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Adam · 11-20-2009, 11:08 AM

Improvements to our Modern skins continue; here's the lineup of changes from the past 2 days:

Today:
-New, compact global announcement look
-Forum description is now hidden for veteran members
-Rendering issues of the forum homepage in IE8 have been resolved
-Blue homepage status icons removed in favor of dark green and dark red versions

Yesterday:

-New Green and Red field labels replaced the old square ones
-Editor smilie box no longer has a border
-Login area now has a solid border, and a rounded corner on browsers that support it (all except IE)
-Youtube embedding button added (all styles)

Enjoy and see the attached screenshots for details. Further suggestions are always welcome!

Attached Images

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)

PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

**Ash** · 11-20-2009, 01:48 PM

Sleek improvements, Adam.
Thanks for these.

J.Scott · 11-20-2009, 05:42 PM

I definitely like the cleaner look of the forum.
Less clutter is better!

Veteran members don't need descriptions of each forum section.

Thanks Adam.

res3567 · 11-20-2009, 08:36 PM

Man, the forum looks streamlined......... Cool as sh!!t

Capt22 · 11-22-2009, 06:47 AM

Got to say this............not liking the status icon color change.

Adam · 11-22-2009, 11:07 AM

Originally posted by Capt22

Got to say this............not liking the status icon color change.

I'll agree with you that it definitely doesn't pop out as much in the green skin (but it's better in the Red). I'll keep it uniform for now, but will consider further tweaks or reverting back to the blue/green layout if needed.

At least it makes people look closer at the forums

Capt22 · 11-22-2009, 06:17 PM

Yes, the blue did stand out a lot better. The current pattern seems 'muted'.

Adam · 11-22-2009, 06:52 PM

I've increased the transparency of the 'old' icons and darkened the 'new' icons.

Hopefully that'll be good enough to get used to. I also made a few changes to our post editor to streamline it a bit.

**tomwil** · 11-28-2009, 07:50 AM

Is it possible to bring back the Number of Views column for each sub-forum page?

This column now seems to be missing, and was useful in determining how popular the threads were viewed. Really helped in knowing when to bump a Marketplace ad.

Adam · 11-28-2009, 12:09 PM

As far as I know, this column is only gone for guests (to decrease bandwidth for search bots).

Adam · 11-28-2009, 12:14 PM

If you need to know how many views there are as a guest, simply hover over the 'last post' username.

**tomwil** · 11-28-2009, 09:27 PM

Originally posted by Adam

If you need to know how many views there are as a guest, simply hover over the 'last post' username.

Thanks, Adam. As I mostly use the forum as a guest, your workaround does fine.

Adam · 11-28-2009, 10:58 PM

Originally posted by tomwil

Thanks, Adam. As I mostly use the forum as a guest, your workaround does fine.

In that case, make sure you check the 'remember me' box, as I cannot guarantee full functionality while browsing as a guest (i.e. you don't have access to thread sorting controls). My focus is to optimize the guest view for search engines, which means as little clutter as possible - and also fewer controls.

noquarter15 · 04-08-2010, 08:47 AM

very cool!

kunaalbhasin · 04-20-2010, 07:48 PM

Today:
-New, compact global announcement look
-Forum description is now hidden for veteran members
-Rendering issues of the forum homepage in IE8 have been resolved
-Blue homepage status icons removed in favor of dark green and dark red versions

Love it!

What do others think?

11-20-2009, 11:08 AM	#1
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608	Modern Skin Improvements Improvements to our Modern skins continue; here's the lineup of changes from the past 2 days: Today: -New, compact global announcement look -Forum description is now hidden for veteran members -Rendering issues of the forum homepage in IE8 have been resolved -Blue homepage status icons removed in favor of dark green and dark red versions Yesterday: -New Green and Red field labels replaced the old square ones -Editor smilie box no longer has a border -Login area now has a solid border, and a rounded corner on browsers that support it (all except IE) -Youtube embedding button added (all styles) Enjoy and see the attached screenshots for details. Further suggestions are always welcome! Attached Images Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

11-22-2009, 11:07 AM	#6
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608 Original Poster	Originally posted by Capt22 Got to say this............not liking the status icon color change. I'll agree with you that it definitely doesn't pop out as much in the green skin (but it's better in the Red). I'll keep it uniform for now, but will consider further tweaks or reverting back to the blue/green layout if needed. At least it makes people look closer at the forums Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

11-22-2009, 06:52 PM	#8
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608 Original Poster	I've increased the transparency of the 'old' icons and darkened the 'new' icons. Hopefully that'll be good enough to get used to. I also made a few changes to our post editor to streamline it a bit. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

11-28-2009, 10:58 PM	#13
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608 Original Poster	Originally posted by tomwil Thanks, Adam. As I mostly use the forum as a guest, your workaround does fine. In that case, make sure you check the 'remember me' box, as I cannot guarantee full functionality while browsing as a guest (i.e. you don't have access to thread sorting controls). My focus is to optimize the guest view for search engines, which means as little clutter as possible - and also fewer controls. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

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11-20-2009, 01:48 PM	#2
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Sleek improvements, Adam. Thanks for these.

11-20-2009, 05:42 PM	#3
J.Scott Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,675	I definitely like the cleaner look of the forum. Less clutter is better! Veteran members don't need descriptions of each forum section. Thanks Adam.

11-20-2009, 08:36 PM	#4
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Man, the forum looks streamlined......... Cool as sh!!t

11-22-2009, 06:47 AM	#5
Capt22 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: PA Photos: Gallery Posts: 40	Got to say this............not liking the status icon color change.

11-22-2009, 06:17 PM	#7
Capt22 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: PA Photos: Gallery Posts: 40	Yes, the blue did stand out a lot better. The current pattern seems 'muted'.

11-28-2009, 07:50 AM	#9
tomwil Site Supporter Join Date: May 2009 Location: Maryland USA Posts: 778	Is it possible to bring back the Number of Views column for each sub-forum page? This column now seems to be missing, and was useful in determining how popular the threads were viewed. Really helped in knowing when to bump a Marketplace ad.

11-28-2009, 12:09 PM	#10
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608 Original Poster	As far as I know, this column is only gone for guests (to decrease bandwidth for search bots).

11-28-2009, 12:14 PM	#11
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608 Original Poster	If you need to know how many views there are as a guest, simply hover over the 'last post' username.

11-28-2009, 09:27 PM	#12
tomwil Site Supporter Join Date: May 2009 Location: Maryland USA Posts: 778	Originally posted by Adam If you need to know how many views there are as a guest, simply hover over the 'last post' username. Thanks, Adam. As I mostly use the forum as a guest, your workaround does fine.

04-08-2010, 08:47 AM	#14
noquarter15 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 210	very cool!

04-20-2010, 07:48 PM	#15
kunaalbhasin Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 53	Today: -New, compact global announcement look -Forum description is now hidden for veteran members -Rendering issues of the forum homepage in IE8 have been resolved -Blue homepage status icons removed in favor of dark green and dark red versions Love it! What do others think?

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