Maybe update the look of the website?
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Maybe update the look of the website?
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I completely agree with you! A little more color, expand the size of the logo, and overall make the site a little more eye-catching. The site is really great. However, when I first joined it took me a minute to enjoy the site. I personally feel like it is a bit dull.
Also, I think new members should have a tutorial of where everything is located because I had, and still have, some trouble trying to fin what I am looking for. I know they have a FAQ section but it is kind of confusing when someone is first starting out.
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(That is, the people in charge of the website would be able to delete them, not just anyone)
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You can report those topics and a mod will delete/move them.Thea Frederick wrote: ↑12 Jan 2021, 11:39 Oh, I was also thinking it would be good if duplicate forum topics could be deleted because there are a lot of locked threads but they are just there. It seems it would be better to get rid of them after notifying the author of the thread that it is a duplicate and linking them to the original so that the forums are less cluttered. Just an idea
(That is, the people in charge of the website would be able to delete them, not just anyone)
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Oh, very nice, thank you!gali wrote: ↑12 Jan 2021, 11:40You can report those topics and a mod will delete/move them.Thea Frederick wrote: ↑12 Jan 2021, 11:39 Oh, I was also thinking it would be good if duplicate forum topics could be deleted because there are a lot of locked threads but they are just there. It seems it would be better to get rid of them after notifying the author of the thread that it is a duplicate and linking them to the original so that the forums are less cluttered. Just an idea
(That is, the people in charge of the website would be able to delete them, not just anyone)
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One of the biggest issues is the awkward use of white space (white space is the space between one object and another). Sometimes it is way too small and other times it is way too big. An example of too little white space is if we look at the top of the page, at the navigation menu, that horizontal line is nearly on top of the logo and buttons. Then the second navigation menu, one with our profile, is nearly on top of that. This makes that top navigation menu feel very squished and the top of the page feels very cluttered in general. An example of too much white space is the huge space underneath a post (due to the profile information) which not only doesn’t look great but it leads to a big user experience issue. You have to click and scroll forever to get where you need to go on this site. This is something we don’t need to do in a modern website, as they aim to get you where you need to be in under 3 clicks. I won’t go more into it but it definitely contributes to the older website feel.
Another issue is the lack of consistency. Let’s just look at the links/ buttons. Sometimes they are blue with rounded corners and white icons on the left, like in the navigation menu at the top. Then straight underneath it is another navigation (a problem in itself in terms of user-friendliness but that is a whole another monster) with dark or light blue text and orange icons. Then you scroll to the “Submit” and “Full Editor and Preview” button, where they have a gradient background with corners and a black outline. Then there is the reply button with red text, a grey icon on the right on gradient background with rounded corners and a grey outline. These are all completely different and things like this are why it feels so far from modern as the consistency was not as high a priority as it is now.
The gradient headers and buttons are why you saying specifically the 90s. They loved their gradients, especially as a background for something. The grey gradient button like the submit is the default style and back then it wasn’t very customisable compared to now.
No, you don’t need more colours, especially when you have the covers of all those books to play with. They could change the blue used as it is a default system blue e.g. Salesforce, which also gives the website that stale, older feel. They could keep to one colour or just stick to black, white and minimal to give those books the space they need to shine.
Hehe sorry I am really geeking out now, so I will leave it there or otherwise my post will turn into its own book .
I feel the reason they are probably hesitant to jump in and redo this website is that it is quite a complex website (think about what is happening in the background when you submit your book review or post on the forum) that I imagine is built with mostly PHP. It will take a large amount of time and money to redo, even if it is just the look and feel and not the user experience.
Even with that in mind, I still sit here looking at it saying "There is so much potential here! This could be so much better!". It such an amazing platform and it would be amazing if it could reflect that in its look and feel and user experience. As I have said before, it is really impressive that this website got where it is and I can appreciate the difficulty of the task. I of course mean no offence to anyone that took part in the creation of this website.
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