119 replies to this topic

[luv2help.com]

Nice Work Guys



Bravo

[dEcade]

I don't know if you guys care but personally I think the ads should look a little different because Its gets really hard to tell which are ads and stuff when looking through tutorials.

[Hayden]

I keep getting confused every time the layout changes. I have to look around and find where everything is again.



good job, though! looks great!

[Hoot]

after viewing the site for a little bit it to me now feels like (here is my metaphor): you took an old house (the blue and green layout) then gutted the inside and made it look pretty (the whole new way content is displayed) but didn't fix the outside (the blue and green layout). basically I don't care for the kept blue and green part but like the rest.

Hoot

[albinoAZN]

I agree with the other people about the ads. They should be a little bit more distinguishable. A different background would be nice.

[awesty]

Faken, on Jul 13 2007, 12:25 PM, said:

Kykoic, on Jul 12 2007, 10:13 PM, said:

I'm sorry to be a Joy kill, but the site looks more cluttered ever. I am a long time Tutorial section user (Not Forum) and i just believe that it's too hard to see and i liked the old version better. I hope there's someway you can put a skin picker up, Or Version picker up.

Edit: I'm sorry there it's hard to Adjust with 4000 Ads on the right of your screen but i stick with my word and i just believe that you may lose alot of people (Including me) For this version.

LOL there are less ads there now than before, but thanks for sharing your thoughts.

There may be less ads then before but with the new design there is no separation between the ads and the content. It makes it seem like there are ads all over the place, instead of just in a ad column by themselves (even though they are, but it just doesnt feel like it).

[Faken]

awesty, on Jul 13 2007, 01:56 AM, said:

Faken, on Jul 13 2007, 12:25 PM, said:

Kykoic, on Jul 12 2007, 10:13 PM, said:

I'm sorry to be a Joy kill, but the site looks more cluttered ever. I am a long time Tutorial section user (Not Forum) and i just believe that it's too hard to see and i liked the old version better. I hope there's someway you can put a skin picker up, Or Version picker up.

Edit: I'm sorry there it's hard to Adjust with 4000 Ads on the right of your screen but i stick with my word and i just believe that you may lose alot of people (Including me) For this version.

LOL there are less ads there now than before, but thanks for sharing your thoughts.

There may be less ads then before but with the new design there is no separation between the ads and the content. It makes it seem like there are ads all over the place, instead of just in a ad column by themselves (even though they are, but it just doesnt feel like it).

The ads were fully blended with the tutorials exactly as they are now. There are just less of them now. Look at the old screen shots (that I need to replace lol) in the ad system that show where the integrated ads go. http://www.pixel2life.com/skin_images/1/sc..._integrated.gif

[Av-]

Hey, the new upgrade is looking great in my opinion, and viewing from a new users perspective, the accessibility has definitely been improved. In the end, most of the visitor still come here only for it's tutorials and now they get them right in their face
Only thing that bothers me is the category browser, imo, the color and the way it's laid out does not blend at all with the overall layout, but that's just my opinion. Don't kill me

Overall it's definitely an improvement.

[Adam Sheridan]

Faken, on Jul 13 2007, 12:23 PM, said:

The ads were fully blended with the tutorials exactly as they are now. There are just less of them now. Look at the old screen shots (that I need to replace lol) in the ad system that show where the integrated ads go. http://www.pixel2life.com/skin_images/1/sc..._integrated.gif

Yes there are less adverts then the previous design but, like I tried to say, there is now less content.
Which makes it SEEM like there are more adverts. You have upset the balance between Advert/Content.

- Adam

[Netcades]

Nice design but the text are so light. Black would be a better choice IMO.

Edited by Netcades, 13 July 2007 - 08:45 AM.

[MetalSkin]

Hmm didn't even notice the adds until it was pointed out in here, but then I haven't searched for anything since the new version got loaded. I must admit that they seem to blend in more, but then the current ones all say "advertise here", I presume because the spots haven't been taken up yet.

If that's the case and when they're taken up they're going to look how the old ones looked (with the "Advertisement" below the text) then I don't really see a problem.

I'm a relatively new member here and I spotted the adds when I first started using this site. I think they only blend in now because they don't say "Advertisement" currently. I do agree that making them a different background would be easier for people to ignore, but then that's not the point of advertisement is it? Why would people pay for ads that are going to be easy for people to ignore? If people had their way there wouldn't be any ads on Free to Air, or on Cable either, but economic reality doesn't allow that.

So IMHO I reckon how they are now is fine. Also I think the balance is fine, I count four ads two 15 search results, seems balanced enough to me. Hope you don't mind me adding my 2c worth, not trying to offend anyone, just trying to provide the opinion of someone who is new to the site.

Edited by MetalSkin, 13 July 2007 - 08:53 AM.

[α∂αмяoss]

Wow, i've been gone for a week a v4 is released?! Looks great!

[Flanders]

I like the clean look overall, but may I make a suggestion?

In regards to the advertisements listed within the tutorial search results, could those perhaps have a different background tint? I browse a lot by thumbnail, and I find myself clicking on ads by accident quite often...maybe it could be set up like Google's sponsored search, where the have the blue background behind their paid advertising?

Just an idea...I'm not sure if the ads on here are based on a click-through rate, and I'd hate to be taking away from someone's business because everything melds together so much.

[Griffin]

I'm gone for a week and the whole site changes heh

Very nice job to everyone involved, looks great

- Griffin

[Demonslay]

I feel kind of bad about only posting in the Help forums now, but I gotta voice my opinion on this, lol.

I really liked the splash page, lol.

When I first came to P2L and noticed the v4 change, I was extremely lost to say the least. And on first impression with the look, I didn't want to because I have always loved P2L... but I kind of slightly... hated it.

I do agree that the tutorials are the single most important content on the page, but I actually missed everything else. Especially having the nice user dock on the front page, and being able to view the news from time to time (since I generally just skip down to the Help section as soon as the forums load up). Also missed the featured site, and pretty much everything else. I honestly miss the ads. To me, they just gave the site a better balance, especially with the three column layout, and the way everything just complimented so well.

I'm kind of torn, because I loved the blue and green, and now I love the new sleeker gray and white, web 2.0 style if you will, but I just don't think they go together that well.

I honestly liked the other navigation better, with the menus on the side. About the only thing I like about the new navigation bar is the Category Browser (which is absolutely perfect in my opinion, definitely much better than that stupid option menu). The rest I honestly kind of hate.

Now granted, I'm a little more used to the site now, and I don't hate it as I did when I first looked, but I did love the old version.

Since I've kind of knocked up all the parts I don't like, I'll put in some positives.

As I've said, I absolutely love the Category Browser; only flaw is when it goes off screen, but that's obviously something that can't be helped, lol. Also is a tad annoying how it clicks off if my mouse goes even a pixel off the menu. Normally wouldn't bother me, but I use a touchpad on a laptop, so, meh. Would be great if it atleast had a half second to second delay before it closes.

I also absolutely love the new way of searching with just one click pretty much, and then it telling you which categories showed results. Absolutely love it.

I also like the way the Featured Tutorial is displayed. Very nice.

The new display row is pretty nice looking for tutorials, but I just honestly liked the old look, with it more centralized in the middle column. Also with it being not so wide, it just looked better to me.

Probably the first time I haven't fallen in love with a new version, but oh well. Love the features, not so crazy about the look and lack of content. I guess I just liked that 'busy' you were trying to get rid of; made the site look more complete to me, and kept me from navigating all over the place for everything.

Well, opinions aside, I still do have to congratulate the staff for a good job. Even if I don't completely like it, I can tell that there was definitely alot of work put into it. So thumbs up guys.

[scientifix94]

tokotah_alley, on Jul 13 2007, 04:21 PM, said:

I like the clean look overall, but may I make a suggestion?

In regards to the advertisements listed within the tutorial search results, could those perhaps have a different background tint? I browse a lot by thumbnail, and I find myself clicking on ads by accident quite often...maybe it could be set up like Google's sponsored search, where the have the blue background behind their paid advertising?

Just an idea...I'm not sure if the ads on here are based on a click-through rate, and I'd hate to be taking away from someone's business because everything melds together so much.

I definetly agree

[Faken]

Thanks for the comments everyone, keep them coming! I haven't been able to read much up until now because I've been CRAZY busy away from the PC since the day of release unfortunately, but I'll be looking through everything you've been typing and tweaking things here and there. Just bear in mind that it's impossible to make everyone happy (You can quite clearly see some love it and some don't) and people naturally oppose change, even though they would like to think otherwise. If there's anything I've learned after releasing so many sites, it's that after 2 weeks, most of the folks who don't like the new site will love it and probably tell me off if I change it again LOL!

Some key points that I like so far that I will probably look in to:

A small delay on the category browser before it rolls up when the mouse cursor hovers off.

Better ad identification among the tutorials

I've also thought up a couple of ideas based on your feedback that I'll explore that I think ppl will like But like I said, use the site for a couple of weeks and I think you'll find that you'll become very comfortable with the flow of the site and the overall look.

Thanks again and everyone and thanks for the feedback, good or bad The majority is obviously good, so I'm a happy camper.

Dan

[Av-]

Alright, after having played with the category browser for a little while, I pretty much got used it. Regardless it's a hell of a lot faster than the old 'expanding / collapsing' menu's. One thing that does bother me are the colors used in the browser. White fonts on a dark-grey background? I can't seem to find such colors anywhere else on the site and it does not fit with the overall style of the site at all imo. Not to interfere myself too much with the staffs decisions, but here's something I mocked up in Photoshop real quick.



As you can see, I changed them colors that blend a little more with the overall colors. Light-grey from the body background and the new bar above the browser that holds the links to reviews, interviews etc. Green for the rollovers. Still needs some tweaking, but this should get you an idea of what I mean.

Just my two cents

[Faken]

It was done intentionally to contrast heavily with the site so it's easier to see and use. Like I find your example difficult to see actualy We will be tweaking it though in the coming days/weeks anyhow so we'll see what we can cook up

Dan

[drcrazy4]

Maybe if you darken that green bar a tiny bit and make the text white. I think the bar needs to be changed to a different colour because as other people have said it just makes the page look a bit dull. Maybe nothing or bright blue, maybe green.