Should Chief Delphi's Layout Change (poll)

[Ether]

Originally Posted by antimatter_john

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?

[coalhot]

I think these two represent my opinion. Also, there have been threads about layout changes before.

[MattRain]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Well, it's here. The day FRC students no longer know what Wayne's World is. A sad day for everyone.

Ah man

[Justin Montois]

But I know where everything is.....

[yash101]

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!

[EricH]

Originally Posted by yash101

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.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

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.

[Pault]

Originally Posted by antimatter_john

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]

Originally Posted by Pault

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.

[yash101]

Originally Posted by EricH

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]

Ah, the old fashioned diversions we need to find to avoid homework, before the interwebs came to save us all

[yash101]

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

[Ether]

Originally Posted by antimatter_john

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?

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by Ether

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.

[Ether]

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.

Originally Posted by dcarr

...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.

Originally Posted by dcarr

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.