Look & Feel

I really like the new look! The only change I would suggest is to reduce the number of Latest profile posts displayed (there are 15, imo 10 are enough) and to increase the number of Latest posts (there are 5, 10 would be fine).

On my mobile though, I would suggest a different "block organization". On the homepage, I like to see the blocks "Discussions, Marketplace, Local Communities, Needles & grooves" on top but then I would prefer to see, per order, Latest Posts (last 10), Latest Profile Posts (last 10), Staff Online, Members Online, Forum Statistics and Share This page at the end.

It's not a big deal at all but I believe these are just a few changes that may improve the experience on the forum. Thank you for all the good work you @RenegadeMonster have been doing in just a few days :)
 
I get a different experience with dark on desktop than mobile. It must be how my mobile browser handles fonts that I can't tell the read from unread threads on mobile (ios Dolphin).
 
Glad @agutierrezb started it, now the designer in me feel like less of an asshole for my own feedback.

I would echo most of your points I think this is a great move forward, but the yellow color may be a bit overused. That said with these kind of sites which are essentially site builders you are often tied into these colors for all CTA / actionable items. I've run into this issue before with template based sites and it's always hard to adjust for. I think the warm yellow y'all are using is the one I suggested which would make this my fault lol. I think it is just a bit loud for the amount it's being used. Perhaps if this much of the color is needed a yellow that still warm, but less orange (somewhere in the #fccc00 range?) would work better, although the visibility against white would be slightly reduced.

Agree on darkening the image over the top. I think the choice of logo works well for the site (really love that ampersand @Alexander ) but the visibility against the header image is poor. I think if the image was darkened you could ditch that light SVG stroke which shouldn't be needed, and will render poorly on low DPI screens. Total subjective POV, but I would also change the words to white at the same time. The white on black will be much higher contrast which will be better for any visitors with visual disabilities and more pleasing to the eye. See unsolicited mockup below!

View attachment 1247

YES

N+GMob2.jpg


The first one doesn't look that bad if you're seeing this post on a large screen, but try it in your phone and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Again, this is only the designer in me who can't help but think on how this already pretty cool look could be improved :)

DOUBLE YES

Also just noticed the selection bg color/ text color could use some help.
Screen Shot 2019-05-20 at 12.48.42 PM.png
 
Definitely like the new look and feel. I am trying the Dark Theme and I like it, though it looks a bit like we are on a TMR forum with the black and yellow

Edit: I also noticed that there is very little visual difference in the font from Read and Unread as well
 
Definitely like the new look and feel. I am trying the Dark Theme and I like it, though it looks a bit like we are on a TMR forum with the black and yellow

Edit: I also noticed that there is very little visual difference in the font from Read and Unread as well
I thought the same thing re: TMR.
 
Welcome.

I'm also leaving very heavily on your suggestion for the white copy and gold ampersand. going to run the idea by everyone.

Also, agree that we need to darken the vinyl background.

I really like the white and gold combination. Trying not to have too much of an opinion as I feel a tad arrogant commenting on my on work!
 
I also just darkened the record back ground.

What do you all think? Good as is or should I lighten it back up a couple shades?

It's just about perfect with the dark theme. I think against the light theme it feels like it could use a little more pop.
 
I also just darkened the record back ground.

What do you all think? Good as is or should I lighten it back up a couple shades?

Nice! I think it looks great! Any lighter would be too light IMO. Looks really good in mobile as well.

I would lose the 1px stroke around the logo though since it's not a core design element. The contrast is strong enough as is, and it is just distracting to the eye as it draws attention to the negative space.
 
Highlighting text in the editor will no longer redact it on the light theme.
I also make the arrow pointing towards the user avatar white. I think I need to go a couple shades darker. The post message box fades from white on the top to gray on the bottom. So on longer posts it looks fine, on short posts it's a little lighter. Hmm
 
I think the site looks great. My only suggestion (which may already have been covered) is I'd like it to be easier to see if there's a hyperlink as opposed to just normal text.

Working on it. What ever color I change it too, the forum titles on the main index, user names, and all other links follow suite. I'm going to see if I can edit the template file tonight to make links bold when in the message body. Think bolding the block text will make it stand out enough?
 
Working on it. What ever color I change it too, the forum titles on the main index, user names, and all other links follow suite. I'm going to see if I can edit the template file tonight to make links bold when in the message body. Think bolding the block text will make it stand out enough?

Bolding would work just fine :)
 
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