Button Copy: A new theme

Scott5114 · August 12, 2009, 04:25:52 AM

I had considered that, but ultimately settled on the single lens, as it is easier to see the difference in a large on/off light than the more subtle variance in a stoplight. Also, most forums use some type of on/off metaphor for their index page (heck, look at the default theme), so it's clearer than the stoplights, which might make someone go "Stop? Go? Oh, the green lights have new posts."

I remember one of the old themes during the Cody administration used interstate shields for new posts and US shields for no new posts. I remember seeing that design choice being lambasted on MTR for being "too complex". And this is from a roadgeek...

Scott5114 · August 12, 2009, 04:28:41 AM

QuoteI'm not able to get it to come up.

Where are you having trouble?

US71 · August 12, 2009, 10:28:06 AM

OK, I finally figured it out... I was looking in the wrong place

The "quote" function isn't working, BTW, but I think someone already mentioned that

mightyace · August 12, 2009, 11:37:15 AM

I like the font, link and emoticons on the quick reply section at the bottom of the page. In part because, going that route is the only way that Preview seems to work for me.

If that's added to button copy, I'll use it. Otherwise, I'll stay with what I've been using.

EDIT:

QuoteI remember one of the old themes during the Cody administration used interstate shields for new posts and US shields for no new posts. I remember seeing that design choice being lambasted on MTR for being "too complex". And this is from a roadgeek...

Personally, I love that. There is no mistaking one for the other. That is why I'm still using the Alina theme.

US71 · August 12, 2009, 04:05:41 PM

Just a thought:

Green Arrow: new topic/new message

Red ball: no new posts

Or is that too complicated?

mightyace · August 12, 2009, 04:13:04 PM

^^^

I like it. And, it should handle the red/green colorblind issue because you'd still see an arrow versus a ball.

Scott5114 · August 12, 2009, 04:42:03 PM

But arrow = "new posts" and ball = "no new posts" is still a non-obvious analogy. You'd have to look at the legend at the bottom to determine which is which. Using an on/off mechanism follows the Rule of Least Surprise¹, since most other forums use that analogy to demarcate between "new posts" and "no new posts".

Let's put it this way... is there anyone actually having a problem using it with the way it is now? Any reason to change it other than "wouldn't it be neat doing it this way"?

1. Raymond, Eric S. The Art of Unix Programming. Addison-Wesley/Pearson Education, 2004.

SSOWorld · August 12, 2009, 08:25:32 PM

The chat controls are back in play!

mightyace · August 12, 2009, 08:47:39 PM

I noticed that in the AARoads Info Center at the bottom of the page that Recent Posts is missing. (It is there in Alina) Is there some setting I need to change, is it a bug or is it not supposed to be there in Button Copy?

SSOWorld · August 12, 2009, 08:55:34 PM

~~probably not - we just need to add that back in perhaps...~~

Are you sure?

agentsteel53 · August 12, 2009, 09:18:05 PM

I use "Recent Posts" as my primary view; helps me keep up with everything with the least amount of clicking.

rickmastfan67 · August 12, 2009, 09:24:44 PM

Hmm, now the "Recent Posts" are only showing the most recent 5. I thought it used to show at least the last 10.

Also, the quick edit (

) function isn't working on the default theme.

rickmastfan67 · August 18, 2009, 12:46:54 AM

Quote from: rickmastfan67 on August 12, 2009, 09:24:44 PM
Hmm, now the "Recent Posts" are only showing the most recent 5. I thought it used to show at least the last 10.

I'm now thinking it used to be the most recent 20 posts. lol. Because 10 just doesn't seem to be right to me. But, as I said, it just might be me and it might have use to be 10. If it was 10 in the past, just ignore me. LOL.

roadfro · August 22, 2009, 08:08:02 PM

The bright green used in the box at the bottom of the topic listings would probably look better with the darker green that is used underneath the AA Roads logo--it would tie the rest of the page together. Right now, that bright green is really used in just one place.

Other than that, I think the Button Copy theme looks good.

Ubeans2001 · August 22, 2009, 09:49:48 PM

Wow... Love the theme so far with the loo of the signs being stuck together... anyways it'd be cool if the fonts were actually button copy letterings... I know it may seem like a lot to do but it'd be cool.

Scott5114 · August 23, 2009, 06:15:14 AM

QuoteThe bright green used in the box at the bottom of the topic listings would probably look better with the darker green that is used underneath the AA Roads logo--it would tie the rest of the page together. Right now, that bright green is really used in just one place.

Would you believe those are actually the same image file? It's just in the bars beneath the AARoads logo, they're squished so much you can't really pick out the bright green, but on the box at the bottom it stretches the gradient out over so long a distance you can easily tell the bright green is there.

rickmastfan67 · August 23, 2009, 11:45:15 PM

Alright, I think I just noticed something that nobody else has yet. In the area for each of the "tabs" that show "Home, Help, Search, ect", when you're on one of those sections, it shows up in Blue. That's the same as the default SMF theme. Don't know if that was done on purpose or not.

WillWeaverRVA · August 24, 2009, 01:19:05 AM

Now using this instead of HighWay. Looks sharp.

hbelkins · August 24, 2009, 10:14:36 AM

Just how do you change the theme, anyway? I can't find how to do that.

SSOWorld · August 24, 2009, 10:18:10 AM

Quote from: hbelkins on August 24, 2009, 10:14:36 AM
Just how do you change the theme, anyway? I can't find how to do that.

go into your profile, under the Modify Profile box on the left, click "Look and Layout Preferences"

The first item in the page is "Current Theme"

Scott5114 · September 13, 2009, 12:45:13 AM

This is now our default theme. Thanks for your feedback, guys!

If you have trouble getting it to show up do a hard refresh on your browser. Ctrl+Shift+R on Firefox, Shift+F5 on IE, F5 on Konqueror. Mac and Opera users should be intelligent enough to figure it out on their own!

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Button Copy: A new theme