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New Forum Software and Design - Gone Live

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Stephan Whelan

Stephan Whelan

Papa Smurf
Staff member
Admin
Jan 7, 1999
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As we announced recently we have moved to a new software platform and design for the forums. We are still working on various elements on the design and software configuration but we are now at the point we can re-open the forums.

Please post any issues or comments you have in this thread.
 
Good job, guys! Hope to hear soon about the reason of this migration and the new features. All the best.
 
I need some adjustment time.. The most clicked buttons for me were user CP (to see the threads I participate in and the new responses) and new posts. At this moment I've not found the same functionality, but hey I'm just on this new forum for 5 minutes, so who can help out my lazy ass?
 
  • Like
Reactions: foxfish
Well done Stephen...Looks great. Just a few things I've noticed but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, if someone added rep you could go in User CP and have a look at the comments...I don't see that now. Some of the old emoticons eg :martial are missing. I'm seeing advertisements now in the threads which were removed for site supporters. The custom autosignature carries over the links but the image file was missing...I tried to add it back but I can't seem to preview it....might be a permission problem on my end though, I can't remember the path to the image file I previously used. As you say there's still some tweaking to be done so maybe it has still to come. Keep up the great work.
 
As honest feedback, I understand that flat UI is new and cool (when implemented correctly) but have to say that the new design of both the site and forums is really not great - it all feels very 2003, not 2013. When you land on the homepage, the site looks like a cheap, badly designed blog - not an international website with thousands of users - which is a massive shame - if I'd come to the site for the first time, I'd bounce instantly. You guys would hugely benefit from employing a proper UX designer.

I've never really looked at the rest of the site before today - I'm only here for the forum but I think you need to give the forum a huge amount more presence on the Homepage - one tiny link in the header called 'Community' is really doing down what is, in my opinion, the only good thing about DeeperBlue. Why are you trying to hide it away?

Re the forum design... it's ugly and clunky - why did it have to be changed? Losing the reps is a shockingly retrograde step. It's nice to see that 'Likes' have returned though it's a poor replacement for reps.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Trelawney and artiz
Okay, to your 'rep' is now under your profile as 'Likes You've Received' and all of them show up, not just the most recent few. You might want to let the members know that.
 
OK folks - appreciate all the effort in feedback - this will be an ongoing effort because after 8 hours last night I finally had to stop (it was 4am my time) and get some rest. I took the decision to open the forums even though not everything has been activated or configured :)

A few comments on my side:
  1. Redirects are going in place to capture all old traffic, although we have already submitted new sitemaps to the main search engines so old links will be updated over the coming weeks. I'm just waiting on the sys admins at our host to come online to finalise redirects
  2. "Rep" - this is now "likes" for posts - I did look at similar Rep system addon for the new platform but honestly there isn't anything particularly great available.
  3. Images in Signatures - i'm working on some fixes but in some cases people will need to rebuild their signature - i'll do what I can to help if you can't find original images, etc... just start a "conversation" with me
  4. UserCP doesn't exist any more. There are two things you can do - if you hover over your name on the top right (next to INBOX) you'll see lots of options. The one you want is "watched threads" for those you've been involved in, also there is a New Posts option as well. Both appear in the secondary nav below HOME, FORUMS, MEMBERS, etc...
  5. Adverts for Supporters - this should be fixed!
  6. Forum threads on the homepage - as i've said a number of times this was a limitation of the previous software - now we have a new platform I can re-instate threads on that page. Believe me not trying to hide anything - the forums are 50% of the traffic so are important!
  7. Design - this is a subjective thing and I know full well that not everyone is going to like the change - however it was developed by a well respected UX company that specialise in themes for Wordpress (the platform that runs the main site) and converted by a well respected UX designer for Xenforo (the platform the forums run on). There is a lot more to the design that just being flat and a new colour scheme - a lot of under the hood features and abilities that will not only help drive more users to the site but also improve usability and search engine rankings.
I'll be working on a full post describing why the change in platform, design and benefits but bear with me as lots still going on behind the scenes and it's only me doing the work!
 
Stephan Whelan said:
Design ...it was developed by a well respected UX company that specialise in themes for Wordpress (the platform that runs the main site) and converted by a well respected UX designer for Xenforo (the platform the forums run on)...
Click to expand...

I can see that the site's running a bog standard version of Metro Pro which is pretty much as basic and boring as it gets when it comes to WP. You're right, design is subjective but as it stands, the main site looks like a badly designed blog which is kind of exactly what Metro Pro is - if you're looking to convert visitors into users, I really think it should be improved.

DeeperBlue is a great community and I know that it contains quite a few talented designers and programmers who I'm very sure would be more than happy to help with things if you reached out to them. There's no need to do everything on you own!
 
Broseidon - I can see you feel strongly about it.

You are right - I made the decision to go with a commercial design this time (based on the Genesis Framework) for a number of reasons. It's a trade off as in the 16 years DB has been running i've generally either coded the designs myself or paid for a designer to do it. This time I spent a long time evaluating the various options and consulting with a number of people (including some top designers I know) and eventually settled on the design you see now. You may think it looks boring and basic but the general consensus is that it looks clean and simple and highlights the content. It also is FAST (the homepage has gone from roughly 5 second load time to sub-second) which makes a big impact on search engine rankings and user experience.

Ultimately - as we've agreed - it is a subjective thing and I understand you may not like it. I hope that you will continue to enjoy the site for it's content.
 
Just as an FYI - redirects should now be working properly. Please let me know if you find any issues :)
 
I think it's worth redirecting usercp.php to the forum homepage - I am sure a lot of people (incl me) have that bookmarked...

Also might be worth keeping track of 404s if you aren't doing that already to find out if there are other such pages that might be worth redirecting...
 
As an FYI for everyone i'm working on some issues with the responsive design displaying at sizes sub-1024 pixels width in screen resolution. :)
 
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