# I'm loving the new forum layout



## Rocky (29 Sep 2019)

Thank you @Shaun and the Mods who have put in a huge amount of work getting this up and running.


----------



## Andy in Germany (29 Sep 2019)

Notifications seem to work much more reliably as well.


----------



## Mo1959 (29 Sep 2019)

I like it too. Seems to suit my aging eyes better.


----------



## ianrauk (29 Sep 2019)

Agreed. Much better.


----------



## robgul (29 Sep 2019)

Agreed - but I'd like the main index page heading fonts just a little smaller - they're overpowering (although the style seems to be becoming the norm with more and more web stuff) - I'm one for detail, not shouty stuff!

Rob


----------



## mudsticks (29 Sep 2019)

Surly Bruce said:


> Thank you @Shaun and the Mods who have put in a huge amount of work getting this up and running.



I can't begin imagine what kind of witchcraft youve done here.

But appreciate the effort all the same


----------



## Smudge (29 Sep 2019)

Cant say i have any problem with this forum change. Works just as well for me as the previous one did.


----------



## Dogtrousers (29 Sep 2019)

Generally prefer the appearance.

Some minor issues getting used to it. But that's mainly because I'm old, stupid and set in my ways.

It took me a while to figure out how to display only watched threads with unread posts - but I've done it now. (What's new/New posts/set filters/save as default).

Removal of "Ignore nodes" is a bit of a minus. I've figured out how to get to the same functions on the new setup but it's nowhere near as friendly as "ignore nodes". However I only need to use that feature very occasionally so I can live with that.


----------



## Levo-Lon (29 Sep 2019)

Makes my eyes ache. 

Doesn't seem to work as well on my phone


----------



## Drago (29 Sep 2019)

I'm not so keen. Nothing specific, so it may be a case of just not being used to it. The "dark" setting doesn't seem to do anything? 

A question, if I may be so bold? The Cafe is far and away the busiest, most frequented sub forum, so why is it close to the bottom, the farthest away, hardest to get to? I know, you can't please all the people.

But all this aside, fair play to Shaun for his efforts in keeping the place updated, slick and stable. Its east to moan, but the time and effort involved- not to mention the shekels - isn't insignificant.


----------



## raleighnut (29 Sep 2019)

I'm still wondering what the little emoji things that appear on the like button do so I just tried one.


----------



## Grant Fondo (29 Sep 2019)

Great refresh guys i like it


----------



## ColinJ (29 Sep 2019)

Yes, thanks for all of your hard work @Shaun. This new version does seem better on my phone. 

I agree about reducing the size of some of the text though, or perhaps unbolding it? 

One thing I am curious about - as a rough percentage figure, how many forum accesses are via a mobile device these days? I would guess about 50%, but it may be even more than that?


----------



## classic33 (29 Sep 2019)

Main one's for me are the Chinese/Japanese text top and bottom. and the reappearance of the Up/Down arrows on the right hand side(keep hitting them).


----------



## mjr (29 Sep 2019)

Drago said:


> I'm not so keen. Nothing specific, so it may be a case of just not being used to it. The "dark" setting doesn't seem to do anything?


Yes, the main colouring is low contrast and harder to read. Too much black on grey and mid-blue on mid-grey. Can we have an easier theme, please? Else I'll remind myself how to do "user site stylesheets" or whatever they're called.

Some layout changes are great, though, like the permanent navigation header.


----------



## LeetleGreyCells (29 Sep 2019)

Loving the new update - it's so shiny! 🌟


----------



## winjim (29 Sep 2019)




----------



## Tanis8472 (29 Sep 2019)

Nope, have to disagree. 
Too much bold large text making it harder to read, too many colour combos that do not work together. 

The breadcrumbs that were at the top have gone on mobile.. They are handy navigation links.

ETA

Too many new subforums.

Sorry


----------



## Widge (29 Sep 2019)

Good Job! Thank you Shaun......

Now,
......do you think you could pop over and help the BBC with their godawful replacement for radio iPlayer - ('BBC SoundZ')
It should only take a couple of minutes and basically involves removing the new app and putting back the one they had.

All Best

w


----------



## PaulSB (30 Sep 2019)

ColinJ said:


> One thing I am curious about - as a rough percentage figure, how many forum accesses are via a mobile device these days? I would guess about 50%, but it may be even more than that?



I would have expected 80+%. Everyone I know uses their phone extensively to access the web. Personally I only use my laptop if I have some web related work or for shopping. In both instances I find a larger screen useful.


----------



## winjim (30 Sep 2019)

It's still doing this, full width ads with half width forum.:




Corrects itself if I tap a link or double tap a message but it's a bit annoying.


----------



## PaulSB (30 Sep 2019)

Well unsurprisingly it's taken 24 hours to get used to but this morning I can't recall the differences. The new site works far better on a mobile or tablet. I haven't tried a laptop or PC.

Apart from the excessive number of sub forums I think it's an excellent upgrade. A little thought and it's easy to get round.

The sub forums is a shame and I don't really see the need. I didn't know one could ignore sub forums but learned this yesterday. I've worked through and hidden what I rarely, if ever, read which means I now have 19 sub forums visible and 34 hidden. Not sure what this says about me?

I feel posters will miss out on help or advice in the future. I don't need to scroll past Pets, Parenting, Motoring etc. when I visit. I wouldn't bother to go in to these forums. If a topic on the wisdom of buying a child a guinea pig appeared in Cafe I might have responded.


----------



## Beebo (30 Sep 2019)

I want to go on record as saying the new layout is OK for me. 
But there are too many sub forums. Especially in Cafe, there is no need to split off all these sub areas.


----------



## Shaun (1 Oct 2019)

@winjim - I'll look into that. There should be a limit on the width of ads in the mobile style, but it looks to be ignoring it. Thanks for reporting.


----------



## nickyboy (1 Oct 2019)

Nice upgrade

One comment....if you look in your "Reactions Received" and click on a post you've received a like on, it takes you to the first post on the first page on that thread, rather than the post you have received a like on. It used to do this, presumably this is a coding oversight as this is a backwards step


----------



## Milkfloat (1 Oct 2019)

nickyboy said:


> Nice upgrade
> 
> One comment....if you look in your "Reactions Received" and click on a post you've received a like on, it takes you to the first post on the first page on that thread, rather than the post you have received a like on. It used to do this, presumably this is a coding oversight as this is a backwards step



For me, if I get there via the 'alerts' bell then it woks like the old software and takes me to the post I made.


----------



## mjr (1 Oct 2019)

Milkfloat said:


> For me, if I get there via the 'alerts' bell then it woks like the old software and takes me to the post I made.


Yes, but it used to work both ways.


----------



## benb (1 Oct 2019)

Thanks Shaun for all the work.

My only niggle is that when I go to watched threads: https://www.cyclechat.net/watched/threads it shows all threads, even ones that I have read. The old forum would hide them (but you could access them if you wanted to with the link to "there may be more to display")

It's only minor, so if it can't be made to work the same I'll get over it.


----------



## Shaun (1 Oct 2019)

@benb I think there may be an add-on to fix this - I'll check and let you know.


----------



## Dogtrousers (1 Oct 2019)

benb said:


> Thanks Shaun for all the work.
> 
> My only niggle is that when I go to watched threads: https://www.cyclechat.net/watched/threads it shows all threads, even ones that I have read. The old forum would hide them (but you could access them if you wanted to with the link to "there may be more to display")
> 
> It's only minor, so if it can't be made to work the same I'll get over it.


That was my favourite way of accessing the forum. And I think I have a workaround that replicates it.

Click new posts. Check unread threads and watched content. Also check save as default.

Now every time you go to https://www.cyclechat.net/whats-new/posts you get what you used to get at watched/threads

Er ... I think


----------



## Shaun (1 Oct 2019)

I've installed an add-on that defaults *Watched* content to the old behaviour of only showing unread initially - there is now a filter option for you to select other views if you want to see all watched threads - along with some new selection options that were not in the old software.


----------



## Kempstonian (2 Oct 2019)

No problems here at all - but I use a PC. Can't stand trying to browse the internet on a tiny screen! It drives me mad whenever I have to use my phone.


----------



## Drago (2 Oct 2019)

Darker style is brilliant, a huge step forward for dyslexics, those who suffer with tired eyes, and folk who wear glasses for screen work and reading. I'm all of those.

To make perfect might suggest that instead of a pale blue-gray that a cream be considered. The cream background I'm this typing box is so nice that my eyes are crying tears of joy - if it, or a similar hue, could be used on the main pages then the site has made a huge leap forward in terms of accessibility.

And top marks for all the hard work so far. I can't even begin to imagine the number of virgins sacrificed to power the witchcraft that made all this possible.


----------



## Mo1959 (2 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> Darker style is brilliant, a huge step forward for dyslexics, those who suffer with tired eyes, and folk who wear glasses for screen work and reading.


How do you turn it on?


----------



## Drago (2 Oct 2019)

Go to t'home screen, scroll to t'bottom, the button is on the bottom left.


----------



## Mo1959 (2 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> Go to t'home screen, scroll to t'bottom, the button is on the bottom left.


Brilliant, thanks. Yes, definitely gentler on the eyes.


----------



## GM (2 Oct 2019)

It's a Yes from me...👍


----------



## PaulSB (3 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> Go to t'home screen, scroll to t'bottom, the button is on the bottom left.



Thanks for that one. Nice find.


----------



## benb (3 Oct 2019)

Shaun said:


> I've installed an add-on that defaults *Watched* content to the old behaviour of only showing unread initially - there is now a filter option for you to select other views if you want to see all watched threads - along with some new selection options that were not in the old software.



Perfect, thanks


----------



## benb (3 Oct 2019)

One other small bug. The browser thinks the page is the whole height of the screen, but the fixed header obviously comes down onto the scroll area a bit. So if you use the page down button on your keyboard, it actually scrolls a bit too far.

No biggie if it can't be fixed.


----------



## Widge (3 Oct 2019)

Yup....the subtle 'darker' option is a good move!


----------



## mjr (4 Oct 2019)

benb said:


> One other small bug. The browser thinks the page is the whole height of the screen, but the fixed header obviously comes down onto the scroll area a bit. So if you use the page down button on your keyboard, it actually scrolls a bit too far.
> 
> No biggie if it can't be fixed.


Same here. Plus on one mobile device (old version of chrome IIRC), avatars are full screen height but only on posts and alerts that I've noticed so far, not threadlistings like forums or watched threads pages. What's with that?


----------



## Phaeton (4 Oct 2019)

Has the site been updated? I though it's always been like this, strange how quickly we adapt to change


----------



## Dogtrousers (4 Oct 2019)

Dogtrousers said:


> That was my favourite way of accessing the forum. And I think I have a workaround that replicates it.
> 
> Click new posts. Check unread threads and watched content. Also check save as default.
> 
> ...


The more I use my workaround above the more convinced I am that I am a genius  . It works really well. 

- It's directly connected to the little lightning flash on mobile
- It gives you a list of watched threads with unread updates
- With a single click (remove the watched filter) it gives you all threads with unread updates.


----------



## welsh dragon (4 Oct 2019)

It is a vast improvement. The old style was just that, old and tired. The new layout is fresher, easier to find your way round and I like the bookmark features as well. 100% improvement.


----------



## Kempstonian (4 Oct 2019)

I like not having to scroll up to the top of the screen every time when I'm working my way through the Alerts!


----------



## Blue Hills (10 Oct 2019)

Still getting used to the "reaction" thing as replacement for "like". 

Can't help but wonder why.

Is it because "likes" have become so tainted on the web?

Or is it preparation for a portfolio of "reactions" to be added, as
in:

*** 
disliked
wet themselves at
had an orgasm from


your post?


----------



## mjr (10 Oct 2019)

Reaction doesn't display on secure browsers. Only "like*.


----------



## Blue Hills (10 Oct 2019)

Ha dogtrousers - ta - I see you can also select the emoticons from there.


----------



## swee'pea99 (10 Oct 2019)

Blue Hills said:


> Still getting used to the "reaction" thing as replacement for "like".
> 
> Can't help but wonder why.
> 
> ...


Barfed on the keyboard
Passed out from sheer excitement
Launched into song
Kicked the dog
Called the police
Sold up and became a hermit
Experienced transcendent bliss
Farted loudly
Underwent religious conversion
Resolved to be good


----------

