You will notice that the old and rather big User Info box now lives on the right hand side of the website. In replacement, I have added a PM indicator to the top bar on the website, which tells you if you have any PMs.
If you want to see the list of who has recently been online you will have to go back to the homepage to see it.
hmm ... strange ... but nice ...
\"Virtue is its own reward.\"
May I suggest we split it up in "inside" and "outside" things.
I think it would feel more logical if we did it like the folliwing example here..
Left side:
-Navigation.
-Chat Box.
-User Info.
-Birthdays.
-Image Gallery.
-Donation.
Right side:
-Global Time.
-Upcoming Events.
-RvS Server #1
-SWAT4 Server #1
-TeamSpeak.
-Support [SAS]
Yes that makes sense, but the point about the User Info box is that it takes a lot of space but doesn't give you much info. The only bit of it I use is the link to PMs but it takes several inches of space.
The Online List is of limited use because it is less accurate than the one in the forums, so we don't need it. But because I know some people like to look at it I have kept it, but out of the way on the right side.
unless u can see who is online, i find it almost impossible to pm anyone unless u know their exat username, there should be anoption to PM via a single click
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)
If you find a forum post from them there is a PM button attached to that. Or you can use the forum Memberlist which is linked from the top of the forums.
I liked to look at the "User Info" too and I'm quite bothered that it has been removed.
Also It doesnt make much sense that the "Image Gallery" has a top position now. It would be more practical to have the "RvS and SWAT4 server #1" in the top position.
so i gotta spend 5 mins searching for the guy, to PM him..too slow in my opinion. we should be able to use the PM as a quick method of messaging. Currently its far quicker for me to search my email addess book
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)
Five minutes is very slow, Wiz. I've always done it that way. So long as I know part of the username I can find it well within 30 seconds or so. Still, when you're a massively lazy slacker such as yourself I suppose that's just not good enough. Har har har aren't I a hoot.
Well yes, if anyone told me how to do it. But they aint and i aint searching a partial on SAS_
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)
Wiz, you can still do it the way you always have done, by going to Home page first and looking on the right hand side. It's not that hard.
One other point, the PM system is not case-sensitive so it doesn't matter if you don't know the capitalisation of somebody's name.
On the subject of the Photo Gallery box, I didn't put it there, it must have been Shield.
Right, for PM'ing you now have a box at the bottom of the chat box, a drop down menu, with a list of registered users online now. To PM one, select him from the list and click PM.
Accordingly I have now removed the User Info box.
Great.. Now you can't see who is online!
Can we please have it back?
You can, by looking in the dropdown menu at the bottom of the chat box.
The whole point of this is to save space in the blocks down each side of the site, because they are too long. Sometimes there are 15 or more people online and that takes up a lot of space.
Whats the point whit all this anyway? if you want more space then remove the "[SAS] Support", I bet we don't make any money from it anyways.
I liked the "User Info" and I didnt see any problems whit it as it where before.
The problem before was that it was too big compared with how useful it was. Now you can do all the same things but it takes up less space.
PMs you can do with the dropdown menu, you can see if you have PMs with the new thing on the top bar. You can see user statistics and newest user, that kind of thing, at the bottom of the forums. All the same info but now it takes much less space.
The problem with website design is that there is no right way to do it, everybody has a different view on how things should look. You can never please everyone. The User Info box still exists, it is just hidden, so bringing it back sometime is still possible. But for now we will stick like this and see if people like it or not.
I still don't see the point, the only thing below it was Donations, Birthdays and Support [SAS] which isnt that usefull or important either.
Nexttime you should maybe ask if anyone would mind before you actually do it.
I agree with Recon... I appreciate your efforts to stream line things James.. but lets always remember... this is OUR website... and the members would like you to consult them before you make decisions for them.
This is after all a matter of personal preference... and I agree with Recon.. I liked what we had.. more then what we currently have.
BTW... I noticed that we no longer get a pop-up window for our PM's as we used to... so if your not intentionally looking for your PM's you can miss them... I always rather perferred that my mail came and found me.. rather then me having to go look for it...
[color=yellow][SAS] 22nd E.V.R. - SAS_VET_EN4CER /[color] Virtus Disciplina Unitas
I cannot run every single change past everybody before I implement it. I would never get anything done because people will never agree. We will keep it this way for now and if enough people want the old one back then we can have the old one back. It's not a big deal.
Popups for PMs, I haven't fiddled with that so it is probably your popup blocker.
No offence.
But you obviously knew that many of us liked the "User Info" so this should probably have been one of those changes that you should have consulted us whit.
And what are enough people? As far as I can see there haven’t been too many "hurray" replies on this.
I hope it doesn't seem like I'm speaking on James's behalf here, cos I'm not... but:
Out of all the changes that have ever been made to this website, by James, this has gotta be one of the first to be met with negative feedback. Surely.
The website, as a whole, is working very well at the moment. By that I mean, there's very little down time, people can access all the forums they need to and our details are kept up to date.
I don't see any Hurray posts, but I don't see any posts to the contrary either, besides of course yourself and Enforcer. Even those have been posted within the last 24 hours or so.
I also don't think it's reasonable to run every suggestion by people. The way it seems to go now works well, in my opinion. We get a trial run of any changes, then, in response to feedback we can either go back to how it was, or keep the alterations.
Personally, I liked the user list. That's all though. The PM and "latest user registered" info was surplus to requirement. I understand this is still visible from the drop down menu, but it's just not the same. It was nice to glance down the screen and see who was about.
If anything is worth getting rid of, in my opinion, it's the calendar. I don't see how anyone who keeps up with the forums can NOT know about what's going on. As of now, it's empty, which would indicate to me that it's not widely used. But, I'm also happy to keep it.
Basically, I'm not fussed.
After having the dropdown menu for a while, I discovered that I do usually look at who is online. This is awkward to do using the dropdown menu. The point you make is a fair one.
As I am a firm believer that you must never let pride prevent you from reversing a bad decision, I have put on a list just like the User Info box had.
But there was no cause for you to become agressive over it Recon, and the suggestion that I have to ask you before I change something so small on the website is ridiculous. I always welcome feedback and criticism on any aspect of the website but you need to seriously adjust the way in which you give it.
It was not my intention to sound aggressive and if it sounded that way to you, I apologize.
I’m not asking you to consult me on every small change you make, but if you have an indication that many people may find it useful, I would expect you to consult us, otherwise it’s just being arrogant. Also if you feel like addressing me in the future, I’m sure you could do it in private conditions. Anyways I’m glad to see its back up again.