Should Chief Delphi's Layout Change (poll)

[Pault]

Originally Posted by 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.



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]

Originally Posted by Pault

+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]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

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.

[yash101]

That's the opposite of a hacker's saying:
Something on the lines of: Fix what works till it's broke.

[pmangels17]

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]

Originally Posted by pmangels17

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.

[yash101]

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]

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]

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]

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.