View Full Version : Roadworks
I'm planning to take a few days off work in May to carry out some fairly heavy work on the site:
- moving to a new, dedicated server which should make it faster and form a basis for future growth.
- phasing out the vBulletin-based content management system (the thing that makes the site look like Yorkshire divers);
- phasing in a completely new content management system based on Joomla (www.joomla.org (http://www.joomla.org/)) which will create more flexibility in terms of look and feel, as well as navigation and our ability to feature stuff like the site guides and articles. Personally, I would like to develop more of a magazine look and feel.
Because of all this, there will be some disruption, but I'll give notice of when I'm about to stick a spanner in the works.
In terms of look and feel, what do you think about the current dark colour scheme etc. Should I aim to keep it more or less like this, or should we lighten up a bit. Let me know if you have any preference.
Thanks for continuing to use the site and for all your contributions.
Hi Gord
For what it's worth I find the white on black here (and similar on Finstrokes) difficult to read compared to the colours on Scottish Divers
Peter
PS I struggle to read my computer readout so my opinion my not be that relevant!
i find the colors difficult to read.
i find it easier to read light letters on a dark background.
not fussy at all, just dont do what all IPT people do!!!
"I'm going to shutdown the server, it will be back as good as new in 5 minutes, you wont lose anything"
2.5hrs later its back up, slower and half you stuff is missng
Think I have been on a few Joomla based forums, they are quite good. Colours I have no real preference, as long as its plain. Patterns are crap on forums, the plainer the better.
And please dont trust peter he is blind as a bat!!! :)
What would be nice is some diver smilies!!
Scuba-Doh!
20-04-07, 22:44
What would be nice is some diver smilies!!
Now that is a grand idea!
As far as colours go I'm fine with the current colours but can understand that they could be a problem for others.
I think it works quite well, so any improvements must be good over what is already a well thought out layout.
The colours work for me too, so instead of changing them could always open up an opticians to help the less able sighted readers.
Yes i do wear glasses
Personally I like the current shades.
However, would it not be possible to allow users to select their own colour style from within their personal profile? Our club's little phbPP forum has this option (although our admin has overridden it!) :eek:
dark background is good except if you have to print it ;)
it's perfect as it is, but if there was an option to change the colours, then it would good for the oldies.....
dive granny
21-04-07, 18:43
it's perfect as it is, but if there was an option to change the colours, then it would good for the oldies.....
Oi! Less of the 'oldies' please. I like the present colours. :D
:mad: See all the people that can see have been voting now :mad:
Thanks for the feedback guys
:)
Work starting tomorrow morning
Lizardland
01-05-07, 16:56
I quite like the white on black too.
While you're thinking about colour schemes, have a look at Irlen Syndrome and scotopic sensitivity. Colours and layout can have a huge affect on how easy/hard text is to read, it's not always dodgy eyesight that makes reading hard.
My girlfriend is a lecturer and assesor in dyslexia so I get stuff like that tested out on me all the time. She tested me with coloured filters, I now use a green coloured filter over books with dense text. It makes a huge difference, I don't get eyestrain anymore since I started using it, my eyes used to feel very tired after about 20min of reading.
Cheers,
Stuart
dive granny
06-05-07, 22:54
Is it staying white. It feels funny not being 'blue'. The yellow 'moderator' writing makes my eyes feel funny!! Could be my wonderful eyesight:D
Yeah - I wondered what all the old posts were about
Now that i've got the database safely restored and working on its new server, I want to start some work on the structure of the site. I'll leave colour scheme til the end, but it will probably darken back down a wee bit but not so much as it was before - i want Peter to be able to read it! :)
If you go down the bottom of your page to the drop down that says "default Style", if you change that to Firefly it will look like the old one. I personally think the white one looks too much like the divernet forum.
I am staying with the firefly look.
Well done for all the hard work so far...not noticed any dramatic changes but I am sure there is a lot behind the scenes. Hopefully the other stuff will be up soon, it was abugger trying to arrange a meet at the weekend, Loudy and I had to use Finstrokes, hopefully john wont mind. ;)
dive granny
07-05-07, 22:08
Hey that is cool.I'm impressed. Isn't technology wonderful!! Back to blue:D
I wouldn't recommend firefly at the moment: not all of its components are installed ...
Chris - you're probably just accessing what's in your local cache ...
I wouldn't recommend firefly at the moment: not all of its components are installed ...
Chris - you're probably just accessing what's in your local cache ...
Dont know about that, I have accessed it on two different PC's and I have the default set to refresh page information on opening.:p
What sections do you think are coming from the local cache??
Firefly seems not too bad, a few bits missing but the default version is just hideous:eek:
Deep Seeker
08-05-07, 12:25
Getting back to the colour shades for a bit, when I stumbled across Conger I was very impressed. The idea of white on black kind of made it look far cooler than any of the other forums that only really stand out because of the font or the graphic they use for thier heading. When this forum went back to the default colour it is now I thought it was a bit clinical and looks far too much like every other site.
Getting an inbetween shade I think will be difficult to suit all tastes so for my pennies worth I think the site should stay black with white text. I did print a post out once and it was the typical black text on white background so I have no problems at all with the old look. It's a bit more pub-like anyway. Comparitively speaking the black look reminds me of sitting in a pub whereas the white shiny look makes me think of a hospital. I'd rather be in the pub personally.
Good effort with the site though Gord... how many coffees and Caramel Wafers have you gone through so far?
Nick
Getting back to the colour shades for a bit, when I stumbled across Conger I was very impressed. The idea of white on black kind of made it look far cooler than any of the other forums that only really stand out because of the font or the graphic they use for thier heading. When this forum went back to the default colour it is now I thought it was a bit clinical and looks far too much like every other site.
Getting an inbetween shade I think will be difficult to suit all tastes so for my pennies worth I think the site should stay black with white text. I did print a post out once and it was the typical black text on white background so I have no problems at all with the old look. It's a bit more pub-like anyway. Comparitively speaking the black look reminds me of sitting in a pub whereas the white shiny look makes me think of a hospital. I'd rather be in the pub personally.
Good effort with the site though Gord... how many coffees and Caramel Wafers have you gone through so far?
Nick
cheers Nick -
Whole packet of homewheat and far too much coffee and ribena.
I also really liked the dark colour scheme - leave it with me ...
Yeah keep the dark, reminds me of early word processing....Wordperfect 1 anyone?
ok ... here's what i hope will be a happy compromise for the forum:
- the dark (firefly) style is now restored as the default style;
- however, you can choose between this and the default look by using the little selector at the bottom left of any page. The default look is the one that looks like YD ;)
Any probs, let me know. I'm going to develop the other content (site guides, maps, etc.) on a new section of the site which I hope to reveal later in the month.
Thanks for continuing to use the site!
Cheers :)
doing a good job Gord, well done.
Gord, we all appreciate the work.
Do you require any donations for the site upkeep?? I am sure some of us regulars could spare a paypal payment now and again for upkeep?? Might even grant those that pay admin rights lol
Thanks Chris - but it's not that much money at all - about a few beers a month.
Buy me a beer sometime instead!
:)
If you go down the bottom of your page to the drop down that says "default Style", if you change that to Firefly it will look like the old one. I personally think the white one looks too much like the divernet forum.
I am staying with the firefly look.
Well done for all the hard work so far...not noticed any dramatic changes but I am sure there is a lot behind the scenes. Hopefully the other stuff will be up soon, it was abugger trying to arrange a meet at the weekend, Loudy and I had to use Finstrokes, hopefully john wont mind. ;)
Can I change it back to white, so I can read it - was going to say I loved the improvements in viz!
oops, seen the later posts.
oops, seen the later posts.
But now realise I am too stupid to follow the instructions..:confused:
But now realise I am too stupid to follow the instructions..:confused:
Tell me about it!! :D
I've put the dive site guides back in the usual place (http://www.congeralley.com/links/browselinks.php?c=10)for now. You'll also find the old link back in the site nav panel to the top left of the home page.
alexmaclennan
13-05-07, 07:08
Thanks Chris - but it's not that much money at all - about a few beers a month.
Buy me a beer sometime instead!
:)
Gord, we can only buy you a beer if you go diving :p
alex