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Forum Redesign?
- Thread starter Apple Key
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Has the website's design changed?
vBulletin allows the use of any theme you can buy or find for free, so this is not a problem at all.
vBulletin allows the use of any theme you can buy or find for free, so this is not a problem at all.
Yeah it looks a bit boxy and 90s. It'd be cool if the colours and design were smoother, more muted and rounder 
Yeah it looks a bit boxy and 90s. It'd be cool if the colours and design were smoother, more muted and rounder
Welcome to vbulletin.
A big change would just confuse so many members. Think about how many stupid threads there are. Every one of those were created by someone who is going to be so confused, they won't know where to post.
I don't care about the design, much more about the content. So I am happy with the existing design even it looks a bit old.
From the look of it, I seem to be one of the few who thinks that the forum design doesn't need changing. It works, it does what it needs to.. why fix what isn't broken?
I've seen sites die and members leave on other forums, MR works, it's plain functional and bells and whistles do not appeal to me one bit. As posted, why fix what isn't broken?
I'm not thinking a complete redesign and restructuring (which I agree could confuse users). Keep the layout the same, just some minor adjustments to the look and feel.
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You are happy, and yet you think it looks old? I am not suggesting that the content take the back burner to the design.
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Same thing happened when this site was redesigned a little while back. However, overall people seem to be happy and things have since settled down.
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If Apple thought like this they would never release an updated iPhone. The reason to update it is to keep it fresh, which stands a good chance of increasing the user base of the site. Believe it or not, people do care about the design (whether they take the time to consider it consciously or not).
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You are happy, and yet you think it looks old? I am not suggesting that the content take the back burner to the design.
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Same thing happened when this site was redesigned a little while back. However, overall people seem to be happy and things have since settled down.
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If Apple thought like this they would never release an updated iPhone. The reason to update it is to keep it fresh, which stands a good chance of increasing the user base of the site. Believe it or not, people do care about the design (whether they take the time to consider it consciously or not).
Yes I am happy with the design like that. The website is light and neat, it's perfect. I don't care if it might look old.
Why not just freshen things up a little? You don't need a major redesign to make it look more modern.
-Colors are fine and clean, either leave them alone or allow user themes.
-Buttons are looking a little dated though, wouldn't mind some new ones with nicer colors.
-Give users a place to add in system info on their profile (like sevenforums)
-show the number of user posts as opposed to "6502a" etc, and/or a reading of how active they are, like avg. posts per day.
-also not sure why join date is so important that it needs to go here? make it optional
-Icons for each section on the forum HP, e.g. the iphone folder has its own picture.
most of these are just ideas, could get a lot of tips from sevenforums though.
The other forums that are really nice are the stack exchange lot and although they might not count strictly as "forums" they have some great features.
-Colors are fine and clean, either leave them alone or allow user themes.
-Buttons are looking a little dated though, wouldn't mind some new ones with nicer colors.
-Give users a place to add in system info on their profile (like sevenforums)
-show the number of user posts as opposed to "6502a" etc, and/or a reading of how active they are, like avg. posts per day.
-also not sure why join date is so important that it needs to go here? make it optional
-Icons for each section on the forum HP, e.g. the iphone folder has its own picture.
most of these are just ideas, could get a lot of tips from sevenforums though.
The other forums that are really nice are the stack exchange lot and although they might not count strictly as "forums" they have some great features.
Ouch!
The buttons & the design look like from 2002. I still cannot see who said "thanks" (i can in other forums), only the "stupid" up/down vote buttons. They call this a helpful design?
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@charlieegan3:
Yes, stackexchange looks nice, if you need a quick overview.
I'm with you.
I would like a forum refresh. In fact, ideally I'd like a dramatic forum refresh. vBulletin is a bit dated in general. I've thought about how the forum should evolve both in style and functionality.
The ambitious version of doing a forum refresh would be very ambitious and would likely piss off some of the regulars.
Of course, these all take time. vBulletin is also a bit of a beast in terms of skinning and maintaining. I have a group that might be able to do it, so there is some progress in that front.
arn