A new look to our forum

[Steve Ashton]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When you wake up on Monday morning and log into X Marks you will see something a bit new, a bit different.

I made a couple of promises to you a few months ago. One of those promises was to get the software package that the forum runs on fixed. There had been many modules and templates added to the forum over the years and some of these were causing conflicts with each other. Many of you have experienced these conflicts more and more over the past few weeks.

In the last several months I have been trying to find someone who is an expert in working with the vBulletin software package. My search paid off when I met Chris of "vB Skin Zone". Chris is not only incredibly knowledgeable with the software but I found him a delight to work with. He and I have been working together for the last six weeks creating a website without the software conflicts, and with room for plenty of future growth.

Another promise I made was to upgrade the Advertising Plan of X Marks. The Plan had been static for quite some time because there was simply no room for additional advertisers. We now have four different levels for advertising. The newest level is what we call the Hobbyist Level. This should give small or start-up companies a cost effective way to have a presence on the web. Over the next week I will be contacting all our current advertisers and all those who have inquired about becoming an advertiser with the details of the new plan.

And finally I promised to do my best to make the decision making process of the Staff of the forum as honest, open, and transparent as I could.

Three of the new things you will see in the new website are located on the upper navigation bar. We have added direct links to our Rules, the FAQs and to an introduction to the members of the Staff.

I encourage you all to look over these new sections. Our Rules are now simpler, easier to read and understand. Our FAQ's will cover far more than just the few acronyms that we had before, and now include such things as how to add a photo to your posts. Getting to know the members of our Staff has always been difficult. They oversee the forum and it is important that you know who these people are. By clicking on "Meet the Staff", you will be directed to the biographies of each of the Moderators.

Along with these changes we have a new look to the forum. We have moved the X Marks Tartan to the title bars of the forum instead of being hidden behind it.
Yes, some will find that the new layout will take a while to become comfortable with, but I hope that the layout will be similar enough to what you are used to to make the learning curve short.

You might remember that I announced a photo contest for the photo to be used on the front banner, behind our forum Logo. As a place holder I have added a photo that was taken at the Handover Ceremony; this can be changed, and I welcome submissions of other photos.

Please take some time to look over and enjoy the new look and style to the forum. As always if you find something that is not right, a broken link or a typo, please contact me immediately.

I will open a separate thread to allow you, the members, to post your thoughts and comments on the new style.

[Jock Scot]

I am not sure if comments are required here at this monent in time, but this is a really important point. Does Chris wear the kilt? If not why not? Joking apart, thank you both for your efforts and no doubt in a year or two this "techno-dunce" will get the hang of it all!

[Steve Ashton]

I would like to thank everyone for their comments, suggestions and concerns so far.

I will be bringing all of the comments about errors in the program to the attention of Chris, but he is in the UK and will not be available for a few hours yet.

Those comments and suggestions about the look of the forum will get fixed. I too agree that the site is bright. We have gone through four changes, darkening it each time. We are trying to find a happy medium between a stark white sheet and a black gaming site. The colors of the windows and panes and blocks of the site are fairly easy to change, but after looking at this site for hours each day and trying different combinations of colors and tints it becomes hard to tell when you get it just right. Each monitor is slightly different. I've looked at the site on seven monitors and I thought we had it.

I thank those who voiced concerns. All concerns are valid and valued. Thank you for having the conviction to state them.

[Fit2BKilted]

I would be pleased to have the default text-colour changed to BLACK if it hasn't been already.

Similarly, I would like to see the X-Marks tartan revived as the background in place of the dull grey that abides there now. N.B., I still think that the heading-bars should keep the newly applied Tartan imagery.

Those are my only suggestions so far.

It's looking good!

[GG]

I very much like the cleaner design - probably due to my Scandinavian background. I also think the new page where the staff members could present themselves is a very good idea.

Greg

[BEEDEE]

Folks, it's fairly obvious that a lot of people have trouble with handling change. However, some other similar threads are devolving into issues beyond what has been done to the forum.

Since Steve has opened two threads, one for questions and comment and one for bugs, we are closing this one.

Please post to the appropriate thread.

Questions/comments
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...k-forum-57690/

Bugs:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...w-forum-57689/

We will attend to genuine bugs as soon as possible after they are identified.

General comments will be held for at least 7-10 days so that people get a chance to see the site at a stable point. Then we will evaluate comments and make decisions accordingly.

Brian & the Forum Moderators