IPodPJ
MOT: Bellatone Audio
Caution: Incomplete customer orders
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
- Posts
- 7,870
- Likes
- 62
First, I'd like to say that change can be good. It is a new format which we can and will get used to and should definitely offer advantages to us over vBulletin. Jude and Co. obviously invested a great deal of time, money, and effort into getting this up and running and for that we should be thankful. It should be a place where Head-Fi and sponsors alike are able to generate a revenue stream even greater than before. Hopefully with all our help and guidance, Head-Fi will prosper and soar to new heights, continuing to reach all over the world and enlighten audio enthusiasts to the headphone hobby and marketplace.
First, a positive new addition I noticed: the Thumbs-Up rating feature. This is great and works well on other forums. If you see a post that you like or provides good info, give it a thumbs up. This lets other users know it is especially worth reading.
With that said, I have some issues with the following:
1) I live in Los Angeles, my setting is Pacific Standard Time which is GMT - 8. The timestamp at the top of the post, in the blue-gray bar is correct. But when I edit, the bottom of my posts are showing a timestamp of 5 hours later than it currently is after the words "Edited by.....". When I made a post prior to this one, it was 1:24 a.m. but showed an edited time of 6:24 a.m., even though it was edited during the same minute. This has happened on every post I've made and edited since the new forum layout went into effect.
2) There is no WYSIWYG feature when setting your signature. The options are extremely limited and hardly let you customize anything. The most important features that need to be added are font size, font type, and color. Links and smileys should also be there of coursem as well as bold, italic, and underline. Small banner graphics in JPEG/GIF/GIF animation format or small pictures (restricted pixel size) would also be a welcome addition. Movies, of course, would not be a good idea.
3) The post count label/identifier, i.e. "100+ Head-Fier", "500+ Head-Fier", "Headphoneus Supremus" are not displayed if you are a contributor. There must be some way to correct this, so it appears as it did with vBulletin. Your status identifier should still be displayed regardless of whether you are a contributor or not. But if you are a contributor, it should also display such OR put your user name in bold/italics as it did on vBulletin.
4) Sponsor links should definitely once again be present on the right side of the page (or, as you show now, mini-logo banners instead of text links which is a very nice touch, but the problem is that as of now the only sponsors we can see on all pages are the three mini-banners for HeadAmp, HeadRoom, and Sennheiser.) This is key placement for advertisers and sponsors. I personally have relied on those for introducing me to new companies and making purchases. Those links alone make people aware of those companies, and as such users click on them. By only having them visible in the sponsors thread, not enough visibility is provided for the sponsor and I feel they will greatly lose business (especially new sponsors soon to join Head-Fi). Not everyone visits the sponsors forums, and if they do it certainly is not as often as the main equipment forums. Also, when in place on vBulletin, when you clicked on the link it redirected you away from Head-Fi and opened up their website. I feel this is a bad idea. It should automatically open up a new window when you click on their link so you don't lose your place on Head-Fi. Not everyone chooses to right click and select "open new window" or "open new tab". ••• In addition, I think the paid sponsored thread links should remain at the top of the page where they were (if this feature is to remain, which I think it most certainly should). They were very visible there (in fact, always visible) and allowed people to see new products being offered which they may not notice otherwise. By eliminating this I also feel it will cost sponsors a loss of product/service sales.
5) I also agree with many users who feel that the white background of all pages presents less contrast with the posts and as a result they stand out less and are harder to distinguish. I agree with the people that suggest changing the background color to a light or medium gray.
6) I have not seen any animated Avatars. Mine was animated before but now it is not, so I changed it to something else. Hopefully this is just temporary. I would be sad to see animated avatars go. They add a little bit of spice to the identity of the user and as such, other users can more easily identify users with animated avatars. Also, since the new avatar space is greater in pixel size, new images need to be uploaded to avoid pixelation but that part is not a big deal if you already have a higher-resolution image stored on your PC or located at a URL.
7) Last but not least, there is no "Cancel" button for making new posts. Sometimes you decide you are going to make a new post or reply to a post and then change your mind. On vBulletin, there was a Cancel button. Now there is none. The only way to get out of the WYSIWYG window is to navigate away from it by clicking on another thread, post, or other link. So my suggestion is to once again add the Cancel button.
That's all for now. If I see more that I feel need to be addressed I will make a new post for those.
First, a positive new addition I noticed: the Thumbs-Up rating feature. This is great and works well on other forums. If you see a post that you like or provides good info, give it a thumbs up. This lets other users know it is especially worth reading.
With that said, I have some issues with the following:
1) I live in Los Angeles, my setting is Pacific Standard Time which is GMT - 8. The timestamp at the top of the post, in the blue-gray bar is correct. But when I edit, the bottom of my posts are showing a timestamp of 5 hours later than it currently is after the words "Edited by.....". When I made a post prior to this one, it was 1:24 a.m. but showed an edited time of 6:24 a.m., even though it was edited during the same minute. This has happened on every post I've made and edited since the new forum layout went into effect.
2) There is no WYSIWYG feature when setting your signature. The options are extremely limited and hardly let you customize anything. The most important features that need to be added are font size, font type, and color. Links and smileys should also be there of coursem as well as bold, italic, and underline. Small banner graphics in JPEG/GIF/GIF animation format or small pictures (restricted pixel size) would also be a welcome addition. Movies, of course, would not be a good idea.
3) The post count label/identifier, i.e. "100+ Head-Fier", "500+ Head-Fier", "Headphoneus Supremus" are not displayed if you are a contributor. There must be some way to correct this, so it appears as it did with vBulletin. Your status identifier should still be displayed regardless of whether you are a contributor or not. But if you are a contributor, it should also display such OR put your user name in bold/italics as it did on vBulletin.
4) Sponsor links should definitely once again be present on the right side of the page (or, as you show now, mini-logo banners instead of text links which is a very nice touch, but the problem is that as of now the only sponsors we can see on all pages are the three mini-banners for HeadAmp, HeadRoom, and Sennheiser.) This is key placement for advertisers and sponsors. I personally have relied on those for introducing me to new companies and making purchases. Those links alone make people aware of those companies, and as such users click on them. By only having them visible in the sponsors thread, not enough visibility is provided for the sponsor and I feel they will greatly lose business (especially new sponsors soon to join Head-Fi). Not everyone visits the sponsors forums, and if they do it certainly is not as often as the main equipment forums. Also, when in place on vBulletin, when you clicked on the link it redirected you away from Head-Fi and opened up their website. I feel this is a bad idea. It should automatically open up a new window when you click on their link so you don't lose your place on Head-Fi. Not everyone chooses to right click and select "open new window" or "open new tab". ••• In addition, I think the paid sponsored thread links should remain at the top of the page where they were (if this feature is to remain, which I think it most certainly should). They were very visible there (in fact, always visible) and allowed people to see new products being offered which they may not notice otherwise. By eliminating this I also feel it will cost sponsors a loss of product/service sales.
5) I also agree with many users who feel that the white background of all pages presents less contrast with the posts and as a result they stand out less and are harder to distinguish. I agree with the people that suggest changing the background color to a light or medium gray.
6) I have not seen any animated Avatars. Mine was animated before but now it is not, so I changed it to something else. Hopefully this is just temporary. I would be sad to see animated avatars go. They add a little bit of spice to the identity of the user and as such, other users can more easily identify users with animated avatars. Also, since the new avatar space is greater in pixel size, new images need to be uploaded to avoid pixelation but that part is not a big deal if you already have a higher-resolution image stored on your PC or located at a URL.
7) Last but not least, there is no "Cancel" button for making new posts. Sometimes you decide you are going to make a new post or reply to a post and then change your mind. On vBulletin, there was a Cancel button. Now there is none. The only way to get out of the WYSIWYG window is to navigate away from it by clicking on another thread, post, or other link. So my suggestion is to once again add the Cancel button.
That's all for now. If I see more that I feel need to be addressed I will make a new post for those.
