New forum layout

i m sure that the current layout has lots to do with functionalities and marketing in order to bring in income for the site

it is a bit bright (but then so is ebay, yahoo ... background), but as i heard, this is still evolving

overall = ok

cheers ...

IMHO, I find the new layout confusing.

Firstly, the reason why so many users visit notebookforums.com is because it _is_ primarily a forum and NOT a review site.

The new layout tries to minimize the importance of the forums. On the homepage, the forums are at the bottom and by default minimized. I had to click on the plus sign to expand and view the threads.

Also, the user is unable to see the forum topics on the frontpage. The old layout had all the topics listed by default on the frontpage and this required less clicks to find the exact content.

The font size in the forums seems to have been reduced. I do not see an advantage with this.

The horizontal navigation bar at the very top, makes no mention of the term forums. There is notebook review, notebook guides, notebook coupons and advertise.. Then on the right nav bar are the laptop prices. HOW is the user ever going to be able to find the forums?

I get the impression that notebookforums.com wants to move away from the goal of being a forum. Is notebookforums.com heading towards a notebookreview.com perhaps?

Kudos to the team for having _retained_ the _old_ layout!! No new layout for me..

As there is already a thread about this in off-topic, and as this can't stay in Asus Support, I'll move the thread to Notebook General.

Don't hold back there douchebucket, let us know how you really feel. I have a little experience doing web sites it appears to me that they are trying to make more room to pimp stuff so they can stay in business. The main problem for me is that I have to squint to read the posts.

The new forum layout is horrible! Please bring back the old layout.

Reasons:
1. Too much white space which around the actual content - the messages.
2. Did the site designer think about the HCI and usability of the new design? This is great example of how NOT to design a forum.
3. Text is too tiny. The majority of the space is dedicated to UI fluff which is not useful.
4. The new forums color scheme is too low-contrast.
5. Overall the layout is non-cohesive.
...

what ever the means, i do hope that this site stays in business, especially for free-loafers like myself to hang out and dig free technical support

there is a small trick, it is called ctrl+scroll rad, it will give u some zooming to make the fonts larger - work in IE and FF

cheers ...

This is probaly the worst forum layout in the world! And I've seen alot of crappy ones. Its way harder to navigate. The bright colors are annoying, there are box everywhere. I have to search for a post in a thread. I can't just see, i have to scan the freakin space! Please change it to something easier.

It's not easy on the eyes. Too much white.

Bandwidth isn't free. I'm sure it cost them a bunch to keep the site up even with volunteer workers.

Ctrl+scroll doesn't work with Mozilla. I can read every other site on the net at the normal font. Shouldn't have to up the font on this one.

I did think the choice of options on this pole were funny.
Yes, No, and NOOOooo. Went with NOOOooo mainly for the reasons stated by the previous posters. Amused at the result...

Dont like it at all, it pants! Sticking with old style

I dont think its usable at all, its downright confusing and reminds me of one of those useless redirection sites. For a moment upon loading the page i actually thought that notebookforums had been shut down or taken over by one of those sites.

As another poster said there is a lot of space wasted to fluff of the ui. I find the interface confusing, I actually had to spend time mentally decoding what things meant when trying to look at the new forum interface. I have to say, I love notebook forums, but i hate frustrating UI's more, and this new one would honestly deter me a lot from checking up on notebook forums as regularly.

As fast as I could. I switched back to the old layout.

If you don't have scripts on, then it looks really poor. A huge column of links at the top of every page means having to scroll way down to find the content every time you click a link. (At least in Firefox.)

The official poll on this doesn't even work without scripting - and why should I turn it on for some third party polling site I've never heard of? And the set up instructions only cover IE and Netscape.

Don't mind the look with scripting on but I see nothing in the look that shouldn't be possible without it.

Hey all,

Just popping in to say that I appreciate the feedback (don't hold back! ).

As qhn said, we are still tweaking things. We are fully aware that a white background doesn't work for everyone - we will always make sure there is a darker option available. Right now, we are making sure to gather ALL feedback and then we will make whatever changes we need. We will always be a forum, no matter what. We are here to showcase what you all know - that's it.

I really hope that this doesn't seem like a situation where we think we know everything and what we say goes. It really isn't.

For those wondering why we even did this (a redesign), let me address that for you. We have been getting feedback (requested or not) for years. We wanted to make sure ALL readers knew that they were welcome here - gamers, professionals, students, etc. We also wanted to be sure that we were able to bring more of the site's content to people who aren't sure how to dig for it (over 2.2 million posts is a lot, and our search just wasn't cutting it). We wanted to make it more useful. Now certainly those of us who use forums regularly are totally fine with the standard bulletin board format (myself included), but not everyone is. For those who want just a forum, you are more than welcome to use that version. Those who are just coming here for the first time to research their next purchase will probably get more out of the site with the new features.

And for those who are wondering, no, we are not trying to be more like NotebookReview . NBR is a great resource and we compliment each other. Our goal is to completely focus on user content - posts, reviews, etc. That's where the vaule is since you guys know far more collectively than a bunch of editors or professional reviewers. We just want to make sure we aren't in your way.

And as far as staying in business - sure, that's a goal. LOL But really, we aren't 'going out of business' any time soon. I suppose if you are interested, this board does need to pay a few salaries plus running costs. This is our business - our only business. I doubt that changes much for you, but I wanted you to know that there are really people here and not some anonymous 'site owner.'

Anywhooo, please keep the feedback coming... I really want to hear it and I will take note of everything. We have immediate plans to try some changes to the post display - stay tuned for that. We want to make browsing the forums as easy as possible.

Thank you!

this new layout is horrible imo. WhITe background omfg. the old one was much easier to read and loads faster.

PLEASE CHANGE IT BACK. or atleast change the stupid white background

Clickety click the link in the upper right corner of the screen to get back to the old site. Check back here later for changes.

i don't think that the new format is loading any slower

cheers ...

1) too mainstream (too many pictures)

2) I thought the site had been hacked, and I'm still not sure it hasn't been

3) whatever happened to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)? I care about functionality more than looks or dynamism. Faster loading is good, but not at the expense of functional ergonomics. My opinion only.

4) I thought Firefox established that drop-down menus are BAD

-I should mention that I am not a paying member, so take the criticism how you will.

Points all taken! Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to post.