[WEBSITE v2] MusicBee website and forum redesign

[phred]

Just thinking, would it perhaps be an idea to create a childboard under bugs named something like "readme first"
We could have only 1 sticky topic in that board, explaining good practice in reporting bugs. Such as advising posters to mention what MB version they are using, if they are using specific plugins that might be related to their issue, what AV software they might be using, etc.?

Perhaps it's just the negative side of me bursting through, but people won't read it.

Doesn't the current Bug Reports sub-forum have a popup when a user creates a new topic?  If not, it used to.  I feel the same should apply here.  People will be -forced- to read it.  (Or just click right through it.)  But I think there's a better chance of them reading something that causes posting-interruptus than someone going to a readme first post.

[phred]

is it the colors? other than that they perfectly readable other than being edgy.

Edgy is fine here ;-)
No, it's just that the color seems to be a bit light.
But if it is a result of my strict no-cleartype policy and not too high-end display, please just leave it.
It is readable fine enough.

I'm basing this only on the screenshot as I haven't had time to look at the test site.  There's not enough contrast between the brownish text and the white background.  That's what makes it difficult to read.  I think the text should be darker.

[hiccup]

Perhaps it's just the negative side of me bursting through, but people won't read it.
Doesn't the current Bug Reports sub-forum have a popup when a user creates a new topic?  If not, it used to.  I feel the same should apply here.  People will be -forced- to read it.  (Or just click right through it.)  But I think there's a better chance of them reading something that causes posting-interruptus than someone going to a readme first post.

Maybe you are right.
But I personally have some negative response when some pop-up shows up unwanted and forces me to do something.

Don't you think that cute little button looks very inviting to press?
I would imagine people will be curious what's behind it, and will then voluntarily take it's contents more seriously and with a little more respect then coming from a forced pop-up.
Also such a message in a post could be brought with some humor, to make it a bit more interesting to read.
A pop-up will probably have to be short and a bit demanding.

[AvikB]

I'm basing this only on the screenshot as I haven't had time to look at the test site.  There's not enough contrast between the brownish text and the white background.  That's what makes it difficult to read.  I think the text should be darker.

the text is a bit darker if you have font-smoothing enabled.



As you can see clearly, the problem is with the people who don't use font smoothing. I won't fix this until the very end, it is not high priority right now.

[AvikB]

Maybe you are right.
But I personally have some negative response when some pop-up shows up unwanted and forces me to do something.

Same here. i don't like intrusive popups either.

Don't you think that cute little button looks very inviting to press?

come on! we are not 12 year olds. the only button i might press is a button with a kitten face or saying something like "Read this or you are dead!"

[hiccup]

I'm basing this only on the screenshot as I haven't had time to look at the test site.  There's not enough contrast between the brownish text and the white background.  That's what makes it difficult to read.  I think the text should be darker.

You should indeed look at the site, and not take my screenshot as representative.
I am creating this issue a little bit for myself, since I always disable that horrific creation called cleartype (or font-smoothing).
Since many website builders blindly use cleartype, they have no idea how fonts turn out looking on systems without having cleartype enabled.

The situation is even so bad, that there are more and more fonts, designed to look extra good under cleartype, but as a result look extra-horrible without it.
AvikB has taken the trouble to implement a replacement font for all important parts of the site and forum, so a good font is used for systems with cleartype disabled.

Maybe I'll add a screenshot to this post later, to show you how bad some website fonts look on my system.

edit:
Even Intel has no clue about this. look at it:



And even a respected IT site as Anandtech don't get it:

[hiccup]

Maybe you are right.
But I personally have some negative response when some pop-up shows up unwanted and forces me to do something.

Same here. i don't like intrusive popups either.

Don't you think that cute little button looks very inviting to press?

come on! we are not 12 year olds. the only button i might press is a button with a kitten face or saying something like "Read this or you are dead!"

Yes! Add a funny fart sound when you press it too!

[AvikB]

You should indeed look at the site, and not take my screenshot as representative.
I am creating this issue a little bit for myself, since I always disable that horrific creation called cleartype (or font-smoothing).
Since many websites blindly use cleartype, they have no idea how fonts turn out looking on systems without having cleartype enabled.

The situation is even so bad, that there are more and more fonts, designed to look extra good under cleartype, but as a result look extra-horrible without it.

The default fon't i used here is roboto. it is designed and maintained by google for it's android system. It looks gorgeous under clear type. But is horrible without it.
 I won't say they use it blindly. it is just something devs probably never faced. If you haven't notified me of the issue i would've never implemented the fallback feature.

Maybe it is time you switch back to ceartype. it is gorgeous!

AvikB has taken the trouble to implement a replacement font for all important parts of the site and forum, so a good font is used for systems with cleartype disabled.

since the site is under beta process, i am not implementing fallback feature now. and it should look horrible without clear type. But remind me of these issue(if i forgot) when we are in final stage. With the new styling system it should be way easier to do and maintain.

[AvikB]

Even Intel has no clue about this. look at it:

Come on it is not that bad! give me 5 minute and i can decipher them.

And even a respected IT site as Anandtech don't get it:

Thats a really long captcha. :O

[hiccup]

Even Intel has no clue about this. look at it:

Come on it is not that bad! give me 5 minute and i can decipher them.

And even a respected IT site as Anandtech don't get it:

Thats a really long captcha. :O

Haha, right!

Now you understand why I am so grateful that you are addressing, and fixing this.

[AvikB]

Haha, right!

Now you understand why I am so grateful that you are addressing, and fixing this.

Btw, it seems you have created the read me first post in the new forum.
I have added some info there of what should be provided.

[hiccup]

Haha, right!

Now you understand why I am so grateful that you are addressing, and fixing this.

Btw, it seems you have created the read me first post in the new forum.
I have added some info there of what should be provided.

Ah, the honey is attracting bees already...

[AvikB]

Ah, the honey is attracting bees already...

was getting bored! so decided to post some ideas on that sub

[hiccup]

Ah, the honey is attracting bees already...

was getting bored! so decided to post some ideas on that sub

You are not allowed to be bored. You have so much on your plate with the site and the forum.


The 'read me first!' button is just a try-out to see how it would look if implemented.
Let's wait what other members and Steven think about it.
Either we then remove it again, or we indeed make it a good bug-posting tutorial.

b.t.w. if we are going to do this, I think we should replace wordings such as "you need to" etc. by "it would be very helpful if you" etc. etc.
A friendly tone there would probably give best results.

[AvikB]

You are not allowed to be bored. You have so much on your plate with the site and the forum.

I know. i am doing that. just taking break from it to get fresh ideas of doing few things or how to fix certain bugs.

The 'read me first!' button is just a try-out to see how it would look if implemented.
Let's wait what other members and Steven think about it.
Either we then remove it again, or we indeed make it a good bug-posting tutorial.

b.t.w. if we are going to do this, I think we should replace wordings such as "you need to" etc. by "it would be very helpful if you" etc. etc.
A friendly tone there would probably give best results.

how about "Read this or die"