Forum Changes

[Combat Wombat]

Well if somehow you haven't noticed there have been some major changes to the forum. What does everyone think? Personally I don't like the ads down the left side. But what little other changes there were are fine with me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Richard]

They aren't ads, their the press releases from the front page. Based on feedback we have received we wanted to make sure everyone knew what was going on with Shrapnel in case they did not go to the front page on a regular basis.

For instance say if we had a new SE:IV related announcement folks who just come straight to the forum will hear about it last.

[Fyron]

They take up way too much space in my opinion... could they be reduced in vertical size?

[Combat Wombat]

Also maybe a max of 5 instead of 7.

[Fyron]

Also, is there really a need for two logos at the top that both say Shrapnel Games? Isn't that redundant?

I like how posts no longer alternate in color. Much more appealing scheme now.

Could the "Order Space Empires IV Gold" type links be moved to the side bar please? It would reduce the wasted space at the top, making the site much cleaner.

[Sivran]

Put them silly ads on top, in a nice adblokcable iframe.

[Richard]

Imperator Fyron said:
They take up way too much space in my opinion... could they be reduced in vertical size?



I take it you have the other forums closed, with just SE:IV forum open. If that is the case then the posts would scroll downwards, past your active forums, and unless you scrolled downwards would not affect you.

[Richard]

Okay guys this format is a compromise based on feedback we have received from folks over the last 6 months. We have been testing it for the last few weeks in various browsers and resolutions and we think it's a pretty good fit.

Again those aren't ad's, they are press releases about games shipping, patches being released, etc. All of that information is useful to the entire community and is not just advertising.

I expect it will take some getting used to, but any time we change the forum we expect that.

[Sivran]

Richard said:

I take it you have the other forums closed, with just SE:IV forum open. If that is the case then the posts would scroll downwards, past your active forums, and unless you scrolled downwards would not affect you.



Huh wha? I don't get what you're saying. I suppose you're talking about something I could possibly do from the front page of the overall shrapnel forums or something I could do with threaded view..

[Fyron]

Richard said:
I take it you have the other forums closed, with just SE:IV forum open. If that is the case then the posts would scroll downwards, past your active forums, and unless you scrolled downwards would not affect you.

There is a lot of wasted space inside each box. They don't really need to all be the same size, do they? Also, when you have just a post writing page or a short post page or something, they have tons of wasted space between each box, which causes the section with "powered by infopop" bar to be way farther down than it needs to be. It would make the site look cleaner if these issues were resolved IMO... the minimum height can be lowered without aversly affecting large post pages.

When I hover the mouse over the links in the ad boxes, the middle portion of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines of the link have strikethrough on them. It is very strange. I attached a screenshot. Image has been reduced in color quality so as to not waste so much space.

[Captain Kwok]

Richard, I think the news links etc. on the left margin would be better suited on the right margin.

[Richard]

Sivran said:

Richard said:

I take it you have the other forums closed, with just SE:IV forum open. If that is the case then the posts would scroll downwards, past your active forums, and unless you scrolled downwards would not affect you.



Huh wha? I don't get what you're saying. I suppose you're talking about something I could possibly do from the front page of the overall shrapnel forums or something I could do with threaded view..



I was talking about an issue with too much scrolling space in the forum area because of the press releases going too far down on the left. Some folks on the forum close the forum areas they are not interested.

[Combat Wombat]

Do the "press releases" have to spread out more as the pages gets longer? They would be better if they stayed at the top.

Also you could make them a forum setting so say if I didnt want the press releases because I check the main page daily anyways I could turn them off if I so choose.

[Fyron]

Another thought... do the press releases need to be spaced evenly? It looks kind of silly to see them spaced out evenly with a long page. It would look better IMO if they were just positioned one after another right at the top, in the same place, no matter the length of the page.

[Fyron]

Richard said:
Some folks on the forum close the forum areas they are not interested.

I was not aware I could do that. Thanks for the info! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Will]

Yeah, just some thoughts:

Move the sidebar thing to the right side, it just seems like it would fit better on that side to me.

Instead of having the press releases all spread out, in boxes, I think it would look much nicer (and cleaner!) if it is more of a list with everything on top. So, the "title" of the PR would take up the entire width of the sidebar (potentially), and the "subtitle" link would be directly under it. Then, instead of scrolling down a lot to see the next one, it begins immediately below. I'm not sure what would be a good use of the remaining space, or if it might be possible for posts "below" the PRs on a page can overflow to take that space back again. Well, it is possible to do that, now that I think about it, only it complicates the HTML considerably.

Also, I'm noticing that on the post-reply page, the text in both Firefox and IE is extremely close to the border. I tried in both because I've generally seen something like that happen in FF, but not IE. Perhaps add a little bit of padding, a pixel or two, for this page. The same thing is on the main forum listing, but the Post Icons help out with the spacing, and the problem isn't as noticable.

And to drag an old issue up: I want the bullet logo back, damnit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[CovertJaguar]

The Proxomitron is an amazing tool. Bye, bye sidebar. Just a couple of custom filters will make those sidebars go away.

No offence to you at shrapnel intended. They just take up too much room in my opinion. Feel free to delete this post if you wish.

Just add these two lines to their own custum web filters in the Matching Expression box, one line for each filter. Set the urls in both to "www.shrapnelcommunity.com" Increase the the byte limit to 2500 and 5000 respectively and Voila! No sidebar.
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>&lt;table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center" id="pr"&gt;**&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt;*&lt;/table&gt;*&lt;/td&gt;</pre><hr />
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="center" valign="center" width="150" class="darktable?"&gt;*\n&lt;/table&gt;</pre><hr />

EDIT: These no longer work after the latest changes. If someone asks I will post the new one, but only if someone asks.

[David E. Gervais]

I don't mind the 'press releases' info bar/fram on the left. I for one like that we can now go the the 'Shrapnel Home' from the formus instead of loading a second bookmark.

I of course would have to suggest that the 'text frames' be replaced with some spiffy graphic banner for the various news items, but that's just me. Perhaps a simple background for the text would work.

Also I agree that the press info not be spread out evenly, just have them at the top of the forum.

Just some thoughts, Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[David E. Gervais]

I just had to,..

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/336965-Shrapnel111.jpg

What do you think of this sample?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[David E. Gervais]

And here is the blank gif that I used as the background..

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/336966-ShrapnelAd_Bkg1.gif

You are in no way obligated to use this, I just felt compelled to do this little tweak.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Atrocities]

This is going to take some time to get used too.

[Atrocities]

I have to be honest, I really dislike how everything is shifted to the right. To me it would be better if the add things, or whatever they are, were on the left or just the top and bottom of the forum.

[Atrocities]

Well I have been browsing now for about an hour and I am become use to the forum again. I still would like to see the adds and such on the right but other than that, nice work. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Captain Kwok]

David - it looks too churchy or like the cover of one of those devotional books. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

PLEASE put the press releases on the right side of the screen. Or the top, even better. Now, as I've got my settings showing me 25 replies per thread, I've almost always got this big ugly brownish-greyish-sidebar-like-thing taking up approx. 15% of my screen width. No offence, but...

Ugly.

And David, no offence either but I agree with Kwok.

[Alneyan]

I like David's picture myself, and I much prefer to have the press releases on the left than on the right. If possible, the top would be much better though.

[Phoenix-D]

Stick em on the right and its fine..much less disruptive to reading that way.

[Spoo]

Why does the sidebar need to be shown on the individual posts level (i.e. this page)? Why not just have it go as deep as "Malfador Machinations &gt;&gt; Space Empires: IV" and no deeper? That way, when I'm browsing the current topics, I can also look over and see what's new at Shrapnel. Once I click on particular topic, I no longer need to know what's new, since I've already read the sidebar.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

OMG... it's... it's... BROWN! They've changed the color! Much better looking guys, but then don't do the top bars of posts as well... leave that the same color as the body/side of the post. This way, it kinda cuts into the coherentness of a thread. But that's just my opinion.

[Suicide Junkie]

Having an option for the sidebar being on the left or right would be nice.
Personally, I'd go with the right.

The press releases need to have sanity checking on their spread. When you only see one every other page of text (show all on this thread) it looks very silly.

I think david's backgrounds would be nice, if they were desaturated to match the overall atmosphere of the forum. They're just too bright and colourful as is http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

I've got a pretty high resolution going, and when at the top of a page, the bars and banners take up approximately 55% of my screen http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif
At 800x600 resolution, there is only 20% of a screen's worth of actual thread showing when you click one.
Thus, it feels cramped in here now.

I highly reccommend that the sidebars be reined in while forumites are reading posts or replying to posts.
The top, black background bar that says shrapnel forums is good, but the sidebar should only be shown on the thread browsing page and the forum browsing page IMO.
IE:
Show the sidebar and announcements on these pages:
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/ubbthreads.php
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22
Not these pages:
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Board=UBB23&amp;Number=336922
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/newreply.php?Cat=&amp;Board=UBB23&amp;Number=337007&amp;

The buffer issue came up before as well...
There definitely needs to be a pixel or two of space between the black separator line, and the black text on the content page.
The "F" in "Fill out the form below to post..." is touching the black bar on my screen, merging into a slighty fatter black vertical line.

[David E. Gervais]

Suicide Junkie said:
I think david's backgrounds would be nice, if they were desaturated to match the overall atmosphere of the forum. They're just too bright and colourful as is http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif




Ok, I made a version 2.0...

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337024-Shrapnel222.jpg

Is this better?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[David E. Gervais]

And here is the clean version for use as a background.. (compared to the first version)

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337025-ShrapnelAd_Bkg2.jpg http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/336966-ShrapnelAd_Bkg1.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Note: I made this one a .jpg because there is no 'transparent' pixels in this version.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Put them on the right. Definitly. And keep them out of the threads. Definitly.

Other than that, it is nice to be able to check the news quicly.

[Gandalf Parker]

Oh the temptation to post links to old dead threads...

[Azselendor]

I'd personally like links to more sections in shrapnel.

[Joachim]

Richard said:

Again those aren't ad's, they are press releases about games shipping, patches being released, etc. All of that information is useful to the entire community and is not just advertising.




Playing silly semantic games is only going to irritate users and customers (no wait, lets be equally foolish and call ourselves something else - what about 'Shrapnel down line testers' or 'Shrapnel co-funders').

And the boards just look ugly at the moment.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Especially the sidebar. Folks, why don't you just move it to the right now, OK? Or the top, EVEN better. I think many people would greatly appreciate that.

[Fyron]

The top would be terrible. There is already way too much space wasted at the top. The bottom would be fine though.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Ok. Bottom or right. Though I do think that for now, you should also try to compress the "we have made a change to the forum" text, perhaps skip the line breaks to avoid FOUR useless lines of text that could easily fit into one page-wide sentence instead of pushing the actual thread downwards and providing for much ugly empty space...?

[Joachim]

Or put the "its not an ad bar" in between every 3rd post. It would only take up a line or two, still get your message across, but give us back all the space that is wasted.

[EaX]

i don't like the changes they use too much space.

[Fyron]

Joachim said:
Or put the "its not an ad bar" in between every 3rd post. It would only take up a line or two, still get your message across, but give us back all the space that is wasted.

That just makes the situation 10 times worse. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

A collapsable press release bar would probably be best... just as forum categories are collapsable, why not the press release bar?

I never thought I'd see the day when Shrapnel Games was what caused me to bring Proxomitron out of retirement... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[zircher]

Personally, I think the side bar sucks big time. I want all the horizonal space I can get. I subscribe to the Shrapnel press release newletter so I don't need and do not want the side bar. Why not make it an option one can set up under their forum profile or something?
--
TAZ

[Gandalf Parker]

Right side or bottom makes no sense. No one would ever see it. Same with options to see or not see it. Those all would work as well as "let us post what we want without topic forums because we jump straight to SEIV and never see the other stuff"

[Richard]

Okay guys I want to respond to a few things brought up here today.

First off this isn't as much an attempt to get folks to see "ads" as it is to put into place a common nav area across the site. We have various community oriented projects coming down the pipe and we want a common top and left bar for those.

If we really wanted to put ads in, and force folks to see them, we would do as one poster pointed out and just put ads in every third post or so. That's fairly easy to do.

For instance most folks missed that we now have links back to other parts of our site above our press release area, which is something (along with an area to see what is going on with our company) that has been requested by quite a few folks.

Even though we tested this for awhile on our test board we have missed a few items, and you'll see a new version of this setup later tonight. Once we have the version up I think it will be a fairly good compromise between some of the concerns some of you have raised.

Again thanks for the input, we always will endeavor to find common ground between the needs of all of our friends here on the forum.

[Captain Kwok]

Perhaps add a few pixels of spacing between the left cell and the forum cell? It'd help to reduced the smushed look of text against the border of the left cell and make it look less cluttered.

[CovertJaguar]

NOTE: The latest changes broke the Proxomitron filters I provided. I'll post the new one only if someone asks for it.

[Richard]

I also wanted to post this about the whole thing.

I am not trying to say that the banners on the left are in no way some form of advertising, in fact everything we do is advertising. In fact this entire board is adverising in one shape or fashion as it generates sales by discussion of the merits of our games.

The only reason I made the distinction is because I think there is an automatic reaction to see a side bar and say "Man more ads" especially since the original bar looked somewhat like a typical google ad area.

The links on the left talk about games we are releasing, patches being released, new scenarios for games we currently sell, and games coming off of back order. They are informational and yes they may lead to sales, however they are not the same as the banner ads on the top of our pages.

So don't take it as us trying to avoid a question, because we all very well know that the left bar is a form of advertising like any press release is, but to chalk it up to us wanting to bypass filters or put more ads up for the sake of putting ads up is silly.

We have been trying to find a good balance of not adding confusion to the board experience, while making sure we let new folks to the board know how they can reach other parts of our site and what is happenning with the titles they currently have. This seemed like the best compromise.

[Fyron]

Richard:
The new images for the press releases make the text hard to read. The background colors change too much behind the white text, and black on darkish colors isn't very readable, especially for the ones where the text is directly over the darkest blue parts.

What is wrong with text links? It serves the same purpose without making the site really awkward looking. The blue does not match the rest of the color scheme very well IMO.

[Combat Wombat]

CovertJaguar said:
NOTE: The latest changes broke the Proxomitron filters I provided. I'll post the new one only if someone asks for it.



Well than I will ask for them.

Also the new "press release" design is better but I would still like an option to turn it off since I subscribe to the newsletter and read the front page. Oh I just got a brilliant idea! Maybe you should allow people that are signed up for the newsletter to get a special option to turn off the "press release" thing.

[Suicide Junkie]

Removing the black line helped.
The backgrounds are mismatched on a number of pages though...

At least the backgrounds that are visible.
- Before the forum threads display, yes the background is the brown of the sidebar.
- This reply window is tan gray on the other hand, and the background seen after the thread titles load are similar shades of gray.

I'm not sure how to fix that except for a couple-pixel buffer on all of these forum pages.

----

It may just be me, but I think the sidebar is a little slimmer than before.

Sleek and efficient is good.

----

The forum announcement text... it has made the forum control panel (with index/search/faq/etc) twice as tall as before.
I'm not sure why the text is splayed across four lines with a big announcements title, when two or three lines would do (at least on my screen), and as a bonus make it fit in the original sized frame.

---

The "Order SE4 Gold" and similar links in other forums.
These should probably be moved to the sidebar, in the links section, instead of continuing to use the top space which is now being used more by other items.
Make the button gold coloured, or otherwise shiny to keep it obvious.

In order to keep the same bar for all of the pages, you could perhaps make a simple but effective "Buy This Game" button in the sidebar. As a gold button sitting among pink/gray buttons it will stand out when people are looking to find the store and jump directly to the game.

---

The blue colour scheme in the sidebar boxes is prettier, but dosen't really match the forum's theme.

[geoschmo]

Gandalf Parker said:
Right side or bottom makes no sense. No one would ever see it. Same with options to see or not see it. Those all would work as well as "let us post what we want without topic forums because we jump straight to SEIV and never see the other stuff"

Exactly! That's why people are suggesting it! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif


Suicide Junkie said:
It may just be me, but I think the sidebar is a little slimmer than before.


I agree with the impression, but it may just be an optical illusion because of the difference in color? I'm not really sure.

[David E. Gervais]

Imperator Fyron said:
Richard:
The new images for the press releases make the text hard to read. The background colors change too much behind the white text, and black on darkish colors isn't very readable, especially for the ones where the text is directly over the darkest blue parts.

What is wrong with text links? It serves the same purpose without making the site really awkward looking. The blue does not match the rest of the color scheme very well IMO.



Did I miss something? Did you try out my background image? and Fyron didn't like it so now they are gone? Did anyone else see them in place? Or was it only up for a matter is minutes? But Really did I miss something? I know it's been about 3 hours since I last logged in here, but do things change that fast?

Richard I like how you have tightened up the press release section, I have no problems with this new format. FYI I'm viewing the forums at 1280x1024 and everything fits nicely on my screen. I think people will get used to it and eventually grow to like it. I remember this 'wave' of mixed feelings every time the forum underwent changes. In the end we all ended up liking the changes.

That said, why do I feel like I missed something? did someone get a screenshot? Or is Fyron seeing thing again?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Captain Kwok]

We are a very fussy bunch. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Combat Wombat]

David I don't believe your images were ever used.

[Caduceus]

Loaded up the site -- AAAaah! My eyes!!

[Suicide Junkie]

Exactly! That's why people are suggesting it! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif


The option to have it on the right is good.

See, the point is not to FORCE it on people. It is to have it available in case they want to use it.

A floater on the bottom might be good too.

Since we read from the top left, that is where the actual forum should be.
When we are looking for news or links, that's when we glance around the page to find it.
The main point of the forum is to discuss things and post about mods and tips and other interesting things. This attracts more customers to the place.

Having a set of links handy to point the new customers in the direction of the cash register is a good idea, but it should not be the main focus of the forum, which is to just be a forum and attract people.

---

BTW, I think the background of the press boxes should defnitely be related to the actual thing being presented.

Then as soon as I see a mostly black one, with red in the middle, out of the corner of my eye, I'll know to jump on it and pre-order myself some SE5 goodness http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

If I see one with an RTS theme, and hate RTSs, I can ignore it.

A nice default background, like david's glass-boxed desert scene would be good for those that do not have an obvious topical choice.

[David E. Gervais]

Ok, I see the image now, I had to do a ctrl+F5 to force a cold refresh. I see what Fyron means about the blue now. Yellow text is a good contrasting color for placing over a blue background.

Anyway, right now the left press release frame is just a tad bit too narrow, the right side of the pic is being clipped.

just a quick observation, keep up the great work Richard, and remember to breathe in,.. out,.. in,.. out.. slowly and take all out 'fussing' with a big grain of salt. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

At the moment, the top-bar banner appears to link to random games. Since it appears to be 100% shrapnel stuff, why not cycle the news there...

Especially if you code things with a coloured border; new games could be green, game status changes (backorder, etc) could be blue. Major new mods (I see there are some for dom2) could be in yellow. Red could be for critical global news, such as the forum move, or an important staffing change.

[CovertJaguar]

Since you asked Combat Wombat, here you go.

You only need one filter this time, you can delete one of them if you have two.
URL Match = www.shrapnelcommunity.com (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com)
Byte Limit = 10000
Matching Expression:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>&lt;table * id="pr"&gt;**&lt;tr&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;*\n&lt;/td&gt;</pre><hr />

[Gandalf Parker]

CovertJaguar said:
Since you asked Combat Wombat, here you go.




So you are going to post it in their forum how to block out their changes? Ever hear the term "escalation"? You will probably wish you had accepted the first effort. For that matter if everyone hadnt griped about the OT thing you might have avoided this. But go ahead and continue making it worse.

Cant wait to see what they do about the rule #5 violations filling the database just for a post count.

[Gandalf Parker]

Suicide Junkie said:
At the moment, the top-bar banner appears to link to random games. Since it appears to be 100% shrapnel stuff, why not cycle the news there...
Especially if you code things with a coloured border; new games could be green, game status changes (backorder, etc) could be blue. Major new mods (I see there are some for dom2) could be in yellow. Red could be for critical global news, such as the forum move, or an important staffing change.



Hmmm not a bad suggestion. I thought at first they were trying to keep the same little squares they used on the first page to avoid having to make 2 such squares for each news piece. But since they are playing with backgrounds I guess not.

[CovertJaguar]

What? First effort? I only posted them because Combat Wombat asked for them. The only reason it broke before is because the filters were poorly made and the change in size of the sidebar messed them up. If shrapnel asks me to stop I will. Additionally, I will only post the filters if someone asks for them.

And what do you mean by the "OT thing"?

[Baron Munchausen]

I agree that the banner sidebar would be less of a problem if it did not appear in the message threads. Once you have read the notices while viewing the topic list, that's enough. However, I also am a Proxomitron user and it took me about 1 minute to whip up an effective filter for myself. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

CovertJaguar said:
And what do you mean by the "OT thing"?



It was suggested that maybe the wildly OT posts that created long flamewars should be in Shrapnel General which was made for it. Response along the line of "our little community" and "we come straight here and dont see other forums or the main pages". Response along the line of "that might not be a good thing to declare" and "in other forums that has led to" followed by a description of different things including what we are seeing now.

[Suicide Junkie]

Gandalf Parker said:
It was suggested that maybe the wildly OT posts that created long flamewars should be in Shrapnel General which was made for it.

There are no flamewars here in the SE4 section of the forums, "despite" the ample quantity of OT threads.

I must admit I have never seen any serious flamewars as rumours have them. But ISTM that that would increase my perception of any flaming at all.

[Gandalf Parker]

Suicide Junkie said:

Gandalf Parker said:
It was suggested that maybe the wildly OT posts that created long flamewars should be in Shrapnel General which was made for it.

There are no flamewars here in the SE4 section of the forums, "despite" the ample quantity of OT threads.



OK no flame wars. The "exubrant discussions on touchy subjects" which were different than the "helpful game support" of the forum.

[Jack Simth]

Meh. Any change takes some getting used to. It works. It didn't break the forum view I usually use. I can run with it.

[Combat Wombat]

If it wasn't for those posts I wouldn't be involded in any shrapnel stuff, I would have never purchased starfury and would probaly not have purchased SE5 when it comes out.

[Gandalf Parker]

Combat Wombat said:
If it wasn't for those posts I wouldn't be involded in any shrapnel stuff, I would have never purchased starfury and would probaly not have purchased SE5 when it comes out.



Those were never the posts refered to. There was never an effort to kill all OT posts. Ones about PCs, or other games, or star wars, or start trek, or a hundred other "grey" subjects. It was only suggested that maybe the religious, or about the war, or other obviously meant to spark heated discussions would be better in the forum described as being for that purpose rather than the SEIV one.

But the same point. The "we never see those because we come straight here" was not a good response to make.

[Suicide Junkie]

If they were meant to spark flamewars, they did a pretty bad job of it. Highly active, friendly debate as we see occasionally is a good thing.

But, it seems that you of all people, GP, have dragged this thread off topic!

-----

So, to bring it back, some of the points and suggestions made recently:
1) Using the top game-banner to show news, perhaps colour-coded by subject/category
2) Changing the backgrounds on the news items for improved contrast and topic matching.
3) Turning the "Order &lt;game related to forum&gt;" link at the top into a special button on the sidebar.
4) Options for location of sidebar, or hiding it.
5) Fixing the black border line and the lack of space between it and the actual forum text.
6) If the "not-an-ad" bars are too intrusive, they will simply be blocked, and there is no way to force them to be shown except on a very temporary basis.

[Will]

Suicide Junkie said:
1) Using the top game-banner to show news, perhaps colour-coded by subject/category
2) Changing the backgrounds on the news items for improved contrast and topic matching.
3) Turning the "Order &lt;game related to forum&gt;" link at the top into a special button on the sidebar.
4) Options for location of sidebar, or hiding it.
5) Fixing the black border line and the lack of space between it and the actual forum text.
6) If the "not-an-ad" bars are too intrusive, they will simply be blocked, and there is no way to force them to be shown except on a very temporary basis.



1) Yes, I think a much more effective way to do the very top of the page is have the new oval Forums icon on the left, ad banner in the middle, and some sort of iframe to load a random news item from the past X days (perhaps summary/link of blog posting?) I just can't seem to get myself to like the eagle logo, though.

2) The changing-of-news-item backgrounds is a good idea as well. Adds a bit more variety as well, and helps people zoom in on items of special interest (read: SEV http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

3) A golden "Buy This Game" button right below the Support button would fit nicely.

4) This, I think, is very much needed. On my 1280x1024 screen, the beginning of text for the forum pages almost begins in the center of the screen (!) This is a Bad Thing (TM). Then I tried scaling down to 800x600 (people do still use that resolution), and the result was squished everything, and you need to scroll all the way over in some threads (mainly, this one) to even see all the text. Then you can't even see the poster or the sidebar when reading the forum, and that is a Very Bad Thing (TM).

Two ways to resolve the problem are:
A) keep press release sidebar on the forum and topic listings only, and remove from the thread pages (ie, where messages are).
B) move the bar to the right side, or allow the option for users to move the bar to the right. Perhaps keep it defaulted to the right, requiring users to register to change it.

5) Add padding/cellpadding to the table cell the main part of the forum is held in, to prevent the border-merging. Also, it looks like there's supposed to be a drop-shadow on the PR image backgrounds, but it's cut off...

6) As soon as I get some time, I'll be looking for this Proximitron program. I always thought it was a firewall, not a way to edit out "undesirable" HTML.

[Richard]

Let me be frank based on some recent commentary. OT posts are always welcome in the SE:IV community. That has always been and always will be the policy of Shrapnel Games on the matter and I thought we had that issue settled.

The sidebars were added for the reasons I specifically stated and no other. They were no form of punishment.

Feel free to block that portion of the site with any 3rd party tool if you would like. Also feel free to post directions on how to do that. Again no big deal.

If you have questions about the official Shrapnel policy on these things feel free to PM any of the current staff members of Shrapnel Games.

[Suicide Junkie]

Yikes...
They're even there in the PM section of the forum!

The sidebars really should be limited to the top few levels of the forum... when you're doing something specific, like PMing or replying to a message, they are totally unnessesary and just get in the way.

[Combat Wombat]

Richard said:
Let me be frank based on some recent commentary. OT posts are always welcome in the SE:IV community. That has always been and always will be the policy of Shrapnel Games on the matter and I thought we had that issue settled.

The sidebars were added for the reasons I specifically stated and no other. They were no form of punishment.

Feel free to block that portion of the site with any 3rd party tool if you would like. Also feel free to post directions on how to do that. Again no big deal.

If you have questions about the official Shrapnel policy on these things feel free to PM any of the current staff members of Shrapnel Games.



Thank You, This should clear up any confusion.

[Sivran]

Now that they have backgrounds in them they're even more distracting. I may just have to start using Proxo again.

Edit:...yeah. I think I will. Thank you, Shrap.

[CovertJaguar]

Thank you, Richard. I wish more people would have that attitude. I too, think that the sidebar would be fine on the topic and category level, but it is just wasted space in the threads and other areas.


6) As soon as I get some time, I'll be looking for this Proximitron program. I always thought it was a firewall, not a way to edit out "undesirable" HTML.


Its not a firewall at all. Its an ad-blocker and HTML filter.
Proxomitron (http://www.proxomitron.info/)

[Phoenix-D]

Ah, readability. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Thanks Covert. Took me a bit to figure out why it wasn't working..I forgot to turn the new filter on. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif A bit of a resource hog, but not too bad.

EDIT: of course its also making the top of the area (user controls, banner, announcments..) disappear as well. Oops. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

EDIT2: speaking of bugs, even with a non-proxied Firefox, the edit window now has a non-functional button in between "change this post" and "delete this post".

[Sivran]

Yup, noticed that about Covert's filter too. I turned off all other filters, just to make sure.

[Fyron]

Richard:
Are there plans to make the press releases more legible? It is not that it is a bad image, it is just really hard to read the text on top of it.


Phoenix-D said:
EDIT2: speaking of bugs, even with a non-proxied Firefox, the edit window now has a non-functional button in between "change this post" and "delete this post".

That used to be the Spellcheck button. I can confirm that it is now bugged in Firefox.

Gandalf Parker, please do not post anything if all you are going to do is try to incite flames. Those issues have long since been resolved and you dragging them up does nothing productive. Thank you.

[Combat Wombat]

Imperator Fyron said:
Richard:
Are there plans to make the press releases more legible? It is not that it is a bad image, it is just really hard to read the text on top of it.




Is you screen really dark or something? they are perfecly readable on my laptop which is half as bright as normal on battery power.

[Fyron]

No... They are IMO poor choices of color combinations. I can read them, but it is annoying to do so. Anyone with poor eyesight isn't going to be able to read them.

[CovertJaguar]

Phoenix-D said:
EDIT: of course its also making the top of the area (user controls, banner, announcments..) disappear as well. Oops. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



The stuff at the top of the page? the Main Index, Who's Online, and Search stuff? I can see all of that just fine. Don't know what causing it to disappear on your end.

Wait, I see what's wrong. I told you guys to set the byte limit to 10000 just in case, but I had it on 7000. If you set it to 7000 they show up.

EDIT: Fixed the filter so that will only find what is is supposed to even if the byte limit is higher:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>&lt;table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center" id="pr"&gt;**&lt;tr&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;*\n&lt;/td&gt;</pre><hr />

EDIT2: Better one:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>&lt;table \w \w \w \w id="pr"&gt;*&lt;tr&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;?\n&lt;/td&gt;</pre><hr />

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Methinks the Shrapnel crew lives in some sort of temporal anomaly... "Space Empires IV Gold Off Backorder!" is what one of the side ads say.

And I don't really like the new banners, I preferred David's desert with the transparent hand grenade.

[Alneyan]

StrategiaInUltima said:
Methinks the Shrapnel crew lives in some sort of temporal anomaly... "Space Empires IV Gold Off Backorder!" is what one of the side ads say.



That just means SEIV was on backorder a while ago, and thus was not available. Now that it is no longer on backorder, SEIV is available for purchase once more.

[Fyron]

Richard's signature is still in a temporal anomaly, however. Starfury is apparently still coming soon! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Ack! Where did the infinitely useful "Mark All Read" link in the control panel thingie at the top of the main forum view go? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif If the forum announcements were moved to a cell above the "Welcome" and CP cells, it wouldn't have to squish the CP links to a small area and force some of them to that 3rd line that was there before...

[CovertJaguar]

I've been fiddling with the Proxomitron some more and managed to make it remove the sidebar on every page, except the thread lists and the main category lists. This is what everyone has been suggesting be done with it.

URL Match:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/(^ubbthreads.php|postlist.php)</pre><hr />

Byte Limit &gt;= 7000 at least

Matching Expresion:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>&lt;table \w \w \w \w id="pr"&gt;*&lt;tr&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;?\n&lt;/td&gt;</pre><hr />

[Aiken]

What a surprise. Annoying surprise I shall say. Because text in the tread is aligned to the center for me. I bet it's some sort of incompatibility with Opera browser, but it helps a little.
Could owners look at it and possibly fix it?

info: opera 7.60pre
attached: screenshot of Opera window

[David E. Gervais]

Yet another piece of background art, sorry if I'm being anoying, but It's what I do http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337235-ShrapnelAd_Bkg3.gif

Is this any better?

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[David E. Gervais]

And in case you're wondering what it would look like with text on it..

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337236-ShrapnelAd_Bkg3a.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DeadZone]

Actually, I kinda like the new look

Especially now the bloody side news stays up top instead of spreading out down the side

Edit: Oh, since you are changing things around, you might want to consider altering the colors a little to give it a even fresher look

[zircher]

Since the press releases and links now float to the top. How about putting a collapse sidebar button in the upper right corner of the side bar?

I'd be willing to make the extra mouse click to get rid of the damn thing each time I visit. And, if I really did need the links, I'd only have to click on the same button to expand the side bar.
--
TAZ

[Suicide Junkie]

That background would be good for forum announcements.

What about one with a gear/hammer theme for the new mods press boxes?

[David E. Gervais]

You mean something like this?..

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337273-ShrapnelAd_Bkg4.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Frankly I' surprised they haven't used your pic already David...

and why is it taking so long until we get another SEV screen? Nothing personal, but I would like to see some GUI, even if it is only a pre-beta GUI and it's not certain if it will be used. Pretty please?

[Captain Kwok]

I prefer wrenches and gears for mod-type graphics, as it's more about fine tuning and tweaking than smashing which is what a hammer says to me!

[Atrocities]

SE V is a top secret project! The very fact that YOU know about it is a serious breech in security!

[Raging Deadstar]

Atrocities said:
SE V is a top secret project! The very fact that YOU know about it is a serious breech in security!



And the Fact that you know it is a serious breach of security and it is a Top Secret Project means that you are on the inside of the SEV project, and are therefore a target for all rabid SEIV Fans who eagerly await news http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Atrocities]

Raging Deadstar said:

Atrocities said:
SE V is a top secret project! The very fact that YOU know about it is a serious breech in security!



And the Fact that you know it is a serious breach of security and it is a Top Secret Project means that you are on the inside of the SEV project, and are therefore a target for all rabid SEIV Fans who eagerly await news http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



Don't you be making me have to call the Malfador Secret Police on you!

RICHARD! Please move the adds from the left to the right of the screen. PLEASE!

[Atrocities]

David E. Gervais said:
You mean something like this?..

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337273-ShrapnelAd_Bkg4.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif




Very NICE.

[DeadZone]

Atrocities said:

Raging Deadstar said:

Atrocities said:
SE V is a top secret project! The very fact that YOU know about it is a serious breech in security!



And the Fact that you know it is a serious breach of security and it is a Top Secret Project means that you are on the inside of the SEV project, and are therefore a target for all rabid SEIV Fans who eagerly await news http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif



Don't you be making me have to call the Malfador Secret Police on you!



Nah, I'm too tired from the last 50 people you told us to go after, call someone else

[Fyron]

Imperator Fyron said:
Where did the infinitely useful "Mark All Read" link in the control panel thingie at the top of the main forum view go?

Ah, it is nice to see it back in action. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[DarkAnt]

CovertJaguar, I don't want to get rid of the bar. I just want to move it to the right side. How do I do this?

[CovertJaguar]

DarkAnt said:
CovertJaguar, I don't want to get rid of the bar. I just want to move it to the right side. How do I do this?


It can probably be done, but someone with more knowledge of html than I will have to do it.

[Nodachi]

Damn! You know, for what I pay to use this forum they really ought to... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif


Lighten up folks, it's not that bad. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Slick]

Nodachi said:
Damn! You know, for what I pay to use this forum they really ought to... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif


Lighten up folks, it's not that bad. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif



my thoughts exactly.

[Renegade 13]

Hehe am I the only one who remembers how all the other forum changes over time have been met by outrage, then gradual acceptance? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif Pattern seems to be emerging.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[luke_slovakian]

I liked the old way better...but if they need the new banner and stuff it should be on top and/or bottom because this way it makes it annoying because everything is thinner and ja it suxs

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Oh, if you don't like it, just make a thread on how to block it.

I have to admit I'm finding it annoying, but come on - It's not the end of the world. (http://ned.ucam.org/~sdh31/misc/destroy.html)

[David E. Gervais]

This new format is fine, but it does need a tiny tweak.. the column width for the press release needs to be about 6-8 pixels wider. Why? because the right edge of the graphic background is being cropped. (and yes I find a cropped pic to be much more annoying than hanving the column there.)

Oh, and no pressure, but it would be at least nice to see how my background pic looks in action, but that choice is entirely up to you. (the bugler one is the one I would go with, it makes sense since these are 'announcements of sorts.)

Keep up the fantastic work, Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

EDIT: I just did a mock-up and the column only needs 4 extra pixels in width. (see attached sample)

[tesco samoa]

i love the new shrapnel games on the blue. Very Nice. As for the new site... looks good. Would be cool if you could move the stuff around http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Mind you I have not really been here lately as much as would like.

[NullAshton]

Idea... Why don't these headlines be a scroller across the top of the screen?

[geoschmo]

You know, I must say I'm starting to come around on this left menu thing. I don't know if it's because it has David's Bugler pic now, or if it's just a matter of time and getting used to it, but it's starting to look much more natural to me. When I compare this to other websites I visit a lot, espn, cnn, etc, the left menu idea and having a common look accross all pages of a site are fairly common. Heck, for that matter, we do it on PBW, and take up a lot more space then this does. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

If we must have the left menu though, let's go all out and put more nav buttons on it. If there were more nav buttons I think that peoples first impression of it wouldn't be that it's just more "ad" space. What about all the nav buttons from the left menu on the home page? Buttons to take me to the various game pages? How about buttons to take me to different game forums within the bulliten board here? If I could navigate the entire Shrapnel site from the left menu without having to go back to the home page at all that would be fairly useful, and quite cool actually. And you could still have your press releases in the left column under the links like they are now, they'd just be a bit farther down because there would be more links.





NullAshton said:
Idea... Why don't these headlines be a scroller across the top of the screen?

Yeah, that's been mentioned a couple of times in this thread already.

[Fyron]

The new image for the press releases is far easier on the eyes. Thanks!

[NullAshton]

I didn't read all 8 pages, sorry.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Looks VERY good, David. Much easier on the eyes. Must admit I'm getting used to it already.

[Annette]

StrategiaInUltima said:
Looks VERY good, David. Much easier on the eyes. Must admit I'm getting used to it already.



I also like the graphic, David. Thanks much for sharing it with us. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Caduceus]

Much improved color. At least it recedes into the background when I load the page http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Mindi]

geoschmo said:
You know, I must say I'm starting to come around on this left menu thing. I don't know if it's because it has David's Bugler pic now, or if it's just a matter of time and getting used to it, but it's starting to look much more natural to me. When I compare this to other websites I visit a lot, espn, cnn, etc, the left menu idea and having a common look accross all pages of a site are fairly common. Heck, for that matter, we do it on PBW, and take up a lot more space then this does. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



Thanks for this. We are trying to make our sites more uniform and consistent with one another. There will be changes to the blog as well in the future to acheive this common goal. And thanks to David for the pic!


If we must have the left menu though, let's go all out and put more nav buttons on it. If there were more nav buttons I think that peoples first impression of it wouldn't be that it's just more "ad" space. What about all the nav buttons from the left menu on the home page? Buttons to take me to the various game pages? How about buttons to take me to different game forums within the bulliten board here? If I could navigate the entire Shrapnel site from the left menu without having to go back to the home page at all that would be fairly useful, and quite cool actually.



Actually that was exactly what was in the original template plan; however, we determined that the navigation on the front of the site is much wider and would take too much width away from the forum. When we decided to go down to one row of buttons, we at first put up some of the buttons we felt were most needed from previous feedback. Since then we have added a button that goes to the game pages, as well as the one to sign up for the newsletter. There will probably be more navigation added in the future.



NullAshton said:
Idea... Why don't these headlines be a scroller across the top of the screen?

Yeah, that's been mentioned a couple of times in this thread already.



That's not going to happen, because for everyone who doesn't like bars on sites, there will be just as many if not more that don't like seing something that is animated (scrolling, blinking, whatever).

[David E. Gervais]

Wow! I feel almost famous. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif I'm glad you like my background pic, and the pleasure was all mine. Thanks for using it.

Note: The column width is still short by 3-4 pixels, the right-hand drop shadow is missing on the graphic. (I'm not trying to be picky, just pointing out a very miner bug.)

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[AMF]

heck, I'm fine with it EXCEPT....does anyone know how I can stop the "center-justifying" on the posts' text? I much prefer the old left-justification...

[Rathar]

Looks nice to me. Especially like the change from the blue to the tan.

[Suicide Junkie]

The tan is definitely far superior.

Will the backgrounds be mixed up to match the subjects, or is the common picture system going to stay?

[Aiken]

alarikf said:
heck, I'm fine with it EXCEPT....does anyone know how I can stop the "center-justifying" on the posts' text? I much prefer the old left-justification...

My condolences. Do you use Opera too? I've sent PM to Richard about this anomaly.

[AMF]

Ahhh...I seee.....yes, I use Opera....I guess that explains it....



aiken said:

alarikf said:
heck, I'm fine with it EXCEPT....does anyone know how I can stop the "center-justifying" on the posts' text? I much prefer the old left-justification...

My condolences. Do you use Opera too? I've sent PM to Richard about this anomaly.

[Richard]

Yeah I'll check it out in Opera shortly. I got the Mozilla based browsers and IE dring the test but I don't have Opera installed currently. I'll rectify that.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

One more thing tho..... the top banner ad is now a "one-way" animation, in that it has an abrupt end... after which it simply starts all over again. This is REALLY irritating. Seeing a banner ad change gradually and then jump back instantly gets on your nerves after some time.....

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Ermmm..... this isn't supposed to be happening, right?

[Mindi]

That should no longer be happening. Try closing your browser windows and then coming back to the forum. Richard changed the bar slightly to fix David's problem and you probably saw that in the middle of when he made the changes.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

NullAshton said:
I didn't read all 8 pages, sorry.


Neither did I. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

narf poit chez BOOM said:

NullAshton said:
I didn't read all 8 pages, sorry.


Neither did I. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif


Go into "My Home" and edit your user preferences to show more posts per page.
99 is the max http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Poof, only 5 pages now http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Renegade 13]

Heh, but on dial-up it seems to take one hell of a long time to load 99 posts per page, even though it's probably under a minute, especially since most pages you're just looking at the latest couple of posts (if you visit the forums as often as I.)

EDIT: Now there's a loooooong sentence http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Gotta be some gramatical errors in that!

[NullAshton]

Whatever you do, do NOT press show all posts on the babalyon 5 mod topic.

[Atrocities]

To: Richard, Tim, and the great Shrapnel Staff,

I know that it is really no ones business other than Shrapnels, but these forum changes and new software, not to mention the new server, must be costing Shrapnel a lot of cash. I am amazed at the level of customer sevice that shrapnel games has gone to ensure a stable and productive forum environment for the games you sell.

As a customer, I want to say thank you for being such a great company and for working so hard to keep us happy.

[Combat Wombat]

Atrocities said:
To: Richard, Tim, and the great Shrapnel Staff,

I know that it is really no ones business other than Shrapnels, but these forum changes and new software, not to mention the new server, must be costing Shrapnel a lot of cash. I am amazed at the level of customer sevice that shrapnel games has gone to ensure a stable and productive forum environment for the games you sell.

As a customer, I want to say thank you for being such a great company and for working so hard to keep us happy.



I completely agree even and though I don't like all of the changes the fact that I can even complain to someone in charge and get a actual response is wonderful. You would never see this kind of personal involvement at any other publisher/developer. Thank You http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Will]

It is starting to grow on me... would still prefer it on the left, but oh well.

And I still think the "Order X" links on the top should be ditched in favor of a specific store link on the side (ie, clicking takes you directly to the game sales page, not store front page). Keep the "Our Store" button as well, though.

And I want the bullet back http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

You mean this bullet?
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/images/web_new/shrapnelhomeB.gif

[Will]

Almost. It said Intel Forums on it, instead.

But...

YAY!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

*does happy dance*

[Combat Wombat]

Oh man narf why did you even have that?

[Atrocities]

I like the new cossy feeling of the forum. Feels great.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Will said:
Almost. It said Intel Forums on it, instead.

But...

YAY!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

*does happy dance*


Well, I only have the link to the shrapnel home one.

CW: To qoute someone, [BIG, EVIL GRIN]

But...Hmm...

Nope. Tried a little link manipulation, didn't work.

[Fyron]

Join the FFBB (Forumers For Big Bullets) in protesting the new site layout! Bring back the bullet! Vive la balle!

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/stupid.gif

[David E. Gervais]

I don't know about joining a 'Big Bullet' brigade, but...

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/337877-ShrapnelMenu1.jpg

What do you think of this??

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[David E. Gervais]

Speaking of bullets, I think I'll jump the gun..

Attached is a zip with all the buttons needed (including a blank and highlighted versions) in case the powers that be like this idea..

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Aiken]

Our BFGs need some really big bullets. I'll join that movement, Fyron.

[Nodachi]

David, those look great! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif I hope they go for the idea.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

You COULD make it look like they were in a bullet belt, for a machine gun..... but that's just an idea

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

And can anyone tell me what this little dummy button does or why it is present? I only started seeing it AFTER the forum modifications.

[Fyron]

That button has been there for a long time. It used to say "Spellcheck," and it still does when writing a new post. Unfortunately it is bugged on the edit post page. A few people have reported it already in this thread. Hopefully Richard/Mindi can get it fixed soon. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Alneyan]

NullAshton said:
Whatever you do, do NOT press show all posts on the babalyon 5 mod topic.



I have found that to be a disappointment: it only takes a few minutes to load, and barely takes... what, half the resources on my computer. We need a much bigger thread to truly make computers collapse due to "Show All Posts".

I will be against your change this time David: I much prefer the current buttons myself. Then again, I am always in the minority (or plainly alone) whenever it comes to graphics, so.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

People should post on the Race To Post-Infinity! thread more often, also known as "The Race To 1k Post Thread!"

[AMF]

Has there been any further news/progress on the issue of text center-justification when using Opera? Center-justifcation is real hard for me to read, and I much prefer left-justification...and, I hate IE, and don't yet want to switch to Firefox...someone else indicated that this is a problem related only to Opera users...

Just wondering...

thanks,

Alarik