AIR Forums - Site updates and new look

[wheel interested]

I especially like the drop down menu under the forums tab. Besides familiarizing myself with the various subforums and categories I can easily navigate directly to the desired section rather than wait for a new page to load and search and have to scroll through all the real estate to see the subforums as we did with the old forum interface. All the tabs are very useful. Nice improvements. Good job! I also agree that putting all the "extras" on only one side gives an uncluttered appearance and makes posts and threads more prominently displayed without the former distractions. Bright? I bet it depends on the screen but I certainly see it very bright, but no brighter than the other web pages that I read regularly as the news sites I frequent, however they do have more colored graphics dispersed and competing with the text. I know some forums give users a choice of preferred appearance.

[oh2bcarefree]

Originally Posted by crzycpa

-Not sure if this is just me but when I clicked on my gallery it return three pages of 21 copies of one random photo of mine and 3 of another.

I like the new clean look and drop-downs.

Me too! Tons of photos with crazy numbers of duplicates - I went to the 1960s airstream photos and almost every photo has at least one duplicate, many times over five, however I didn't get quite 21.

I also like the clean look and drop downs.

Tina

[missysanford]

How about some help buttons or a help tab. I can't upload photos and I have to go to a forum for help.

[casa3805]

Really like the new look! Areas are grouped together well, so it is easier to find things.

I have the same problem as others with photos though. My gallery now consists of 1 photo, many times. Each duplicate photo still maintains the description that went with the "missing" photo though, so that is kinda good.. right??

Love the idea that you can crop in different photos at the top too.

[wheel interested]

The thumbnails seem to be duplicated whereas clicking on one of those opens an entirely different picture. Perhaps the thumbnail pictures have to be regenerated due to corrupt file???

[Janet H]

We're still working to solve the thumbnails issues, but we'll get there... The idea of a help tab is intriguing - thanks for the suggestion

[Sheridan]

How do you get back to the Portal page from the classifieds?

[Whizzo]

What a nice surprise. I was initially thrown, but am liking the simplified approach. Displays nicely in Firefox.

While I like the idea of a rotating header member image, the current flipped one hasn't stopped being distracting.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Sheridan

How do you get back to the Portal page from the classifieds?

Look up at the top left. There is a link to "Forum" (which goes to the forums) but just above there is another link that actually goes to the portal. I guess this is one of the best kept secrets of AIR.

As an aside, the classifieds are also slated for a major overhaul to improve layout and functionality, but that project is still in works....

[Gene]

I like that it transitioned without major problems. I was going through threads when it suddenly changed and, of course, change being a bad thing, I didn't like it. I've gotten somewhat used to it over the past few days. Here's what I don't like:

1. When I expand the box to enter a reply, if there are ads to the right, the box goes under them.

2. The background is pretty white and while as I get older, I want more contrast between background and print, this is a bit more than I like. I'm sure it looks good to people who need cataract surgery, but I'm not there yet. I know I can adjust it, but then I am constantly adjusting for reading e-mail or other webpages. On the other hand, it may be easier to read outside where the sun washes out the screen.

3. The box at the bottom that has to two quote marks doesn't seem to do anything when I click on it to see what it does except turn red. Maybe it was there before and I never bothered to look at it.

4. The box at the lower right that looks like a cartoon box for dialogue sends me to the end of the thread and while this is is something I may use every year or so, doesn't seem so important to me.

5. A button at the end of the thread to bring us back to the top of the page would be really nice.

6. This was true on the old style and I think it still is—last unread post doesn't always take me to that, but to the one on the last page, not the actual last unread. This happens when I click on last page, thus post 98 may be the last unread, but I get 101. Can it be changed to go back to the actual last unread?

7. The thread seems narrow and I have much white space on both sides. I know you have to sell ads to pay for this thing, but the threads feel diminished.

There's much I haven't tried. The overall look at the top with the rivets and all is cool and somewhat uncluttered, but once I start reading down, it is not an improvement to me.

Gene

[Janet H]

Gene - the botton with the call out box is a quick reply link. It takes you to the bottom of the page because that's where the reply editor is.



The box with the quotes "" "" is for quoting multiple posts. Click the multi-quote button on the posts you want to quote in your reply and then click the regular quote button on the last post you want to quote. They will all appear in your post and you can add text as you desire - like this:

Originally Posted by BaroloRed

I like it!

Me too.

Originally Posted by Ed Emerick

Very cool look, nice job all!

Ditto

Originally Posted by Randy Gates

Kudo's, what a pleasant surprise and so much easier on the eye with the pull downs. Less congested view. Great looking site! Love the rivets.
Randy

Rivets is good

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

I like that it transitioned without major problems. I was going through ................................................


5. A button at the end of the thread to bring us back to the top of the page would be really nice.

................................

Gene

I found one of those.

Scroll all the way to the bottom. The far right on blue bar says, "top"

Ken

[Benjo]

The Trailwind model was placed underneath the Tradewind model section. It should be on it's own. Thanks!

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Janet

Gene - the botton with the call out box is a quick reply link. It takes you to the bottom of the page because that's where the reply editor is.

Attachment 138312

The box with the quotes "" "" is for quoting multiple posts. Click the multi-quote button on the posts you want to quote in your reply and then click the regular quote button on the last post you want to quote. They will all appear in your post and you can add text as you desire - like this:

Janet,

There are several quick reply links and I thought one more was unnecessary. Still unsure how multiple quotes work but the more I read it, I am beginning to get it.

Ken, I did find the Top button and I prefer it to be right after the last post.

My points 1, 2, 6 and 7 still stand. And I forgot to mention my browser: Safari 5.1.

Gene

[warrenivan]

Lovely Redesign. I'm a designer myself, and this is a HUGE improvement.

AND. Many thanks to the powers-that-be for this awesome resource.

[KerriO]

For those who are correlating readability with the new narrower main window — this window should be easier to read. Characters per line are about 80 and that's ideal for online readability. Lines much longer than that actually makes things more difficult to read.

I think this is a huge improvement over the old site. Much less cluttered, with much easier to find UI elements.

Thanks again, guys
- another web designer/developer

[Gene]

When I increase the type size the wide left margin at the left decreases substantially. That's good as the thread doesn't look cramped.

In the past when I increased type size, the change was unstable and kept going back and forth. I'll see if it remains stable.

Gene

[hippiechick]

I like the new look and features. I so appreciate this resource and the work that goes into maintaining and improving it. Thank you!

[Benjo]

Janet-

Here is the item that needs to be moved out of the Tradewind section into it's own. Thanks so much and great job on the transition!

Ben

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Benjo

Janet-

Here is the item that needs to be moved out of the Tradewind section into it's own. Thanks so much and great job on the transition!

Ben

This has been done