AO Needs a NEW LOOK, any Volunteers?

[AGD]

All,

I am looking for someone to re-skin the new AO. If you agree to help, I need you to follow through and make it special.

Thanks,

TK

[going_home]

Calling dayspring.........................................

[dre1919]

I would be more than happy to do the graphics for the site, I just don't know the code to write the skinning aspect. But graphics...I got that all day long. Example...

87272

dre

[zondo]

I'm sure Bunny would spend hours on this project as well.

[Dayspring]

Calling dayspring.........................................

I'm good with the software. Not all that great as a graphic designer.

[BTAutoMag]

I have photoshop experience and almost no we design, but I do have an idea for the header someone can run with or people can get me the resources for.

It will feature every valve AGD had made in chronological order (just the back 1 1/2 inches where the name is) placed either vertically or slanted about 15-20* from the original classic all the way to the X. Then an AGD lion logo in the middle, slightly above center, Automags.org in the top left. under everything on the bottom it will say "Making quality Mags shoot straight since 1987"

[BigEvil]

I would love to help, but I think that these guys can do a much better job than I could. Even still, I will offer my services wherever I can.

[Tunaman]

I would love to help, but I think that these guys can do a much better job than I could. Even still, I will offer my services wherever I can.Wipe that brown stuff off of your nose...:D

[BigEvil]

Wipe that brown stuff off of your nose...:D

HA I learned from the best.

[Bunny]

I would love to work on getting AO set-up with a really great template. It been bothering me seeing all the comparision to customcockers.com.... :D

Themes: My idea would be to use an existing template and customize it to our liking. I don't think we really need to invent the wheel. Custom coding everything would be a PITA :D Color changing the templates wouldn't be difficult to do. I do think we should give users the option to have both a "Light" and "Dark" theme. We really need to get rid of the all white template we have going...

Header: I think we should keep the AO header pretty original. We could change the logo if need be, but I think it suits AO quite well. I really liked the header from the old site with action pictures of our members.


MotM contest winners showcase. We could immortalize the MoTM winner by having their marker on the site for an entire month. Both "new school" and "old school" included...
Action Pictures. We could have action pictures of our members as well. Maybe at Tunaball we could have someone capture a bunch of AOers in action poses and put them on the site.


Articles: I'm not sure if blogging would catch on here, but I think articles would be a great addition to the site. Think of the prototype lab, but alot more user friendly. If you have been following me lately, I've been trying to compile tons of data for Automags.org and realized so much information gets lost unless it is stickied. If we organized the information in a different way, I think it would help us out in the long run. (Think of combining automagsuk.org, xmagworld, sflemag.com, etc into AO. We could also make the tech forum a bit more user friendly. Maybe we could get a few tech guys to remake how to videos and embed them into posts.

Consolidation: Archive and remove inactive forums... Shoebox, Rules, etc. Reworking them into articles or ads.

Feedback: I would love to see a feedback rating similar to pbnation. I think AO lives off the fact that the B/S/T forum is here. If it wasn't here I doubt this place would still exist. Thousands of dollars are bought and sold here on a daily basis. We might want to protect our users with a good feedback tool.

Groups: I think we should rework groups. I think we should make custom badges/ranks to show members whos who. There are many members here that deserve to be recognized properly. Luke and Tunaman come to mind, as well as other members that have gone above and beyond to improve the site. We need to promote post activity and I think ranks would help out.

Let me know what you guys think.

My idea would be to get a copy of the Vbulletin 4.2. Set it up like a local forum on my own computer and test out a few templates. Once I'm done I would provide screenshots to Tom or AO for approval. I can send over the template once it's approved and have Tom or whoever to install it on the site. :headbang: I don't need keys to the kingdom.

[Dayspring]

My idea would be to get a copy of the Vbulletin 4.2. Set it up like a local forum on my own computer and test out a few templates. Once I'm done I would provide screenshots to Tom or AO for approval. I can send over the template once it's approved and have Tom or whoever to install it on the site. :headbang: I don't need keys to the kingdom.

I can set up a test forum using my software and give you access to this stuff if you'd like. I just need to do it when I get home this weekend.

[Arstron]

I will offer my programing or graphical services where ever its needed. My server is at your disposal as well, but dayspring just offered his as well.

[AGD]

Ok lets get Bunny and Dayspring working on this. If you guys could proto this on Daysprings server that would make it a lot easier for me since my ISP would not need to get involved. We all can eyeball the finished work and then port it over to this side easily. I would be good if this was a team effort so if you guys could put out requests for logos or specific graphics and let others contribute that would be great too.

If we need to make other internal changes to the forum like tapatalk then someone should make me a comprehensive list I can give to my computer guys.

Thanks!

TK

[Dayspring]

Ok lets get Bunny and Dayspring working on this. If you guys could proto this on Daysprings server that would make it a lot easier for me since my ISP would not need to get involved. We all can eyeball the finished work and then port it over to this side easily. I would be good if this was a team effort so if you guys could put out requests for logos or specific graphics and let others contribute that would be great too.

If we need to make other internal changes to the forum like tapatalk then someone should make me a comprehensive list I can give to my computer guys.

Thanks!

TK

Tom - your install of VBulletin should already come with ForumRunner (an alternative to Tapatalk). It should already be installed, all you need to do is set up the account with ForumRunner.

[TOTShadowCompany]

I would be more than happy to do the graphics for the site, I just don't know the code to write the skinning aspect. But graphics...I got that all day long. Example...

87272

dre

TK. Dre my GA has the files for the new AGD he designed for the T-Shirt project I did. Please use them if you need them. Also he has the front left chest logo in color and the infamous stache logo.

[Ando]

There should different templates already setup on the forums no :confused:

[Dayspring]

The only one that really comes with the new VBulletin setup is the one we are using. After that, they leave it to you to customize it yourself or use one that somebody else did.

[Ando]

I remember them coming with 2 or 3 different ones...hmmm..

[Bunny]

Ok lets get Bunny and Dayspring working on this. If you guys could proto this on Daysprings server that would make it a lot easier for me since my ISP would not need to get involved. We all can eyeball the finished work and then port it over to this side easily. I would be good if this was a team effort so if you guys could put out requests for logos or specific graphics and let others contribute that would be great too.

If we need to make other internal changes to the forum like tapatalk then someone should make me a comprehensive list I can give to my computer guys.

Thanks!

TK

Sounds good. Dayspring, could we set-up an entire "dummy" forum on your server. With usernames, etc. That way we can set-up a forum for testing of the template and to create a forum for communication with the graphic designers? Off the top of my head I can think of alot of graphics that will need to be edited....

Header with AO logo
Header with Hexis's behind the action picture (kinda like the old AO)
Transluscent Action pictures
Background for site

Badges/Ranks: Something like this...
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8288/blackglossyrankszc0.jpg

Home Page Buttons: Like these... Change to AOish style.
http://www.automags.org/forums/images/statusicon/forum_old_lock-48.png
http://www.automags.org/forums/images/statusicon/forum_old-48.png

[Dayspring]

Yes - I can do that. But I'm remote to all of my home software & FTP stuff right now. Won't get back until at least 11pm on Friday night. So figure Saturday mid-day for software setup.

[BigEvil]

Sounds good. Dayspring, could we set-up an entire "dummy" forum on your server. With usernames, etc. That way we can set-up a forum for testing of the template and to create a forum for communication with the graphic designers? Off the top of my head I can think of alot of graphics that will need to be edited....

Header with AO logo
Header with Hexis's behind the action picture (kinda like the old AO)
Transluscent Action pictures
Background for site

Badges/Ranks: Something like this...
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8288/blackglossyrankszc0.jpg

Home Page Buttons: Like these... Change to AOish style.
http://www.automags.org/forums/images/statusicon/forum_old_lock-48.png
http://www.automags.org/forums/images/statusicon/forum_old-48.png

Dont forget my "benevolent dictator" button please :)

[Bunny]

Dayspring: I think thats fine, that will give people time to see this thread and come up with their design concepts and ideas. Once we get it set-up we will go full force on the design.

BigEvil: I wouldn't mind seeing a BEO badge of some type... :D

Btw, if we have to have both a "light" and "dark" templates, we will need to work on double the amount of buttons and backgrounds. So I think there will be enough work to go around... :headbang:

[Justus]

If group participation is encouraged, then a color template(s) should be established first to make sure everyone is working with the same hex colors. That way all the graphics look like they're supposed to go together.

[BTAutoMag]

I like where this thread is going:headbang:

[going_home]

Feedback: I would love to see a feedback rating similar to pbnation. I think AO lives off the fact that the B/S/T forum is here. If it wasn't here I doubt this place would still exist. Thousands of dollars are bought and sold here on a daily basis. We might want to protect our users with a good feedback tool.


We already look like CC, thats bad enough.
Do we really need to be like pnut butter nation too ?

:wow:

[Justus]

Aww, I don't think an eBay-style feedback system will turn us into PbN. What's really the downside? A lot of forums offer that kind of system and it's actually quite nice.

[knownothingmags]

Aww, I don't think an eBay-style feedback system will turn us into PbN. What's really the downside? A lot of forums offer that kind of system and it's actually quite nice.

will old feedback transfer?
that pretty key for most on this forum.

[Bunny]

We already look like CC, thats bad enough.
Do we really need to be like pnut butter nation too ?

:wow:

Lol, give us a few weeks and hopefully we can change your mind. It was just an idea, if no one else agrees I doubt anything will come out of it. I really want to show what AO could become with a handful of small changes. I do think our feedback system is lacking. It doesn't make sense to crawl through pages worth of feedback, or search a username for feedback just to see if someone is legit. I do understand we have many lurking members that may have to rely on old feedback and I wouldn't want to get rid of that by any means.

We have an opportunity to change AO for the better. Why not at least try.

:)

[Ando]

I'm all for change, as long as we keep and archive the old when we replace it with the new.

[bbotts77]

I really like the idea of bringing feedback up to date. I know at first it will suck for some people who have huge feedback threads. But, in the long run, it will be better (more convenient) for everyone. There's no reason you would not be able to keep your old feedback threads for reference. If you're truly a good/bad buyer/seller. They will quickly be reflected in the new system as well.

Our feedback system is not what defines us as AO. It's our brand loyalty, our love of the sport, and our respect for other players that define the AO community.

[Dayspring]

If people are concerned about their feedback threads being found, put them in your signature and use a link-shortening website like bit.ly. This way you will always have it AND it will fit in the space requirements.

Don't be afraid of change. :)

[BTAutoMag]

If people are concerned about their feedback threads being found, put them in your signature and use a link-shortening website like bit.ly. This way you will always have it AND it will fit in the space requirements.

Don't be afraid of change. :)

I cant put my feedback in my signature unless I delete the picture, it only lets you do 2 lines with less then 250 characters... 2 links is apperently longer then that

[luke]

I really like the idea of bringing feedback up to date. I know at first it will suck for some people who have huge feedback threads. But, in the long run, it will be better (more convenient) for everyone. There's no reason you would not be able to keep your old feedback threads for reference. If you're truly a good/bad buyer/seller. They will quickly be reflected in the new system as well.

Our feedback system is not what defines us as AO. It's our brand loyalty, our love of the sport, and our respect for other players that define the AO community.


I have 8 years of feedback, 224 replies and 18,689 views, so you got one thing right it will suck for people who have huge feedback threads.

[luke]

If people are concerned about their feedback threads being found, put them in your signature and use a link-shortening website like bit.ly. This way you will always have it AND it will fit in the space requirements.

Don't be afraid of change. :)

Are you talking about keeping our existing feedback threads or a new format?

[BTAutoMag]

do a search for mine... for some reason it only shows 2 results for "btautomag"

[luke]

do a search for mine... for some reason it only shows 2 results for "btautomag"

I did an edit on the 2 posts above, the search does not work in buyer/trader feedback, I wonder if it is even turned on?

I searched for my thread and it didnt show up and I'm on the first page.

[zondo]

You could lock the feedback forum and keep it for reference, like we do with some of the other historic threads/forums. That way those are never lost and we could update.

[luke]

I did a general search for my name in the search forum (http://www.automags.org/forums/search.php) and nothing came up, looks to me like "search by name" is turned off.

[bbotts77]

That’s an interesting perspective; I did a search for your feedback and didn't find a thread.
I have 8 years of feedback, 224 replies and 18,689 views, so you got one thing right it will suck for people who have huge feedback threads.
That is funny, Luke. Have you tried to search for your own feedback thread? The reason mine is not coming up in a search is not because I do not have one. It is not coming up in a search for the same reason your feedback thread is not coming up in searches. Searching does not seem to be working on older threads right now.

I do have a feedback thread. Granted, it is not nearly as impressive as yours is. You can tell two things by my join date and activity. I have not been on the forum nearly as long as you have been and I am mostly a lurker. But, I still know your reputation and those of most, if not all, of the other active, long-time members. It does not take a feedback thread to know you do awesome milling work.

Edit: The above was all written before you all posted about not being able to find anything by searching.

[zondo]

Yeah, I couldn't find mine either that way.

[Justus]

I have 8 years of feedback, 224 replies and 18,689 views, so you got one thing right it will suck for people who have huge feedback threads.

I honestly don't understand why you'd even be concerned. With a reputation like yours, you don't even need a feedback thread. It's just about as absurd as someone saying that they need references before they send Tuna a marker for tuning.

All of this is said mildly tongue-in-cheek, but it's got a big element of truth in it. Basically, anyone who has a huge amount of feedback to lose will find that they likely lost the need for it long ago.

luke, if you lose your feedback thread and have to start over at a 0 rating, I'll still have no problem sending work your way or dealing with you just as before.

[Dayspring]

I cant put my feedback in my signature unless I delete the picture, it only lets you do 2 lines with less then 250 characters... 2 links is apperently longer then that

Tom's working out the kinks. That's an easy setting to change.

[BTAutoMag]

luke, if you lose your feedback thread and have to start over at a 0 rating, I'll still have no problem sending work your way or dealing with you just as before.

I dont think we could trust luke's quality if his feedback was reset to 0:rofl:

[luke]

I honestly don't understand why you'd even be concerned. With a reputation like yours, you don't even need a feedback thread. It's just about as absurd as someone saying that they need references before they send Tuna a marker for tuning.

All of this is said mildly tongue-in-cheek, but it's got a big element of truth in it. Basically, anyone who has a huge amount of feedback to lose will find that they likely lost the need for it long ago.

luke, if you lose your feedback thread and have to start over at a 0 rating, I'll still have no problem sending work your way or dealing with you just as before.

Because it is important and people do use it.
It's not about how many posts there are in the thread but how many times it has been viewed. ;)
With almost 19,000 views you can't convince it's not important. If it were just about a reputation people would not bother to look me up. :)
It's not about old customers it about new ones.

[going_home]

I had to do a Google search to find my feedback.

[BTAutoMag]

yea, i dont think search is working well

[RT Lover]

gallery of custom mags... not a thread like if u do a image search.... to show all the different mags

[Ando]

I love Google. Couldn't find mine on the forums :rolleyes:

[Justus]

With almost 19,000 views you can't convince it's not important. If it were just about a reputation people would not bother to look me up. :)

That's a point well taken. But we know that at least 11,000 of those views are from you, pulling a Homer Simpson on the F5 Key. :D

87273

[luke]

I haven’t the foggiest idea what that means and I also know that my opinion has nothing to do with what will end up happening here, so arguing my point is a waste of time. I’ve stated my point, now I’m over it, whatever happens, happens. :p

[OPBN]

As long as the old feedback threads are accessible I don't have a problem with changing how they are done. I don't sell nearly as much these days as I used to and would like to be able to point people to the old thread if necessary.

[Justus]

I haven’t the foggiest idea what that means...

Oh, it was just some bad humor I suppose.

The drinking bird has been used in many fictional contexts to automatically press buttons. In The Simpsons episode "King-Size Homer", Homer used one to repeatedly press a key on a computer keyboard.
Example for laughs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iapECJKx4k0
The F5 key is used to refresh a page on most internet browsers.

[Justus]

As long as the old feedback threads are accessible I don't have a problem with changing how they are done.
Agreed. In any event, there's no reason to go and delete the old feedback threads. Even PbN kept the "old" and the "new" when they switched, didn't they? I saw so many sigs with links to both.

[Bunny]

Well that escalated quickly.....

Anywho.... :D What would you guys want to see as far as a theme goes.... Would you want to keep it the same as AO or something totally different? I have a few ideas, but would love to hear suggestions.

[Justus]

Well that escalated quickly.....

Anywho.... :D What would you guys want to see as far as a theme goes.... Would you want to keep it the same as AO or something totally different? I have a few ideas, but would love to hear suggestions.

Whoops, didn't mean to give the impression that anything was escalating. :( I'll try to no longer crack jokes that could be taken that way.

I like the original idea you had, Bunny, about a "light" theme and a "dark" theme. The original AO colors were a nice medium and I'd have no problem going back to that either. The current form isn't bad once you get used to it, but it is rather bland and "OEM" feeling. With some tweaking it could function as the "light" option.

[steve_81]

Whoops, didn't mean to give the impression that anything was escalating. :( I'll try to no longer crack jokes that could be taken that way.

I like the original idea you had, Bunny, about a "light" theme and a "dark" theme. The original AO colors were a nice medium and I'd have no problem going back to that either. The current form isn't bad once you get used to it, but it is rather bland and "OEM" feeling. With some tweaking it could function as the "light" option.

right...I think everyone got it but him. lol

[Bunny]

Justus: Lol, No worries. I got your joke as well. :D I didn't think the feedback idea would be that crazy, but I guess it's a hot topic. I'm quite surprised on how many page views feedback threads have. My main focus will be a few really cool designs. If I can sneak in a few add-ons/features I will :D

[Dayspring]

The good part is, add-ons are usually mods that are used across all templates. But for that, we'd need to test it on our dev environment first, and then have Tom install here.

[Bunny]

Dayspring: What do you think of the CMS tool in vbulletin. I think it would be a great addition to this site. There are many informative posts that seem to get lost in the shuffle and I think that the built-in CMS would be perfect. I would love to be able to have posts be promoted to articles on the fly. I also think this would be a great way to organize the large amount of information we have.

[Dayspring]

I don't have that version of VBulletin unfortunately. I don't know what Tom purchased.

[BTAutoMag]

4.2.0 right?

[Dayspring]

4.2.0 right?

That's the version. But there are two levels of VBulletin - Forum only or Forum + CMS.

[Bunny]

That's the version. But there are two levels of VBulletin - Forum only or Forum + CMS.

Figures.... I wonder what 3k got us :D

[AGD]

YES we got the CMS too.

TK

[Bunny]

YES we got the CMS too.

TK

Awesome, now I just hope Dayspring has CMS vbulletin to play around with :D

[Dayspring]

I don't have that version of VBulletin unfortunately.

.

[zondo]

I noticed that the "cheers" smiley isn't on the side next to the post window, but it still works when the code is punched in. Are there other smilies that are hidden similarly?

[Ando]

You can get to it by the smiley pop up window when you click on the smiley icon in the message interface and then click on the more button in the window.

[Dayspring]

Tom - did you also get the VB5 client as part of the upgrade? Reason I ask is, if Bunny and I are working on a template, we may want to look ahead to the next version if you bought it.

[Dayspring]

Dev forums are set up. Bunny has an account and has been given admin access for Styles.

We'll keep people updated.

[knownothingmags]

this is great thankyou guys.

[Bunny]

:D I have a 4 day weekend coming up with nothing to do.... hmm...

[Dayspring]

I'm going to send messages to some folks individually about the dev forums at first. Then, when we have some more concrete ideas, we'll let it out into the open.

[knownothingmags]

good idea.

[AGD]

Tom - did you also get the VB5 client as part of the upgrade?

Yes but its in beta so we didn't want to risk it right now.

TK

[Dayspring]

Yes but its in beta so we didn't want to risk it right now.

TK

Ok - we'll set up the VB5 client as well to do testing.

[RobAGD]

LOL, what a bunch of chicken littles :)

The old feedback threads won't go any where, it will just be locked.


I have to say I LIKE that way the PBN feedback system currently works. I think it maybe based off the iTrader plug in with some options turned on or custom coded into it.

As the guys work through things adjustments will be made to the system to make things work smoother and add features.

-R

[Bunny]

AO: Things are looking really good. I was able to blend the old AO with the new vbulletin 4.2 style quite well. If anyone is interested I still need help with status icons, ranks/badges, favicons, etc. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to help out!!

[leloup]

If you need more people to help with creating graphical images, let me know. I can also do 3D models if needed.

[BTAutoMag]

AO: Things are looking really good. I was able to blend the old AO with the new vbulletin 4.2 style quite well. If anyone is interested I still need help with status icons, ranks/badges, favicons, etc. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to help out!!

screenshots?

[Dayspring]

Dev forums (http://dev.nickpapandria.com/forums/forum.php)

[BTAutoMag]

It looks familiar... I like it

[bbotts77]

I like it, too.

[Dayspring]

Keep in mind, at the bottom left of the page, you can select a different version of the template.

[bbotts77]

Keep in mind, at the bottom right of the page, you can select a different version of the template.
Your other right.:rolleyes:

[Dayspring]

Your other right.:rolleyes:

Yeah, sue me. :mad:

[Justus]

I really like some of the elements of the 2013 styling, but it's still too dark for every day use. A style like that which uses light grey as a background field would brighten it up, but keep it subdued enough to be easy on the eyes. When I see an all-black forum I instantly think "video game."

Right now the 2005 styling is my favorite not because it looks the best, but because it hits that happy medium of being too bright and too dark.

[Chrome]

As probably the first to ask about doing this, thank you again guys for taking the time to put all this work in.

The 2005 is looking very much like AO. I think if you could get the background of the post text blocks just a touch darker (or maybe a little more color), just something to reduce the overall contrast between that and the overall background just a little bit more (without washing it out like the 2003 template or lightening up the background) it would be darn close to where we left off on the old forum.

I don't know if the web design flavor of the month is super dark like the 2013 template or the trend is still on the glaringly ( ( :cough: apple :cough: ) white, but from style guide studies I read many years ago, for the average person, light/colored text on black background (think old b/w or green/yellow screens) is actually worse on the eyes long-term than the reverse. Not that I mind honestly either way, but just thinking on making everyone's use of the site most enjoyable.

Last, the 2013 is maybe too far off from the recognized "brand" that is AO to risk losing some of that branding? Don't know how important that is overall, but just another $.02.

Thanks again for all your hard work!

[Dayspring]

Well, the mods here can set one standard default but allow users a choice of which one they want to use.

The good part is that it comes with a pretty good mobile template AND if Tom activates ForumRunner, we'd have a native Android/iOS app for reading the forum.

[Shane-O-Mac]

The 2005 template looks nice!

[Dayspring]

The 2005 template looks nice!

We're working on it. Though Bunny's doing the lion's share of the work right now.

[Bunny]

Keep up the comments guys!! I really want to see where we should go with this project. Feel free to signup on the dev board and comment!! I'll have some time later on this week to work on a few more ideas.

Btw, I need a few action pictures of agd products if anyone has any good pics I can use.

[BTAutoMag]

I say we use the old ones... then have a stickied "submit your photos" thread so that it stays updated

[Dayspring]

I say we use the old ones... then have a stickied "submit your photos" thread so that it stays updated

Well, thing is, we're going to give users a CHOICE of which one they want. The dark ones, or the other 2.

This is America dude - land of choices.

[Spider-TW]

Yay! The Workshop is back in sight! I missed being able to see what was new from the top screen.

Is the sub forum view new, or did I just stumble into it?