Has anyone noticed............

[Rare Bird]

Interesting. So what would you suggest, dude?

Marco.

P.S What's happened to your avatar?

Sorry dude changed it forgot to save

Why do you have to have toys on the heading? Would restricting the users Avatar height gain anything?

[Clive]

Another thought....I would think most people have wide screen computers today. Maybe we need a poll of users to check. The current image could be almost double the existing width and then half the height.

Also, there should be some way to prevent avatars being loaded when access is via a mobile/smart phone. For those that travel this would be useful as 3G isn't as fast as home broadband.

[Beechwoods]

Clive - good suggestion. You know that can set your Control Panel to suppress Avatars, Signatures, and even (all) Images via the Edit Options control... in terms of page width I'm going to stick with a general standard of ensuring things 'work' on a 1024 x 768 display, which is the standard for most laptop displays these days, while still big enough to have a reasonable impact...

[Clive]

Clive - good suggestion. You know that can set your Control Panel to suppress Avatars, Signatures, and even (all) Images via the Edit Options control... in terms of page width I'm going to stick with a general standard of ensuring things 'work' on a 1024 x 768 display, which is the standard for most laptop displays these days, while still big enough to have a reasonable impact...

I could turn off avatars etc but they are interesting when on broadband but time consuming on my phone. Some sites have the ability to switch to a /mobile version. Not a big deal anyway.

I see the banner is 870 x 311. When I said that many people have widescreen today I meant w-i-d-e not svga or whatever 1024 x 768 is. My laptop is nothing special but is 1440 x 900. I don't think it's that unusual.

[Barry]

Hi Nick,



Agreed. We should look into this at some point soon then, as I'm all for giving people what people want, *providing* I think it fits with the existing ethos and 'feel' of the site

Marco.

It's now your site Marco, so in principle you can do what you like with it. However, I remember the distress caused to some founder members when a redesign was suggested some time ago

Maybe a new banner design ought to be (carefully) considered, but please bear in mind that the banner defines the look and style of the forum. It's the first thing visitors see and it needs to be welcoming and look interesting, which it does. Personally, seeing Nick's Nagra tape machine did it for me.

The border of the banner also nicely represents the varied topics we discuss here: computer audio; analogue vinyl and tape; digital; solid state and valve. In other words, no agenda, no partisanship - we're a broad church.

These are just my thoughts. Perhaps after some suggested designs have been shortlisted, members could vote on which they like best?

Regards

[Beechwoods]

Barry - you make some good points, and your concern is appreciated. There are a lot of people who put a lot of effort into making the forum work, and obviously people want to feel that people like what they've done.

Any redesign will not be a major departure from what we've had. I like the current banner a lot, and to be honest, the best design for me would be one that looks like the current banner, but with one panel of pictures, each representing the diversity of sources and interests on AOS.

There'll be no throwing the baby out with the bathwater as it were!

I like the idea of a vote, but bear in mind that working up a lot of different designs is a lot of work. I'd like to focus on working with the 'design template' we already have, subject to the improvements I've mentioned. It would be good to get Member input in the form of the specific images though. Unfortunately I don't have hi-res copies of all the original images incorporated into the current banner. It would be a good opportunity to refresh the pictures used. I hope that the Nagra will still make an appearance!

[Marco]

Hi Barry,

Good points. Rest assured that I wouldn't implement any change which was considered as grossly unsatisfactory in some way by the majority of the membership. It's about retaining the core of the design we already have, but streamlining it and/or improving it where necessary

I like the idea of a vote, but bear in mind that working up a lot of different designs is a lot of work. I'd like to focus on working with the 'design template' we already have, subject to the improvements I've mentioned. It would be good to get Member input in the form of the specific images though.

I think that is essentially what we need to do. Therefore if anyone's got some high-quality images of equipment they use, which they feel would grace the banner and fit in with the ethos of AOS, then please PM them either to Nick or myself for consideration

Marco.

[Techno Commander]

Another forum I mod on has a "skin option" for mobile access.
I am sure it is a simple bit of code that could be easily implemented, I can sak if you want.

When implemented, there is a drop box at the bottom of the page giving options for default or mobile skin.

[Joe]

.......that we've reduced the size of the banner by 15%?

And be honest!

Was this a good idea or not? We invite your comments, dear members

Marco.

I hadn't noticed. To be honest, since you asked, I'd prefer the banner by itself without the equipment pictures, which always looks to me like a jumble/car boot sale. But that's just me.

[Marco]

Lol - what are you like!



Marco.