SEEKING MEMBER INPUT: ATS.5/3 - give your feedback -- UPDATES May 28, 2013

Continuing to refine a core design element -- the top menu -- by striping it down to bare necessities, here's an update to review...

Persistent dark menu bar (not yet fully responsive down to phone-sized screens)

This helps to make the entire ATS experience across all screen "feel" like an app experience.


Fear not, many of the "top level" pages such as top-flagged, most-replied, etc. will still be available through a different menu system, with a surprise (nearly instant) method of loading.

I'm guessing IE9 is still too far behind to make this look the way it should. In Chrome and Safari it looks like masterful SkepticOverlord work, but, in IE9 it looks like, well, something else.

It's fabulous Bill. Now if only we could get the MS fellas to make a decent browser.

S...

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Uhm, tried in Opera, Linux box, the bottom fading is a cool effect, but very plain. No comment, just reporting while you tinker.

Tested on Evo 4g, ICS rom, Opera Mini, very plain as well. Plain being the keyword. Functional, yes. Screen resizes fine.

What the heck are you looking for? Pick a design, and quit tinkering, you have Firefox, Chrome, Safari, IE, and Opera displaying fine on a PC. The mobile versions, it seems, are what you are after, so focus on coding for Android display modes. Without knowing what you are after I can't give anymore specific input.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


i'm liking the proposed changes so far
but i'm a new topic firehose guy
anything in store for us firehosers?
cause while i've gotten used to the last change i preferred it the way it was before the latest change

love the loading speed increase
please deny my ignorance, but will the speed increase extend to embedded videos ?
[cause flash has been problematic on FF for the last 3 or 4 updates]

A look at some of the new integrated functionality has been added to the new prototype home page:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The minimalist menu will provide access to the major and most-important areas of the site... some pages will have their own internal "menu" system that provides nearly-instant access to either a brand-new set of content, or additional content without reloading the entire page.

At the top of the prototype home, you'll see two links for top topics and hot topics, clicking these gives you what is currently separate pages that require a separate page load and all the bandwidth associated. In the new system, the same content will be available, load much fast, and consume much less bandwidth for mobile users.


(some aspects of the prototype home aren't yet fully optimize to be responsive on all screens)

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I like it, typing from my iPad right now it looks good, if anything I would make the background the same as before, and the text too, but it looks good!

I only like changing my underwear....
everything else is too scary

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
Wouldn't it be easier to have a grid of boxes, each designated with a clearly visible topic, and each box featuring the top 5 or 10 most recent/active threads?

In my humble opinion, that would make it easier to home in on the topics that interest you most, select whatever title catches your attention, and browse from there. That's all I have for now

What a great suggestion. It could also incldue my first post about a place for people still undrr the waiting period who have found things that just can't wait (for instance because the location in space moves daily.

Thanks

New updates for a complete (except for foot and top-menu links) framework representing the new upper-level pages (above the forum pages) for the new ATS.5/3
Prototype Home Page

Rather than the summary pages for each forum, we have summaries for the groupings of forums represented on the new home.

For most users, even though the content isn't "loaded" until you click the in-page menu buttons, the content should load just about instantly since the file sizes are rather small. For those on slower connections, you should hopefully see a "(loading)" indication... I don't have a connection slow enough to test it.

Next up -- diving into the forum list and thread pages.

Originally posted by Springer
I'm guessing IE9 is still too far behind to make this look the way it should. In Chrome and Safari it looks like masterful SkepticOverlord work, but, in IE9 it looks like, well, something else.

It's fabulous Bill. Now if only we could get the MS fellas to make a decent browser.

S...

You might just have given me a clue as to what is going on. At this time, the 'New topics' and 'Firehose' menus will not activate for me, while the headings do, and I need to go to the 'recent posts' link to play catchup. I thought at first it was the duo video ads was the problem, (well actually they are a problem if you forget to normalize your sound after listening to a squeaky video on a particular post) the video ads are set at a high CD recording level.

Scales well with Firefox,

Prototype home page screams of 'Tron' to me ... like the fonts and layout... noticed no 'Trending Pages' button.. is this going on the scrap heap?

Unsure about the overuse of single color green .. seems to look more dated than the current layout.has it really been that long since the last overhaul in appearance, Time sure fly's....

I have simple suggestion that I'd find useful.

Sometimes on the "recent posts" page, I'll come across a link to a thread with lots of activity (flags & replies etc), but there's really no way to know when it was created unless you visit the link.

A quick addition to the A HREF line of the html(php) template could provide that info when a person hovers over the link, much like the description of an image.

ex:
title="Thread Created (insert time/date str from db)">Thread Link (seems to work with most)
or
alt="Thread Created (insert time/date str from db)">Thread Link (works for IE, not always FF etc.)

Haven't poked around the new page layout yet, I'll check a couple browsers and see if anything jumps.

Just reporting in again. I still can't get the content in 'new threads' and f'irehouse' I do get the top headlines each time, but nothing will load below. If I open Google chrome, they will appear, but all my stuff is on AOL UK.

SEPTEMBER, 30 UPDATE




We have a rather radical departure from previous ATS UI structure for our members to review.

It looks like this...



A persistent left-side menu column that remains fixed throughout all pages and scrolling.

You can review a functioning page prototype here:
Left-Side ATS Menu
(it's not yet designed to be fully responsive across all screens)
This menu system also incorporates some subtle feedback (the little hash marks) as to which menu options automatically load new content into the current page.

The page should be also be blindingly fast. The menu has images, but there are no graphics (and it's not an icon font).

I really (no really) like this from a UI standpoint. All current research into user interactions with cross-screen information (same site on phones, tablets, desktops) is pointing toward sidebar menu systems, and away from top-of-page menus. Please spend some time playing with the available pages, and let me know if this radical change is something that will benefit our users.



Thanks.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


woohoo ... back to grok'n it olde skool

[eta]

I feel a sort of plaid coming on.

Lovin' it! CANNOT WAIT for the rollout! Any new magical bells and whistles that you might be able to drop a teaser or two about?

Inquiring minds want to know!

~Heff

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I like it.

Reminds me of....dare I say...frames?

Love it - very cool!



Sleek, slick and easy on the eyeballs!

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


It looks fantastic; however, I enjoy the simplicity of the current user interface. I don't know if I just love the present one because I'm use to it or what. It looks very nice, but it seems a bit harder on my eyes when I look at it. It may just be me though, and take some getting use too.

I am by no means saying it isn't awesome looking. I may just be one of those types who doesn't like change.

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c
[i back to grok'n it olde skool

What's old is new again.

Except, this left-side menu is rocking responsive HTML5/CSS3 with pre-cached AJAX calls, images defined by CSS3, and fully-compliant List style menus.

And not an iFrame in sight.