Lovin the New Site Format

@lazerEagle Really glad you like it, thanks for saying so!

Thanks a lot for sticking with it and giving it an honest shot. :+1:

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TBH, I’m not enjoying the change. I found the previous format far easier to navigate and more generic in terms of interaction. The new format is too busy and less accomodating to non-PC users. My participation here is strictly via Android, and it seems much less accessible and less flexible in screen views and navigation. Strangely, I’ve noticed some significantly impactful members seemed to have disappeared with the rollover. Coincidence, or resultant? In either case, it’s detracted from the overall experience here.
Although I appreciate the efforts put into the current iteration, I’m not a fan of the end product. JMHO.

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I wasn’t crazy about learning a new format. I made that clear before the switch. I whined a little after the switch about some small-change crap. Sorry about that. I’m kinda liking it now. I will say that I seem to keep changing between themes. I can’t find one theme that I’m happy with 24/7. That said, there is a lot to like about this new site. The more I learn, the more I like it. You guys did good. :grinning:

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Hi there, thanks for commenting on this. Regarding mobile support, that’s honestly the exact opposite of what I would have expected to hear. The old forum had absolutely no special support for mobile; it worked but it required zooming/panning, and especially things like images were usually not well scaled on smaller mobile screens. Now the new forum engine is highly adapted to support mobile, it actually has a desktop mode and a separate mobile mode. There are of course still limitations on mobile, but those are more due to the inherent nature of a smaller screen and lack of mouse/keyboard input.

At any rate, if you want to try the desktop mode to see if it’s more to your liking you can do that here:

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Thanks a lot @bushmaster for sticking with it (us) and giving it a chance. I’m glad you’re starting to like it.

Regarding your theme preferences, is it mainly based on wanting a light theme during the day and a dark theme at night? Maybe a quick toggle for Light/Dark modes would help?

Yeah, I think that’s exactly what it is. Might not have bothered me a couple years ago but my declining eyesight seems to get fuzzy under different lighting situations. I keep switching back and forth. Thanks for asking, sb.

OK thanks @bushmaster , I’ll see what options I have and I’ll let you know if that can be implemented.

Everything looks and “feels” lot better now…took a couple weeks but you guys also did a ton of tweaking which made it nicer. I think I like the BLF theme better than TK’s iteration but I’d sure like to see something between the current light and dark modes…could there be a third option that is somewhere between the two? I’ve defaulted to light mode even though it’s harsh…actually found dark mode to be more straining to my eyes unless I increased ambient lighting. Not a huge deal but would be nice in the future without needing to do scripts on the user end.

I think we did lose a few with the forum change, but who knows why. I noticed that Lightbringer disappeared on the day of the change. Some others hadn’t logged in since before the change but they hadn’t been as active lately anyway. But whatever…the change had to happen and BLF moves forward into the future, right! :slight_smile:

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the firefox browser “night mode” provides two more options. it reduces some of the harshness of BLF light (reduces contrast), and alleviates some of the eye strain of BLF dark (increases contrast). here’s what all four look like on firefox/ipad. (i assume other browser also offer this feature.) one downside of night mode is the “BLF” image (top left) is distorted.

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@tercet Interesting option, thanks for that! I’ve actually never seen that option in Firefox, I assumed that it would require a night mode at the OS level.

(Looking at those screenshots I also need to do something about that BLF logo, I’m not sure why it shows like a semitransparency, I thought I created it as white on 100% transparency…)

@Correllux Yes, the color schemes aren’t set in stone. I don’t want to go too crazy with adding tons of additional themes and color schemes, but it might be a good idea to have one more color scheme for the BLF Theme somewhere in between as you suggest. So you’re saying that the primary white background is harsh?

Ive been struggling trying to get used to it but it’s not because of the new site.
There’s still a lot that I dont understand and Im still making a list… but I had rather learn than ask.
I just have not spent enough time on the new site to feel as comfortable as I had become on the old site.
I can navigate and find stuff but Im continually asking myself … where the heck am I.
Again, not the site’s fault… Aphasia :exploding_head:
Definitely the epitome of old dog/new tricks

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Hey there Coscar, thanks a lot for sticking with it! But don’t hesitate to ask, questions aren’t a problem, I and several others are happy to answer them. This new forum is not difficult to use, but there are a few things that might not be obvious to non-techies.

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:+1:

That’s interesting how BLF dark + FF night mode turned it into a nice grey!

sb, yes, I think the white is pretty harsh, too stark…seems like others have echoed that. I’m usually on a desktop with 27" monitor, so it’s a lot of blinding white.

I was surprised the BLF dark mode was straining for me. I generally have Windows and many phone apps on dark and enjoy it, but then I’m not spending a lot of time and eye movement with those, reading much, etc.

I wish I had a screenshot of the old drupal forum appearance (seems like we had two or three color options there, if I remember? I had a light blue or something I think, but it was easy on the eyes).

Grey and blue seem popular, but maybe a shade or two lighter than the FF screenshot tercet shared…enough to knock the edge off of white at any rate.

Not only do I love the new site format, but I like it even more than Drupal!
The tweaks that @sb56637 have implemented make Discourse even better than the default Discourse. :+1:

No color options on the old forum (apart from TK’s stylesheet for use with a browser extension).

errrr…ok…that’s proof. Did my mind make this up? Geez. lol. I don’t have any weird monitor settings or anything…the old forum didn’t seem white-white to me, though. Ok then. :slight_smile:

i like the simple things
like not having to tell it to go the next page constantly
this one just keeps scrolling
good!

embedding pictures is easier
copy/paste

it;s always ‘formatted’ if you want to use it

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You probably already saw this, but just in case:

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