Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

NEW THEME IMPLEMENTATION

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by Grimor » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:34 pm

not a fan at all. seems more form than function. oh well, i try to use tapatalk
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by ErikSS » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:24 am

James, I believe you made the BG picture blurry because it is not an intended focal point. For me it created the opposite. Its like a picture in the wrong place. I find myself staring at it... lol
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by Moots1288 » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:29 am

ErikSS wrote:James, I believe you made the BG picture blurry because it is not an intended focal point. For me it created the opposite. Its like a picture in the wrong place. I find myself staring at it... lol

It's not cause its blurry.... Lol

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
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by Trail X » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:31 am

It will grow on you. People are creatures of habit, and the new theme is forcing you to break your existing habits.

There is a ton of utility built into this theme, especially based around increasing the utility of the site for the mobile user. The 'responsive' nature of the theme is the heart of why we upgraded. I'm not sure how you can make that statement, and I don't understand why you would choose to use tapatalk over this theme.
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by Trail X » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:35 am

I changed the background to a simpler design. Let me know if this makes a positive improvement for you guys.
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by ErikSS » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:26 am

I am not tech savvy. But shouldn't I get the new theme when I go to ORTB.COM from my phones browser?Image
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by Wahugg » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:30 am

James, I really do enjoy the new look of the site however I do want to voice my concern for a lack of a permanent 'active topic' button on the top of the forum.

Your logic of scrolling down makes 100% sense once someone is in a thread, however upon first visit from a mobile device I must scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to click 'active topics' which is rather cumbersome and annoying. I have an iPhone 5s and the drop down menu doesn't stay open long enough to click the 'active topic' link and in mobile mode, when I scroll through the red menu button, I often find that it mistakes a scroll for a click and selects one of the links before I even get down to the active topics.

I don't know if it possible ( and I suspect it is not) but I think it would be beneficial to have an 'Active Topic' and 'New Post' link right next to the 'Advance Search' link in the white bar at the top of the webpage.

Other than that I do think it looks great, I'm sure you're happy from a technical standpoint, and there are little things to get use to.

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by navigator » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:39 am

I didn't really like the new theme at first because I don't like change.
Having used it several weeks, I do like it now.

Wallace,
For the top button of active topics, go to the top menu, click forum then you should see the active topic button there. That was one of the biggest things for me.

Eric, I think only the forum is upgraded right now. I think the .com site will come later.
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by Trail X » Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:59 am

I removed the quick reply button, so everyone should see the quick reply box on all pages, no longer requiring the click of the button first.

Wallace, considering what Chris said, do you still feel there is a need for an additional button in the white space?

Eric, Chris is correct, the www side of the site is on a separate CMS and will have to be upgraded later. The forum was the priority.
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by ErikSS » Thu Aug 07, 2014 10:21 am

Man I hate being such a stupid noob. LOL OK, without tapatalk and without the WWW... How can I view the new theme from my smart phone?
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by Trail X » Thu Aug 07, 2014 10:23 am

Go to http://forums.offroadtb.com (or there's a link off of the www site (forums, top left).
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by Wahugg » Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:18 am

James and Roy,

That method does not always work on mobile devices. I'll tap the 'Form' drop down menu and it will display all the links including 'active topics' but only for a brief second and then the menu collapses again. I believe this just to be a interface issue of mobile devices not having a mouse to hover over and activate the drop down menu.

James I am bias on wanting a 'Active Topic' link on top of the webpage but there have been several others in this thread that have voiced the same concern.

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by Trail X » Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:45 am

Yeah, I guess I didn't recognize this issue during my trial because the active topics is my bookmark. I'll see if I can get something added in that white area.
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by Trail X » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:18 pm

To those that hated the prior background, do you find this one to be more or less acceptable? I don't want you guys using the site hating something as simple as that. This was the BG that came with the theme, and is much more neutral. If it comes down to it, I can go with a solid color if we can't find a gradient that will make everyone happy.
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by bartonmd » Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:15 pm

James,

I see it has already been brought up, but I specifically came into this thread to request putting the "active topics" button back in. It's not such a big deal in forums where there's like 3 subforums, but on a forum that's as split out as ours is, the "active topics" button is really the only way to surf.

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by Cable810 » Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:19 pm

I like the other Background better...
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by bartonmd » Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:27 pm

Cable810 wrote:I like the other Background better...


Eh... As JD said above, creatures of habit. I didn't like the original one at first, either. Functionally, it's not much different as long as we can get the preferred buttons in the preferred places.

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by Trail X » Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:18 pm

Mike, I'll try to find time to play with it as soon as I'm available. While some of the other changes are a little simpler and don't take much time, adding a button like that to an area where it doesn't currently exist will require manipulating a few different files. I just don't have the availability to juggle with it right now, and I don't want to potentially leave it in an unfinished state.

For now, when on a desktop, you'll find the active topics button under the top "forum" menu item, or in any browser the first grey box at the bottom of each page.
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by bartonmd » Sat Aug 09, 2014 7:34 am

Trail X wrote:Mike, I'll try to find time to play with it as soon as I'm available. While some of the other changes are a little simpler and don't take much time, adding a button like that to an area where it doesn't currently exist will require manipulating a few different files. I just don't have the availability to juggle with it right now, and I don't want to potentially leave it in an unfinished state.

For now, when on a desktop, you'll find the active topics button under the top "forum" menu item, or in any browser the first grey box at the bottom of each page.

Yeah, I found it. It's just not as nice to use for all or easy to find for noobs. Don't worry about timing. I of all people know about being busy!

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by bartonmd » Sat Aug 09, 2014 7:36 am

Trail X wrote:Mike, I'll try to find time to play with it as soon as I'm available. While some of the other changes are a little simpler and don't take much time, adding a button like that to an area where it doesn't currently exist will require manipulating a few different files. I just don't have the availability to juggle with it right now, and I don't want to potentially leave it in an unfinished state.

For now, when on a desktop, you'll find the active topics button under the top "forum" menu item, or in any browser the first grey box at the bottom of each page.

Yeah, I found it. It's just not as nice to use for all or easy to find for noobs. Don't worry about timing. I of all people know about being busy!

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