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Forum Shutdown For Upgrades

Many things are improvements, but some improvements might cause me to post less often on UrbanToronto because of increased difficulty of using these forums from a GOTrain (where I do many of my UrbanToronto replies wirelessly on), perhaps, you could look into some minor tweaks!

Some things are harder to tap on my iPad. I use UrbanToronto while commuting.
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...i-use-urbantoronto-on-ipad-on-gotrains.21536/
Yes, I write my long (1,000 word messages) completely on my iPad...

Times New Roman san-serif-font should be changeable to a non-serif font as an option:
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/please-use-san-serif-font-for-new-forum.21535/
 
Still can't view all of a person's posts.
Click someone's profile, like mine with over 8,000 posts and it only shows the ones since this software was installed.
Also, says I'm a new member... maybe you guys haven't finished setting this up yet.

I do like that when you're reading a thread, it shows at the bottom if new messages have been posted since you loaded the page. Very handy!
 
Edward Skira said:
We've just gone live with the new forum. Give us time to deal with preferences/issues.
Click to expand...
Fully understandable.

Just as an aside, I am not sure if this forum would be appropriate for a like system. I don't see a scenario where discussion can be improved by implementing a popularity contest. That is a discussion that can wait until after the conversion to the new software is complete of course.
 
I very much appreciate everyone's hard work on making this site great, as it's one of my favourite corners in virtual space. But I must say that my first impressions of the new board format are not too good...

I understand that perhaps it'll take some time to smooth out the kinks, but for whatever it's worth here are some of my thoughts. Hopefully by sharing them you'll have an idea of some what I and perhaps other forum members think. Everyone, please feel free to chime in and say what you do and don't agree with below. I'm just one person, obviously.

1. The font is hard to read. I think it's TNR, I'm not sure. But it's hard on the eyes and doesn't welcome quicker skimming. I strongly feel it should be changed.

2. The format of the posts in a thread is too cluttered. The other site had a much smoother interface, and it was easier for my eye to catch what was going on. This new format feels like too much information is trying to grab my attention at once.

3. There's really no need for a larger avatar for each user. It just takes away from the real content of this board: the posts and the pictures. Why do this?

4. In the thread view on the forum, there are icons beside each thread. Why? These pictures contribute very little, and all we really need to know is what the thread topic is.

5. Likewise, the page numbers for the threads appear only when you hover over the thread title (or around it). Why? What is this really fixing? In the old format it was very easy to see if someone has posted by just quickly looking at the page number of the thread. I'm on here so much I have a rough idea of what it was the last time I visited. But even more to the point, the page number in a thread is pretty essential information. I'm not sure why it's made secondary by making it appear only when hovering.

6. The 'New' icon on the top right of posts is unnecessary and cluttering. I know what posts are new by reading them, I don't need an icon telling me.

7. The overall 'look' is very 'bubbly.' I generally find that straight, clean, precise lines are easiest to look at, and best for contrast purposes. There's too much shading and flash here. The great thing about the old board was that, visually speaking, it did a good job of making a lot of information easy to see. I feel like the visuals of this new design are tying to make everything jump out at me at once, and it's really hard to look at.

Thanks for putting in all the hard work into this site, and all the hard work into this upgrade. I hope you can make it great. But I do have a feeling that if it wasn't broken, don't fix it. That is, the visuals/format. The old board was quite problematic when it came to the mechanics, fixes for which I very much welcome.
 
Miscreant said:
5. Likewise, the page numbers for the threads appear only when you hover over the thread title (or around it). Why? What is this really fixing? In the old format it was very easy to see if someone has posted by just quickly looking at the page number of the thread. I'm on here so much I have a rough idea of what it was the last time I visited. But even more to the point, the page number in a thread is pretty essential information. I'm not sure why it's made secondary by making it appear only when hovering.
Click to expand...
Ya, I'm not a fan of the page numbers hiding until you hover.
 
Forgot one important thing...

8. The formatting for quoted posts is quite bad. For one, the grey background clutters up the thread, making it far too busy. But italicized type is hard to read, and at that the font size is too small. So the triple whammy of italics, smaller font and a grey background makes reading the quoted post a nuisance.
 
9. Another thought--the date showing when a post has been posted should be at the top of the post, not at the bottom. This way if you've forgotten if you've already looked a picture, but you know you've been in the thread in the last 24 hours, you can quickly look at the top of the post to see if the date is before your last visit. It's not always easy to remember when you've seen pics, and it's a nuisance to have to go to the bottom of the post to check the date, then go back up to look at the pictures if you realize you haven't already seen them.
 
I would remove the profile pictures from the left of the thread titles. Threads on UT lasts years (decades), so profile picture of the user who created them isn't particularly relevant.
 
Miscreant said:
9. Another thought--the date showing when a post has been posted should be at the top of the post, not at the bottom. This way if you've forgotten if you've already looked a picture, but you know you've been in the thread in the last 24 hours, you can quickly look at the top of the post to see if the date is before your last visit. It's not always easy to remember when you've seen pics, and it's a nuisance to have to go to the bottom of the post to check the date, then go back up to look at the pictures if you realize you haven't already seen them.
Click to expand...
Ya, that's another one that is a bit annoying.
 
I have to agree on the date thing. First thing I look at at the top of a post is the name and date. Now the date is way at the bottom. On long posts, you have to scroll a long way to see it. And the name is on the side.

Is there a way to disable avatars?

And change the display fonts. The serif font it not as easy to read.
 
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