Potential redesign ideas for v5

[Brother_Bliss]

I've downloaded the latest software and have been toying around with it. Here's one idea I came up with while trying to maintain the same color scheme...

 

[BlaqueCalalilly]

Pretty cool idea...but please keep the dark mode though....☺️

[Qapla]

I am good with the redesign as long as we still have Dark Mode and "Unread Content" and "Mark Site Read" readily available without having to look for it or scroll to use it

[Brother_Bliss]

34 minutes ago, BlaqueCalalilly said:

but please keep the dark mode though....

 

6 minutes ago, Qapla said:

as long as we still have Dark Mode

 

Here's what I came up with....

 

[Brother_Bliss]

  

16 minutes ago, Qapla said:

I am good with the redesign as long as we still have Dark Mode and "Unread Content" and "Mark Site Read" readily available without having to look for it or scroll to use it

 

The Unread Content link will become a button next to your username.

 

The Mark Site Read link will move to the dropdown menu under your username.

 

[Qapla]

4 hours ago, Brother_Bliss said:

The Mark Site Read link will move to the dropdown menu under your username.

 

I guess I can work with that - it is better than having to scroll to the bottom of the page to find it even though it will be a "two-click" procedure instead of a one-click like it is now (technically, if it has the "yes/no" confirmation, it will be 3-clicks instead of 2-clicks)

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

You could always join my Zoom Chat tonight after your meeting and we could take your new pages for a test-drive

 

Edited Thursday at 07:29 PM by Qapla

[Tortuga]

6 hours ago, Qapla said:

"Unread Content" and "Mark Site Read" readily available without having to look for it or scroll to use it

I really like having those two easily available. 

[LeolaRootStew]

now for the important things: are we getting new emojis?

[Tortuga]

25 minutes ago, LeolaRootStew said:

now for the important things: are we getting new emojis?

What do you want?

[LeolaRootStew]

1 minute ago, Tortuga said:

What do you want?

 

poker face😐and yikes 😬 and shame🫣

[Tronora]

I miss a moving thank you-emoji. Like this one:

 

 

And a sweetie like this one: 

 

(being clever)     excited  tired   good night   "offended" (not)

 

hilarious   annoyed   "insidious" (not) polite  rules!   surrender

 

(I see that hilarous looks a bit like   )

 

 

 

[Tortuga]

53 minutes ago, Tronora said:

I miss a moving thank you-emoji. Like this one:

 

 

And a sweetie like this one: 

 

(being clever)     excited  tired   good night   "offended" (not)

 

hilarious   annoyed   "insidious" (not) polite  rules!   surrender

 

(I see that hilarous looks a bit like   )

 

 

 

 

[carlos]

20 hours ago, Brother_Bliss said:

I've downloaded the latest software and have been toying around with it. Here's one idea I came up with while trying to maintain the same color scheme...

 

 

I am not sure I like the left panel. It seems to put all things on the same level, but the fact is members don't come here to visit the Gallery or the Download or the Events Calendar. Most don't even know those sections exist. We come for the forums.

 

I would prefer a layout that highlights the forums as we have now.

[Brother_Bliss]

14 hours ago, LeolaRootStew said:

now for the important things: are we getting new emojis?

 

Do you mean emojis to use in the editor. Or are you referring to "Reactions" at the bottom right of each post?

[Brother_Bliss]

2 hours ago, carlos said:

Most don't even know those sections exist.

 

Which is exactly why I like the left navigation panel. The other sections of the side might get used more. But as it is, they are buried under the drop down menus in the masthead and like you said, people don't know they exist. 

 

Of course, the classic looks are still available....

 

[LeolaRootStew]

43 minutes ago, Brother_Bliss said:

 

Do you mean emojis to use in the editor. Or are you referring to "Reactions" at the bottom right of each post?

 

reactions to a post. 

also, thinking emoji 🤔 and puke 🤮 

Edited 20 hours ago by LeolaRootStew

[Tortuga]

15 minutes ago, LeolaRootStew said:

 

reactions to a post. 

also, thinking emoji 🤔 and puke 🤮 

I appreciate that most of the reactions are positive. In my opinion, the Sad, Angry and Confused reactions should be used for the situation, not the comment.  I had advocated for the 'sigh' reaction, but it has led to a lot of misunderstandings and hurt feelings. I hope that most of the reactions are kept positive. I try to remember the motto "If you don't have a positive reaction, then don't react at all"

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Tortuga

[Brother_Bliss]

Here's a video that talks about the redesign and new features coming to version 5 (IF we were to use them)...

 

 

Some things that I personally like....

 

1) Left navigation panel.

2) Feed view. My sceenshots show feed view. The index page shows the main top level forums in each category on the left. And then a snippet of the 5 most recent posts in that forum (and it's subforums) on the right. 

3) Pinning the first post to the top of each page.

 

Some things I am on the fence about....

 

 

4) Condensed Member panel across the top, like on mobile, vs the large left pane user panel on each post. 

 

Here is what we use now...

 

Vs. the new option coming in v5...

 

The 2nd pic shows how you can open the users stats with a click of a drop down arrow.

[Tortuga]

Is there an option to mark individual topics as being read without opening them? 

Currently we are able to mark full sections as being read, for example, I can mark Games as read without opening that forum. However sometimes there are conversations within a forum that I would like to mark as being read without marking the entire forum or site.

Edited 20 hours ago by Tortuga

[TonyS]

On 3/13/2025 at 10:39 AM, BlaqueCalalilly said:

Pretty cool idea...but please keep the dark mode though....☺️

I'm unable to locate the dark mode setting.  Can you guide me to it please?

[gusdn1]

On 3/13/2025 at 11:14 AM, Brother_Bliss said:

 

 

Here's what I came up with....

 

 

On 3/13/2025 at 10:18 AM, Brother_Bliss said:

I've downloaded the latest software and have been toying around with it. Here's one idea I came up with while trying to maintain the same color scheme...

 

 

I've been observing things, and I got some few suggestions, although some of them may not be of a big deal:

• I wonder if that is the border we are going to use. It kind of looks too thick, it would cool if it were a little thin with a shadow fade.
• The container header colors between the dark and light mode does not seem to be consistent, the light is white color, but the dark is off purple color. I wonder if that is intentional.
• The "JW Talk--Jehovah's Witnesses" there seem not to be enough margins at the top and bottom for the side navigation bar. The traditional top navigation bar is alright. 
• The cover images for each topic, I wonder if there are plans to put some images on them, because they look not consistent as some topics have some, some doesn't. even though it may not be of a big deal but would still be great if we do to make more professional and consistent.
• The footer of our website would be nice to have a makeover too. A more simplified, easier to navigate, perhaps separating the policies and abouts from other categories such as calendar, gallery, etc. and ofc modern or contemporary looking.
• In each topic, a condensed layout of each member would be cool, so that more content of the user can be viewed at once. Removing certain white spaces that may be unnecessary.
• The color scheme set for light is great! but the dark may need more refinements as the contrast on certain areas seems odd.
• The font is great, but I wonder if they have a more modern font available like Google Noto Sans, Helvetica Neue, or Open Sans.
• Making the side navigation bar, and feed view the default view for all users while (if available) still allowing them to change it if they want too.
• A more modern icons and designated color scheme for each topic would be awesome but ofc may not completely necessary but just to make it more ... i forgot the word...something yes... hehe

 

Do we have a view for mobile view, as some of us here may be using the mobile view quite frequently.

Thanks.

 

Edited 16 hours ago by gusdn1

[Tortuga]

18 minutes ago, TonyS said:

I'm unable to locate the dark mode setting.  Can you guide me to it please?

At the very bottom of the page there is Theme, it has the Dark Mode.

[gusdn1]

22 minutes ago, gusdn1 said:

 

 

I've been observing things, and I got some few suggestions, although some of them may not be of a big deal:

• I wonder if that is the border we are going to use. It kind of looks too thick, it would cool if it were a little thin with a shadow fade.
• The container header colors between the dark and light mode does not seem to be consistent, the light is white color, but the dark is off purple color. I wonder if that is intentional.
• The "JW Talk--Jehovah's Witnesses" there seem not to be enough margins at the top and bottom for the side navigation bar. The traditional top navigation bar is alright. 
• The cover images for each topic, I wonder if there are plans to put some images on them, because they look not consistent as some topics have some, some doesn't. even though it may not be of a big deal but would still be great if we do to make more professional and consistent.
• The footer of our website would be nice to have a makeover too. A more simplified, easier to navigate, perhaps separating the policies and abouts from other categories such as calendar, gallery, etc. and ofc modern or contemporary looking.
• In each topic, a condensed layout of each member would be cool, so that more content of the user can be viewed at once. Removing certain white spaces that may be unnecessary.
• The color scheme set for light is great! but the dark may need more refinements as the contrast on certain areas seems odd.
• The font is great, but I wonder if they have a more modern font available like Google Noto Sans, Helvetica Neue, or Open Sans.
• Making the side navigation bar, and feed view the default view for all users while (if available) still allowing them to change it if they want too.
• A more modern icons and designated color scheme for each topic would be awesome but ofc may not completely necessary but just to make it more ... i forgot the word...something yes... hehe

 

Do we have a view for mobile view, as some of us here may be using the mobile view quite frequently.

Thanks.

 

 

The color scheme set for light is great! but the dark may need more refinements as the contrast on certain areas seems odd.

• Color suggestions:

 

1. https://coolors.co/8a77a6-5b3c88-4f4f4f-d8d8d8-121212-f1f1f1
   • Visual: https://coolors.co/visualizer/8a77a6-5b3c88-4f4f4f-d8d8d8-121212-f1f1f1
   •  
2. https://coolors.co/5b3c88-9884b9-5b3c88-dfd2ec-fffeff
   • Visual: https://coolors.co/visualizer/5b3c88-9884b9-5b3c88-dfd2ec-fffeff
   •  
3. https://coolors.co/5b3c88-2c2f77-fdfdff-5a5a5a-2a9d8f
   • Visual: https://coolors.co/visualizer/5b3c88-2c2f77-fdfdff-5a5a5a-2a9d8f
   •  
4. https://coolors.co/451a21-542732-5a3a4a-5f3d61-613e6c-633f77-543166-583777-5b3c88-6247aa
   • Visual: https://coolors.co/visualizer/451a21-542732-5a3a4a-5f3d61-613e6c-633f77-543166-583777-5b3c88-6247aa
   •  
5. https://coolors.co/382453-5b3c88-714baa-3c3836-e6eed6
   • Visual: https://coolors.co/visualizer/382453-5b3c88-714baa-3c3836-e6eed6
   •  

Edited 16 hours ago by gusdn1

[TonyS]

21 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

At the very bottom of the page there is Theme, it has the Dark Mode.

I would never have looked for it there.  Thank you!