New style for FSDeveloper

As you will probably have seen by now, we have changed the default style that is used by the FSDeveloper. Actually we have switched back to the style we used before the previous one.

I know that for any style there will be people who favour it or are against it. It is difficult to satisfy all tastes. So hopefully you did not get used to the black colour too much?

We did not change the styles based on our personal tastes only though. The prime reason was that after upgrading the forum software the old style had a lot of trouble. For example areas with black text on a black background. There were loads of such issues. Solving each of them would take a lot of effort and time. We felt that it would be better to use a more standard style instead, so that we can use our time on other things than tweaking the style of the website.

If you find parts of the website that do not work correctly with the new style please let us know so that we can address them,

I honestly prefer this format to the black one... It's much easier on my old, tired eyes!

aaaargh! I'm blinded! I can understand the issue, but Kirsch's icons are rubbish, sorry to say that.

My EYES!... The light,... it burns!

Now the dang song with the line "I wear my sunglasses at night" pops into my head...



The light,... it burns!

Hi Folks

Arno -
Fully understand the problem with supporting forum themes & mods.

I did like the last style,
personally found it easier on the eye,
and certainly was classier than this.

Did however hate
that URL text was effectively hidden
unless mouse-overed.

Particularly so on the wiki
where it made some aspects almost unuseable.

Does look a little pasty,
but good decision.



EDIT -
Can you check the intended res for this theme please.

The graphical buttons e.g.
are virtually illegible on a 15" 1600x1200 LCD.

Looks like they're intended for lower res.

Should be a configuration option somewhere in the forum C/P
to use text buttons,
rather than graphic buttons.



HTH
ATB
Paul

Not sure about the colours, but perhaps a need for the change. Certainly like the new download section, well done chaps.

Thanks.

is there a way to make a the unread threads "bolder" because I cant' hardly distinguish read from unread

Hi,

The reason I frequently visit this site is not the layout but the contents of it.
IMHO it is the best site by far for people wanting a bit more than just 'play' FS.
As far as I can see, it offers help to both novices as well as to the nerds and everything in between. I also appreciate the friendly helpfulness of the contributors and administrators.
Having said that, I can only say that the new layout is better than the old one as it gives you a 'brighter' site, be it that it looks more like other sites. Perhaps you could change the colour a bit? Pink(yish) is warm, true, but there are more warm colours .
But then again, Paul's opinion amongst others is different from mine already.
Aesthetics will help you attract more visitors but in the end content makes the difference.

I'm with those who really don't care what the site looks like even though I prefer an eye-pleasing experience. The content and people are why I'm here so you could add mesmerizing spiny deals with polka-dots and I'd still be coming back!

With that said, this is an eye-pleasing style for me and so far everything is working like before so I'm happy. New DL section is also nice, well done fellas.

BASys said:

EDIT -
Can you check the intended res for this theme please.

The graphical buttons e.g.
are virtually illegible on a 15" 1600x1200 LCD.

Looks like they're intended for lower res.

Should be a configuration option somewhere in the forum C/P
to use text buttons,
rather than graphic buttons.

Click to expand...

My apologies if I sound rude or if you take this the wrong way but... 1600x1200 on a 15" LCD? Yikes. I like taking advantage of getting the most resolution I can but what do you honestly expect with a 15" LCD? What is the native resolution for your display? Using any other resolution will result in lower quality visuals.

Just an FYI.. I know not everyone can afford to upgrade but right now, you can get decent quality 22" wide screen LCD's for roughly $150.00 shipped to your door in the US.

Hi Folks

VAEjonp said:

My apologies if I sound rude
or if you take this the wrong way
but... 1600x1200 on a 15" LCD? Yikes.
I like taking advantage of getting the most resolution I can
but what do you honestly expect with a 15" LCD?

Click to expand...

A lot more than yourself obviously.

You've missed the point.
It's about relative size and contrast.



The quote & reply buttons are all -
- White text on a light blue background.
- Low-res 70x22 pixel graphics.
- Characters created from single pixel width letters.
vbulletin Kirsch -
vbulletin standard -
EDIT -
This is a FSDeveloper CSS/template issue,
as on vbulletin this same button gif
displays as approximately 4 times larger.



These Kirsch buttons are from a low-res forum theme.
Another good indicator of that
is the restricted 800 pixel width post/reply textfield.
EDIT -
It looks like it's a template issue, as the edit window is appropriately widthed.



Look at the -
- Navigation bar
- Thread controls
- Multipage indicators
They're all CSS/text in contrasting colours and larger bold fonts.



All decent forum software has the option to use
either graphics buttons or CSS/text.

VAEjonp said:

What is the native resolution for your display?
Using any other resolution will result in lower quality visuals.

Click to expand...

It's a UXGA 1600x1200 15.4" ultrasharp laptop screen.

VAEjonp said:

Just an FYI..
I know not everyone can afford to upgrade but right now,
you can get decent quality 22" wide screen LCD's
for roughly $150.00 shipped to your door in the US.

Click to expand...

Who needs them

I've also got a 21" MultiScan Total Flat Screen Sony FD Trinitron GDM-5410 1920x1440 attached,
but running at 1600x1200 to match the LCD,
and those buttons look no more legible on there.



PS
Arno -
The post/reply textfield looks horrible.
It's surrounded by blotchy blue/white areas,
as if someone resprayed gradient_panel.jpg
with in airbrush in low-light conditions.



Can strikethrough be enabled in the post/reply textfield ?



HTH
ATB
Paul

I'm on a 22" @ 1680x1050 and the buttons appear fine to me. I can see where you're coming from now, didn't realize it was a laptop.

Instead of losing the buttons they could be modified to be better visible. A little tweaking can make a big difference:



If you like this better and Arno and company approve I'll gladly update the other buttons. Want a different color let me know. These examples are crude and took all of a minute, actual replacements would be better quality.




JonP

Looks good Arno.

A fresh change.

On my Apple iMac it is a bit intense. The screen is already like a Plasma tv. But alas.. I have sunglasses.



Bill

Nice one, Arno.

I was one of those who were against the old new black style, but I was happy with it. Doesn't mean I don't like this new one. I love it.

hi Arno,
On my 22 inch monitors with 1280x1024 res it looks perfect!
Well done.
Kind regards
Bert

mdm248111 said:

is there a way to make a the unread threads "bolder" because I cant' hardly distinguish read from unread

Click to expand...

second that.

The sim-outhouse has several styles to choose from as a user option. That might resolve some personal preferences.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/index.php?

A selection of free styles can be found here:

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=195&daysprune=-1&order=desc&sort=views

Note these are sorted by popularity... probably a clue to what works best.

Dick

Hi Paul,

How the images of the buttons are displayed should not depend on your screen resolution. They will cover the same amount of pixels in any case, of course on a screen like yours they will be a bit smaller if you measure their real world size.

So you are saying that they are too small to read on your screen? Maybe we should give them more contrast as suggested. I don't think there is an option to have text buttons, unless we alter the style to have that kind of buttons only.

Hi Folks

Arno -
Yes I fully understand the buttons do not depend on my screen res.
Yes they should cover the same pixel area.



However -
look at this image -
Note the size of this vbulletin standard quote button.

Now go to Vbulletin forums.
Open any topic.
e.g. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=215819
Look at the Quote button.

Compare.
Do you see any difference now ?



For me -
Here on FSDev
it displays as approx 0.25 x the size as displayed at Vbulletin.



Configuration -
For text buttons, try -

Open this site's vbulletin admin panel.

Have a look in themes, (or whatever vbulletin calls them).

Look for a tickbox similar to -
Show buttons as graphics.

Untick.



HTH
ATB
Paul

Hi Paul,

BASys said:

For me -
Here on FSDev
it displays as approx 0.25 x the size as displayed at Vbulletin.

Click to expand...

For me they show at exactly the same size. No idea why, but I will try to see if there is anything in the template that has to do with this.