me on this The level of color really depends on your monitor. On light saturated screens it appears dark and rather colorless. Also, it's supposed to be rather dark to fit with the theme. The header is just black trees with the moon & title set out in bright colors, and the background is the goldy-yellow; fairly bright. It matches the color of the links. What specifically needs to be brighter? The purple boards? The red/brown title bars? When scrolling the background comes up and brightens up whatever overlaps it so that already brightens things as you interact.
|
|