# New Army.ca Style



## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

Folks,

I have updated the Army.ca forums style. The new format is a bit more compact and simplistic in it's layout, and hopefully a step in the right direction. I may have missed the odd thing here or there though, so if anyone notices things that seem out of place or look wonky, please let me know.

Feedback on the new style (good or bad) is also welcome.


Cheers
Mike


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## PViddy (28 Dec 2005)

Looks great Mike,

You can tell you've been hard at work.

Bigger font for the older folks....cough...cough..er i mean more experienced members among us    

cheers

PV


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## dk (28 Dec 2005)

It looks great Mike. Love the menu!

Thanks for a great site.


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## NCRCrow (28 Dec 2005)

I see these weird A.A and other symbols on the boards.

Is it my computer?


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## George Wallace (28 Dec 2005)

You've left out the "Last Post" icon to short cut to the last post in the threads.

OK.....after posting that it was on the next page....but wasn't on the previous one......now I have to go find that page.... ;D


Page is:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php#1

Same thing with:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php


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## karl28 (28 Dec 2005)

The new layout Mike is really good allot easier to find stuff good work .


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## George Wallace (28 Dec 2005)

I notice you have also removed the 'Personal Messages' indicator at the top.  I was always suprised when surfing to see a new PM being indicated at the top.  Will I now have to physically go into the PM folder to check?


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

No, the PM in the menu bar will show how many unread PMs you have. E.G.:


```
Home  	   	 Help   	 Search   	 PM [3]   	 Admin   	 Profile   	 Calendar   	 Members   	 Logout
```

Where were the last post icons available before?


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## George Wallace (28 Dec 2005)

"Last Post" icons used to be to the right side of the Posts column.  They are on some pages, but not all.

They don't appear on the Main Indexes anymore, but are in the Sub Forums.


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## Roy Harding (28 Dec 2005)

Good work, Mike.  MUCH easier to read.

Almost blew my eyes out when I opened it up this morning - I already had text "enlarged" in my browser as I'm still getting used to my new bifocals!  The browser is now set to "normal" text size everything is very clear and legible.

Thanks.


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## Gouki (28 Dec 2005)

Ah good, was wondering about the PM thing. Now that that's settled, this is a much better layout. Looks cleaner and sharper.


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> "Last Post" icons used to be to the right side of the Posts column.  They are on some pages, but not all.
> 
> They don't appear on the Main Indexes anymore, but are in the Sub Forums.



George, do you have a link to a page which shows a last post icon?


Thanks
Mike


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## Michael OLeary (28 Dec 2005)

Well, now I have to go back and edit all those posts that say the search function is in the upper left corner ........


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

We'll add a "search for search" button.


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## PJ D-Dog (28 Dec 2005)

The site looks great.  It's sharper and far more easy to read.  Great work Mike.

PJ D-Dog


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## Burrows (28 Dec 2005)

"Please use the search for search button located by the search button."


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## Gayson (28 Dec 2005)

The new layout is sexy, however, is there an option or can there be an option to display the old one?


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

Sorry, the maintenance required to keep both the old and the new styles up to date for upgrades and improvements would be doubled, so I've decided to stick to just one. The new style is part of the upgrade that took place earlier this week, so some of the new features already don't work in the old style.


Cheers
Mike


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

George,

I see the "Last Post" indicators at the far right of the board view, in the "Last Post" icon.


Cheers
Mike


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## Fishbone Jones (28 Dec 2005)

George,

Get rid of that little 14" monitor.


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## brin11 (28 Dec 2005)

Mike, looks great.  My only beef is the quote box.  I find the green with the black text is difficult to read now where it wasn't before.  Can you lighten the background??

Cheers.


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

brin11 said:
			
		

> Mike, looks great.  My only beef is the quote box.  I find the green with the black text is difficult to read now where it wasn't before.  Can you lighten the background??
> 
> Cheers.



How's this?


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## Fishbone Jones (28 Dec 2005)

I like that!


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## Cloud Cover (28 Dec 2005)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> How's this?



This new style is very eye appealing. Good job!!!


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## George Wallace (28 Dec 2005)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> George, do you have a link to a page which shows a last post icon?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> Mike



No Last Posts:   http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php

With Last Posts:   http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/board,1.0.html


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## Gayson (28 Dec 2005)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Sorry, the maintenance required to keep both the old and the new styles up to date for upgrades and improvements would be doubled, so I've decided to stick to just one. The new style is part of the upgrade that took place earlier this week, so some of the new features already don't work in the old style.
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Mike



Cool, thanks for the reply.


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## Mike Bobbitt (28 Dec 2005)

George,

Thanks, I got it now... was that icon there in the old theme?


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## George Wallace (28 Dec 2005)

We used to be able to access the last post in that thread/topic from any of the menu pages.


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## brin11 (28 Dec 2005)

Mike,  thanks for fixing the quote box.  Looks great now!


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## Shadowhawk (28 Dec 2005)

I like it a lot.

Thanks Mike


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## Bzzliteyr (29 Dec 2005)

Could you always "collapse" the different topics?  I just noticed that ability and have since cleaned up my front pag to hide the "francais" section.  Nice and clean looking site, the chat is great!  Would there be a way to add "mark as read" to the top of the main forum page?  I only see it on the bottom.


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## infamous_p (29 Dec 2005)

Looks a lot sharper and more professional. Good work Mike.


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## dk (29 Dec 2005)

I seem to have apostrophes replace by junk in various posts... "it's"
Is it at my end, or leftovers from the crash? Thanks


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## NCRCrow (29 Dec 2005)

me too!


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## Ex-Dragoon (29 Dec 2005)

dk said:
			
		

> I seem to have apostrophes replace by junk in various posts... "it's"
> Is it at my end, or leftovers from the crash? Thanks



I believe Mike made a post awhile ago folks its being looked at and worked on.
FWIW I have it as well.


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## Mike Bobbitt (29 Dec 2005)

*New* posts should not have these, but many older posts will. It's an unfortunate side effect of the system restore and upgade. The most helpful thing people can do is to identify a post where it's a problem, indicate what the "garbage characters" are and what they should be.

I can then do a full search and replace to [hopefully] restore them.


Cheers
Mike


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## Pea (29 Dec 2005)

Looks great Mike! I haven't found any problems so far. But I am using sucky dial-up right now, so I haven't done too much browsing lately..


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## Spartan (29 Dec 2005)

Just noticing in the subforums it's titled Child boards? I understand the context of parent category and subsets - just a little confused on the naming of such...


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## Mike Bobbitt (29 Dec 2005)

That was me being lazy... in past updates I've changed Child Board to Sub Board, but didn't this time around. I've now updated that text so it's back to "normal" for us.


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## ZipperHead (29 Dec 2005)

I fear change  :crybaby: It's hard for me to read this on my 12" monochrome monitor...

Like many other things (CADPAT, realizing that soldiers entering service now weren't even born yet when I joined, the ballgag) it will take a while to get used to, but should work out nicely.

Good work, Mike.

Al


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## NavComm (29 Dec 2005)

Allan stop that crying or Mike will have to provide us with an umbrella smiley to stop the rain of tears


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## Mike Bobbitt (29 Dec 2005)




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## NavComm (29 Dec 2005)

Mike if that's an umbrella it's not working for me. All I see is a little box with an x in it.


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## Sh0rtbUs (29 Dec 2005)

http://www.100megsfree3.com/fwc493/SmileyDirectory5/H/BulletUmbrellaL.gif


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## NavComm (29 Dec 2005)

it says i'm not authorized to view the page, soon i will cry and no....it's not hormones


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## Cpl.Banks (30 Dec 2005)

It looks awesome except i don't know if anyone else has had this problem, the screen is super sized so i have to scroll to the side to see it all. I have no clue if this is just a glitch with my computer or if it was intended. Anyways if anyone could get back to me that would be great. Thanks.

UBIQUE!!!


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## Mike Bobbitt (30 Dec 2005)

Well that's the last time I hotlink from someone else's site... serves me right I guess....


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## big bad john (30 Dec 2005)

C/ M.Bdr. Banks said:
			
		

> It looks awesome except i don't know if anyone else has had this problem, the screen is super sized so i have to scroll to the side to see it all. I have no clue if this is just a glitch with my computer or if it was intended. Anyways if anyone could get back to me that would be great. Thanks.
> 
> UBIQUE!!!



Try reducing the text size on your browser.  If you are using Internet Explorer click on the "View" tab and scroll down to ""Text Size" and choose the next smaller size.  Just a suggestion.


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## Cpl.Banks (30 Dec 2005)

Thanks, I don't know what happend but it looks great, its working fine now. Keep up the awesome work its looking really great!

UBIQUE!!!


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## armyrules (2 Jan 2006)

Good job on the layout Mike looks a lot better love the menus!!


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## q_1966 (3 Jan 2006)

Its different (havent been here since before you changed it) I miss the Army.ca logo with the random soldier pics though


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## Neill McKay (9 Jan 2006)

Definitely a big improvement in the appearance and usability of the site -- well done.


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