Major Theme Changes

NorioDS · 2013-10-02T19:14:26+00:00

Just a heads-up on some major theme changes... Dropped the GFSA theme song in the header. Made it a little bit more mobile-friendly (moreso on tablets than phones!) Dropped the crowd Made the header-height "shorter" Moved the RSS icon down, next to the top menu Removed header-ad on smaller displays Removed majority of navigation-links like Articles, Reviews, etc. (they will be back later) Got rid of the popup (it might be back in another form) Added 2 large ads on the right Added 1 large ad after every first post Made the site not show anything to anyone using AdBlocker. Just turn it off for GFSA and you're fine Made the header stay put when you scroll Replaced the old, tiny, ugly social sharing buttons with new, pretty ones These changes were made to: Improve forum display for most people on very wider AND narrower displays Simplify the header a bit Improve forum usability Help us pay bills Notes: Most of the ads don't show on tablets or devices smaller than 1280 pixels in width The ads aren't going anywhere. Don't ask me to take them off Edit: Floating header has been reverted due to problems on tablets. Paid subscriptions are now available to those who don't want to see any ads (see link @ top of every page) Re-fixed some problems with mobile. Works nicely on my phone now, if it's turned sideways. Not bad in vertical either. Shold work well for most people running at least iPhones, iPads, Samsung Galaxies, Samsung tablets, etc.

NorioDS

Psean wrote I must say, now that the floating header is gone I don't really have any problems with the new layout. I mean, it's really not that much of an inconvenience to scroll past a few ads and ignore the ones on the side. And if they eventually end up as guitar related ads, it'll be even better.

Whoop whoop! Yeah I think the header was just a big fat mistake. Like you say, the rest you just ignore and/or scroll past. I'm used to it on overseas forums.

Psean

Norio wrote I'm used to it on overseas forums.

Yip. It's everywhere. Youtube has, ads, TDPRI and most of the other Guitar forums have ads. Nothing new really

Gearhead

Dear admins, I am not too worried about the ads, but I do agree with the sentiments about the forum being less about guitar and more about Facebook stuff, these days. Cheers

NorioDS

Gearhead wrote Dear admins, I am not too worried about the ads, but I do agree with the sentiments about the forum being less about guitar and more about Facebook stuff, these days. Cheers

We're definitely going to do something to help with this.

chris77

I have browsed the forum for while now this afternoon and I barely noticed the ads today. Good thing for me, bad thing for the advertisers ?

NorioDS

chris77 wrote I have browsed the forum for while now this afternoon and I barely noticed the ads today. Good thing for me, bad thing for the advertisers ?

?

That's the thing, most people develop what's called "banner blindness". It's the ability to ignore the ads on a page, especially header and sidebar ads. The in-post ad is harder to ignore (which also makes it incredibly more valuable to advertisers (and us in terms of revenue)) but becomes easier over time as you build a habit of scrolling past it quickly.

Looking at the stats, this exercise is THE most successful monetisation exercise this forum has seen. I'll give it a full month to play out but if it continues working so well, new server is on its way as well as some other cool stuff!

Hammeron

At the risk of talking crap....am I the only one that has no adds whatsoever in the bar to the right. Not complaining just wondering....

AlanRatcliffe

Hammeron wrote At the risk of talking crap....am I the only one that has no adds whatsoever in the bar to the right. Not complaining just wondering....

If your browser window is not open full width or if you have a lower res screen the ads seem to wrap to the bottom of the page.

NorioDS

Alan Ratcliffe wrote If your browser window is not open full width or if you have a lower res screen the ads seem to wrap to the bottom of the page.

They should disappear altogether instead of wrapping - so let me know what res that happens at and I'll fix it.

Have you guys tried the browser on your phone since mid-afternoon yesterday? The fixed header thing screwed up my work to make the theme responsive but after I removed it and made a few more tweaks, the forum works REALLY nicely on my phone. I still want to improve it further but I'm really chuffed with it.

The dropdowns aren't perfect but if I long-touch, then they work. Tricky but I'll fix that too!

aja

Overlapping ad thing on macbook pro and Opera. The amp image seems to extend out of the post borders or something?

FruitarGeek

Norio, I think you have been placed in a particularly difficult position. You have to balance the interest of the GFSA community (i.e. 'the members) but also you need to make money from this site, or at least make it sustainable.

Having said that, I am cool with the adds. Do they bug me? Yes, for like the first 5min, also the flashing ones distract my attention, BUT, I think we are losing whats important to this forum, namely the forum. I don't log in to check the layout of the site, no, instead I check the topic, if I can add my comments to any threads etc. Provided that doesn't change, I think all is good.

I'm sure this isn't the final form, and you still gonna fix any bugs. But you gots my blessing :goodtimes:

NorioDS

aja wrote Overlapping ad thing on macbook pro and Opera. The amp image seems to extend out of the post borders or something?

Yup I saw that yesterday and added it to my to-do list. Just need to fix the CSS overflow

NorioDS

Adrian Rogowski wrote Norio, I think you have been placed in a particularly difficult position. You have to balance the interest of the GFSA community (i.e. 'the members) but also you need to make money from this site, or at least make it sustainable.

Having said that, I am cool with the adds. Do they bug me? Yes, for like the first 5min, also the flashing ones distract my attention, BUT, I think we are losing whats important to this forum, namely the forum. I don't log in to check the layout of the site, no, instead I check the topic, if I can add my comments to any threads etc. Provided that doesn't change, I think all is good.

I'm sure this isn't the final form, and you still gonna fix any bugs. But you gots my blessing :goodtimes:

Thank you! Much appreciated ?

costafonix

I agree with Adrian Norio,
you had to make a choice of what is best for the site.
Initially they irritated the hell out of me, but now i'm used to them, so its 'business as usual' ?

racman

On my iPad the changes are not too invasive. Certainly better than the idiotic lame joke Ads I used to get ( PLEASE tell me that's gone for good). The advert in the middle of the thread is a bit irritating but nothing a quick scroll can't take care of. I don't get to see any of the Ads on the side on the iPad which is great...for me at least.

Forumites come and go on every forum and it is perhaps as a result of this inevitable circle of forum life that we don't always see it as reason for concern, which could be somewhat myopic and destructive. While I was not part of the forum from the beginning, what attracted me to it was the different atomsphere. I just started using the chat room when it disappeared ...

This is probably not the correct thread Norio and Alan, but I am more concerned at the degradation of the forum (i doubt that it has become the forum both of you intended it to be, but that is forum evolution. perhaps we have moved into the difficult adolescence or troubled teens stage in forum life ?. ) in areas than have nothing do do with adverts.

I visit AGF, TDPRI and TGP and they seem to have a good balance of adverts which are less intrusive in my opinion. I am aware that this is contentious but I do not agree with a policy of allowing intrusively placed adverts and then offering to block them for a subscription fee! In fact that is one of the very few aspects that has got me riled up on this forum.

However, I still appreciate the forum but am far more selective about what I post or what I read now. I now log in more as a result of boredom or to view classifieds ( another change I think has detracted from the forum I was addicted to) than anything else.

Having said all that, I understand the need to cover upgrade costs etc but suspect there may be a more elegant solution of obtain the same goal.

NorioDS

CostaFonix wrote I agree with Adrian Norio,
you had to make a choice of what is best for the site.
Initially they irritated the hell out of me, but now i'm used to them, so its 'business as usual' ?

Thanks! Seriously appreciate it ?

Change is always difficult in the beginning.

racman

Ok, just checked in with the PC - certainly won't be doing that anymore and will only be using iPad - now I see what the fuss is about on PC/Laptop.

Norio, I understand what you mean about change but not all complaints can be discounted/dismissed as an inability to deal with change or taking time to adapt. Most of the furore has come from long standing (and I hope valuable) forum members and contributors who have endured insults, arguments, fights, break-ups and make-ups etc in the past so their leaving or disgruntlement surely should be considered as no mere "old dog" resistance to change.

I on the other hand don't have much to offer or valued opinions to share so my staying or leaving would be of no consequence to anyone or the forum.

My 2c x 2...

I agree that adverts need to be included as the way to go to fund the forum and updates etc - 100% behind you both on this.

I don't agree believe that the way it is reflected or displayed currently is ideal solution as I have mentioned in other forum examples in my prior post.

But then, the fact that you have made some changes (to the heading/title banner) reflects that you are open to what is working and what is not - thank you.

NorioDS

RoyC wrote But then, the fact that you have made some changes (to the heading/title banner) reflects that you are open to what is working and what is not - thank you.

Spot on! The new ads are working REALLY, REALLY well (i.t.o generating revenue) but I would like to make it all a bit prettier. Some of that will happen when music stores come on-board, some of that will happen with slight tweaks but, so far, one thing is confirmed, the positioning of the ads works very well, so the next step is to tweak that to make it a bit prettier.

I don't know if I have a point except that: The forum will keep improving. I have no intention of just throwing ads on the site and then running off and hiding. I'm a fan of "kaizen": constant improvement. Now that the forum has (based on a few days of stats) become viable, I'm excited about the improvements I can make on it and the time I can afford to spend on it and that WILL include more elegant implementation but all in due course.

racman

I hear you Noria. Of course it's not about making it "prettier" but more user friendly ?

Enough said from my side. Glad it's working out ...

IceCreamMan

Agree , better from my iPad , now if my my eyes could get used to 7...

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