The way posts are viewed

[Helladamnleet]

Why does the user name have to be on TOP of the post? Why can't it be to the left of the post like back in the UBB days? vB can do it, as I've seen many sites that have it set up this way, and if I'm not mistaken, it should just be a matter of changing ONE setting. Why not?

[Skittles]

I've thought about this before too, back when Totse changed to vB.

Also, why does every post have to have the 'title' part above it? Hardly anyone uses or reads it. It would be nice to see Zoklet a little more streamlined.

[Raziel]

It would be nice to see Zoklet a little more streamlined.

Indeed, it'd be easier on serverload too.

[Jack]

Sometimes people change the subject lines of their posts but it's never important and no one sees it or cares anyway.

[Helladamnleet]

Indeed, it'd be easier on serverload too.

I didn't even think of that! Thanks for pointing that out :thumbsup:

[ShutMeUp]

agreed. I've never liked the way the posts are displayed, it seems like a bit of a waste of space.

[Raziel]

Posting rules should also be removed. Similar Threads to, the only purpose it serves is to bump dead threads for which there already is a similar thread.

[Miaow]

I've been complaining about this for ages. Apparently it's just a post layout option for vB, horizontal and vertical. Right now we've got vertical. I think the newest version allows the users to make an option, but until then I'm going to keep complaining. It's a simple matter of flicking a switch, as far as I know.

There should be some, if not many changes to post layout. The default vB settings are God-awful. Like the text size of usernames.

What in the hell happened to user-interface design? :mad:

Zok, if you're actually reading this, check out http://smashingmagazine.com for some good tips on web design :thumbsup:

[Helladamnleet]

Thank you, lovercraft, for pointing out that the user names are too big. Personally I too think it's a massive waste of space. It just seems like it would be much simpler to have to user name on the side of the post. This ENTIRE post could be double the size and still be contained within the space the user name section is taking up currently.

[Zok]

There will be no difference in server load times - regardless of what information is displayed. The information is still being gathered by VB by default - it's just whether or not we choose to display it. Displaying it is NOT a cpu intensive operation... (micro seconds).

While I like the idea, there are enough people that would not. It really doesn't save any space - in fact, it WASTES space if there is a large post (it's got to be narrower since there are two columns). With the vertical postbit (what we've got now) there's ALWAYS going to be the same amount of wasted space. With the legacy postbit (horizontal), the wasted space depends on the length of the post.

But for those who actually DO want this as an option, I'll see about making it a user profile option. I don't want this default.

Furthermore, the "related threads" at the bottom of the page are for SEO - they help indexing bots a LOT.

[Helladamnleet]

There will be no difference in server load times - regardless of what information is displayed. The information is still being gathered by VB by default - it's just whether or not we choose to display it. Displaying it is NOT a cpu intensive operation... (micro seconds).

While I like the idea, there are enough people that would not. It really doesn't save any space - in fact, it WASTES space if there is a large post (it's got to be narrower since there are two columns). With the vertical postbit (what we've got now) there's ALWAYS going to be the same amount of wasted space. With the legacy postbit (horizontal), the wasted space depends on the length of the post.

But for those who actually DO want this as an option, I'll see about making it a user profile option. I don't want this default.

Furthermore, the "related threads" at the bottom of the page are for SEO - they help indexing bots a LOT.

Thanks for looking into it. I could do some research on the topic too. I'll edit/post if I find anything out.

[Raziel]

http://lookpic.com/i/57/lvuPues4.png
That's a lot of yellow.

[Trueborn]

Better yet, just hide the user name entirely.

Then we would all be "anonymous", so to speak.

Oh yes. The closer we move to failchan and /b/, the better!

[Dfg]

T
Furthermore, the "related threads" at the bottom of the page are for SEO - they help indexing bots a LOT.

I use that a lot in LOL, Internet.

[Helladamnleet]

Since your probably have 3.8:
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=203324

[Zok]

The plugin didn't work, they apparently suck at php. I fixed (and customized) it a bit. The option should be in the user control panel.

[Miaow]

The plugin didn't work, they apparently suck at php. I fixed (and customized) it a bit. The option should be in the user control panel.

Dude this is waaay better. Thanks!

[Zok]

For the record, THIS is why I think it's a dumb feature that wastes more space than the regular view... but to each their own.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4139128/Picture-2.jpg

[Miaow]

For the record, THIS is why I think it's a dumb feature that wastes more space than the regular view... but to each their own.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4139128/Picture-2.jpg

Perhaps, however...

Considering the way pages are naturally read, the old style is constantly interrupting:

http://i41.tinypic.com/214rtl4.png

Whereas the new style is a lot more streamlined and makes the overall viewing of a page easier on the eyes, as it keeps the useless info and the actual post seperated by columns:

http://i42.tinypic.com/14vieiu.png

EDIT: You also have an unnaturally large avatar which stretches the whole post out. Most forums restrict avatars to 50x50px.

[Miaow]

EDIT: You also have an unnaturally large avatar which stretches the whole post out. Most forums restrict avatars to 50x50px.

WHICH LEADS TO AN INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT

Please see this diagram in which I have made a comparison between the height differences of each post, the same post you screenshotted.

Turns out that Left mode without huge avatars is actually smaller than Top mode.

http://i44.tinypic.com/20lboy.png

[Skittles]

The Following User Says
Thank You to Helladamnleet For
This Useful Post:


lolwut

[Miaow]

The Following User Says
Thank You to Helladamnleet For
This Useful Post:


lolwut

This could easily be avoided by substituting "The following userblahblahblahblahblahlostinterest" with something simple like ":thumbsup:"

[Skittles]

This could easily be avoided by substituting "The following userblahblahblahblahblahlostinterest" with something simple like ":thumbsup:"

Agreed.

I like this format, it just needs a little finetuning. I'll post shopped pics later :D

[Helladamnleet]

I'm surprised this suggestion has taken off as well as it has! :eek:

[Murderman143]

I heard about this new feature and made me come back zoklet i truly love it

[Helladamnleet]

due to tcip settings i am now posting this from my psp, and the site looks great!

[harry_hardcore_hoedown]

http://i42.tinypic.com/14vieiu.png

I like how they posted in alphabetical order.

[Dfg]

Wow, this feels awkward but still lulzy.

But hey:
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Pakistan
Posts: 13,497
Thanks: 3
Thanked 647 Times in 505 Posts

^Win!

[Skittles]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/12345qwerty/before.jpg --> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/12345qwerty/After.jpg

It still needs a bit of adjusting in terms of colours, avatar placement, and info under the username, but gives you a small idea of how much we can refine the look of threads.

I just noticed that the 'Topic Review' section has a pretty nice and simple layout too :thumbsup:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/12345qwerty/Topic-review.jpg

[harry_hardcore_hoedown]

because his beloved "Its so good to hear it" doesn't come across in the Left viewing position. :facepalm:

Well, it is the best feature on Zoklet...

[harry_hardcore_hoedown]

How so? :confused:

Or is this just your way of sucking up to a site owner? :rolleyes:

Yeah because I bet Zok would just love to hear me tell him that the best thing about his site is that you can press a button to make the words 'It is so good to hear it!' appear on-screen :rolleyes:.

I just like that it doesn't use conventional English, i.e. it's "It is so...", not "It's so...". I happen to think it's an interesting sentence, not that you'd know anything about interesting.

[Helladamnleet]

Zok, just when the fuck are you going to realize that a lot of your "personal preferences" that you possess are in complete contradiction to what most other normal human beings like in their surfing experience? You have so many of these quirks that you believe is THE way to design a webpage or community, and so often you are wrong about it.....and VERY RARELY are you willing to step outside yourself and try to take in what everyone else is saying or seeing. :thumbsdown:

Maybe its something as mundane as...."ewwwww, the WHOLE screen has to scroll up and down along with the background....or else it just looks terrible". Or something as senseless as "Thanks is a way to build a community and weed out the best posts for whatever thread." :rolleyes:

So many of these things are just goofy quirks of yours that very few people share....yet you still think you have an understanding of the "common user" when nothing could be further from the truth.

InB4 Zok turns this latest feature off.....because his beloved "Its so good to hear it" doesn't come across in the Left viewing position. :facepalm:

Yeah, too many people are ending up liking it. Although it doesn't hurt him any to just keep it on.

[harry_hardcore_hoedown]

Harry seriously, you have no business mocking or lecturing other people on "what is interesting"....if you think the best thing about this place is that stupid ass phrase. :rolleyes:

I guess it never occurred to that I was just stirring you up. But it is a pretty good phrase.

[-SpectraL]

What have I missed? ;)

There's some great discussion to be found in this thread. It's really great to see members putting real effort into at least suggesting some great ideas to streamline the site and make it more useful. Kudos to you.

[Skittles]

For the record, THIS is why I think it's a dumb feature that wastes more space than the regular view... but to each their own.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4139128/Picture-2.jpg

We just need to work at it. It's not about changing it once then going back to what we had because it wastes more space, its about development.

The only "flaw" I've discovered with any of this is for users with longer names like Harry above....... his post column is a bit further right than everyone else's.

This could be fixed by giving the column a set width to hold the longest possible usernames Zoklet can have, or by simply putting the usernames in a smaller font. As you're replying to this thread look down at "Topic Review (Newest First)" and look at harrys username. It's smaller, and fits into the column :D

Does a complete computer moron like me have to point out to Mr. Super Techy Site Owner....the reason for that "wasted" space is because of the way HE has his signature setup. :eek:

But then again, I'm just being redundant ....because signatures already WERE wasted space/superficial and now he's just shown us how it is even moreso. :thumbsup:

I thought it wasted space was due to the info under his username like his avatar, location, thanks, etc... :confused:

I'm sure by compacting that info, it would shorten the wasted space on one-liner posts.

[Miaow]

I thought it wasted space was due to the info under his username like his avatar, location, thanks, etc... :confused:

I'm sure by compacting that info, it would shorten the wasted space on one-liner posts.

It's mostly the avatar. In fact I think the minimum size a post can be isn't affected by the location, post etc details.

If you look at my post above, I compared the same post he used in a screenshot in both view styles, then did it again after using AdBlock on Firefox to hide his avatar. Turns out the post height is smaller in the left mode without that avatar.

[Skittles]

It's mostly the avatar. In fact I think the minimum size a post can be isn't affected by the location, post etc details.

If you look at my post above, I compared the same post he used in a screenshot in both view styles, then did it again after using AdBlock on Firefox to hide his avatar. Turns out the post height is smaller in the left mode without that avatar.

Damn...avatars. That's why I made mine the size it is. In horizontal mode it takes up the least space it can vertically and is at the same height as the username + title ;). In this mode it doesn't fit well at all though:hrmph:

Maybe the avatars just need set proportions as in 50x50, 75x75 or 100x100 px?

Or even no avatars at all :p

[Miaow]

Damn...avatars. That's why I made mine the size it is. In horizontal mode it takes up the least space it can vertically and is at the same height as the username + title ;). In this mode it doesn't fit well at all though:hrmph:

Maybe the avatars just need set proportions as in 50x50, 75x75 or 100x100 px?

Or even no avatars at all :p

I agree... I think 50x50 would be the best bet. That also means people won't just use any old picture as an avatar, they'll have to use something that's been designed to be 50x50, which will make the site look a lot more neat and clean and whatnot.

[Raziel]

I've switched avatars off.

[Trueborn]

I'm trying to do something like what I did with Totse Reader... except server side. This is a long, ongoing project (and not at the top of my priority list), but I eventually want to break up the posts in to an MVC style architecture. vBulletin would still be around, but there would also be a way to view threads, forums, posts, member pages, etc. purely as XML. That way, you could use a Greasemonkey script or basically anything else to format the forums exactly how you wanted to.

[Raziel]

I'm trying to do something like what I did with Totse Reader... except server side. This is a long, ongoing project (and not at the top of my priority list), but I eventually want to break up the posts in to an MVC style architecture. vBulletin would still be around, but there would also be a way to view threads, forums, posts, member pages, etc. purely as XML. That way, you could use a Greasemonkey script or basically anything else to format the forums exactly how you wanted to.

That would be awesome :thumbsup:.

[Jay]

Am i the only one having trouble finding the way to enable this?

[mr.blunt]

Am i the only one having trouble finding the way to enable this?

Nope, all this shit is over my head.

[mafiabro]

Actually everything being to the left is annoying as shit to me. I like it with the names on top and avatars off.

[Helladamnleet]

Am i the only one having trouble finding the way to enable this?

Nope, all this shit is over my head.

Go to your user CP, edit your details, and it's at the bottom of the page.

[mr.blunt]

Nice, that looks way better.

[Not That Guy]

Hell yea on the left is definitely best, and it shows the post counts.

[Nachismo]

Misc. tip:

Being rather long winded, I usually type up the longer offerings in text editor, to edit, format, and make modifications.

Then adjusting the size of the window in notepad in order to try to match the white area in the post makes it easier to copy and paste.This helps, by saving time on editing and spacing issues, so I can spend more time practicing writing the content itself.

[Siu3d]

Wow, this has been available for over a month now I never even know about it.:eek:

I love having the names and what not on the left side. Thanks for installing it, Zok.:thumbsup:

[TheDarkRodent]

I am not sure yet if I like the Legacy or the New setting yet, but it is nice to have the option. Thanks to the OP for the suggestion and thanks to Zok for the work:thumbsup:

[D̉̋ilẻ̡̓t͓tant͖͑̓e]

I just changed it and agree
This is awesome. This setting should be the default view.

[Jay]

Been using it since it came out, i truly like it. The only complain is that some names / custom user titles stretch the first column because they are too long. Maybe establishing a fixed column width would fix it?

[mr.blunt]

Been using it since it came out, i truly like it. The only complain is that some names / custom user titles stretch the first column because they are too long. Maybe establishing a fixed column width would fix it?

Yeah that dude with his fucking SSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA AAWWWWWWWWWWWWW title fucks with it. Other than him, I haven't really noticed any usernames/titles being that obnoxious.

[Helladamnleet]

Misc. tip:

Being rather long winded, I usually type up the longer offerings in text editor, to edit, format, and make modifications.

Then adjusting the size of the window in notepad in order to try to match the white area in the post makes it easier to copy and paste.This helps, by saving time on editing and spacing issues, so I can spend more time practicing writing the content itself.

That has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, thanks.