New Menu

Ross

We're testing a new navigation system at the moment, you can check it out by choosing "Boards.ie Beta" from the style menu at the bottom left hand corner of the site.

Feedback sought; this is the first iteration we're putting out the door so it's undoubtedly going to require revision

If you spot something that looks strange, we'd really appreciate it if you'd post your operating system, browser version and screen resolution, a brief description and even a screenshot if you can manage. It's a lot more helpful than "it sucks", (because that doesn't really tell us anything!) but you are of course entitled to your opinion

Known Issues:

• This is designed to be viewed on a minimum resolution of 1024x768, which rules out some netbooks.
• Hovering over menu items can make a horizontal scrollbar appear.
• On IE6, the menu is fixed width, giving the appearance of unnecessary whitespace.
• On IE6, SELECT boxes disappear to facilitate showing the menu, this is visually noticable on the search page, but does not impact functionality.
• On IE6, The menu does not "float" at the top as the user scrolls.
• Menu items may appear to be logically disjointed - submenus appearing on the column next to their parent.
• "Statistics" directs to a 404.
• If you have 90+ subscribed forums the subbed menu will display incorrectly.
• If you edit a post, then open the menu it remains present even if you hover away.
• Music menu incorrectly aligns to the left in Internet Explorer 7+ - Fixed
• Slightly delayed rendering of menu on IE8 - Fixed

In case you're wondering, the plan is for the old (read: current) menu to be available also. This will facilitate those users for whom the new menu would pose problems or who simply dislike it.

Beruthiel

Ross wrote: »

We're testing a new navigation system at the moment, you can check it out by choosing "Boards.ie Beta" from the style menu at the bottom left hand corner of the site.

Feedback appreciated, this is the first iteration we're putting out the door so it's undoubtedly going to require revision

So this is the reason my Subbed menu has disappeared.


Also Ross, incase you were not aware, my 'quick reply' is no longer working.
The only way I can make a reply is if I hit the quote icon.

Ross

Beruthiel wrote: »

So this is the reason my Subbed menu has disappeared.


Also Ross, incase you were not aware, my 'quick reply' is no longer working.
The only way I can make a reply is if I hit the quote icon.

Nope, shouldn't be causing any problems, try Ctrl+F5 or restarting your browser.

seamus

Nice. Is there a bugs/suggestions thread for it?

Ross

seamus wrote: »

Nice. Is there a bugs/suggestions thread for it?

This thread will do fine

Gordon

Woah that's chunky! Nice menu, just a bit too much white space around it imo. Ooh, scrolling with the browser, very nice.

Beruthiel

Ross wrote: »

Nope, shouldn't be causing any problems, try Ctrl+F5 or restarting your browser.

Thanks Ross.
That worked.

Rb

I agree with Gordon, very chunky but the fact that it scrolls with the page is very nice.

If it were the same menu (aesthetically) as we have now but had the same function as the beta it'd be perfect.

seamus

I like it overall, not seeing the scroll bar, but maybe on the laptop at home I will.

Initial impression is that every "tab" should be the same width. The "Boards.ie" and "Search" perhaps should be a bit larger, but all of the rest of them should be the exact same width, regardless of the length of the name.

Also, some separation between the tabs might be worth investigating.

Doctor DooM

Looks sweet.

Only two issues so far... first may be browser related, I'm guessing.

When I am looking at the drop down for the music cat, the menu hugs the lft hand side of the screen, which is miles away from where I'm looking and my mouse pointer is. This feels iffy, and is made worse when you look at Rec which hugs the right.

I would guess the first x/2 cats are left justified and thats why it's happening but it feels a little weird.

Secondly and purely aesthetically I am not sure red white and blue works, despite what certain countries might think.

Gordon

Aye same width probably would look nicer, along with seperation bars like you have for the outside two. Maybe the search and boards outside links could be white, or lighter blue or something.

kaimera

I like it

Minimalist next plz

eVeNtInE

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Eoin

I'm sure there will be lots of great suggestions for tweaks, but I think it's a great idea.

Probably not the right place to suggest this, but a text box to enter a forum name with an auto-suggest feature would be a nice addition to it as well.

Edit - where has "forum tools" gone? For some reason on boards.ie only I need to mark all forums read to stop threads appearing as updated.

Jonathan

SDooM wrote: »

Looks sweet.

Only two issues so far... first may be browser related, I'm guessing.

When I am looking at the drop down for the music cat, the menu hugs the lft hand side of the screen, which is miles away from where I'm looking and my mouse pointer is. This feels iffy, and is made worse when you look at Rec which hugs the right.

I'm having the same issue with Hosted, but Music is fine for me.

FF3.0 1680x1050



I don't really like it. I think I'll move back to cloudland.

Ross

If you're having positioning problems, could you post your browser version and screen resolution (if you're fullscreen)?

The menu works at a supported minimum of 1024x768, and the plan is to leave the other menu as an option, so don't panic too much if you really hate it

Gordon

Jonathan wrote: »

I'm having the same issue with Hosted, but Music is fine for me.

FF3.0 1680x1050



I don't really like it. I think I'll move back to cloudland.

Same here with Hosted, but in fairness do you use fullscreen while on 1680? I find it way too big to read at that resolution, I browse with my FF window 2 thirds of the window size.

Jonathan

Gordon wrote: »

Same here with Hosted, but in fairness do you use fullscreen while on 1680? I find it way too big to read at that resolution, I browse with my FF window 2 thirds of the window size.

Yea, I don't like having loose windows. I'm looking forward to that feature of win7.

eVeNtInE

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Goodshape

I like the functionality of it. Definite improvement there.

Couple of things ::

--- I don't like the 'scroll with the page' feature. Bit distracting when trying to read.

--- It's all a bit chunky. Though maybe that's more to do with this big blue theme it's on (I use 'Classic' which is a little more subdued).


Good work though!


//edit.
Actually, I could totally get over the 'scroll with the page' thing. It is handy. I think it's just that sky blue which draws my eyes to it. Moar themes pls!

Ross

eoin wrote: »

Edit - where has "forum tools" gone? For some reason on boards.ie only I need to mark all forums read to stop threads appearing as updated.

That option is also available under "Quick Links" on the same level as "User CP" and "Logout" on any page. Didn't get around to analyzing the most used options for the first iteration, but it's also on the cards.

Eoin

Ross wrote: »

That option is also available under "Quick Links" on the same level as "User CP" and "Logout" on any page. Didn't get around to analyzing the most used options for the first iteration, but it's also on the cards.

That's per forum though, right? I mean the "forum utilities" option in the original menu that marks all forums read and so on. Not a big deal (for me anyway) though.

Ross

eoin wrote: »

That's per forum though, right? I mean the "forum utilities" option in the original menu that marks all forums read and so on. Not a big deal (for me anyway) though.

Nope, same functionality! Most of the menu options are actually replicated from various places throughout vBulletin.

Will endeavour to expose the most useful stuff with the new menu.

seamus

Goodshape wrote: »

--- I don't like the 'scroll with the page' feature. Bit distracting when trying to read.

For Cult's to-do list:
Add a small checkbox with a padlock icon to the top-left of the menu. This allows the user to control the behaviour of the menu and switch the CSS position property from "fixed" to "absolute" (or relative, YMMV).

For bonus points, incorporate an AJAX call which saves this preference in the user's profile.

Eoin

Ross wrote: »

Nope, same functionality! Most of the menu options are actually replicated from various places throughout vBulletin.

Will endeavour to expose the most useful stuff with the new menu.

Sorry Ross - I thought you meant the area underneath the Quick Links dropdown, not actually an option in it. I was clicking the "forum tools link".

5starpool

It is probably my connection here in work but it is quite slow for me. Also, it doesn't scroll with the window with IE6.

I look forward to trying this with a proper browser when I get home.

Sherifu

Like it.

Gaspode

Looks ok on IE6 (WinXP) here in work (ssssh).
However, there is a lot of white space so it appears to be too big.
A suggestion on a more minor issue, would it be possible when clicking the menu items on the right hand side of the page to align the drop down list items to the right also, just below where the user clicks.
Similarly for menu items in the middle of the page, align the drop downs to centre as well.
This would save having to move the mouse from one side of the screen to the other to select the choice you want. A nice to have more than a necessity.

I'll have a look at home this evening on firefox & Vista see what its like.

EDIT: Scratch bit about aligning things, its not a problem in IE7 or firefox 2.0.0.2, must be just an IE6 thing.

GLaDOS

Definatley like it, scroll with page is a great feature and the large menus are sure as hell better then the cluttered ones like sport.


[Edit]
One thing I've noticed, when you use the go to first new post/last post button, the bar at the top is positioned slightly on top of the post in question.

[-0-]

I really like it Ross. Also love the fact that the menu is stuck at the top of my window when scrolling through threads... that's a big big bonus.

Would you consider transparency? Having it transparent when it first appears then becoming solid... just a thought!

Will

Seems to be working fine on safari (mac)
will post up other stuff when/if i come across it.

*thumbs up*

p.s final CA exams start tomorrow ross you dodged a bullet there i tell ya :pac:

Dades

I think it frackin' rocks.

Always thought the existing menu was like, sooooo, 2002.

The jury's out on the "always there" business. Maybe if the height was a few pixels less...
Actually no - I like it.

<anal>
Can a similar grey border to the one that (oft times) appears in the dropdown be added to the left of the "navitem" cells when hovered? At the moment it looks a tiny bit off because there's no border there.
</anal>

Great job.

Kinetic^

I'm viewing this on my eee 1000 and it pretty much takes up the whole screen when I highlight one of the categories. Anyone else tried it on a netbook?

If it's an optional thing then awesome.

eVeNtInE

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copacetic

Goodshape wrote: »

I like the functionality of it. Definite improvement there.

Couple of things ::

--- I don't like the 'scroll with the page' feature. Bit distracting when trying to read.

--- It's all a bit chunky. Though maybe that's more to do with this big blue theme it's on (I use 'Classic' which is a little more subdued).


Good work though!


//edit.
Actually, I could totally get over the 'scroll with the page' thing. It is handy. I think it's just that sky blue which draws my eyes to it. Moar themes pls!

I really like the scroll with page feature, as it saves you the scroll back to the top to go elsewhere. Otherwise as people have noted the look and feel is a little chunky and the music drop down jumping to left is a bit of a long way to mouse too. These are minor though and I'm sure can be easily reviewed once the concept is agreed.

Only other issue I see on IE8 and vista is a slightly longer than expected delay for the pop up. It's not *too* slow, but it is slower than the old style drop down.

Eoin

White space isn't always a bad thing. If it's the difference between working for different resolutions, then by all means shrink it a little, but I think it's a lot nicer than a solid block of small text.

Ross

For anyone reporting that the Music menu is showing up off left, can you post your browser version, OS and screen resolution?

Will help narrow down the problem because it displays as intended on the systems I have to hand.

eVeNtInE

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kdouglas

Looks good here on Ubuntu/Firefox 3/1280x1024

Like the scroll with the page thing, but perhaps slightly smaller and maybe with a semi-transparent background would look good?

Nerin

Really liking it. Good job Ross!

nesf

I like it. Nice work Ross.

AckwelFoley

Ive just switched over to it. Ill see how i get on

darjeeling

I like it. One thing is that the new menu bar doesn't seem to appear on the front page (i.e. going to http://boards.ie/?filter=subbed etc.). Apart from that, it's great.

Hagar

Nice, I could get used to using that very quickly.

One comment on "Search" is there no advanced search option any more?

Gazza22

I like it and will be sticking with the beta! Thanks

CuLT

Hagar wrote: »

Nice, I could get used to using that very quickly.

One comment on "Search" is there no advanced search option any more?

If you click on the actual search option itself it brings you to the advanced search. Might be too subtle, I was going to add an "advanced >>" link beneath the search box but held off to see what the reaction would be.

6th

I like it.

Off topic, I would love to see CuLT quote Ross at some stage

eVeNtInE

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copacetic

Ross wrote: »

For anyone reporting that the Music menu is showing up off left, can you post your browser version, OS and screen resolution?

Will help narrow down the problem because it displays as intended on the systems I have to hand.

IE8, premium vista and 1280x800.

the subbed and science drop downs are one column wide for me and display correctly just below the name.

Music is one column + one entry for traditional in second column for me and displays docked on left.

All the others are wide enough so that the either jump off the left or right side of screen anyway.

6th

I really like that when I scroll down I dont have to scroll back up to get to the top bar.

MooseJam

too big - sucks