Beyond Forum Upgrade - Open Beta

[Maxx Mazda]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I really preferred the username info panel off to the left instead of on top of each post. Just tried the new beta on a PC, an iPad, and my phone. Most of my Beyond'ing happens on my phone or iPad, depending on if I'm taking a shit or not.

With the old layout, I can double tap, and read the thread, and if I need to see who posted something, simply scroll left. This new layout seems a little too "busy" Maybe.

[flipstah]

It's just getting used to it.

I like it. However, it strains my eyes when it's all white at night.

[R154]

I don't like change. This is threatening. Any chance the old forum will have legacy support in a post vb4 world?

[rage2]

Originally posted by rage2
In the current site, users on phones would zoom into the column to read the posts and scroll left to see who posted.

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda
Maybe I'm alone in this, but I really preferred the username info panel off to the left instead of on top of each post. Just tried the new beta on a PC, an iPad, and my phone. Most of my Beyond'ing happens on my phone or iPad, depending on if I'm taking a shit or not.

With the old layout, I can double tap, and read the thread, and if I need to see who posted something, simply scroll left. This new layout seems a little too "busy" Maybe.

You're not alone. I polled a couple of people on how they used the current forums on the phone, and everybody did this including myself. This was one of the big changes moving to the new forums without rewriting/breaking a lot of stuff. I've spent a week with it and have gotten used to it. The old way seems so "ghetto" now. We basically conditioned ourselves to a workaround, making it a little difficult to do things properly.

This is why we are planning on having a decent beta program length, just so people can play around and get used to things for a smoother transition.

Originally posted by flipstah
It's just getting used to it.

I like it. However, it strains my eyes when it's all white at night.

The colors are still being worked on. And ya, it's making me uber tired reading the new site at night, so that's on the radar to be addressed.

Kinda funny how many things we got "right" with the original site design. Reading beyond on tablets and phones in bed with the lights off wasn't even a thing back in 2002. Nobody hauled their laptops in bed back then.

[flipstah]

Keep up the great work, team!

[Maxx Mazda]

Just a thought, but how does the new forum compare to the old in terms of data usage? I have a good data plan so it's not too much of a concern, just asking out of curiosity. I beyond a LOT so if it's significantly more, it could add up over the long run.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda
Just a thought, but how does the new forum compare to the old in terms of data usage? I have a good data plan so it's not too much of a concern, just asking out of curiosity. I beyond a LOT so if it's significantly more, it could add up over the long run.

There's a 69% savings on bandwidth on a typical thread view (not counting ads). We're aiming for 80% reduction, so still more work to go.

Remember, the current site was never designed for mobile, so it's actually quite data heavy. The new site will be heavily optimized to load fast and light on mobile devices for a better experience.

[RealJimmyJames]

Seems lower contrast and a bit harder to read. Using Chrome and a desktop if that matters.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda
Maybe I'm alone in this, but I really preferred the username info panel off to the left instead of on top of each post. Just tried the new beta on a PC, an iPad, and my phone. Most of my Beyond'ing happens on my phone or iPad, depending on if I'm taking a shit or not.

Yeah I disliked the format at first cause I didn't think it was a good use of space, but after using it over the last week I'm used to it now. It didn't even occur to me that it would work better for mobile, but it makes sense now that I think about it.

[rage2]

Originally posted by RealJimmyJames
Seems lower contrast and a bit harder to read. Using Chrome and a desktop if that matters.

Still a ways to go in finalizing colors/contrast. Things are changing non stop right now because we're OCD haha.

[D'z Nutz]

[rage2]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Yeah I disliked the format at first cause I didn't think it was a good use of space, but after using it over the last week I'm used to it now. It didn't even occur to me that it would work better for mobile, but it makes sense now that I think about it.

As I said earlier, there's a big focus with mobile optimization. Try viewing both sites on your phone back to back and see the massive speed difference. vB2 feels almost unusable to me haha. The beta site is running on shitty hardware right now too and will only get better when we go live.

[Swank]

I know you said text spacing/font is still in the works. Quoted text is tough to read, just leave it as regular text, not italic and bold, might as well add underline, strikethrough and flashing while you're at it

Everything else looks great

[eglove]

Originally posted by Swank
I know you said text spacing/font is still in the works. Quoted text is tough to read, just leave it as regular text, not italic and bold, might as well add underline, strikethrough and flashing while you're at it

Everything else looks great

Yea I agree it's too small. Even make it like this

OP by Swank View Post
testing

instead of

Originally Posted by Swank View Post
testing

[CompletelyNumb]

So far not mobile responsive. It saves, but not responsive. Same small text and layout. Is that intentional?

Also agree with Cam on the design, could be brought up to date.

Happy to see the upgrade though, way better features in vb4.

[rage2]

Originally posted by CompletelyNumb
So far not mobile responsive. It saves, but not responsive. Same small text and layout. Is that intentional?

Font sizes scale based on the screen size. Even columns get hidden when it can't fit.

[R154]

I take it all back. I love new beyond. took me about 1 minute to get used to it, but 3 days to get over the old look being gone.

Man the mobile interface is slick.

I like it

Thanks for the upgrade!!

[rage2]

Thanks R154. Still a lot of work to go (especially on the backend) to get things acceptable for launch. I know a few people have asked me when it's going live, right now we're targeting the first or 2nd week of June. Yea, that's how much work is left.

[R154]

Its so intuitive. I really didnt think I would like it. But, Man is it every fast. I like how easy it is to differentiate different post types. And no more squinting or resizing.

I genuinely appreciate the work you guys have put in.

Where is the donate option? (aka beer fund?)

[rage2]

Thanks man, no beer fund necessary. I think I speak for all those working on this project that we enjoy new shit. Being in management these days, it's tough to get my hands dirty, so it's actually fun (aside from the lack of sleep).

The infrastructure changes I've been doing have been pretty awesome too. Learnt so much new stuff, and even applying some new things that can benefit Replicon. I'm presenting Beyond next month on some of these new things to the Replicon engineering/infrastructure teams to leverage some of the cool ideas that I've found.