Anyone else think the new layout sucks?

[brrymnvette]

Not so much that the layout sucks, but that the colors for new posts, old posts, new threads with zero replies are too close to matching. Makes it a little harder to quickly look at the pages. Colors need to be changed to a more differentiating color or something.

[DB Z28]

too much gray

[Larry Callahan]

New color schemes are being worked on but due to time limitations I don't think there will be any changes before SEMA.

[Samckitt]

Sucks is a harsh word, don't know that I would go that far, but I like the old better.

[Bishop73]

I wouldn't say it sucks, but I'm not really feeling it. It just feels kind of cheap and flimsy, but I'm sure when time allows they will get it polished up and utilize the new features.

[andrewb70]

No matter what is done not everyone will be pleased.

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?73668-New-site-looks-great

Andrew

[gearheads78]

Sucks is a harsh word, don't know that I would go that far, but I like the old better.

What you said.

[jocko124]

What you said.

X3....but I'm thinking it will improve as we go along. I think it looks a lot better than it did the first few days. I'm hopeful with the new color schemes Larry's working on, I'll be loving it AGAIN, in no time!

[T_Raven]

I liked the old one better, it did everything I needed it to do and it was the same format as every other forum which is cool for me because I'm on a million and it's nice that they all operate the same.

[LateNight72]

No matter what is done not everyone will be pleased.

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?73668-New-site-looks-great

Andrew

Basically that. I don't have a preference of it eitherway, old or new. Just glad Larry has such a site provided FREE so we can hangout on. ;)

[vintageracer]

MUCH harder to read posts and titles.

The black print on gray tones does not work well at all!

The colors on the post listings when you hit "view new posts" makes the post titles hard to skim read.

Layout is not that big of a deal as much as is the POOR choice of print and background of colors!

That's my 2 1/3 cents!

[Larry Callahan]

I'm wide open for ideas and keep them coming. If you find a message board that has a very easy to read color scheme please paste a link here. I'm happy to have several options since I don't think any one will make everyone happy.

[John Wright]

C'mon guys, give it some time.....I'm sure things will get ironed out, tweaked a little here and there as he has time. It's a big deal to set one of these things up...lots of buttons and switches to get pushed to get it like he wants it. I'm sure Larry is still learning what all this new stuff will and won't do.

Remember getting a new version of Word or Excel....ie take Word 2010....looks totally different than previous versions and many of the buttons and switches to setup are in different places and are labeled different names....LOL

[whitess]

I wasn't that crazy about it at first but that's just me being stubborn, but after trying / using the "new look" for a couple of days I'm getting pretty used to it. What I REALLY LIKE is being able to read a post without having to scroll back and forth from one side to the other. I wish more forums were like this. :)
Larry.

[mc84_zz4]

I would like the page heading (pro-touring.com) to be scrollabe and let me get some real-estate back on my screen, rather than have a fixed heading that is persistent. It reduces the actual size of screen i can read.
I liked the less-color version better myself. The in-between posts banner could be a touch darker IMO.

[Jarcaines]

you just aren't use to it yet.

[Tony_SS]

The layout is fine, just the colors need to be tweaked on the treads. They were fine, but seemed to get darker just recently.

[DarkBuddha]

I think the change has highlighted certain things that folks simply didn't notice before. The first thing I noticed was the shadowing of the "Reply to Thread" button, which I find slightly distracting for some reason. But overall I'm not too bothered one way or the other, though I think there are aspects of both versions that I like and dislike. I used to be fond of the ones that allowed me to choose the color/font scheme for viewing the forum, but that doesn't appear to be an option at the moment. If it were, I'd probably choose the previous version's color/font scheme.

[PhillipM]

you just aren't use to it yet.

Thats what I think, at first I wasn't happy but now I think it is fine. Everything takes some getting use to.

[CarlC]

Remember guys, Larry, like the other moderators here, has a full time job, family, etc. It takes a lot of time, and often money/contracting, to have things tweaked just the way we like it. It will get there, but with life + the normal business + SEMA, time is in short supply. It's going to happen, so please have patience as we git-'er-done.

[Gitter Dun]

I'm sure Larry will get things worked out, sounds like is buried with SEMA right now. Sure would like to able to hit todays posts under quick links.

[Derek69SS]

I'm wide open for ideas and keep them coming. If you find a message board that has a very easy to read color scheme please paste a link here. I'm happy to have several options since I don't think any one will make everyone happy.

My local autocross club forum uses this same software/layout, but the colors are a lot easier to read.

http://www.mnautox.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?3-Main-Forum

[Flash68]

I dont care how any forum owner/admin lays everything out. Well, I do, but that's less important as things like being easy to read and being easy on the eyes. These things aren't for just anyone to decide. Designers and professionals get paid to decide colors and pantones on projects.

All I want is it to be easy on my eyes (better contrast between text and background) otherwise I won't bring my eyes here as much. Pretty simple.

[dj3]

I'm wide open for ideas and keep them coming. If you find a message board that has a very easy to read color scheme please paste a link here. I'm happy to have several options since I don't think any one will make everyone happy.


How about an option to show all in multipage threads.

[68Formula]

Quite frankly I loved the old format. I've been on other sites that were lousy and still haven't been updated, so I was quite surprised to see this one change when it wasn't necessary.

[LateNight72]

Here's the one thing I'd do. Just lighten up the colors a bit.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[Flash68]

Here's the one thing I'd do. Just lighten up the colors a bit.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

that's a good start, but all text should be black or a dark enough color.

Larry, you asked for references of other forums with nice readable layouts. Here are 2 I find very visually pleasing:

http://www.luxury4play.com/search.php?searchid=3685706

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5498352

and then probably the nicest layout out there and easiest to read, PT.com's brother/sister:

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/search.php4?searchid=976847

[ArtosDracon]

I really like the new stock color format I found for Protourings10.com a while back, but we use SMF so I know it can't be directly installed. I haven't bothered to do much digging on here, but what software is this site running on? I know with SMF we can set a stock layout and sceme, but allow users to choose for a set we have installed.

[novaderrik]

I'm wide open for ideas and keep them coming. If you find a message board that has a very easy to read color scheme please paste a link here. I'm happy to have several options since I don't think any one will make everyone happy.

i have my 2 year old computer that runs Vista setup to look and feel like Win98, so my opinion might not have much weight here.. what can i say- i like things simple and uncluttered..

www.chevelles.com and www.camaros.net - as well as all the other "team" websites- tend to be the best laid out forums out there. when they upgraded the software a couple of years ago, it took some getting used to. over time, the problems got ironed out and all is well again.. that being said, i'm sure they will "upgrade" again sometime down the road and throw everyone for a loop..

[FULMNTE]

MUCH harder to read posts and titles.

The black print on gray tones does not work well at all!

The colors on the post listings when you hit "view new posts" makes the post titles hard to skim read.

Layout is not that big of a deal as much as is the POOR choice of print and background of colors!

That's my 2 1/3 cents!

Ditto
On our forum, we give the forum members the choice of several color schemes. I am suprised that we can not do this here as well...

[LateNight72]

Ditto
On our forum, we give the forum members the choice of several color schemes. I am suprised that we can not do this here as well...
There will be multiple schemes available, after SEMA.

New color schemes are being worked on but due to time limitations I don't think there will be any changes before SEMA.

[406 Q-ship]

Remember guys, Larry, like the other moderators here, has a full time job, family, etc. It takes a lot of time, and often money/contracting, to have things tweaked just the way we like it. It will get there, but with life + the normal business + SEMA, time is in short supply. It's going to happen, so please have patience as we git-'er-done.

This Karl agrees with Carl

[4MuscleMachines]

I find myself squinting my eyes too much after the change.

[novaderrik]

why offer the different color themes for people? what is so bad about going to a site and having the color scheme be different than the other forums a person goes to?
going to a forum is the online equivalent of hanging out in someone else's house or garage- when you go over to someone's house do you immediately start rearanging the furniture to make it more appealing to you while you are there?

[Larry Callahan]

Part of my end plan is to offer car themes where icons and graphics change depending on the car you like. For example if you like Nova's there will be a theme that looks like Nova bits. I could do all kinds of cars in time.

[Flash68]

Larry, nice color contrast changes already. Much better and much easier to read now. I know you will continue tweaking but great job so far.

[vintageracer]

Larry,

The background color change is a BIG improvement. Much easier to read!

I find the layout to be nice and easily used.

Thanks for upgrade on color contrast!

When you hit new posts icon you get all the new posts. Amazing! I personally find the "New" or "Hot New" box to the left of the post title of the post to be very overpowering. How about making the post title bigger since that's what is important and the "New" or "New Hot" box smaller? Just a suggestion to make "skimming" of the new posts easier. Afterall that's why we use the new posts icon!

[BuzzKillian]

Keep up the good work Larry. I know you will get this place to be the best place to hang out on the net. It takes time to tweak everything how you would like it to be.

[Larry Callahan]

Larry,

The background color change is a BIG improvement. Much easier to read!

I find the layout to be nice and easily used.

Thanks for upgrade on color contrast!

When you hit new posts icon you get all the new posts. Amazing! I personally find the "New" or "Hot New" box to the left of the post title of the post to be very overpowering. How about making the post title bigger since that's what is important and the "New" or "New Hot" box smaller? Just a suggestion to make "skimming" of the new posts easier. Afterall that's why we use the new posts icon!

After tweaking the status icons I too realized they are a bit distracting. I will work on that soon.

[454bug]

After tweaking the status icons I too realized they are a bit distracting. I will work on that soon.

Hey Larry,

Can you possibly change the status icons back to the old, more site-appropriate, steering wheels? I really liked the look of them, the flames for the "hot" threads, and the way they let you know if there were new posts or not... They look MUCH better than the envelopes... just a small request!

[Larry Callahan]

Hey Larry,

Can you possibly change the status icons back to the old, more site-appropriate, steering wheels? I really liked the look of them, the flames for the "hot" threads, and the way they let you know if there were new posts or not... They look MUCH better than the envelopes... just a small request!

I will work on that. I just found a way to hack the site to allow animated status icons. I will work on something new but car themed after SEMA

[shortrack]

I wasnt going to say anything but I liked the old format better too, especially in the sticky vs unread thread area and overall IMO it had more of a professional look to it ....what was the reason for the change? this one seems a little faster? can you do more with it?

[Larry Callahan]

I wasnt going to say anything but I liked the old format better too, especially in the sticky vs unread thread area and overall IMO it had more of a professional look to it ....what was the reason for the change? this one seems a little faster? can you do more with it?

LOTS more with it. Watch over the next few weeks/couple of months.

[protouring70]

its coming along Larry! The colors are making it easier to read and to navigate. Keep up the good work because it want happen over night!

[Rybar]

Did anyone else have problems viewing it on thier phones? Because I do. I have a Blackberry 9700 Bold.

[jocko124]

On the iphone it looks good.

[XLexusTech]

Recent color changes... lighter gray it would appear look much better then last week

[shortrack]

LOTS more with it. Watch over the next few weeks/couple of months.

Cool.....!

hey a neat thing they do at one of my other sites is they have all the "Active Users" that is currently at the bottom of the Forum home page moved to the top so when you first click on to the site you see every member thats on the site... good for busting your buddies and telling them to get back to work...

[venturabeachpup]

Larry, So far so good. Thanks for the hard work you put into this site. And thanks to all the mods also.

A little darker on the lettering would be a little easier on the eyes. Maybe just good ol black letters might do it.

[Larry Callahan]

Larry, So far so good. Thanks for the hard work you put into this site. And thanks to all the mods also.

A little darker on the lettering would be a little easier on the eyes. Maybe just good ol black letters might do it.

Black letters where?

[4MuscleMachines]

I find myself squinting my eyes too much after the change.

Much better!

[gearheads78]

Thank you. My eyes don't hurt reading now.

[Mathius]

why offer the different color themes for people? what is so bad about going to a site and having the color scheme be different than the other forums a person goes to?
going to a forum is the online equivalent of hanging out in someone else's house or garage- when you go over to someone's house do you immediately start rearanging the furniture to make it more appealing to you while you are there?

Well actually, a more apt comparison would be walking into a retail store since Larry is basically selling his product, and the short simple answer is, if we don't find it easily read, then we don't have to show up here and read it.

Mathius

[Mathius]

I'm wide open for ideas and keep them coming. If you find a message board that has a very easy to read color scheme please paste a link here. I'm happy to have several options since I don't think any one will make everyone happy.

I quite like this one: http://web.archive.org/web/20051124114416/www.pro-touring.com/forum/

Mathius

[shmoov69]

Well, I like the old one better......but I'm not much on change!! Lol. But I'm sure I'll like this one better when I get used to it!
But I have found that it it slower than mole asses on my iPhone!! Anyone else notice that? Kinda sucks cause that's about all I use to surf anymore.

[Larry Callahan]

Well, I like the old one better......but I'm not much on change!! Lol. But I'm sure I'll like this one better when I get used to it!
But I have found that it it slower than mole asses on my iPhone!! Anyone else notice that? Kinda sucks cause that's about all I use to surf anymore.

I am working on a mobile version of the site. It should load real quick but I don't know if I will get it done before SEMA.

[shmoov69]

AweSomE!!!!
You're the bestest Larry!!

[novaderrik]

Well actually, a more apt comparison would be walking into a retail store since Larry is basically selling his product, and the short simple answer is, if we don't find it easily read, then we don't have to show up here and read it.

Mathius

it's not a matter of being able to read it- that's a skill i learned in kindergarten back in 1980- it's a matter of the website having it's own unique identity where everyone sees the same thing.

[Mathius]

it's not a matter of being able to read it- that's a skill i learned in kindergarten back in 1980- it's a matter of the website having it's own unique identity where everyone sees the same thing.

Listen. It's real simple. It's basic laws of supply and demand, whether you're charging or not. I don't have to bother with this site if I don't want to. It's my choice. What makes the site great is not anything Larry does, but the # of users available to make the site busy and active. Larry's job whether he chooses to acknowledge it or not is to provide a place where people WANT to talk about pro-touring cars. Because no matter how much money he dumps into the site, a message board with zero users is no fun.

The bottom line is, if we have trouble reading the site comfortably, whether its because the font is too small, the colors are too distracting, or Larry decides to put a 1920X1080 picture of a polar bear on every page, then we're not going to post here, and the site loses posters.

Whether or not YOU understand or agree with it is irrelevant. Whether or not you like the site is irrelevant. This thread is proof enough that not everyone likes the changes, and if Larry has options available to fix it, then he needs to decide whether or not its worth it or not.

Mathius

[Flash68]

it's not a matter of being able to read it- that's a skill i learned in kindergarten back in 1980- it's a matter of the website having it's own unique identity where everyone sees the same thing.

Wrong.


Listen. It's real simple. It's basic laws of supply and demand, whether you're charging or not. I don't have to bother with this site if I don't want to. It's my choice. What makes the site great is not anything Larry does, but the # of users available to make the site busy and active. Larry's job whether he chooses to acknowledge it or not is to provide a place where people WANT to talk about pro-touring cars. Because no matter how much money he dumps into the site, a message board with zero users is no fun.

The bottom line is, if we have trouble reading the site comfortably, whether its because the font is too small, the colors are too distracting, or Larry decides to put a 1920X1080 picture of a polar bear on every page, then we're not going to post here, and the site loses posters.

Whether or not YOU understand or agree with it is irrelevant. Whether or not you like the site is irrelevant. This thread is proof enough that not everyone likes the changes, and if Larry has options available to fix it, then he needs to decide whether or not its worth it or not.

Mathius

Right!

And so far Larry is making very good changes IMO. We do need to give him time and provide our feedback for him to be able to make changes that he sees fit and in the best interest of the site and users. So far so good!

[Larry Callahan]

Thanks everyone for the advise and critique. My goal is to make the site as pleasant and what everyone wants. It is very true that the site is here for everyone to enjoy, learn and to promote the hobby and the build style I am passionate about.

If it sucks and no one enjoys it then there is no point in it. No members = no advertisers and in the end = no site.

Right now SEMA has me pretty busy so things are not happening as fast as everyone would like. In short time things should be sorted out and and more cool features will be added.

[SicMonte]

I like the old style better too.

[novaderrik]

Listen. It's real simple. It's basic laws of supply and demand, whether you're charging or not. I don't have to bother with this site if I don't want to. It's my choice. What makes the site great is not anything Larry does, but the # of users available to make the site busy and active. Larry's job whether he chooses to acknowledge it or not is to provide a place where people WANT to talk about pro-touring cars. Because no matter how much money he dumps into the site, a message board with zero users is no fun.

The bottom line is, if we have trouble reading the site comfortably, whether its because the font is too small, the colors are too distracting, or Larry decides to put a 1920X1080 picture of a polar bear on every page, then we're not going to post here, and the site loses posters.

Whether or not YOU understand or agree with it is irrelevant. Whether or not you like the site is irrelevant. This thread is proof enough that not everyone likes the changes, and if Larry has options available to fix it, then he needs to decide whether or not its worth it or not.

Mathius

my point wasn't about changes that make it easy to read- i'm with you all on that- it was about letting everyone customize it with different themes on their own computer like it was the copy of Windows that is installed on their computer... i just don't see the point of putting so much effort or thought into something like that- the only "theme" that needs to be here is the logo at the top of the page and whatever colors the owner of the site wants to use.

[venturabeachpup]

Black letters where?

What I'm seeing here on this post is grey letters on a white background. Yet the letters on "venturabeachpup", "Larry Callahan", and "To advertise on Pro-Touring.com click here" are a darker grey or black. That little bit of extra contrast looks great and seems easier to read. However, what you have now is pleasant and very acceptable.

[Mathius]

my point wasn't about changes that make it easy to read- i'm with you all on that- it was about letting everyone customize it with different themes on their own computer like it was the copy of Windows that is installed on their computer... i just don't see the point of putting so much effort or thought into something like that- the only "theme" that needs to be here is the logo at the top of the page and whatever colors the owner of the site wants to use.

It's like I said. Larry needs to decide whether it's worth the effort or not. Neither you or I have access to the bulletin board code to see how much extra work it involves. Larry is the one who suggested it, so I presume that it's an option already embedded in the core bulletin board code and he just needs to find out how to implement it.

Maybe you don't like the idea, but the basic concept is you can't please everyone. No matter what changes he makes not everyone will like it, so if he has options to present, then that's going to make more people happy then just changing the colors once and telling everyone to "deal with it."

Although personally I don't understand why he didn't just use the old colors since obviously everyone was here posting and didn't make issue of it before.

Mathius

[sniper]

What about making the skin user defined? That way people can make there own choice as to what is easier for them to view? Maybe like 4 or 5 color combinations. I am computer illiterate so I don't know what is involved with that. just throwing the idea out there.

[Larry Callahan]

Anyone having any three letter word search problems?

[jocko124]

Funny you should ask. I was looking for Forgeline's HTM finish and the search function could not find it.

[jocko124]

To clarify...I did a Title only search for HTM

[68Formula]

I was trying to look up L92 and it produced no results. I know there are definitely threads with that in them.

[Larry Callahan]

The MYSQL problem has been fixed and 3 word searches are now working.

[Larry Callahan]

Doh! Now the advanced search is not.

[fordsbyjay]

I too have a hard time reading the new format. I don't mind change if it is in a positive direction and you are not going to please everyone so it is definitely a tough job for the site admins. I personally am not too keen on the layout but sometimes it takes time to recognize the benefits of change.

At first I thought it was the fact there is too much white everywhere that the rest is hard to read. So I looked at a couple other forums I visit to see if I could spot the differences. I like the 429 site the best because they use light off blue colors to separate posts etc. Really the color could be any type of light or pastel color instead of the bright deep red in the current format. I think the red is so bright compared to the background it is distracting and hard to read. The t-bucket site uses white pages and again it uses soft colors between posts.

http://www.tbucketeers.com/topic/11952-question-about-1wild1s-bucket-steering/page__pid__124685#entry124685

http://www.429-460.com/general-discussion-f5/

Hope it helps.
Thanks,

[dhutton]

SEMA's over Larry. :>) I hope changes are coming soon. This site has gone from my favorite to least visited. I just don't enjoy reading this site anymore. Sometimes change for the sake of change is not the way to go. Hopefully I am in the minority.

Don

[BritishGreen68]

I don't like it so much either, I go to a lot of forums and I can't figure out why people like this style so much... it's just more difficult to navigate for me..Im getting used to it though. *cough* Lateral-g*cough* looks good and uses vBulletin, steal some of that font and style! or is that too far lol....

[sevillaz28]

The new format isn't that bad but it is a little drab. With the color scheme I feel like I'm looking at an old man in a gray suit.

[Larry Callahan]

Well, it's Tuesday night and I just got back from Nevada. I need a day or two to catch up then I will get back to tweaking the site again.

[Tony_SS]

All of the post copy is now BOLD by default... makes it a hard to read.

[rogue]

This is the most advanced forum I frequent. Give Larry praise for running the latest and greatest. He'll get the annoyances out...

Did you notice the caliper icons? Cmon.

[406 Q-ship]

Larry I like the new format in someways and I will wait on any long term judgement. I think you are doing a great job. Besides it is the people that get me here not the color of the background!

[fantasygoat]

I just wish all the text wasn't bold. It's hard to read.

[Northeast Rod Run]

Definitely liked the layout of the old forum better.

Also, when I try to log-on in work, with this new layout, the upper righthand corner of the page is a bit messed up. I have nowhere to enter my user name. I have to just enter my password so it takes me to a "lost username/password" screen, and then I have to do it from there. Even after I login, everything in that corner is stacked on top of itself so it look like when your printer jambs and still tries to keep printing. I never had that problem with the old layout, or with other forums

[MarkM66]

I tried to get use to is, but I just don't like it as much. I think the gray is to dark, and the forum section colors aren't pronounce as much as they should be. They all just blend together.

[2Bad4Ya]

yeah I dont care for the layout much, have found myself visiting another protouring site more often than this one since the change.

[Larry Callahan]

Definitely liked the layout of the old forum better.

Also, when I try to log-on in work, with this new layout, the upper righthand corner of the page is a bit messed up. I have nowhere to enter my user name. I have to just enter my password so it takes me to a "lost username/password" screen, and then I have to do it from there. Even after I login, everything in that corner is stacked on top of itself so it look like when your printer jambs and still tries to keep printing. I never had that problem with the old layout, or with other forums

Please let me know if the login works any better. I removed a rotating header banner hack and went with a single non rotating image. That might have had something to do with it. Is anyone else having this problem?

[John Wright]

Please let me know if the login works any better. I removed a rotating header banner hack and went with a single non rotating image. That might have had something to do with it. Is anyone else having this problem?Whatever you did cleared up several issues that I was having. I can get to the thread tools now, where before they dropped down behind so that you could not get to them.