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New Graphics, Profile Fields, and more improvements |
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8th April 2024, 10:56 PM
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#1
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sick nasty
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 126,046 User: 13,530 |
Hi everyone,
As you can see, I've been a little bored over my Easter break, and what became one little idea for the forum spiralled into a series of new graphics to help liven the place up while we're stuck on this very outdated layout. I've learned more about HTML in the last few days than I have in my entire life, I'm fairly sure I'm going to be dreaming of code when I go to bed tonight The first is that there are new gender icons, which came about after I realised we do indeed have a non-binary gender option in the profile, but no icon to go with it! So for the sake of consistency, I refreshed all of the gender icons (including the 'gender not set' icon that you'll see in people's profiles and in the member list). It was a PAIN to get everything synced up, and please be careful if you edit your gender through your profile page instead of the Edit Profile button, because I'm not sure the two marry up, but that applies to the male and female options as much as non-binary so may have been a problem before I got there. However, I would LOVE to add more gender options! Of course, there are many options out there, and quite frankly I wouldn't know where to start when adding a comprehensive list to Buzzjack, especially when I'm not sure how many would be of use. Therefore, if you'd like to see your gender, or any other genders, represented on the list, please let me know in this thread or via PM as I'd be keen to add them (and I'd probably want to add a few in one go as it's a pretty laborious task). For now, I hope the non-binary option can be useful to some of you (I know it is to me until I get around to adding something more specific). There are also some new graphics down the bottom of the index page of the forum. It was looking a bit depressing and clunky so I jazzed it up with a few emojis and I restructured it just a little to get rid of the dead space. I'm sure you've noticed by now the new group tags that each poster has. These have replaced the ambiguous blue dot graphics that increased with post counts - don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about these in my entire time here...! They've also replaced the need for the simple text field that listed a member's group (member, moderator, admin, etc), and I've been able to restructure the profile field to the left of each post. It includes all of the same information, just presented more neatly. If you're looking for the gallery information that used to be in this area, you can now view a user's gallery (or alternatively, find out that they have no gallery pictures) by clicking the dropdown box next to someone's username. I've not figured out how to change the colour of that yet so it looks a little ugly (and I'm aware a graphic is repeated!), but that's where it is. A little plea regarding the gallery - please have a look at which photos you've uploaded and decide whether you'd still like it to be up, particularly photos of yourself, as some of these go back AGES and I'm worried people have forgotten what they've put on here. Alternatively, if you see something that you figure probably doesn't NEED to be in the gallery anymore, please don't hesitate to delete - it's so cluttered that it's stressing me out if I'm being totally honest x There's every chance I'll be looking at some other little tweaks this week and I'll update you guys as I do! Would very much welcome any suggestions you guys have too, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll try and figure out if we can implement it. For now, I hope you enjoy the slightly refreshed look! |
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8th April 2024, 11:02 PM
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#2
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Eusexua
Pronouns: She/her
Joined: 18 January 2011 Posts: 61,596 User: 12,810 |
Happy to hear about the gender inclusivity! On a personal level I'm also digging the hot pink refresh of the female icon.
I think I was logged in during the experimental stages earlier as I was so confused as to why the alignments kept changing but I like the look of the final product! |
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8th April 2024, 11:04 PM
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#3
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sick nasty
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 126,046 User: 13,530 |
There was a *lot* of trial and error so sorry to those who caught the random chopping and changing of various aspects over the last 24 hours! The only way I could figure out some of the code was to be like "ooh what does this do?"
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8th April 2024, 11:21 PM
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#4
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Here to play, here to stay
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 8 February 2015 Posts: 21,391 User: 21,587 |
Hey Joseph, great work! Always love a free upgrade!
My idea was for the Shoutbox, firstly I thought the button labelled "Smilie" is unnecessary (and perhaps should be called emoji if it remained) but mainly I was wondering if within the section where the Shoutbox is, to the right, could be another box for announcements/notifications (for example about a listening session, a chart show, a song contest deadline or whatever that needs to alert other members for). As someone running a daily event in The Lounge for April, I try to put reminders in the shoutbox but these are quickly “outshouted” by other members shouts. Perhaps an area at the bottom for announcements and events would be really good if the forum has this functionality of course without it looking clunky as you identified. The calendar feature is useful for upcoming events, but for things that perhaps need a more urgent alert would be useful. |
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8th April 2024, 11:29 PM
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#5
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sick nasty
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 126,046 User: 13,530 |
Hey Joseph, great work! Always love a free upgrade! My idea was for the Shoutbox, firstly I thought the button labelled "Smilie" is unnecessary (and perhaps should be called emoji if it remained) but mainly I was wondering if within the section where the Shoutbox is, to the right, could be another box for announcements/notifications (for example about a listening session, a chart show, a song contest deadline or whatever that needs to alert other members for). As someone running a daily event in The Lounge for April, I try to put reminders in the shoutbox but these are quickly “outshouted” by other members shouts. Perhaps an area at the bottom for announcements and events would be really good if the forum has this functionality of course without it looking clunky as you identified. The calendar feature is useful for upcoming events, but for things that perhaps need a more urgent alert would be useful. Thanks for the kind words Wardy (and Jade as well)! Your wish is my command on the 'Smilie' button, I've renamed it 'Emoticon' to be consistent across the forum! The calendar is definitely the best way to currently advertise an event that's happening, I'd make use of that as much as possible, though something like this is actually why I ended up trawling through the admin control panel in the first place. We used to have a panel on the forum index that had some forum statistics, gallery photos, etc - would need some tweaking but it feels like the right kind of place to advertise current forum activities. I'll continue looking into it and hopefully we can find something that can serve a range of purposes + look nice at the top of the forum! |
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8th April 2024, 11:57 PM
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#6
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"Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 42,514 User: 3,217 |
I’m loving these changes, Joseph! It looks a lot fresher! Thank you for going to the trouble
Regarding the shout box, I have a few queries! Is there any way that we could see more stats? It would be interesting to see beyond the Top 25 top shouters, so every member could see how many times they’ve posted a shout. If this was something that launched on a separate page, like it does for the top posters of the forum where we can see how many times everyone has posted? When clicking the number of shouts next to a member, would it be possible for that to launch a page that shows the history of that person’s shouts, like we can with our forum posts? Because currently if you click their number of shouts, it just reloads the main page of the shout box One final thing about the shout box, currently it only has “next page” - is there a way to make it like the forum where it looks like this, for example: “873 Pages 1 2 3 > >>” - maybe this would be a fun feature if members want to look back at older shouts more easily? No worries if none of this is possible! |
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9th April 2024, 12:11 AM
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#7
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 October 2021 Posts: 9,403 User: 137,667 |
ooh nice work joseph, it looks great!!
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9th April 2024, 12:20 AM
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#8
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sick nasty
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 126,046 User: 13,530 |
I’m loving these changes, Joseph! It looks a lot fresher! Thank you for going to the trouble Regarding the shout box, I have a few queries! Is there any way that we could see more stats? It would be interesting to see beyond the Top 25 top shouters, so every member could see how many times they’ve posted a shout. If this was something that launched on a separate page, like it does for the top posters of the forum where we can see how many times everyone has posted? When clicking the number of shouts next to a member, would it be possible for that to launch a page that shows the history of that person’s shouts, like we can with our forum posts? Because currently if you click their number of shouts, it just reloads the main page of the shout box One final thing about the shout box, currently it only has “next page” - is there a way to make it like the forum where it looks like this, for example: “873 Pages 1 2 3 > >>” - maybe this would be a fun feature if members want to look back at older shouts more easily? No worries if none of this is possible! I'll have a play around though I think all of this stuff may well be above my pay grade |
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9th April 2024, 09:05 AM
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#9
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 4 November 2013
Posts: 31,428 User: 20,053 |
I thought I spotted something different on the left hand side of the page, bravo work!
I do think that the "Member" tag looks a bit clunky and out of line with the rest of box as the text is central whereas the rest is all on the right-hand side. This post has been edited by Dobbo: 9th April 2024, 09:07 AM |
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9th April 2024, 09:41 AM
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#10
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WELCOME TO UTOPIA
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 17 June 2022 Posts: 4,457 User: 153,406 |
This is looking fantastic Joseph! It's always nice to embrace some changes.
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9th April 2024, 10:15 AM
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#11
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"Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 42,514 User: 3,217 |
I do think that the "Member" tag looks a bit clunky and out of line with the rest of box as the text is central whereas the rest is all on the right-hand side. This made me feel curious about what it would look like if the Member tag and the custom line were swapped around: I quite like that, as it has the username left aligned, member tag central and custom line on the right. Maybe that flows better. I'm not sure if it's possible to switch those around though? |
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9th April 2024, 10:24 AM
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#12
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 4 November 2013
Posts: 31,428 User: 20,053 |
I prefer that too^ does look more sleek
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9th April 2024, 10:59 AM
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#13
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 20 April 2009
Posts: 10,174 User: 8,705 |
Enjoying the updates: the fonts are fun and they look more modern somehow.
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9th April 2024, 12:17 PM
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#14
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 22 May 2020 Posts: 3,077 User: 106,739 |
This looks great, definitely feels more intuitive than the blue dots! I agree the group tags might look better right-aligned, or swapped around like Jay suggested.
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9th April 2024, 12:36 PM
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#15
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sick nasty
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 126,046 User: 13,530 |
Thanks so much for the feedback guys! I've swapped the two fields around as suggested
That screenshot Jay posted was making me worry as the Joined / Posts / User # aren't meant to be italic anymore, then I noticed it was the same on my phone clearing the cache worked for me if anyone else wants to solve that. |
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9th April 2024, 12:49 PM
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#16
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Here to play, here to stay
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 8 February 2015 Posts: 21,391 User: 21,587 |
I also wonder if there’s a way to change my description of "BuzzJack Legend" to something else. I notice others have customised descriptions.
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9th April 2024, 12:49 PM
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#17
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a femininomenon
Pronouns: she/her
Joined: 29 August 2014 Posts: 14,153 User: 21,176 |
oooh Ty Joseph! Love the gender graphic but not a fan of the massive member text if I'm honest - I think just because it's black Think we should be rebranded as Not-a-Mod in a nice orange colour it does look good for mods though and is better than the square things
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9th April 2024, 12:52 PM
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#18
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a femininomenon
Pronouns: she/her
Joined: 29 August 2014 Posts: 14,153 User: 21,176 |
Wardy you didn't need to bring that here, I've posted a more constructive response now I know it's something Joseph has implemented and not a random auto update or something
It's just me being pedantic x |
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9th April 2024, 12:53 PM
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#19
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Here to play, here to stay
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 8 February 2015 Posts: 21,391 User: 21,587 |
On an unrelated note… looking at my stats bar I just noticed I reached 20,000 posts very recently! What was my 20,000th post Joseph?
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9th April 2024, 12:54 PM
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#20
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Here to play, here to stay
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 8 February 2015 Posts: 21,391 User: 21,587 |
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Time is now: 23rd September 2024, 08:52 PM |
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