Pulling a Facebook on You (New Style)

[Moto]

I figured I would kick you all over to the new style.

If you hate it let me know. It is more of a traditional theme, but it has major advantages over most phpbb themes (faster). I would say give it a good hour before you decide you hate it. I find it much easier to use than the previous one.

I will likely be making some modifications, but I liked it so much I sort of skipped the testing phase.

If you notice anything that broken please let me know.

This style uses a completely different framework than anything we haved used in the past.

You can switch back to the old theme if you wish...
click your name (top right).... --> board preferences --> My board style: ---> Select "PBtech" --> Hit submit

The entrance page to the site is now running on a new platform as well. More improvements coming if time allows as well.

[Ronzuki]

No offense...but, hate it. I don't facebook so whatever that is supposed to be doing for the board, 'traditional' or otherwise, I don't get. Too much useless crap taking up too much space all over the screen causing too much distraction and me scrolling around. I simply want to view what's relevant to this car's forum, period. I do understand that the ads pay for the expense of operation.

[Ronzuki]

You can switch back to the old theme if you wish...
click your name (top right).... --> board preferences --> My board style: ---> Select "PBtech" --> Hit submit

No worky...Board Prefs and Style is not an option.

[Moto]

Should work now.
What did the ads look like on your machine? I'm using responsive adblocks so google is using what it thinks should fit there. Most of the time it has been less intrusive for me. I may take out or change the one that goes under the first post. I have noticed it can be too large. I'm sure it would probably preform well though.

[Moto]

I don't facebook so whatever that is supposed to be doing for the board, 'traditional' or otherwise, I don't get.

The Facebook reference is they occasionally make massive layout changes. Users are not given an option.

I moved the goofy ad to the bottom (that one actually doesn't show all the time)... I didn't expect it to do what it did. It is a beta thing google is testing. It is actually intended to help keep people on the site (googles words not mine).

I simply want to view what's relevant to this car's forum, period.

I agree with you which is what made me select the previous style in the first place. The unintended affect of that style is that it does not look like a traditional forum. I don't think new users really took the time to learn how to use it.

Views per session dropped to around half and the bounce rate on the site increased. The data indicates that most users liked the site less when we made the switch to phpbb 3.1. At the time there were only a few styles available.

It will take several weeks for the data to tell me much on this style. From a search engine standpoint this one is way better.

The buttons are big and dumb, but it is a lot more user friendly in a lot of ways. It is constructed much better than the other style too. Should look/work better on all devices.

[BLyons]

I don't mind the layout. It will take a little getting used to, but there's still a quick option to see all the new posts, which is what I typically do anyway.
My one complaint would be the color of headings and usernames once you're in a thread. When they're all gray it doesn't stand out from the rest of the page.

[Moto]

Thanks...
Keep the feedback coming... I can probably fix that complaint without too much trouble. I wait until I have a little list.

Out of curiosity are you using an older monitor or lcd screen? I've tested across several devices. I don't think the contrast is too bad, but I could see older monitors washout the color a little.

[BLyons]

Not really, my laptop is only a couple years old. I should clarify, it's not that it blends in with the background, just that it doesn't stand out from the other words on the screen like with the other board styles where they are a bolder color compared to the other text.

[Ronzuki]

Back to the old format for the old guy. All is well, thanks Moto.
Laugh all you want...I still run Windows in 'Classic' mode and don't need a dumb-phone either (probably the only dude on earth), so go figure where I'm at w/ change. I preferred the version before last as well, but didn't have any real issues w/ the last version. I think your seeing stats that reflect the death of the brand, a low model sell count coupled w/ the fact that the car's really don't need much, hence not much happening on the board. I hope it stays around as long as possible if for nothing else, the historical info, but I also understand it has to make sense financially to keep it going.

Anywho, thanks again for all the work you put into the site.

[Ronzuki]

BTW, no buttons in the 'old' format's posts tso I can edit the lousy spelling in my previous post. See what happens with change? It wasn't broke, so, it didn't need fixed.