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.

epictring

I'll give you honest critic. From a designers perspective, the new site design looks a lot worse than it was before - and its not because of the ads.

If you are still changing things up (as I suspect), one of the first things to change is the positioning of the site. Its way off balance with nothing on the right side of the webpages, with everything sitting on the left.

The logo changes at the top is also not an improvement at all in my opinion, the old look was miles better.

I welcome the increase in ads, the administrators work hard at this site, they deserve revenue and at the minimum the funds to cover uptime. There are ads that are in portrait orientation at the bottom of the page (I suspect a simple code mistake, as it needs to sit on the right of the page).

NorioDS

Appreciate the straight-forward, unemotional feedback ?

epictring wrote If you are still changing things up (as I suspect), one of the first things to change is the positioning of the site. Its way off balance with nothing on the right side of the webpages, with everything sitting on the left.

The ads are supposed to be on the right. What I'm thinking of doing is stretching the header across the full width and incorporate the ads-sidebar more into the theme.

epictring wrote The logo changes at the top is also not an improvement at all in my opinion, the old look was miles better.

Why?

epictring wrote I welcome the increase in ads, the administrators work hard at this site, they deserve revenue and at the minimum the funds to cover uptime.

Thanks!

epictring wroteThere are ads that are in portrait orientation at the bottom of the page (I suspect a simple code mistake, as it needs to sit on the right of the page).

Yup, this is very weird that you see them down there. What res. are you running? I'm on 1280x1024 and it displays right. Anything wider seems fine too. Anything smaller than 1000px wide seems okay as well, so are you in the middle perhaps?

studmissile

Norio wrote
epictring wrote The logo changes at the top is also not an improvement at all in my opinion, the old look was miles better.
Why?

I prefer the new header, smarter and simple. Beside the "crowd" was lost behind the ad. Drop down menu also a plus. A much better design Norio IMO. Also the key headers, classified and log in are clearly visible. Have you thought of adding the index page either as title in the drop down or inbetween Guitar Forum and Classifieds?

epictring

Norio wrote Appreciate the straight-forward, unemotional feedback ?

epictring wrote If you are still changing things up (as I suspect), one of the first things to change is the positioning of the site. Its way off balance with nothing on the right side of the webpages, with everything sitting on the left.
The ads are supposed to be on the right. What I'm thinking of doing is stretching the header across the full width and incorporate the ads-sidebar more into the theme.

epictring wrote The logo changes at the top is also not an improvement at all in my opinion, the old look was miles better.
Why?

epictring wrote I welcome the increase in ads, the administrators work hard at this site, they deserve revenue and at the minimum the funds to cover uptime.
Thanks!

epictring wroteThere are ads that are in portrait orientation at the bottom of the page (I suspect a simple code mistake, as it needs to sit on the right of the page).
Yup, this is very weird that you see them down there. What res. are you running? I'm on 1280x1024 and it displays right. Anything wider seems fine too. Anything smaller than 1000px wide seems okay as well, so are you in the middle perhaps?

I'm running a very high resolution at 2880-by-1800, so that is probably why I'm seeing the ads way down there.

epictring wrote The logo changes at the top is also not an improvement at all in my opinion, the old look was miles better.

Why?

In my opinion the replacement logo design looks (I mean no disrespect) more amateurish than the previous, even though the difference is small. I see you gave it more of a square design to accommodate the banner ad at the top, but I feel the ad banner is overpowering the actual logo - which is more important in my opinion - and in result is throwing the header off balance. All in all it seems a bit cramped up there.

The kerning and leading of the logo font is what irritates my eye the most, if you are not familiar with the terms, it is the space between typeface characters in both the horizontal and vertical aspects. In other words, the spaces between the actual font characters, and more importantly, the space between the "Guitar" and "Forum" seems cramped - specifically the G and F. I would also try experimenting with size, like making the "Forum" text size a little smaller and increasing the leading space as I said. Ideally, I would revert to having the Guitar Forum words side by side as in the previous logo, as I said the ad feels like it is overpowering the website logo, which immediately gives the audience the idea of a "cheap" site that values revenue (banner ad) more than their pride (brand, content etc.).

Sorry for all the harsh critique.

Drop down menu is great as mentioned, the menu overall is a big improvement, I just personally dislike the actual branding. Its obviously not a deal breaker by any stance, it can just be improved in my opinion.

Have a look at these sites I quickly googled as reference, they do not compromise their logo and name, because its the most important thing on the page.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/

racman

I thought my feedback was unemotional as well ?

AlanRatcliffe

RoyC wrote I thought my feedback was unemotional as well ?

You'll just have to accept that your a man with a big heart Roy, and your emotions bubble to the surface, whatever you do or say.

studmissile

epictring wrote
In my opinion the replacement logo design looks (I mean no disrespect) more amateurish than the previous, even though the difference is small. I see you gave it more of a square design to accommodate the banner ad at the top, but I feel the ad banner is overpowering the actual logo - which is more important in my opinion - and in result is throwing the header off balance. All in all it seems a bit cramped up there.

The kerning and leading of the logo font is what irritates my eye the most, if you are not familiar with the terms, it is the space between typeface characters in both the horizontal and vertical aspects. In other words, the spaces between the actual font characters, and more importantly, the space between the "Guitar" and "Forum" seems cramped - specifically the G and F. I would also try experimenting with size, like making the "Forum" text size a little smaller and increasing the leading space as I said. Ideally, I would revert to having the Guitar Forum words side by side as in the previous logo, as I said the ad feels like it is overpowering the website logo, which immediately gives the audience the idea of a "cheap" site that values revenue (banner ad) more than their pride (brand, content etc.).

Sorry for all the harsh critique.

Drop down menu is great as mentioned, the menu overall is a big improvement, I just personally dislike the actual branding. Its obviously not a deal breaker by any stance, it can just be improved in my opinion.

Have a look at these sites I quickly googled as reference, they do not compromise their logo and name, because its the most important thing on the page.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/

I see what epictring is saying you could afford to make the the guitar forum logo a littler larger ( or more wider). It seems a little squashed in the corner?

racman

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
RoyC wrote I thought my feedback was unemotional as well ?
You'll just have to accept that your a man with a big heart Roy, and your emotions bubble to the surface, whatever you do or say.

LOL ... I think that's a compliment...I think ? ?

NorioDS

studmissile wrote I prefer the new header, smarter and simple. Beside the "crowd" was lost behind the ad. Drop down menu also a plus. A much better design Norio IMO. Also the key headers, classified and log in are clearly visible.

Thanks!

studmissile wroteHave you thought of adding the index page either as title in the drop down or inbetween Guitar Forum and Classifieds?

No idea what this means ?

NorioDS

epictring wrote I'm running a very high resolution at 2880-by-1800, so that is probably why I'm seeing the ads way down there.

Would appreciate a screenie if it's not too much trouble.

studmissile wrote In my opinion the replacement logo design looks (I mean no disrespect) more amateurish than the previous, even though the difference is small.

Well, I *am* an amateur ? The previous one was done by a pro and I will hopefully get a pro in again in the future to improve the latest iteration but finances don't allow for that just yet.

studmissile wrote I see you gave it more of a square design to accommodate the banner ad at the top, but I feel the ad banner is overpowering the actual logo - which is more important in my opinion - and in result is throwing the header off balance. All in all it seems a bit cramped up there.

I don't disagree but I'm unable to do a good job of fixing it myself.

studmissile wrote The kerning and leading of the logo font is what irritates my eye the most

Haha! I was expecting Alan to complain about that first.

studmissile wrotethe space between the "Guitar" and "Forum" seems cramped - specifically the G and F. I would also try experimenting with size, like making the "Forum" text size a little smaller and increasing the leading space as I said. Ideally, I would revert to having the Guitar Forum words side by side as in the previous logo, as I said the ad feels like it is overpowering the website logo, which immediately gives the audience the idea of a "cheap" site that values revenue (banner ad) more than their pride (brand, content etc.).

That actually sounds really nice.

studmissile wrote Sorry for all the harsh critique.

I've had worse! It helps that I happen to agree with much of what you said. (I'm just no pro and it would be futile for me to attempt to implement your advice as it would take me forever and still not look right.)

Alan and I were discussing running a competition for a new header design. The requirements would be:

- Maintain current branding (Font & colours. I'm rather attached. Alan isn't. I'm playing my "founder" card here to overrrule ?)
- Keep space for 728x90 banner
- Keep space for menu
- Make slimmer version for top-end ad-free subscription level

Should we do that? Prize could be ad-free GFSA for a year or some-such? (Worth R1k ?)

AlanRatcliffe

Norio wrote Haha! I was expecting Alan to complain about that first.

I still can't stand that font, but I've learned that resistance is futile, so I've been biting my tongue. ?

What is the font again? I can try and incorporate epictring's suggestions to improve the logo.

NorioDS

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I still can't stand that font, but I've learned that resistance is futile, so I've been biting my tongue. ?

Hehe ?

Alan Ratcliffe wrote What is the font again? I can try and incorporate studmissile's suggestions to improve the logo.

Footlight MT. Will email to you ?

Josh-Hayes

A competition sounds like a great idea.

But, does there really have to be a banner there?!

Otherwise, we are getting there. Good work so far Norio.

studmissile

Norio wrote
studmissile wrote I prefer the new header, smarter and simple. Beside the "crowd" was lost behind the ad. Drop down menu also a plus. A much better design Norio IMO. Also the key headers, classified and log in are clearly visible.
Thanks!

studmissile wroteHave you thought of adding the index page either as title in the drop down or inbetween Guitar Forum and Classifieds?
No idea what this means ?

My apologies I see the title logo is the index page.

Norman86

Try a font called Andalus with a font compression of 6.5.
That will give you the exact look of the old logo. ?
i think its a default windows font too!

NorioDS

Josh Hayes wrote But, does there really have to be a banner there?!

I insist.

Norman86

btw, clicking on the "log in" take you back to http://articles.guitarforum.co.za/user/login which still has the "old" style.

racman

Norio you genius!

Without anyone detecting what you are REALLY up to, you have ensured that the off-topic lounge has slowed down dramatically with little or no posts. and all this done by merely inserting a few adverts. You've solved both the revenue AND off-topic lounge issue simultaneously!!

A true mastermind I say ?

Norman86

one more thing, should the RSS button not open the rss feed?
it does nothing for me whether i hover over or try click it!

NorioDS

Norman86 wrote btw, clicking on the "log in" take you back to http://articles.guitarforum.co.za/user/login which still has the "old" style.

Yep, will sort that out soon. Want to phase out that entire articles section and (finally) replace it with WordPress.

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