Creating a cleaner and faster AboveTopSecret.com -- member input requested.

If there was a way to give up 90% of the clutter and make it easier to be notified when a member specifically address's you on a thread, I think that this would cause more interaction amongst members and make those threads that are 10+ pages long to stay on topic and keep it as insightful as the day it was written.

There are times that I will look for a thread I wrote on and someone was asking me a direct question concerning my post and I dont find it out till much later. Just to clarify, if there was a way to get a personalized U2U (not a message) but an alert that someone directed a post to you by using the reply button on your username, so that I can click on it and it will take me directly to the reply that was left directed to me.


Thank you, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


Go here, click on "replies" in the menu at the left.

i love ats and i love the current look. i find it easy to use.

i think the bigger issue to look at is the fact that ats has evolved but i dont think it has kept up. i dont think you understand the amount of people who actually come to ats to get the latest news updates. with the amount of international members now we virtually have a news watch and breaking news 24 hours a day.

i know that when im on (australian time) most americans are in bed. so often we are the first to learn of big world wide events. for instance......i posted to the breaking news site the embassy attack. i was the first to post about the u.s ambassador being killed. within no time at all it was moved to the "middle east issues" look at the story this went on to become and still dominates the news now.

there is a current thread where a member is staying in a hotel with a birds eye view of the riots in turkey. i think that you need to embrace this and utilise members where you can. eg: cnn was reporting that the boston bomber was still missing and ats was reporting that he was surrounded in a boat.

i have had it pointed out to me by mods what the rules are for breaking alternative news. i now understand the rules but find it very confusing that some are moved and others are not.

i think you really need a "news forum". a forum for breaking news that is just simply news as often when news is breaking its not known if any conspiracies etc are involved.

you could encompass in a news forum different aspects. a "breaking weather news forum" it seems silly that when a tornado touches the ground over in america it should go in the "fragile earth" forum. that should be kept for such things as discussions about climate change, earthquakes, volcanos etc.

just an opinion...but i think ats needs to embrace the fact that its a global site, where a lot of members come to get the real truth about whats happening in the world.

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
If there was a way to give up 90% of the clutter and make it easier to be notified when a member specifically address's you on a thread, I think that this would cause more interaction amongst members and make those threads that are 10+ pages long to stay on topic and keep it as insightful as the day it was written.

There are times that I will look for a thread I wrote on and someone was asking me a direct question concerning my post and I dont find it out till much later. Just to clarify, if there was a way to get a personalized U2U (not a message) but an alert that someone directed a post to you by using the reply button on your username, so that I can click on it and it will take me directly to the reply that was left directed to me.


Thank you, NRE.

excellent idea

Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

The more it looks like a newspaper the harder it is for me to see.

It does look really busy. What ever happened to if it ain't broke don't fix it?

The dumbing down of America.

Whether we like it or not, change is required. ATS still competes for entertainment dollars. That means changing with the times, even if the times suck.

Originally posted by jiggerj
What ever happened to if it ain't broke don't fix it?

Who said it's not broke?

The #1 email complaint we get from visitors over the past couple of years is the dark background. For those accustomed to the contemporary design aesthetic popular for the rest of the web, our color scheme is a surprise.

Also, nearly 25% of all our traffic is now from some kind of mobile device (phone or tablet). So we need to make sure ATS properly "auto-reconfigures" for mobile users.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Thanks for that, so then might I suggest a mandatory thread that remains in top/recent topics that reminds/tells us of these things, it fascinates me that I have been here for over 4 years, and still learn things like this

Peace, NRE.

P.S. A thread can be started and all that know something and think that its a must know can add too it.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
1) Mini-profile background images: Yeah, I love this one too. But the added complexity it brings to normalizing the visual design makes it hard to bring the new clean simplification to the display of threads.

I only use the background for my avatar, so I don't really need the background image.

2) Signatures: A few of the newer/modern forum systems - and updates to existing systems - are doing away with signatures on posts altogether. This is another aspect that impedes creating a new, highly readable and clean design for the display of thread content.

My signature served it's purpose at the time I made it, I was even thinking about removing it.

3) Profile custom colors: This was one of the very first tweaks I added to the ATS code back in 2005... and I personally like it. But again... with two options for full-page background colors, this could be problematic.

They help identify the users, like the avatars.

Sometimes people change their avatar, but as they keep the colour scheme on their mini-profile it makes them easier to recognise.

4) MyATS favorite forums: I confess to having never used this... even though I spent a lot of time creating it.

How many use the favorite forums list on the left-side of the MyATS page? Would a better option, for those who use it, be to display new activity in your favorite forums in a list-view similar to that of recent posts?

I use MyATS all the time, as I think it's the easiest way of following our favourite forums and the new posts in subscribed threads.

And no, a list.view like the recent post wouldn't be as easy to use as the current layout.

PS: the new pages look great, I think they will look great in dark background/bright foreground colours.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


From reading the thread so far it seems to me that people here seem to love the colors, love the avatars (which removing the background will break - say it ain't so, OL), and love MyATS features and favorite forums and use them as their home page. Removing the signatures will be missed by many of us, and will detract from our body of knowledge about the world that we can share with others here every time we post. So even though the mobile users are increasing, and will likely increase further as the years trudge along, will changing much of the site and its unique and loved features be worth lessening the enjoyment of the other 75 percent's experience here? I hope not, and it seems many of the people on this thread hope not either. And all this complaining by myself and others is all your fault for creating and designing one of the most loved and talked about sites on the web!

EDIT: Yep, I just removed my background and my avatar is gone. I'll put it back now, but all that remains at this moment is a black hole.

Dont fix it if it aint broke...
with that said many of the changes proposed effect the rich diversity i have come to appreciate here, please dont change...
yeah maybe a "skip to page" feature would be nice for those fast moving and lengthy threads.
please dont take away "my favorites" it is my bookmark and access point here.

the idea for a poll on this was a good one, might garner more attention and in turn a broader stream of input on the matter, plus i miss the polls

to note: i access ATS from my dumbphone 90% of the time and have no issues at all (with ATS, the phone is a different story...) dont adapt to them, make them adapt to you...


also your continued time and effort to make this site a great place is appreciated! thanks

edit : any chance you would make changes to the advertising first, i really hate when the ads take over, or my pages dont load because of some over animated ad...just sayin

I like them all ! Granted I'm new here,but I love custom colors,sigs,and mini profile stuffs ,and as a new member,being able to click add to favorites ,made it easier for me to see stuff I liked automatically ,by just going to myats .
As this place is so huge ,it takes a while to get used to finding stuff .

What I would like ,is can we somehow dispatch a hot chocolate to members every time they log on .
That would make it perfect

Actually,an easier way to find all the forums and sub forums would work for me .
It's so spread out ,it makes it hard to find some stuff.
I have yet to see even 65% of the rest of the forums in here ....

I love it! I'm really excited by the change.

I also love my siggy, which I change frequently and my MyATS, which helps me keep track of everything.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


It seems many have input some good ideas, SkepticOverlord. Hope the site maintains its uniqueness and to add maybe some ATS mark next to links/vids letting others know they are reviewing safe materials mod pre scanned to prevent hack phishers . Other then that keep up the good work and good luck...

NAMASTE*******

Trying to be all things to all uses is a recipe to being master to none.

A perhaps better idea may be to have two interfaces. Whatever you do for mobile uses will need to change quite often as the mobile market matures.

Many people have already said they do not want to lose the features.

Give people a choice! I know that is more work, but you get to keep all your customers rather than peeing off all of them to some extent.

That also allows your advertisers to aim better!

P

I do have one request, while all the changes are being done. It would be nice if using the 'quote' button linked the quoted segments with a link similar to the one that pops up when we use the 'reply-to' button. I use the quote button a LOT, and sometimes I remove too much context for the sake of brevity. It would be more convenient for my 'debate opponents' to have a link to fact-check me.

Correction, as of Tuesday this week, 35% of our traffic is from Mobile devices. That;s serious but it;'s also very doable utilizing HTML5/CSS3 as the Overlord is doing.

RELAX EVERYONE, ATS will remain the coolest looking site on the interwebs, just give the Overlord a chance to make it so.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Dear SkepticOverlord,

I think the site works very well as is; but, I understand that mobile devices may work better with a "cleaner" look. My issue with the site, if you wish to call it that, is that the pages will wait for the ads and other things to upload before allowing the content. I am okay with that to a degree, I think the add on's should only be given a set amount of time to upload and then be ignored so that the reader can get to the content. Your site, your rules and I accept that, I am responding to your thread and that is what I think.

I use my ats, to follow the threads I've responded to. Its a very nice format right now actually.

Kill the gif avatars please