The new site design is...

jacko · 2008-01-13 18:43:52

MrWeatherbee wrote:

finferflu wrote:
Actually your wallpaper makes think that the logo looks better on a dark background... perhaps a dark header would be cool...
Have a look:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6992 … ny7.th.png

looks good with a black desktop theme.

I guess I propose a NEW idea. Why not let the end user pick his/her own css style for this website? I have seen it on other forums, how hard could it be to implement here?

Make 3 - 4 design's, one that will satisfy each group of users and then let that be the default theme when they login.

Last edited by jacko (2008-01-13 18:48:50)

Susu · 2008-01-13 18:51:34

Wow, the grey bars looks much better. Thanks! :-)

MrWeatherbee · 2008-01-13 19:17:11

jacko wrote:

looks good with a black desktop theme.
I guess I propose a NEW idea. Why not let the end user pick his/her own css style for this website? I have seen it on other forums, how hard could it be to implement here?
Make 3 - 4 design's, one that will satisfy each group of users and then let that be the default theme when they login.

Despite my posts, I'm fairly indifferent to the Arch Forums website design / color scheme. However, I definitely have an opinion about the new Arch blue (let me just say very little goes a long way), and the first official 'tone-down' of the Arch Linux site was a step in my preferred direction.

I rarely have the ability to change or influence official website designs out of my control, but if something is really intolerable to me, I have the ability to modify it on my end without affecting others with differing opinions, although it's just not something I resort to on a regular basis.

[vEX] · 2008-01-13 19:20:25

shining wrote:

jacko wrote:
[vEX] wrote:
In overall I think the new design is nice, but I find that the forum is mostly just gray and dull. It's nice that the post "headers" are using different colors for every second post, but can't you spice it up with some colors?
yep, I like the blue better. Gray just makes it look boring. +1 for this vote. I just find it very hard on my eyes when I have to look at something with such monotone colors. Colors break things up, focuses the eye. JMHO

scroll to the middle of a forum page and don't have the bottom or top of page in view and tell me what you see? I see all shades of gray and black. Forget the blue words, u don't even notice them.
Let's agree to disagree then (not that surprising for a discussion about colors).
"I just find it very hard on my eyes when I have to look at something with such flashy colors."
:)

Yeah, bright colors = bad idea. Use something more subtle like the old design did. Just adding some nice color to the post "headers" will make it look a lot better and still be a nice way of breaking things up. I for one don't associate a greyscale color layout "modern". In my eyes it's just boring, dull and a lack of imagination off the designer (no offence to anyone, this is just how I feel when I view pages being just different shades of grey).

EDIT: How it could look (although the colors would need some more tweaking):

Last edited by [vEX] (2008-01-13 19:33:34)

finferflu · 2008-01-13 19:26:11

MrWeatherbee wrote:

finferflu wrote:
Actually your wallpaper makes think that the logo looks better on a dark background... perhaps a dark header would be cool...
Have a look:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6992 … ny7.th.png

Yeah! that definately makes justice to the logo, it enhances its details.
The only thing about your style is that I find it too dark, it misses something to catch the eye. Surely not the turquoise but I think we would need some sort of break colour...

jacko · 2008-01-13 19:51:58

I for one don't associate a greyscale color layout "modern". In my eyes it's just boring, dull and a lack of imagination off the designer (no offence to anyone, this is just how I feel when I view pages being just different shades of grey).

exactly, the new monitor I want comes with color. Has since the early 60's.

really, I am not trying to be rude. But for the most part all arch users seem to prefer black desktops(majority check the screenshot section). So the affinity for a gray scale site doesn't seem to far fetched.

But its as I stated earlier, black desktops, shades of black give me a headache(screenshot thread) when I am looking at them for long periods of time. I proposed a fix, tomk should be happy with that, and I would like to see it implemented. U are trying to appeal to more users then just the users that are here now. I presume u want arch to grow as I do, so why not give the ability to let arch grow with its user fan base. Which I am sure will also have a small percentage of people who agree with us on the gray scale/monotone color of this site.

guess that is my final plea... take it with the thought that I am just trying to help arch's 'curb appeal'

Last edited by jacko (2008-01-13 20:02:46)

phrakture · 2008-01-13 20:10:15

Hey guys, here's the funny thing. We have people who do some work, thankless work, and we have people who sit here and complain. "It could be better" is the battle cry of the complacent. It's like those fat men who sit on their couch eating nachos and yelling at football players. Those who can't "do" will watch and complain.

vEX has given us other options, which is awesome, but a lot of people just sit here and say "OMG TEH SUXLOL!". That gets us, collectively, nowhere.

Nihathrael · 2008-01-13 20:15:36

[vEX] wrote:

Yeah, bright colors = bad idea. Use something more subtle like the old design did. Just adding some nice color to the post "headers" will make it look a lot better and still be a nice way of breaking things up. I for one don't associate a greyscale color layout "modern". In my eyes it's just boring, dull and a lack of imagination off the designer (no offence to anyone, this is just how I feel when I view pages being just different shades of grey).
EDIT: How it could look (although the colors would need some more tweaking):
http://pici.se/thumbs/t_fXKVsLofe.gif

I really like the new design, but vEX's idea is really nice. Might want to try that out. Makes it a little more interesting.

Greetz Nihathrael

thayer · 2008-01-13 20:32:12

I think most users already know because I've said it a few times now, but please keep the following in mind:

1.) The site is in a state of transition--things will change
2.) The goal of this initial stage was to get the new logo into place and make it available to the community
3.) The forum colours are on the drab side (I agree) and are solely intended to make reading copious amounts of text a little easier until a permanent colour scheme is in place--this probably won't happen overnight or even over the next week, but in the meantime nobody should suffer from "bleeding eyes" =P

Typically, a new redesign wouldn't 'go live' until the entire site was polished. Because Arch is a volunteer effort and because everyone wanted the new logo (well not everyone), it was judged best to get *something* up for now and work toward a properly planned and executed web presence.

I am really glad to see so many ideas and opinions being shared here and I think it speaks volumes about the passion we have as a community. I know that it will be impossible to make everyone happy--that's just the way it is--but I do hope that everyone will be patient during this new and exciting change.

I would *love* to see user-configured colour schemes and that *may* happen (I'm looking into it) for the forums, but please realize that the Arch website as a whole is actually 5 separate websites meshed together, each with their own styles and settings. While this makes global colour preferences prohibitive, I don't see why the forums couldn't have their own flavour, since that is where the majority of debate takes place.

With respect to parts of the site that will likely never support user-based styles, there are several factors to consider. For example, dark websites look great with dark desktops, but not necessarily with light desktops--that being said, some do and it's definitely a consideration. Also, having a lot of colour looks good for some themes, but not for others. It's a love/hate relationship and there must be a balance.

It's going to take time, but I have no doubt that whatever is decided upon, there will be lovers, there will be haters, and there will be the vast majority who don't care one way or the other as long as they can access the information they come here for.

Last edited by thayer (2008-01-13 21:00:33)

Leigh · 2008-01-13 20:59:18

phrakture wrote:

Hey guys, here's the funny thing. We have people who do some work, thankless work, and we have people who sit here and complain. "It could be better" is the battle cry of the complacent. It's like those fat men who sit on their couch eating nachos and yelling at football players. Those who can't "do" will watch and complain.
vEX has given us other options, which is awesome, but a lot of people just sit here and say "OMG TEH SUXLOL!". That gets us, collectively, nowhere.

For those of us with bad English, are you saying?....
There's a difference between complaining, and giving a constructive opion that may, or may not, be negative.
kind of like instead of saying "OMG this sucks",... say, "hmmm, maybe if you change this or that, it might look better?"

Maybe there could be a way to let registered users manipulate the default forum theme colors in personal preferences. Or have 4 or 5 alternate colour themes we could chose from in preferences? I would be willing to help with an earthy pastel-ish look

jacko · 2008-01-13 21:01:29

I would *love* to see user-configured colour schemes and that *may* happen (I'm looking into it) for the forums, but please realize that the Arch website as a whole is actually 5 separate websites meshed together, each with their own styles and settings. While this makes global colour preferences prohibitive, I don't see why the forums couldn't have their own flavour, since that is where the majority of debate takes place.

thank you, if u need some help in looking into how this can be done I will help with that. Also, I want to make everyone aware that is not my intention to use 5 different color schemes with 5 different sets of colors. Just changing one aspect of a theme can improve things a great deal for the individual reading the forums.

IE. we have people who like this design, so there is 1 theme. I prefer two tone blue title bars. That makes 2 themes. Still arch's preferred color scheme with just a different take on it.

Maybe there could be a way to let registered users manipulate the default forum theme colors in personal preferences. Or have 4 or 5 alternate colour themes we could chose from in preferences? I would be willing to help with an earthy pastel-ish look

post #101???

cerebral: u see what I mean now?

Last edited by jacko (2008-01-13 21:04:26)

[vEX] · 2008-01-13 21:32:23

thayer wrote:

I think most users already know because I've said it a few times now, but please keep the following in mind:
1.) The site is in a state of transition--things will change
2.) The goal of this initial stage was to get the new logo into place and make it available to the community
3.) The forum colours are on the drab side (I agree) and are solely intended to make reading copious amounts of text a little easier until a permanent colour scheme is in place--this probably won't happen overnight or even over the next week, but in the meantime nobody should suffer from "bleeding eyes" =P
Typically, a new redesign wouldn't 'go live' until the entire site was polished. Because Arch is a volunteer effort and because everyone wanted the new logo (well not everyone), it was judged best to get *something* up for now and work toward a properly planned and executed web presence.
I am really glad to see so many ideas and opinions being shared here and I think it speaks volumes about the passion we have as a community. I know that it will be impossible to make everyone happy--that's just the way it is--but I do hope that everyone will be patient during this new and exciting change.
I would *love* to see user-configured colour schemes and that *may* happen (I'm looking into it) for the forums, but please realize that the Arch website as a whole is actually 5 separate websites meshed together, each with their own styles and settings. While this makes global colour preferences prohibitive, I don't see why the forums couldn't have their own flavour, since that is where the majority of debate takes place.
With respect to parts of the site that will likely never support user-based styles, there are several factors to consider. For example, dark websites look great with dark desktops, but not necessarily with light desktops--that being said, some do and it's definitely a consideration. Also, having a lot of colour looks good for some themes, but not for others. It's a love/hate relationship and there must be a balance.
It's going to take time, but I have no doubt that whatever is decided upon, there will be lovers, there will be haters, and there will be the vast majority who don't care one way or the other as long as they can access the information they come here for.

Very well written post and I agree with all off it.

I'm not saying it's all grey and I want it in all the colors of the rainbow, I don't really mind it using the grayscale. But it should also have some color (usually one or two is enough) to make it look even better. I know other forum softwares (like phpBB, IPB, vBulletin) has the ability to let the user select between different themes (installed by the administrator). If punBB sports that feature, perhaps there should be some "contest" where users can submit themes and the communtiy will vote whichever they like the best. And then, say, the top 5 get added as themes. It won't please everybody, but I think it would please more people than if there was only one theme.

Last edited by [vEX] (2008-01-13 21:55:33)

F · 2008-01-13 21:49:49

do not listen to the naysayers.

I love the new site.

randomshinichi · 2008-01-13 22:14:34

I love it. But does it make it easier to navigate in elinks? (using Windows atm, bash me pls)

finferflu · 2008-01-13 22:25:04

randomshinichi wrote:

I love it. But does it make it easier to navigate in elinks? (using Windows atm, bash me pls)

Booo! Windowsss!!! (and so on).

I don't think the structure is changing, at least not for now. So I don't the current changes make any difference in Elinks.

clarence · 2008-01-14 02:22:33

for what it's worth....

if you don't like something say *why* you don't like it and, better still, offer an opinion on what you think will improve it.

let's all just keep in mind that not everyone can be catered for and not everyone will be satisfied.

for example: i would like more shiny spinning hub caps on the site... but that wan't happen anytime soon </sigh>

such is the nature of the universe....

Last edited by clarence (2008-01-14 02:24:42)

stonecrest · 2008-01-14 02:42:20

clarence wrote:

i would like more shiny spinning hub caps on the site

I second this.

jacko · 2008-01-14 04:44:37

I rarely have the ability to change or influence official website designs out of my control, but if something is really intolerable to me, I have the ability to modify it on my end without affecting others with differing opinions, although it's just not something I resort to on a regular basis

Hey guys, here's the funny thing. We have people who do some work, thankless work, and we have people who sit here and complain. "It could be better" is the battle cry of the complacent. It's like those fat men who sit on their couch eating nachos and yelling at football players. Those who can't "do" will watch and complain.

So I am waiting, U got the goods then pass it on so somebody else can learn how to change things for the better.

slackhack · 2008-01-14 04:56:14

here's a couple of takes I did. It was just a quickie job, so you kind of have to imagine the turquoise as red for some of the text in the red one. click for full size:

libby · 2008-01-14 04:58:02

.... it's certainly better than it was. It looks fresh, albeit a bit bright on my monitor. The thing is, colours are arbitrary and there is no one way to please everyone. Those working behind the scenes are listening and even though some may not be happy with the "end" result, good intentions are there.

From what I know about this community, constant change is a *must* and that's a good thing!

Basn · 2008-01-14 08:08:34

I love the new theme, it looks awsome and the logo is wonderful.
I have nothing to complain about in firefox.

But at work im stuck with a windows machine witch im not allowed to isntall apps on i have IE witch has problems reading the site when im at the forums.
The actual bar for navigation is screwed in the middle of the forum text, i dont know if its just my pc, but the 2 i tried on has the same problem in IE6, not a big deal tho... we all hate crap ie

i tested the other parts aswell, wiki does not either work but rest works like a charm.

Last edited by Basn (2008-01-14 08:09:43)

MrWeatherbee · 2008-01-14 08:30:47

jacko wrote:

I rarely have the ability to change or influence official website designs out of my control, but if something is really intolerable to me, I have the ability to modify it on my end without affecting others with differing opinions, although it's just not something I resort to on a regular basis
Hey guys, here's the funny thing. We have people who do some work, thankless work, and we have people who sit here and complain. "It could be better" is the battle cry of the complacent. It's like those fat men who sit on their couch eating nachos and yelling at football players. Those who can't "do" will watch and complain.
So I am waiting, U got the goods then pass it on so somebody else can learn how to change things for the better.

How did you happen to associate me with that quote by Phrakture?

- I have not complained.
- I have never sat on my couch eating nachos (or tacos) yelling at football players.
- I am definitely not fat.
- I did not say I could do 'better', but I did do 'different'.
- I provided multiple alternative samples.

Here's another:

lloeki · 2008-01-14 08:53:37

MrWeatherbee, those two last variations' blue lines hurt my eyes too much. besides I feel they don't fit in, and it's just... 'too much'.

MrWeatherbee · 2008-01-14 09:32:35

lloeki wrote:

MrWeatherbee, those two last variations' blue lines hurt my eyes too much. besides I feel they don't fit in, and it's just... 'too much'.

Not my favorite either. But I was responding to an implication that I was a couch-lounging, nacho-eating slob with a penchant for complaining, so I felt compelled to do something.

antenna · 2008-01-14 12:41:27

Love the logo and the site. Great work.

Arch Linux

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