LXer Forums
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Halko Jul 26, 2009 7:26 PM EDT |
I don't mean to offend anyone by what I'm about to write, I intend this as constructive criticism, but if I do, I apologize. LXer is one of my favorite sources of Linux related news. I read it on daily basis, but I think that LXer's forums could be improved. I have no issue with the functionality or the color theme. Those are fine. However, the way the content of a thread is rendered leaves room for improvement in my opinion. It gets in the way of readability. The things I miss the most are padding and spacing. For ex. there is no space between messages from different users. When I'm actually reading several short messages, it feels instead as if I'm reading one long paragraph. Sure, there is the subtle change in color, but for me it isn't enough. Also, I feel that time, date and quotes are overly emphasized regarding their importance. I would rank time and date as the least important part of the message. And I find them distracting in their current form. Likewise, quotes are printed in bold red letters, which takes the focus away from the rest of the message, which I again feel is more important. I love the simplicity though. |
| Sander_Marechal Jul 27, 2009 6:47 AM EDT |
Personally, I agree but I don't have access to the CSS code so I can't change it. I will pass along your suggestions though. But I have no idea how long it takes since out Bob, our publisher, is rather busy at the moment. If you're really annoyed by it you can of course use a user stylesheet in Firefox. I also think that Greasemonkey allows you to do this (more easily). Just suffix your CSS changes with the string "important!" so that the LXer CSS scripts cannot override them anymore. For some examples, see http://coreygilmore.com/blog/2008/10/23/per-site-custom-css-... |
| mortenalver Jul 27, 2009 9:51 AM EDT |
It could also be useful to have some indication of which posts are new and not, within a single thread. Alternatively a link to the first new post. When revisiting long threads it can take some time to find out how many of the posts are new. |
| theboomboomcars Jul 27, 2009 10:49 AM EDT |
mortenalver, there is the skip to new button at the top. |
| Sander_Marechal Jul 27, 2009 11:00 AM EDT |
Yes. It's just above the red bar at the top of a forum thread. |
| mortenalver Jul 27, 2009 12:24 PM EDT |
Oops... this is embarassing :) |
| softwarejanitor Jul 27, 2009 12:33 PM EDT |
I don't know about anyone else, but if you are seeing only a "subtle" change in color between messages, it sounds like something is wrong with how your display or browser is set. Maybe too much brightness or not enough contrast. For me the posts clearly alternate between white background and a medium gray. FWIW, I've tried it on several different systems with the same results. Some of your other suggestions I can see. The date/time could be smaller and bold is not necessary. |
| bob Jul 27, 2009 3:31 PM EDT |
I think we have some good suggestions in this thread. So, now LXer has these improvements: - some extra padding around the forum posts - smaller and less bold date/time stamps - everybody now remembers the "Skip to New" feature The color of the quoted area is currently set to match the column header, but I'm open to suggestions... |
| Halko Jul 27, 2009 3:50 PM EDT |
Thank you. |
| theboomboomcars Jul 27, 2009 4:27 PM EDT |
Thanks bob, it looks good. |
| Sander_Marechal Jul 27, 2009 4:42 PM EDT |
Great! |
| softwarejanitor Jul 27, 2009 4:42 PM EDT |
@bob Thanks, the formatting tweaks look nice. |
| Scott_Ruecker Jul 27, 2009 6:00 PM EDT |
I guess I am easy because I was perfectly happy already, not to take away anything from your tweaks Bob they are nice changes. One of the reasons I came to LXer almost five years ago now was the quality of the forums, how they are laid out, their ease of use, and I was crazy enough to participate now look at me? ;-) |
| Steven_Rosenber Jul 29, 2009 7:14 PM EDT |
I thought something changed. Looks good. I'm always telling Scott that LXer is one of the best concepts and implementations of that concept I've ever seen, and that this software could build a nice community for just about any topic -- not just FOSS. If I knew enough PHP, I'd clone it myself. |
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