Help Improve VB!

[Michael]

Today I will begin working on what will eventually become the next version of VeggieBoards. I've been holding off on extensive updates to this version due to the upcoming release of the new bulletin board software. Once the new software is released I will integrate the new style and do some extensive editing.

So what I would like to know is... Is there anything that you particularly like or dislike about the current setup? No matter how big or small, everything will be considered.

Just an FYI - I will be reading your posts but I won't be commenting on them. If I need further input I will PM you. At this point we're still a good 2-3 months away so don't expect to see major changes any time soon.

[yarnblossom]

Oh please don't get rid of the "go to first unread post" and the "view new post" features they are what make veggie boards the easiest of all to navigate.

[Michael]

Those won't go anywhere. :)

[The_Gazumper]

And dooooon't change the color scheme too much - I really hate message boards that are all dark and unwelcoming!

I can't really think of anything apart from that! I'm sure the new version will be great :)

[Michael]

Won't be dark. :)

2 for 2. You guys are easy to please. :)

[Thalia]

I would like it if there was less "buffer space" between posts. I know I can turn off avatars and sigs, but I think with the old blue boards, it was a little more compressed so I didn't have to scroll so much.

The only other think I don't like is the link color. I sometimes don't notice something is a link bc it is a very dark color.

But I like black text on a light color- easy on the eyes. No Yellow on black or magenta on red, not that you'd do something like that, but I really hate pages like that!

[spud]

Yeah- what she said ^ :)

[Michael]

I think part of the reason that we have so much space between posts is because of the info to the left of each post (avatar, # of posts, etc.). I should be able to improve it without taking anything away.

The link color comes up every so often, I like it but I realize most people don't. So I'll be sure to change that as well.

Color scheme will be very similar to what we have now.

I *might* offer the ability to choose styles so that you can choose between this one and the new one. I've held off because with the current software any changes you make have to be done to each style. I think this will be simplified with the new software.

[Michael]

Hmm... After fooling with what I thought would be the next design I decided I like this one better. :)

For now I'll work on tweaking this one. If you have suggestions please keep them coming.

[spud]

Synchronising the VB clock with real time? ;)

[Michael]

I think Robert is checking into that one. :D

[Red]

re: links

Can you simply set the posts themselves to default to whatever the users browser is set at?

[Michael]

Yikes, isn't that like red and blue? :(

[Red]

It's whatever the user wants to set it at. Could be fuscia and opal. Underlined or not. Whatever. As it is now, there's nothing that differentiates links from regular text unless I roll my mouse over everything trying to see if the cursor changes on the hover.

I think this is common, because in another thread a poster asked me for links that were already there - she didn't know because they weren't raw URLs.

[Michael]

What I'm trying to do is find a way to change the color of links in posts without it changing the color of the links on the main page (to the forums). Apparently there's a way to do it but it's over my head. I'm still working on it though. I'll get it.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by Michael
Just an FYI - I will be reading your posts but I won't be commenting on them.
Seems to me... Well... Nevermind! ;)

[Michael]

Yeah, I know. :D

Found out how to change the link color and it's done. Haven't decided on the actual color yet. Just in case you don't believe me...

http://www.veggieboards.com :)

[Robert]

Regarding links: vBulletin, as is the case with most modern software/sites, uses stylesheets to control formatted output. The style used for certain types of links is defined inside a style specification and is assigned to various types of elements included throughout the dynamically generated output of the software.

If you prefer default system text and link colors, you could simply disable stylesheets in your browser's preferences. However, doing so will also remove many of the styles used in formatting the tables and other elements of the output.

Michael has apparently altered one of the link style classes as shown above to display links in a different color, although the rollover will not work when a class or color is "spanned".

[Michael]

Yep, that's what I did. :)

[spud]

I understood every word of Robert's post. Not :D

[Red]

Actually, I did understand. I've been experimenting with style sheets on a couple of other sites I'm involved with, but nothing as complicated as this. That's why I was wondering how much control you had over the various parts of the layout. It's just this one quirk.

[Thalia]

Another question- are you capable of adding spoiler tags- where you put tags around something not everyone may want to read, but it is readable if you highlight it? It would be good with discussion of books and movies.

[Michael]

We've had them for quite some time, just no one uses them. ;) And actually they wouldn't have worked with the new style. I forgot to add a little code. It does work now.

[ spoiler ]text goes here[ /spoiler ] (remove spaces) Ex:

Even though Thalia got on my nerves with the McD's lawsuit I still like her.

For those of you that don't know what spoiler tags are, they're commonly used when discussing tv shows or movies where you might give away the plot or ending to someone who hasn't seen it before (but wants to). You put things you don't want to give away in spoiler tags so that the reader must highlight it in order to read what is there. Just highlight the black bar above to see how it works. If you have questions just let me know.

For the record, I hate stylesheets. :)

[Robert]

I think stylesheets rock... one change, the entire site is updated.

Make a class called spolier and add it. Simple as that Michael :)

ETA: ahhh, ok, I see you edited your previous post to include the spoiler class.

[1vegan]

When I post, I first get the "thank you for posting" page.

Personally I could do without that one. ?