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UrbanToronto Relaunch

Edward Skira

http://skyrisecities.com
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The new site is nearing completion and here's a chance to preview it. New responsive design meaning it's now optimized for mobile usage (phone/tablet etc).

http://toronto.skyrisecities.com/alpha/

Please use the alpha at the end of the url to see it properly. And please don't click on any of the social links just yet (FB/Twitter/Share etc) as we don't want the site to be publicized just yet. This is just for UT members just now.

Please leave comments and questions here. Ask about anything that you don't understand.

And no we are not changing the name and url.
 
Great if optimised for mobile etc. Should we (as users) continue to use the old site or move towards the new site now?
 
Great if optimised for mobile etc. Should we (as users) continue to use the old site or move towards the new site now?

Officially use the old one but I'd love if people use the new one. We are beta testing so looking for any problems.
 
Based on a couple minutes' testing, looks good, but I'm not a fan of the sticky header and footer. I like my vertical screen real estate! Love the new map page though. Way faster than the old one.
I have to agree about the pinned header and footer. This really creates a lot of clutter. Ideally, the header should disappear when scrolling down (and maybe pop up when scrolling up). The footer should remain stuck at the bottom and only seen when reaching the bottom.

Edit: actually, the pinned header is really noticeable when viewing pictures. The big pictures are cut in half due to the clutter.
 
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I have to agree about the pinned header and footer. This really creates a lot of clutter. Ideally, the header should disappear when scrolling down (and maybe pop up when scrolling up). The footer should remain stuck at the bottom and only seen when reaching the bottom.

Edit: actually, the pinned header is really noticeable when viewing pictures. The big pictures are cut in half due to the clutter.
There should be an option to disable the always-there header and footer.
 
Page Up & Down don't work unless you first mouse-click on some non-heading non-link part of the page.
 
The new site is nearing completion and here's a chance to preview it. New responsive design meaning it's now optimized for mobile usage (phone/tablet etc).
Another issue I noticed (also an issue in the old/current forums!) is that the little up arrow link () next to quoted posts doesn't work. Page doesn't scroll.
 
- I don't mind the sticky header or footer
- The line spacing between paragraph lines could be increased for readability
- The mid-news stream banner ads are incredibly annoying - perhaps there's a less invasive way to implement them?
- I honestly find the current design a lot more cohesive - some differentiation on the right side column (or just the column headings) could help
 
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Don't forget to preserve Google Search results when changing domain name!

When transitioning from UrbanToronto to SkyriseCities, don't forget to preserve the SEO of UrbanToronto -- or you might lose a lot of people trying to google their way to a specific UrbanToronto thread. I usually use Google to search for a specific UrbanToronto thread. Some businesses have gone out of businesses when they changed domain name and lost all their Google Search results...

Google's Site Move Tool might help, and making sure there's permanent redirects from everything-to-everything, in perpetuity for all specific UrbanToronto threads, single-posts, etc.
 
P.S. The docked top bar disappears when I pinch-zoom on a mobile device. Maybe

Almost working well; minor bugs there (sometimes I can't scroll downwards as far as I want). Thank you, it works much better than the last time I tried to use SkyriseCities -- my iPad is the main way I read UrbanToronto while I'm on the GoTrain. Very important to support iPad/tablet users as commuters read the Transportation forum during their commute!

Minor bug:
1. Scroll part way down
2. Pinch zoom just a little, till bars disappear.
3. Try to scroll up/down.

It works much better than the last time I tried to use SkyriseCities interface, but could you fix the remaining pinch-zoom issues? Thanks!
 

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