Fashionbeans New Site/Forums: Bug fixes

[Black Sheep Boy]

Another minor forum bug, the link for "go to first new post" to the left of a thread title seems to be very slightly off the arrow you're supposed to click on. As in, clicking on the far right side of the arrow works, but clicking the middle doesn't.

[_Ben_]

Ditto the above. I was thinking the button didn't work for a little while.

I'm not sure if I like the new style yet. I thought I was having browser issues at first! But I can see the merits. Going to have a proper look around. It certainly looks very interesting.

[J8x]

Like to commend you on the new changes, the site is looking better than ever. The layout is nice and crisp and the black typeface on white is much more readable than the old opposite system.

Only a small thing but with the changing of the branding, the favicon might need a change of colour scheme or replacement. Apart from that not much else really, nice to see the site moving forward once again.

[naturals]

The new site looks great guys! So much fresher.

One comment (and maybe I'm missing something) - there used to be a big link to the forum near the top of the page. Am I right in thinking you now have to scroll all the way to the bottom and hunt for it among the menus? If so this might lead to a lot fewer people joining up and interacting.

Apologies if there is a link that I've just not spotted!

[malti001]

The new site looks great guys! So much fresher.

One comment (and maybe I'm missing something) - there used to be a big link to the forum near the top of the page. Am I right in thinking you now have to scroll all the way to the bottom and hunt for it among the menus? If so this might lead to a lot fewer people joining up and interacting.

Apologies if there is a link that I've just not spotted!

It's above the main logo of the site mate, it took me about 5 minutes to actually figure it out but I got used to it eventually. My only gripe with it being up there is that they can be easily missed...

[Ben Herbert]

Thanks for the feedback. I am definitely going to be spending some time going through the whole forum now it is completely live and I can test across multiple browsers etc. All changes and bug fixes should be done before the end of the week.


In terms of the new site navigation, yes the forum link is now above the logo - these small 'tabs' showcase the different sections of the site - i.e. the main article site, the 'shop', the forum and then voucher codes. We did this so we could clear up the main navigation and simplify it for ease of use.

Just so you all know, my next project is to work on the forum and convert it to another piece of software (vbulletin to buddypress), for the simple reason that it integrates with wordpress (which the site is built on). This will allow you to log-in to the main site and then comment and post in the forum under one username.

This in turn should then lead to more people signing up and getting involved in the forum, and it means we can begin to integrate forum content and more social aspects into the main design.

So although the forum isn't quite as popular as I had originally hoped for when we launched it, by the end of the year I think it will be much more active and the whole site will have much more of a community feel.

Will just take a few months to develop it all properly and convert everything.


Whilst we are on this subject - are there any specific features you would like to see integrated into the site? I have a long list that I am always trying to work on, but sometimes I can miss simple alterations/additions that will make the whole experience even better.

[Ben Herbert]

Also, the favicon has actually been changed, but seems to take a while to update on modern browsers. I have put something in the backend code to try and force this refresh, so hopefully everyone will be seeing the new one over the next couple of days.

[J8x]

I think with the integration of the new forum system it would be good to have the comment sections of articles being linked to forum posts. I don't know what the best system would be really but it would drum up conversation if you could somehow intertwine the two. I think a few reader focused articles on the main site would be nice too, say for example, with the style resolutions, if people could write a decent reason behind their choices and then a staff member could amalgamate them into a piece.

[Pin Money]

Thanks for the feedback. I am definitely going to be spending some time going through the whole forum now it is completely live and I can test across multiple browsers etc. All changes and bug fixes should be done before the end of the week.


In terms of the new site navigation, yes the forum link is now above the logo - these small 'tabs' showcase the different sections of the site - i.e. the main article site, the 'shop', the forum and then voucher codes. We did this so we could clear up the main navigation and simplify it for ease of use.

Just so you all know, my next project is to work on the forum and convert it to another piece of software (vbulletin to buddypress), for the simple reason that it integrates with wordpress (which the site is built on). This will allow you to log-in to the main site and then comment and post in the forum under one username.

This in turn should then lead to more people signing up and getting involved in the forum, and it means we can begin to integrate forum content and more social aspects into the main design.

So although the forum isn't quite as popular as I had originally hoped for when we launched it, by the end of the year I think it will be much more active and the whole site will have much more of a community feel.

Will just take a few months to develop it all properly and convert everything.


Whilst we are on this subject - are there any specific features you would like to see integrated into the site? I have a long list that I am always trying to work on, but sometimes I can miss simple alterations/additions that will make the whole experience even better.

Notifications when someone quotes you and the ability to @ people would generate more conversation and interaction on the site.

[Joel!]

Notifications when someone quotes you and the ability to @ people would generate more conversation and interaction on the site.

Agreed, that'd be great. Also what happened to the like button?