Alternate Blonde theme

[TheWhisper]

Much better Bream, thank you

[Bongo]

Thanks Bream, this one is far easier on my eyes. It also seems to tie in more closer with the front page (which uses a light grey too).

[charmaine]

Much better .......... thank you 

[tikay]

Keep this feedback - good or bad - coming please. The whole idea is to make the place better & more user-friendly.

I was not comfy with the "theme" when I opened the Forum today, so I've changed my Profile & am using "blonde 2" - suits me much better, as my eyesight is only about 19/19, but it's each to their own.

Together, we can get there.

[Tractor]

Blonde2, perfect!
Really like the website, and the forum is much better with blonde2.
Shame the advert is so big on forum though as i normally run a small window for this forum whilst multi tabling, but apart from that top job!


Jason

[ACE2M]

Thank god for that, the other one actually hurt my eyes

[tikay]

We are still undecided about the placement & size of the Forum Banner, Tractor, so that's the kind of feedback we was hoping for.

In an ideal world, there would not be any Forum banners, but it's a case of trying to pay the rent, without getting too "ott" or intrusive, finding that "balance".

It's a Policy decision that blonde Live Updates will always be free, so we are trying to make the thing self-financing.

[Tractor]

I understand the need for banner adds but in my opinion there is plenty of room at the top of the page, this wouldnt squeeze up the page.
Also have you thought of having a contribute type scheme, where people could donate to blonde??
Quite a few forums do this to help maintain costs, and im sure when players have had the help of the Blonde PROs they may click that button as  a thankyou!

[Cybertim]

I found that the best place for banners on my websites was in between the posts.  They get looked at and clicked on more often but also allow the forum width to remain the same which helps both the looks of the forum (especially on laptops) and helps generate income..  people also get used to this position very quickly and they feel it is less intrusive.. I think you can also set the banner default so that it only shows once on each thread per visit which means that people see it on every visit but people who post once or who change threads wont keep seeing it every time..
makes surfing blonde much more user friendly

[The Baron]

IMO the three boxes at the top (user info, news box and key stats) should have a lighter background.

Apart from that it looks great under blonde 2.

[tikay]

The Ads.

Until, literally, a few hours before the launch, we had TWO Banners on the Forum in the Beta "Test" Site - a horizontal one across the top, & a "skyscraper" down the side.

We ummed & arred & argued for hours, we could not decide which, either, or both. We plumped, temporarily, for the Skyscraper, but we can change it if it's felt the Horizontal one is better.

It's a Catch-22 really.  We don't want the Banners to be intrusive, but they need a certain level of penetration or else they don't work!

We also have the option of "rotating banners", whch change every time a Member visits a new thread.

Cybertim's "betwen Posts" idea is an interesting one we never thought about. But the Techies will read this & tell us if it's do-able.

Thanks!

[Ironside]

tikay can you ask the techies to take another look at the name of the banners as people like me with just a medium level of secuirty using NIS cant see the banner at the top of this page (unless we disable NIS)

[tikay]

The Techies are monitoring these threads & will take a look at this Iron.

[The Baron]

IMO the three boxes at the top (user info, news box and key stats) should have a lighter background.

Apart from that it looks great under blonde 2.

Very quickly sorted!

Thanks Sparks/Bream!!!