View Full Version : Should Chief Delphi's Layout Change (poll)
mechanical_robot
08-11-2013, 22:15
Do you thin chief delphi's layout change to a more modern look? Explain what you would change.
Is there any competitors to Chief Delphi?
A while back, Brandon Martus announced that changes were planned, including an upgrade to a modern version of vBulletin.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118256
s_forbes
08-11-2013, 22:25
Never! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TtGQnyPZ6g)
mechanical_robot
08-11-2013, 22:27
Never! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TtGQnyPZ6g)
What the?
Invictus3593
08-11-2013, 22:29
As long as the majority of the functionality stayed the same, it wouldn't bother me a bit, but I wouldn't care if it kept the current format either, mainly because I'm used to it.
However: If the site's layout were to change in the near future, it should be immediately following the 2014 season. I would bet that I'm not the only one who would be annoyed with having to learn a new layout in the middle of a season.
MrForbes
08-11-2013, 22:49
Now that most of us have smart phones and tablets, I think CD should embrace the concept of Pseudo Responsive Web Design (http://selectric.org/). Even if my kiddo doesn't think so.
Now that most of us have smart phones and tablets, I think CD should embrace the concept of Pseudo Responsive Web Design (http://selectric.org/). Even if my kiddo doesn't think so.
I find the Tapatalk app quite useful for keeping up with CD from my phone. That said, a responsive design would be nice. I don't believe I've seen any really good ones on vBulletin forums though.
Are you volunteering to do the work? :)
MrForbes
08-11-2013, 23:06
heh....I did the work to make my own web page Pseudo Responsive. I also did the work to make our local car club's web page work the same way. That's enough for me for this decade.
(btw, pseudo responsive is not the same thing as responsive....)
Tristan Lall
09-11-2013, 00:35
More portal, less front page clutter would be nice, because it's probably less than 1% of the time that I use the hierarchical view (but when you need it, it's indispensable). Also, forum software that can be configured to reject obvious spam. The option to hide signatures is mandatory and non-negotiable (I'm actually really glad I don't have to look at some of your lengthy and garish signatures on a regular basis).
I think that the layout is all right, and if you wan't a more modern look, you could use an alternative like yopyip. I think that the color choices should be a little different (if allowed with the team). Too much orange and white can be biting at times.
:o
MooreteP
09-11-2013, 08:26
Do you thin chief delphi's layout change to a more modern look? Explain what you would change.
Is there any competitors to Chief Delphi?
Your bias shows in your poll.
Keep it the same way it is "forever"? suggests that the site is monolithic.
It is not
I would like to apologize for the tone of my previous unedited post.
I reacted too strongly to what I felt was a criticism of one of the few BBs that I find immensely useful.
Lil' Lavery
09-11-2013, 11:08
What the?
Well, it's here. The day FRC students no longer know what Wayne's World is. A sad day for everyone.
MrForbes
09-11-2013, 12:40
21 years ago....yeah, that movie is pretty old.
mechanical_robot
09-11-2013, 18:40
Your bias shows in your poll.
Keep it the same way it is "forever"? suggests that the site is monolithic.
It is not
I would like to apologize for the tone of my previous unedited post.
I reacted too strongly to what I felt was a criticism of one of the few BBs that I find immensely useful.
I wasn't being literal in the "forever" I was just exaggerating. But yes I do think Chief Delphi should go to a more modern look.
But yes I do think Chief Delphi should go to a more modern look.
I don't know what you mean by "more modern look".
Can you post a link to a forum that you think has a "more modern look", and explain how that would make CD better serve its intended purpose?
I think these two represent my opinion. Also, there have been threads about layout changes before.
http://cdn.meme.li/i/460x/m687c.jpg
http://awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/dead-horse.gif
MattRain
09-11-2013, 19:17
Well, it's here. The day FRC students no longer know what Wayne's World is. A sad day for everyone.
Ah man
http://imageshack.com/a/img22/7500/x8k.gif
Justin Montois
09-11-2013, 19:29
But I know where everything is.....
The graphical interface is all right. The color scheme is kind of dichromous, so it becomes annoying after being on the forum for a half hour at a time!
The graphical interface is all right. The color scheme is kind of dichromous, so it becomes annoying after being on the forum for a half hour at a time!
The purple logo in the top left used to be white-ish, as I recall--it changed when Chief Delphi, FRC #0047, merged with another team to form team #51, Wings of Fire. The color scheme comes from team 47, and remains as it is in tribute to them.
Oh, and that's a no-thanks on the layout change.
P.S.: Half an hour at a time? That's a short session in my book--maybe I spend too much time on here.
Well, it's here. The day FRC students no longer know what Wayne's World is. A sad day for everyone.
Sorry, I didn't get it either. :(
I wasn't being literal in the "forever" I was just exaggerating. But yes I do think Chief Delphi should go to a more modern look.
Exactly, by exaggerating you were being biased. But it's not that big of a deal; people understand what the poll is asking.
I enjoy the current look. I feel like it is easy enough for me to find/do what I need to, so if it ain't broke don't fix it.
mechanical_robot
09-11-2013, 20:58
Exactly, by exaggerating you were being biased. But it's not that big of a deal; people understand what the poll is asking.
I enjoy the current look. I feel like it is easy enough for me to find/do what I need to, so if it ain't broke don't fix it.
When I say exaggerating I was trying to be humorous, guess it didnt work.
Just because it isnt broke doesnt mean we shouldnt improve something. Example our FRC robot for 2013. Our first competition we used a dumber which scored us about 25 point consistently along with our climber per match. Well it got us to be a in the final matches of the regional. Now keeping in mind the dumper wasnt broken it still worked ppretty darn good. But for our second regional we made a really good shooting attachment for our robot. We attached it to our robot taking off the dumber and we could get a good 50 points for our team consistenly. We IMPROVED upon it we didnt fix anything just improved on our robot.
The purple logo in the top left used to be white-ish, as I recall--it changed when Chief Delphi, FRC #0047, merged with another team to form team #51, Wings of Fire. The color scheme comes from team 47, and remains as it is in tribute to them.
Oh, and that's a no-thanks on the layout change.
P.S.: Half an hour at a time? That's a short session in my book--maybe I spend too much time on here.
Half an hour is the least productive days. I probably spend three hours daily on here!
So, we are in the same boat. Probably should be getting homework done in that time
MrForbes
09-11-2013, 22:53
Ah, the old fashioned diversions we need to find to avoid homework, before the interwebs came to save us all
I'll have to say, I like the clean design. It isn't too hard to do anything, and this site isn't very resource intensive. I use my RPi to browse this forum quite a bit and it is quite responsive. Those few ads at the top are over-used and they become annoying sometimes. Try adding more ads that cycle through so that users don't see a couple ads every time. It may even generate a whole lot more revenue
:D ::ouch:: :yikes: ::safety:: :cool:
Just because it isnt broke doesnt mean we shouldnt improve something.
What do you mean by "a more modern look" and can you explain how you think that would "improve" CD and make it better serve its intended purpose?
What do you mean by "a more modern look" and can you explain how you think that would "improve" CD and make it better serve its intended purpose?
Two more 'modern' vBulletin-based forums I frequent:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/forum.php
http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php
In addition to a more appealing design that's easier on the eyes, they have a number of other enhancements. XDA in particular has really nice features that help it serve its intended purpose - special thread layouts for development projects, device search, customization for what you see on your home page, etc. TMC is a fairly stock setup but it has a nice 'What's New' page that gives a quick way to catch up on reading with additional highlighting for subscribed threads (an enhancement over the current view on the CD portal). XDA has a nice 'tip us' feature that allows users to highlight newsworthy threads for inclusion on the news blog (TMC has something similar).
I can think of a number of enhancements that would serve CD - perhaps special thread types that are meant to highlight robot reveals, with a nice layout, special fields that make them easily searchable, etc. An improved and/or customize-able home page layout would make it easier to catch up on reading. Quick social network sharing with the option to link user profiles and/or use them for authentication.
How would these help CD serve its intended purpose? Well, it depends what its intended purpose is. If the purpose is primarily to keep the current clientele happy, perhaps not much needs to be done, as a lot of folks seem happy with the status quo. However, I think that getting new members involved in the community is also important, and I'd suggest that a web site with more modern design language and some helpful features would help fullfill that goal as well.
That said, I know that Brandon and others that help keep CD running are very busy, and must set priorities. A vBulletin with improved spam filtering and security is likely a higher priority than a UX overhaul as it should be. If I have the time in the near to medium future it's something I'd like to possibly get involved with making it happen. Just as http://www.thebluealliance.com/ is a project that benefits from being open-sourced with community contributions, perhaps CD could benefit from a similar model.
Thanks for you post, David. I was seeking an explanation from the OP, but since he did not respond, I'll share a few thoughts about your post.
...I can think of a number of enhancements that would serve CD...
So can I. No argument here at all. But that's different argument from what the OP posted, which seemed to be fixated on style and color.
How would these help CD serve its intended purpose? Well, it depends what its intended purpose is.
That was my point exactly. Unless you know what the purpose of CD is, suggesting changes looks like a solution in search of a problem.
Two more 'modern' vBulletin-based forums I frequent... In addition to a more appealing design that's easier on the eyes
Whether or not it's more appealing is strictly a matter of personal opinion. I don't find either one more appealing than the other. Anyway, on a technical forum like CD, "appealing" takes a back seat to functionality and content.
As for easier on the eyes, I'm not sure what that means. I can't speak for others, but my aging eyes get along just fine with CD's modest color scheme.
Bottom line: I'm opposed to change for change's sake. Folks proposing changes to CD should be prepared to explain (as you explained in your post) how those changes will benefit the CD community.
Thanks for you post, David. I was seeking an explanation from the OP, but since he did not respond, I'll share a few thoughts about your post.
So can I. No argument here at all. But that's different argument from what the OP posted, which seemed to be fixated on style and color.
That was my point exactly. Unless you know what the purpose of CD is, suggesting changes looks like a solution in search of a problem.
Whether or not it's more appealing is strictly a matter of personal opinion. I don't find either one more appealing than the other. Anyway, on a technical forum like CD, "appealing" takes a back seat to functionality and content.
As for easier on the eyes, I'm not sure what that means. I can't speak for others, but my aging eyes get along just fine with CD's modest color scheme.
Bottom line: I'm opposed to change for change's sake. Folks proposing changes to CD should be prepared to explain (as you explained in your post) how those changes will benefit the CD community.
+1
I am not at all opposed to adding more features, if they can be justified. But I don't see the purpose in completely updating the website. Going back to John's robot analogy: you added a shooter to your robot, because you thought the shooter would improve it. But you didn't rebuild the robot from scratch just because you thought that cycling robots were better.
Michael Hill
10-11-2013, 10:31
+1
I am not at all opposed to adding more features, if they can be justified. But I don't see the purpose in completely updating the website. Going back to John's robot analogy: you added a shooter to your robot, because you thought the shooter would improve it. But you didn't rebuild the robot from scratch just because you thought that cycling robots were better.
Also...don't fix what ain't broke.
mechanical_robot
10-11-2013, 10:52
Also...don't fix what ain't broke.
Our dumper wasnt broken it worked great and scored our team a good 24 points along with a 10 point climb every game. But we added a shooter for our next competition which improved our robot.
That's the opposite of a hacker's saying:
Something on the lines of: Fix what works till it's broke.
pmangels17
10-11-2013, 12:16
Please, do not change Chief Delphi. I actually enjoy everything the way it is, and the portal page is well-structured. I also like the quotes at the top, and pretty much everything about the site. I use the forum for reading stuff and getting advice, so it isn't important to me that the forum is "new and shiny".
There is however, one good practical change that could help the site. Some sort of spam filter would be nice to get rid of the clutter on the portal page.
saikiranra
10-11-2013, 12:38
There is however, one good practical change that could help the site. Some sort of spam filter would be nice to get rid of the clutter on the portal page.
Yea, what happened to that? I remember a thread a couple of months ago on this issue. Was the spam filter updated?
[back to thread] CD is fine. It is easy enough to navigate and looks clean. I doubt a new update would greatly improve functionality or bring new visitors.
I will have to agree. The layout is all right the way it is. Any more drastic changes and everyone will need to reteach using forums. There are a few features that could be added, like some sort of IM system, on top of everything, just like facebook IM or Google Mail IM. Also, as mentioned before, where are the spam filters? If you thoroughly read most spam posts, you can see some similarities. Program a filter for these and then those posts will directly have to be moderated. This could potentially clean up around a lot around the forums. Also, add more ads in the system so that we aren't always seeing the same ads. (Add more to the list that the system cycles through). That may also increase the site's revenue by a lot!
cmrnpizzo14
10-11-2013, 15:13
I enjoy the way that CD is now. I find that the neutral color scheme, particularly the "grayish" background, is much nicer to look at than a more contrasting page such as reddit.
Things I would want added:
1.) Spambot filter
2.) Option to hide signatures
3.) Thread tag feature for improved search. The categories such as general forum, technical, rules, etc. are nice but specific tags would help improve the search in my opinion. That way if you search for a thread about "2012 Shooters" you don't end up with threads that only mention the word shooter from 2012.
4.) Some form of "upvote" or "best answer" option for forums similar to yahoo answers how ranks the best answer to the question.
Zebra_Fact_Man
11-11-2013, 10:10
I answered don't care (because it really doesn't matter to me), but for what it's worth, I like the format of the current website. Nothing is overly complicated to use, find, or look at.
Meh; when it comes down to it, I just really don't care for change all that often.
themccannman
12-11-2013, 15:27
The only change that immediately comes to mind for me is a change to the PM system/layout. If PM conversations were laid out in a thread format I think it would be a lot more convenient.
The idea of a point system for posts is interesting. Ranking posts in order of their score is convenient for making sure that people see the best responses in a thread without reposting the same answer multiple times because they didn't see it posted on a previous page. Also, no one likes browsing through hundreds of pages just to see the good posts in a thread. The only issue with this is that it seems like it would require a complete redesign of the site.
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