New Skin!! New Look!!

zathros

zathros

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A new look for Zealot. We are a "New Zealot"! We stand on our own. Not a "sister or brother forum", we are Zealot. Our friends are still our friends and now we have a new look, with the same great group of people. Bugs will be and are being worked out. The "Quick Links" is between "Search and Log Out", click the blank button for the same drop down Menu. I find it incredibly easy to read, and most of all, I find that the pictures that are posted really stand out.

Personally, I love it! I feel liberated. No more reminders of forums I left and was booted out of. It seemed that everyone used that old skin! That old "beforeskin" has been axed, now we're out there for all too see! :)
 
Wow!!!!

zathros said:
That old "beforeskin" has been axed, now we're out there for all too see! :)
Click to expand...


Wahahahaha, Brilliant wordplay............ This is definitely the place to 'hang out' now... :rolleyes: We have all become a eunuch, erm, unique community.

I have to admit that, at first, it was: WTF?????????? The site was really unresponsive and slow, and I panicked a little thinking something had gone 'mammary vertical', as I had just installed a web based graphic package. But, I partook in rolling a paper-cone, and laid back on my couch for 20 minutes. When I tried again all was well. And, as I am replying to this, I have now found out the W in WTF! :p.

So far, I REALLY LIKE IT!!!!!!!! I always had trouble reading the text on the old style skin, especially at night :cool:, but with this skin(less?) version, it is clear and sharp. And yeah, as you pointed out, the photos really jump out at you now!!

Nice work all of those involved. :thumb::thumb:

Over the last 7 months or so, this site has improved to no-end.

I feel proud to be a Zealotonian!!!!!

:wave:
 
Umm, OK. I wish I could say I like it, but I don't, really. With my failing eyesight, I can hardly see the text now. Not enough contrast for me. Sorry.


Scott K.
 
While the pictures do stand out, I, too, am finding the text hard to read. Hopefully, it's just a matter of getting used to...
 
Would be a nice idea to be able to set our own personal preferences for text colour, etc. Settings could be saved as a cookie.

Just a thought!:mrgreen:
 
On some sites, the user has the option of choosing the background colors. The being able to do so, will help some who have problems with the color schemes. I must say, that the change caught me me by surprise. I was using the old color schemes and when I saved/uploaded my photos, it came up on a different schematic "BLUE FOX", I thought that my build thread was hijacked to another universe. I can live with it but there should be a greater contrast between the background and the lettering, ie. Black background and white lettering, Yellow background black letters.
 
Several times I tried to lock in today but only got a blank page - this must have been at the time when the site was revamped. I also thought my browser was hacked but a little chat with our Admin cleared things up fast. ;-)

It is good to see that Zealot is now on its own.

However, I have extreme difficulty reading the text. I barely can read it and have to get much closer to the screen for that. It would be great if you could turn it into white; light grey over dark grey is really difficult to make out and should be used for side notes only, not for the main text. And some of the smileys do not blend well together with the background, they have a white halo / rim around them.

The "edit" and "quote" buttons can hardly be read, too. The letters are way too small. The thread rating and the post icons are hard to see, too, because everything is so blue-grey-blue.

I hope these issues can be fixed.
 
If the Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma may be set too high on your monitors, and on most, they are set like that from the factory, I would try and adjust them. Try to get the darkest background. This will then, when your eyes get used to it, allow the letters to pop out. Viewed in a dark environment, it is especially noticeable. It may take getting used to for some but I personally believe , as I have set up so many Home Theater systems, once you get used to it, you will think other sites are harshly lighted.

I have a 24" Acer monitor and the "EDIT" and "quote" buttons stand out. I tried it on my sons Acer Laptop and it was the same thing there. As I stated, most monitors have the Contras, Brightness and Gamma set up too high. This is done at the factory so the computer monitors look bright on the store shelf. Tweak it a little and see if it makes a difference. The attached picture should help you. You should see all shades of green to black on the scale, the rest is self explanatory. By the way, the color is too high when Red bleeds past the edges. I have the resolution set to 1080P too. :)

color-test-file.jpg
 
OOOOOhhhh...

So THAT'S what happened! I was worried about what had happened to the colors...:confused:
I am lucky enough not to have any problems for reading it so far, but I agree with some of the issues that have been pointed here, as buttons being hard to see, or even disappearing! In my case, the "New posts" button, next to the "Calendar" one, is in blank...:cry:
Well, I believe that changes can cause a bit of chaos, until we all get used to it, and it "settles down". I know the great team here will take care of everything, as usual. :thumb: :thumb:
 
In my first post I stated that between the "Search" and "Log Out" buttons was the "Quick Links" drop down menu, it's still there. It will all be sorted out. :)
 
"If the Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma may be set too high on your monitors, and on most, they are set like that from the factory, I would try and adjust them."
My monitor is adjusted for ALL the sites and browsers I use, why do I have to "adjust" them for just this site?
The entry page I had bookmarked does is changed along with the colors. I do not care for the change, it is hard for me to read too.

How about a vote on the change instead of springing it as a surprise?
 
The option that I use, is that I highlight the text and then goe to the letter coloring and choose white. this will bring out the text like the reply that Zathros did in his last comment. the only problem I had, was that I also post on other sites that have a white background and I have to repeat the process to turn the lettering to black on white, or the words will not be visible.

Keep the grey background but leave the comments box with a white background so as to contrast away from the grey overall background and make it easier to read. The members should not have to toggle back and forth to read the comments and not to mention, it also affects the sponsors ads as well. The main subjects should jump out at you, and not hide in the background.
 
From a designer's eye, overall, I like the new look. Congrats!

With my glasses and 23" monitor I have no problem reading, but I can definitely see the point many are making, and have to agree with them.
The color scheme is definitely softer on the eyes, however I would also put in my vote to make the text default lighter. Not necessarily pure white, the one just next to it like I used here would be sufficient IMO...:wave:

EDIT: I'll add my vote to the "multiple color setting option" too, that seems like a good idea.
 
new look

its hard for me too, I was shocked and needed emergicare because of the surprise, and my lips move when I read, but only because im a hillbilly.
 
spaceagent-9 said:
its hard for me too, I was shocked and needed emergicare because of the surprise, and my lips move when I read, but only because im a hillbilly.
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You so funny!! Work with us. Tablets are not real computers either and the .01% of people who read this forum through those devices are small in number (I'm only joking!). Yes, I actually do have that statistic!

It is what it is. I think that you will find, especially in low light environments, that it is much easier to read and the pictures you guys are posting really POP OUT!.

As the great philosopher JarJar Binks once said: "Meeze lika duh new skinny teengy!" :)

Have fun and play with it.:p:twisted: When your done, try the forums features and make your posts look exactly like you wish. :)
 
Thank you for sharing the colour chart, Zathros. However, my contrast and colours are really fine on my system. Even though it looks as if we were exchanging secret notes which others are not supposed to see. Or as if we were printing with an empty cartridge. The text is very hard to make out.

I have found out that it might not be only a matter of contrast but of the default text colour, too. The default text colour is black and this is why it looks so dark. It is not shown really black but very, very dark-grey. This is why the text almost disappears. If you switch to grey for example (which under different circumstances would look strange) the text can be seen much better.

So I'll be switching the colour to a lighter tone till that issue is fixed. I don't know what will happen to the text if someone is trying to print it; maybe it will become invisible because it is printed light grey on white. :-(

Bad thing is that the text colour of every new post has to be changed before submitting the post which is a bit daunting. Anyway, that affects only my posts. The posts of the other members will still remain in that darker tone unless they switch to the lighter one, too. I don't like that at all. Please have the default colour of the text made lighter.
 
There a number of advantages to using a dark background, such as energy saving and softer for the eyes to read.
Imho, I like the grey letters better because the contrast is softer. When there is a lot of white text, I find it harder to read.
 
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