Thoughts, opinions about wrapping www.anandtech.com around the forums

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Jason Clark

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,497
1
0
We're contemplating changing the forums to be within the anandtech look and feel. The reason is the forums look pretty disorganized the way it is now with ads in the top and left and it just doesnt look very attractive. I've started mocking up what it would look like in our look and feel. Have a look at the image and vote in the poll please.

Fixed Width

http://images.anandtech.com/newforums.jpg

100%

http://images.anandtech.com/newforums100.jpg
 
V

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
38,107
433
136
Looks like a significant improvement over how it looks now, can we see an in-category and in-thread shot?

Oh, and definitely 100% width.

Viper GTS
 
J

Jason Clark

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,497
1
0
Ads will never go away, that is how this site runs. There will be ads on the left column and in the blue area.
 
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InlineFive

Diamond Member
Sep 20, 2003
9,599
2
0
In addition to the new layout and 100% width I think that the hardware section buttons should be eliminated and the OCZ banner ad should be moved to where they are to free up space. And the banner on the left should (hopefully) be moved underneath the OCZ ad or put on the bottom.

-Por

EDIT: Since you won't do that I say keep the current layout and be rid of the annoying section navigation buttons at the top. Instead have a simple search button for the articles and FAQ as this would be a useful feature.
 
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agnitrate

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2001
3,761
1
0
I like that the AT navigation bar would be at the top of that one. It would make it easier to get to the articles.

In the new version right now, the Anandtech logo at the top of the page takes you to the forums.anandtech.com instead of just anandtech.com. Unfortunately, I never bookmarked AT since the forums are my home page and I used to be able to just click the AT logo and go to the main page. Now every time I want to get anywhere on the main site, I have to manually type it in. I think the nav bar would make this much easier.

-silver
 
P

Paulson

Elite Member
Feb 27, 2001
10,689
0
0
www.ifixidevices.com
See, we should really bring back subscriber forums so that those who really hate that annoying ad on the side can get rid of it...

But in terms of putting the forums in the anandtech type "shell"... well it'd be ok as long as there wasn't an amazing amount of useable space taken up by the "shell"...
 
L

loup garou

Lifer
Feb 17, 2000
35,132
1
81
If we could just get rid of the colored bars between posts in-thread, I'd be ecstatic!
Amazing work on nuking all the bugs this morning, btw. :beer:
 
Confused

Confused

Elite Member
Nov 13, 2000
14,166
0
0
There's enough extra scrolling with the 3 lines worth extra per post that's been added by putting the bar between posts, and moving the Reply, Quote etc buttons, and the Online Status/PM buttons into their own bars rather than embedded into the message text as they were before, that reducing it from 100% width will require even more scrolling.

Honestly, is there any ALL way the ads can be moved from the side to the top? I don't mind a couple of lines of ads at the top, but leaving so much whitespace isn't good, IMO.
 
B

BD2003

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
16,815
1
81
Definitely 100% width. Theres just too much wasted space...the bar on the top and the bottom can be easily merged into one, and the middle puke yellow bar should be half the size it is now. I like the rounded buttons and color scheme though.

BTW, is rss working for anyone?
 
J

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
0
The ad on the left is a senseless waste of space. No one is advocating getting rid of ads entirely - that's what pays the bills, but that positioning just doesn't make any sense.

Otherwise, I also don't like the dead space inbetween posts.
 
M

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
8,808
0
0
Dead space between posts = bad. Dead space on left = bad.

Also, I noticed you can only page forward/back now when a forum has multiple pages of posts, whereas before you could jump several pages either way, and also jump to the first/last pages. A minor quibble, but it would be nice to be able to jump back to the first page if you're on, say, the third.

EDIT: you've added a link to the forums at the bottom of the page as well now. Never mind; that works just as well.

Also, when you're viewing a forum now, topics seem to take up a bit more space than they used to (so I get fewer topics/screen, and have to scroll more). Maybe I'm hallucinating this, though, as I have no way to compare them head to head.
 
B

BD2003

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
16,815
1
81
I copy the link into feedreader, but it still says no news feed found, although when I click it it gives me what appears to be the feed.
 
B

BD2003

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
16,815
1
81
Should I be doing something other than copying the link? Cause I cant get it to work in feedreader, sharpreader, or newsgator.
 
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theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
hey, what happened to quick reply?!!? it was ok last night, but now it's gone?

also, i like the space between posts. just maybe make it a little smaller?
 
J

Jason Clark

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,497
1
0
BD, that's all i did was copy it into feeddemon and boom it worked, the other developer tested it too on his reader and it worked fine there too.
 
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Idoxash

Senior member
Apr 30, 2001
615
0
0
Wow, I like the new forum look as it is now (04/19/2004) ~~~ in either way both the new look and the 100%width look works with me! Anyways nice work!

--Idoxash
 
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BD2003

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
16,815
1
81
Alright got it to work in feeddemon, but its the only one Ive been able to get it to work in so far anyway.

There doesnt seem to be any way to configure it as far as I can tell. Would there be possibly a way to get it to send you new threads only, and not every single reply? Considering the rate at which replies are made, Id have to configure it to update every 10 seconds to catch everything.
 
episodic

episodic

Lifer
Feb 7, 2004
11,088
2
81
Please Please allow us to sort our forum view by the latest post, not the latest bump. Everything else is fine. I just want to be able to keep up with the latest posts to a forum, when I enter, not wade through the bumps. Please bring that back.
 
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Thegonagle

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2000
9,773
0
71
I like the idea of the AT navigation bar above the forums. It would be a benefit to the main site, IMO, since it would be easier to jump to the AT articles. As for the forums, the more screen width available to the forums, the better, because not everyone everwhere uses 1024+ pixel screen width. For example, when I need my AT fix at school, the monitors are usually set to 800x600, which, AFAIK, is still the de facto standard that non-nerd sites are designed for. (I know, I know, it's reasonable that a nerd site like AT is designed for 1024 pixel width, but some of us are start out as poor nerds, and some of us like to access AT from places other than home once in awhile.)
 
J

jrphoenix

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2004
1,295
2
81
I like the look but hate the functionality... The transition has been a bit buggy.... One more annoying issue:

Click on a topic that is half way down the page
Read the topic and then click the back button to continue reading topics
When you go back everytime it take you to the top of the page?

I'm sure these things can be resolved.... just annoying issues!
 
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