Not liking the new forum layout

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Comments

  • HHStuart
    HHStuart Posts: 263
    The sidebars take up way too much of the screen on Firefox. It is distracting and makes it hard to read. If they want to advertise, they should use much less of the screen (zero would be nice). I want the wide screen back.
    Front - Polk LSiM 705, Center - Polk LSiM 704c, Rear - Polk LSi 7
    Subwoofer - Epik Legend
    Receiver (as Preamp) - Sony STR-DA3400 ES
    Amplifier - Outlaw 7125
    Television - 58" Samsung Plasma PN58B860
    Blu Ray - OPPO BDP 83
  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,471
    This reminds me of the Audiogon "upgrade". Took something, that while not perfect worked well enough, & turned it to crap. Things are way too busy. Thread titles are too short because all the other stuff dominates it. The background image is horrible. PM's that I deleted years ago are now suddenly back. In general my first reaction is, WTF! I suppose I'll take the wait & see approach, but as of now I don't see myself visiting the forum as much as I used to. Even if I am somewhat of a lurker.
  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,471
    You have got to be kidding me, c-r-a-p is censored. Gimme a break.
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    I used to hate change but then I evolved.

    I am neither for or against apathy.
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • xjghost
    xjghost Posts: 1,080
    coolsax said:

    I'm not liking this either. the sidebars are too distracting. its really hard to read and it doesn't flow well at all.

    The side bars are wasted space IMHO. When looking at the test site the pictures were not there at first and it didn't bother me. Personally I'd rather the forum area in the center be larger and the picture background be less intrusive.

    HT/2Channel: Emotiva MMC-1, Adcom GFA-555II, Polk SDA 3.1's, Teac TN-300 TT, Polk Center and Sub.

    Bedroom system: Carver CT-24, Parasound HCA-800II, Monitor 10's

    Additional projects: RTA 12c's
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Slowly figuring things out.
  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    just give me a frickin' wide screen option and i'll be ok...
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
  • Moose68Bash
    Moose68Bash Posts: 3,842
    edited August 2014
    My initial experiences with the new layout do not bode well for its success IMHO.

    I'm reminded of the lesson Steve Jobs pounded into the heads of all of us who worked for him at NeXT Computer in the early 1990s: If the user of the computer can't take it out of the box, set it up, and begin using it without reading a manual, the engineers who designed the computer have failed. It had to be intuitive -- especially because the operating system, a flavor of UNIX, was notoriously NOT-USER-FRIENDLY.

    This new web site design is like a new computer with some nice looking graphics, but with a user interface that is far from intuitive. It takes too much work to use it. In a damning comment old rocker says it all: "Slowly figuring thing out."

    To switch to a different analogy, when a new restaurant opens, introduces great tasting food but gradually lets the quality of the food slip, even while the menu remains the same, it slowly loses customers. Over time, it goes out of business, and the owners don't understand the cause. They don't understand why their customer base walked away.

    If this web site continues to be this uninviting, unintuitive for users, the number of users will slowly but relentlessly drop off.

    I hope things turn around. Maybe it will prove to be very easy to use for those who take the time to figure it out, but there will likely be a lot of folks who come to the site, find it a pain to use, and will turn to other sites where they have a more pleasing user experience.

    PS: I would like to eliminate my sig from this post, because the new sig format is atrocious to say the least. But, I can't easily figure out how to prevent it from showing up in my post. Should be intuitively obvious, as it was on the old site.
    Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.

    Exercise Room, Innuos Streamer via Cat 6 cable connection to PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC w/Bridge II, AQ King Cobra RCAs to Perreaux PMF3150 amp (fully restored and upgraded by Jeffrey Jackson, Precision Audio Labs), Supra Rondo 4x2.5 Speaker Cables to SDA 1Cs (Vr3 Mods Xovers and other mods.), Dreadnaught with Supra Rondo 4x2.5 interconnect cables by Vr3 Mods. Power for each component from dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel, except Innuos Statement powered from Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One.

  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    This sux, to be blunt. You cannot have thread posts displayed in reverse order, nor can you stay logged in. It is an ugly, cluttered design that is hard to read and follow. It looks absolutely terrible on an iPad.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • jeremymarcinko
    jeremymarcinko Posts: 3,785
    edited August 2014
    It has to be something in your browser settings. I am using Google Chrome and have not been logged out even after rebooting my laptop. I have stayed logged in. The "recent discussion" link works just like the "new posts" prior, and every time I revisit a thread I get placed at the last "unread" post. Furthermore I like how it highlights in yellow the number of unread posts in any given thread that I have visited or am following, such as this one. My only complaint so far is the lack of the "recent discussions" link on the mobile/tablet platform. However, I have set my mobile browser to display the desktop view and all is good. The threads in "recent discussions" are listed from newest to oldest, as they should be. I thought the new design was very easy to use.

    Oh, Listen here mister. We got no way of understandin' this world. But we got as much sense of this bird flyin in the sky. Now there is a lot that bird don't know, but it don't change the fact that the world is happening to him all the same. What I am tryin to say is, is that the course of your life, well its changing, and you don't even see it- Forest Bondurant
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    edited August 2014
    Not to suppress anyone's opinion here as their are some tweaks that need to be done.... Rollouts are ALWAYS difficult (I have PM'd a few hundred of them). Perhaps starting a thread to create a punch list of issues that we are experiencing would be a good place to start where the folks who have worked their asses off getting it to this point can review and respond.

    Maybe then we can go back to being an audio site and not a wine site!
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    edited August 2014

    It has to be something in your browser settings. I am using Google Chrome and have not been logged out even after rebooting my laptop. I have stayed logged in. The "recent discussion" link works just like the "new posts" prior, and every time I revisit a thread I get placed at the last "unread" post. Furthermore I like how it highlights in yellow the number of unread posts in any given thread that I have visited or am following, such as this one. My only complaint so far is the lack of the "recent discussions" link on the mobile/tablet platform. However, I have set my mobile browser to display the desktop view and all is good. The threads in "recent discussions" are listed in from newest to oldest, as they should be. I thought the new design was very easy to use.

    I am using Chrome also and not having any browser issues. I was surprised to hear that someone using Firefox was having issues tho. Anyone using IE ....well I would expect problems there. So far for me I like it... I even get a pop up when some posts a new comment to the thread I am active in, and get a little thingy telling me new posts are available on threads. I never viewed newest first, but I like the way it takes you to the last post you read on a thread. I gave increased the zoom on chrome to 150% and I get the thread and the menu bar on the side perfectly and the background is virtually suppressed.
    Very easy to read now.

    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • tophatjohnny
    tophatjohnny Posts: 4,162
    edited August 2014
    nothing to it. Easy to use as the last one was!! I just like the old style graphics. I made the girl go away by enlarging my screen and see everything I need to just fine. I mean EVERYTHING!! Change takes some getting used to, but not much with this change. I have been checking it out and it's pretty simple to navigate. I use Google Chrome and never use firefox, so can't comment on that. It sure wont turn me into one of the PostAholics with this change, nor will it scare me away. Like I mentioned in a different thread, there are some real cool people here and if not for this forum I would not have such a nice sound happening in my home today! Thanks again for all the positive things and people this forum has brought into my life. I am truly grateful. Peace
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    Just switced over to my samsung tablet, and it looks better than the old version on this device. Chrome rembered my settings from my laptop and i didn't have to change anything. i told it to remember me and i don't have to worry bout logging in:-)
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • Thanks for letting us know that.
  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,638
    DaveHo said:

    You have got to be kidding me, c-r-a-p is censored. Gimme a break.

    I just noticed in another post that k n o b as in volume knob was censored

  • PSOVLSK
    PSOVLSK Posts: 5,021
    cnh said:

    . Otherwise, stop picking on the girl with the new Polk cans prominently featured on her cabeza! After all, we do have to feature some product here, and it's a LOT better than the wood paneling, don't you think?
    cnh

    Nope. I much prefer the wood paneling...and I didn't care for it too much.

    Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.-John Wooden
  • cubdog
    cubdog Posts: 835
    My first look at the new design. Terrible.

    cubdog
    Shuguang Classic S8MK
    Emotiva XDA-2
    Bel Canto M300 mono blocks
    Bel Canto DAC 1.5
    Squeezebox Touch
    Sony SS-M7
    A/D/S L710
  • audio_alan
    audio_alan Posts: 770
    Redesign - FAIL!

    #1 The girl on the left almost makes this NSFW. How many people want a tatooed girl on their screen when their boss walks in?! Not that I sit on here all day at work, but if I want to check on a thread quickly on a break, I don't want to feel like I'm going to be taken to HR for viewing a forum about speakers!

    #2 Black on white is a horrible color scheme for text. Actually, this is closer to grey on white. Awful! Really hard on the eyes.

    #3 Cluttered and a LOT of wasted space.

    Bring back the old design, please!
  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,722

    Redesign - FAIL!

    #1 The girl on the left almost makes this NSFW. How many people want a tatooed girl on their screen when their boss walks in?! Not that I sit on here all day at work, but if I want to check on a thread quickly on a break, I don't want to feel like I'm going to be taken to HR for viewing a forum about speakers!

    #2 Black on white is a horrible color scheme for text. Actually, this is closer to grey on white. Awful! Really hard on the eyes.

    #3 Cluttered and a LOT of wasted space.

    Bring back the old design, please!

    Agreed, your point number 1 is the first thing I mentioned to Ken as part of the beta testing...
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    I can read the black on white outside
    My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160

    Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |

    ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4

    Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |

    Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |

    Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |

    Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's

    Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's |
  • Hermitism
    Hermitism Posts: 4,192
    edited August 2014
    I'd like to express some issues I have. These are just my opinion and may differ from others:

    I don't like the background image, it really serves no purpose because it's mostly blocked out anyway by the center text section. I've always preferred sites that use a solid background.

    The center text section isn't wide enough. Even if I maximize my browser to take up my entire screen, it doesn't increase the size of the text area.

    A bright white background for the text area is a poor choice.

    There needs to be a colored separator to help distinguish when one post ends and another begins.

    The signatures are out of hand. I'm using a very small and appropriate text size on my signature, but the mandatory double spacing is still making my signature take up too much room. Sometimes people's signatures look like they are part of the person's post.

    The box on the right is taking up space that could be used for posts and is unnecessary.

    If you are not logged in, you can't see who is online. And if you are logged in, you only see the avatars (small icons) and have to put your pointer over them to see who is online and is a real inconvenience. And can't be done on a tablet.

    When you are not logged in, and you click to view the last post of a thread, it takes you to the top of the last page of the thread and doesn't take you to the last post. (I'm using Firefox/Windows 7)

    Pictures from the old version of the forum have not been imported and don't show up on old threads. The only photos that show up are ones that are hosted off site.

    When not logged in, the "Howdy, Stranger!" has to go!





    Post edited by Hermitism on
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,471
    Hermitism said:

    I'd like to express some issues I have. These are just my opinion and may differ from others:

    I don't like the background image, it really serves no purpose because it's mostly blocked out anyway by the center text section. I've always preferred sites that use a solid background.

    The center text section isn't wide enough. Even if I maximize my browser to take up my entire screen, it doesn't increase the size of the text area.

    A bright white background for the text area is a poor choice.

    There needs to be a colored separator to help distinguish when one post ends and another begins.

    The signatures are out of hand. I'm using a very small and appropriate text size on my signature, but the mandatory double spacing is still making my signature take up too much room. Sometimes people's signatures look like they are part of the person's post.

    The box on the right is taking up space that could be used for posts and is unnecessary.

    If you are not logged in, you can't see who is online. And if you are logged in, you only see the small icons and have to put your pointer over them to see who is online and is a real inconvenience. And can't be done on a tablet.

    When you are not logged in, and you click to view the last post of a thread, it takes you to the top of the last page of the thread and doesn't take you to the last post. (I'm using Firefox/Windows 7)

    Pictures from the old version of the forum have not been imported and don't show up on old threads. The only photos that show up are ones that are hosted off site.




    You're are completely correct with all above

    This new is rubbish

  • Hermitism
    Hermitism Posts: 4,192
    Also when viewing the last post of a thread, which is what most people do when keeping up on a certain thread, you have to scroll all the way up near the top to see who else is viewing the thread. I think the right column needs to be moved to the bottom, which will allow for a wider text/post area.
  • chumlie
    chumlie Posts: 8,658
    Maybe they could let Rick88 replace the bird girl. That's a start. :D
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    I just hope the "knowledge" people stick with figuring out the new page and I'm sure they will. I really don't want to continue down the ole rabbit hole without you folks and all the great knowledge you share so unselfishly
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Okay, you click on the "time" under the persons name and you get the most recent post.
  • Hermitism
    Hermitism Posts: 4,192
    oldrocker said:

    Okay, you click on the "time" under the persons name and you get the most recent post.

    But if you're not logged in, it takes you to the top of that page, rather than the last post. On the old forum, if you clicked on "last post", it took you to the last post whether you were logged in or not.

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    You are correct, I'm just "mumbling" aloud when I figure something out :)
  • Hermitism
    Hermitism Posts: 4,192
    I think a lot of time has been spent trying to create a certain look. I just don't feel it creates a user friendly layout for a forum. While this Vanilla forum does offer some neat features, I think as is, it makes for a less enjoyable experience compared to the older forum. jmo