Forum changes?

1. 75

   kathleenkatposted 10 years ago

   Anyone notice the change in forum post format?
   
   It's a little hard to read with the mix of serif fonts in the midsts of a sans serif site. What's going on with the forums? Is this a work in progress? Or am I just going crazy...?
   
   And, when I post a new topic, it sends me back to the forums main sub-page, not the discussion thread itself.
   
   Also, very hard on my eyes with the smaller boxes.
   
   What's going on?

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      lou2212posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The new layout is quite confusing but i guess its hubpages way of keeping all its writers on the ball! By the way, your not going crazy lol

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      1. 75

         kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         So glad to hear I'm not the only one.
         
         I'd like to see our avatars/hubberscores as big as they used to be. I can barely see what you look like. And the "reply" button strains my eyes.
         
         I suppose I can increase the size of the zoom on my browser, but I have never had to do that before, or for any other website.
         
         Please increase the size just a smidge'?

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2. 82

   Aficionadaposted 10 years ago

   See these:
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/104657
   
   http://blog.hubpages.com/2012/10/topics-and-hubnuggets/
   
   I personally prefer serif typestyles, and my aging eyes appreciate a little bigger font, but I do agree that it's quite a big change and perhaps larger than is necessary.

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   1. 75

      kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The beef I have with the serif is that the rest of the site is sans serif. It doesn't match. It's about the first thing I learned in "Intro to Typography" is not to mix fonts. Design continuity.
      
      I can read it just fine. It's the avatar size + reply/etc buttons that I cannot read. And I have 22 year old eyes behind prescription glasses.

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         calculus-geometryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'm a font-aware person as well and would prefer the forum go back to sans-serif.  Have you noticed that the titles of hubs are serif and the text is sans-serif?

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         1. 75

            kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes. It doesn't bother me as much because the titles are big, and usually just a couple of words. Similar to newspaper headings.
            
            There have been scientific studies on the readability of serif vs. sans serif. The body of Hubs being sans serif is something I hope they do not change. That they have forums the opposite makes no sense to me. The content isn't as readable.

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      2. 75

         derek gulbransonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Arial is such a sterile and lifeless font. I feel mixing different fonts, including serif and sans-serif,  is a great way to introduce some contrast and energy into a design. Arial as a font serves it's original purpose well as a consistently rendered screen font, but it's harder to read at large sizes.
         
         Some good advice on mixing fonts:
         http://www.typography.com/email/2010_03/index_tw.htm

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         1. 75

            kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, mixing fonts can make for some interesting typographic/page layout design...However, sans serif makes much better for body text. I agree that Helvetica (Arial is Windows' version) is overused, but it's a font that can be used and ensured that everyone's computer has it loaded, so the pages would look the same cross platform. Also, it's flows easier on the eyes. I don't know how big your screen is, but the serif font used in the body of the forum posts is pretty small to me (though large compared to other features, now). I find myself not being able to read as quickly (not even as quickly as I can type!) but that could just be me.

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3. 66

   theherbivorehippiposted 10 years ago

   Yeah, they just posted on Facebook that they've made changes to the forums, which is why I came over here. Dislike.

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   1. 78

      Sally's Troveposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Totally dislike. These changes seem pointless....let's hear a good reason for them.

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4. 72

   relacheposted 10 years ago

   When viewed on an iPad, the forums are utterly destroyed.  I won't be around here much anymore.

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   1. 93

      Brainy Bunnyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I had the same reaction earlier, but they seem to have fixed it now. Well, if by "fixed" you mean "made it just as hard to read as the new forums are on other platforms as well." 
      
      This new look is awful.

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5. 55

   janderson99posted 10 years ago

   If it AIN"T BROKE DON'T FIX IT
   Enough already!
   Stop changing things on the site and focus on getting more traffic or HP will be dead!
   We've had the layout change, the profile change, ZZZ, pending etc. etc. STOP!

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   1. 62

      lou2212posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I could not agree more!

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   2. 55

      janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      HP fiddled with forum while traffic fell through the plug hole.
      
      

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   3. 0

      EmpressFelicityposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Deleted
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      EmpressFelicityposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      ^^^This. Sorry about the multiple postings if the other ones didn't get deleted.

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         EmpressFelicityposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Now it doesn't even import quotes any more. Or maybe just when it feels like it.

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   5. 81

      Dale Hydeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. The changes have done absolutely nothing to increase my views.  Just the opposite.  I now have eight idle hubs, views are still the lowest ever. I have basically quit posting in the forum under one topic that I used to be the lead poster to helping other members.  I spend about 3 minutes here on HP a day. I used to spend hours. I have stopped publishing on HP.  These changes have been made because it seems to me that we are being driven off.
      
      The forum change is just another "thing" that was unnecessary. 
      
      The current month will be my first month in nine months of not making payout.  I have not changed any hubs with the exception of altering my Amazon capsules after being told that a change was permanent.  Then the change changed again.... and the original change was not permanent.  That was the last straw for me.
      
      Good luck with everyone and good luck to HP.  I will keep my hubs here until I make the transition to place them in a new home.

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      1. 62

         lou2212posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Search for movellas in google, its a site very similar but more chances.of beimg published, they also. Do competitions were you can win thousands

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6. 73

   livewithrichardposted 10 years ago

   Half the screen is blank space... I've checked on both Firefox and IE... This looks like crap...  Why in the world would you go live with this without getting some feedback first..  It really hurts the eyes.

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   1. 90

      wordscribe43posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't get it either.  It not only hurts the eyes, but just doesn't flow well.  I am surprised they didn't make some sort of announcement, too.  I don't follow HP on Facebook and I'm sure I'm not alone.  I thought the site went all wonky, personally.
      
      Edit:  I notice they do have a blog post about it... and now an announcement.  The announcement came after the change, though.

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      1. 80

         TamCorposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I thought it was a glitch, too...and I don't like it, either.
         
         All that white space to the right is terrible for me personally.  I have a problem with white glare on computers--it really bothers my eyes--is that what you mean by it hurting your eyes wordscribe?
         
         And it's a little confusing, where one comment leaves off and another starts.
         
         Sorry, but I like the original forum style much better.

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7. 87

   Cardisaposted 10 years ago

   I must say that of all the changes so far, this one is the worst. I hate the look. Sorry HP Techs, I really love all the other changes except this one. The forums were fine the way it was, this doesn't look forum-like to me. I want the old forum back and the font it too big (and I say that with a pout).

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8. 90

   wordscribe43posted 10 years ago

   Yeah... this isn't working for me, either.  I thought it was a technical error, lol.

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9. 75

   kathleenkatposted 10 years ago

   Is there a reason why our join dates, followers, number of hubs have been removed?

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   1. 87

      Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Mine are still there....so are yours

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      1. 90

         wordscribe43posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Not on the forum, though.

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      2. 75

         kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Interesting. Maybe I am in a different "group" of users, as Facebook usually performs updates that way. For me, in the forums, you cannot see that.

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         1. 90

            wordscribe43posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I can't see that, either...  Maybe only apprentices can for some reason.  Odd.

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      3. 80

         psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Not next to the avatar where they used to be.

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         1. 75

            kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            My Hubs/Followers/Following is on my profile, but not on the forum. My join date is not on my profile. Perhaps nobody will ever know how new I am...

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               wordscribe43posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Your join date is still on your profile... says 6 months ago.

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               1. 75

                  kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Sneaky! I guess I never noticed it up top there.

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10. 89

    Simone Smithposted 10 years ago

    ;__;
    
    In all fairness, we're in the midst of working on making fonts, colors, and general design across the site more cohesive. So this is all a work in progress.

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    1. 75

       kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Okay. My vote is for sans serif.

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    2. 78

       Horatio Plotposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Simone. So if that's the case why is the font type, font size and layout so completely different from the new profile page, the new Hub layout, the feed page and even the new topic page (which was changed at the same time)?
       Sorry to moan at you so, but I'm pouting like Cardisa.

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       1. 78

          Horatio Plotposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Oh, and I forgot to mention the Main Forum page too.

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       2. 75

          kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Don't quote me on this, but some of the programs I work with for generating web content have a default font that may or may not be the same as the 'polished' website's font. The Wiki program I use creates serif fonts.

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    3. 78

       Sally's Troveposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Sorry, Simone, that's not the way to make changes to a major site (this is a major site, right?). What about alpha and beta testing? What about focus groups? What about communications to the users of this site who will be affected by the changes? Users meaning not just "writers" but also readers. HP's just dumped new stuff on its readership and "authors" without any explanation. Sorry again. This is a totally unprofessional move.

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       1. 78

          Sally's Troveposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          And now you can't "import and edit the quote" either. Tried to do that with Simone's comment and even with mine. Import and edit don't work.

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          1. 75

             kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             I believe it still notifies them when you reply directly to their quote though (I suspect...)

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11. 87

    Marisa Wrightposted 10 years ago

    I hate it too.  If they're going to change the forums at all, then get some decent off-the-shelf forum software and redesign the way they work.  Don't just faff around with the fonts.
    
    On my screen, the new font is enormous.  It's not possible for me to skim through a thread easily because one post takes up so much space.  Horrible.

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    1. 87

       Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Marisa

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    2. 75

       kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       For me, everything is small (though the font is large in comparison to everything else). The posts only encompass the left ~60% of the post "box" perhaps the text content needs to be made to snap to the width of the box, as the box snaps to browser size.

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12. 55

    janderson99posted 10 years ago

    An interesting observation. HP promotes itself as a community of writers, yet with every upgrade the avatars and info about the authors is made smaller and smaller. I wonder what is driving this? Why?

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    1. 87

       Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I've noticed this too.   
       
       - Our author information on our Hubs is so small it has practically disappeared. 
       - It's virtually impossible for readers to contact us (it's still there but hidden so well, even other Hubbers are challenged to find it).
       - Readers can no longer search within an author's Hubs, they're directed to the main search box.
       - The "related Hubs" are now directly under our Hubs, before the comments
       - Other writers' Hubs appear on our profiles
       
       Now this.
       
       My guess is that HubPages feel the move to sub-domains gave us all too much of a sense of our own importance, and they're trying to put us back in our places.

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    2. 75

       derek gulbransonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Actually, the author information is the only thing that didn't change size.
       
       The purpose of the forums is community discussion, so the interface should be inflected to support that purpose. I think in the forums what you say is more important than who you are, which is why what you say is now more prominent than who you are.

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       1. 73

          livewithrichardposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          So why all the white space?  See kathleenkat's image above and that is pretty much the same view I have.  The number of characters per line is fine, the font is fine its the empty white space to the right that is completely distracting... I'm waiting for an ad to pop in there and I hope that is not in the plans.

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          1. 75

             derek gulbransonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             That white space is the same as it was before. No changes there.

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             1. 75

                kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Hmm. I never noticed it. Perhaps it was balanced out by the user information on the left-hand side of the post, before? Thinking back on it (though I don't have any screenshots) the forum posts seemed to be following the Rule of Thirds with the user info, content, and negative white space to the right.

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13. 75

    kathleenkatposted 10 years ago

    Just realized that my hubberscore now cuts into my cat logo here on the forums. Now I will edit it to move it all the way to the left...and never become an "e" or "a" member >_>

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14. 80

    TamCorposted 10 years ago

    Will the staff PLEASE address the issue of all the white space on the right?  PLEASE get rid of it somehow--it is sooooo very hard on my eyes, and I know a few others have said the same thing...
    
    I can hardly stand reading the forum threads now...and I have to look away when I type because the glare on the screen is so bad--and I already have my brightness turned down on my monitor! 

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15. 0

    EmpressFelicityposted 10 years ago

    Sorry Sally's Trove, didn't see your identical comment re importing of quotes.
    
    Arrggh, I really should be doing something useful with my day rather than getting annoyed over a relatively minor one of HP's many, many recent site "improvements".

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16. 0

    EmpressFelicityposted 10 years ago

    JAnderson99: "An interesting observation. HP promotes itself as a community of writers, yet with every upgrade the avatars and info about the authors is made smaller and smaller. I wonder what is driving this? Why?"
    
    BEGIN PURE SPECULATION
    
    I am awaiting the day when TPTB here make the following announcement:
    
    "Guess what, hubbers! We've been bought out by Facebook. Isn't that great? Oh, and by the way, you will no longer own your own hubs - all your copyrights are belong to us."
    
    /END PURE SPECULATION

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    1. 75

       derek gulbransonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Actually, the author information is the only thing that didn't change size.

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17. 75

    kathleenkatposted 10 years ago

    
    
    http://img1.imagehousing.com/64/bb8e740 … d12359.jpg
    
    This is what I see... Imbalanced, hard on the eyes, lacking in design continuity... Please make the text snap to the boxes, and boxes snap to screen size. I know this is a work in progress, but changing the font wouldn't be too difficult. It is even worse browsing on mobile (though it has never been that great). Serif fonts are nearly impossible to read on a tiny pixelated mobile screen.

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18. 81

    Greekgeekposted 10 years ago

    Well, as someone with damaged eyes, I can tell you that making forum posts a serif font and cramming it all into half the width of a screen makes the forums unreadable.
    
    It looks quite ludicrous on an iPad, which is what I use for all my work now. I can't imagine what it would look like on a smaller mobile device: microfiche only on the left half of the teeny screen!
    
    Arial is a universal forum font because it's easier to read, especially at smaller sizes.
    
    But on the bright side, it helps vision impaired users get more work done, by discouraging us from visiting the forums.  Good idea!

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19. 75

    derek gulbransonposted 10 years ago

    Sometimes when you use something every day, you become accustom to it's flaws to the point of not noticing them anymore. It's a natural and normal part of how the human cognitive system works. Things that initially stick out must quickly fade to the background in order for you to focus on using the thing. Then when someone changes things to address those problems you'd forgotten about, it's upsetting because to you because in your mind it worked perfectly fine before and now you have to re-learn things you already knew. I'm personally this way whenever Apple changes how their shortcuts work. Sure they may be better, but they are not what I'm use to so for me they are harder to use (for a bit).
    
    The changes to the forum design certainly still have flaws but it's a big improvement. It is now MUCH easier to follow conversations. Previously every reply was double indented for each reply making it very difficult to parse which message was in reply to which other message. The previous Arial text was minuscule, one of our most consistent complaints about the forum design. When showing the design change to people none of them thought the old design was better, so I'm comfortable with it (even though I know changing anything in forums will upset people).
    
    I agree that the new forum design is not perfection and certainly has not fixed every flaw. Feel free to continue pointing out the flaws and next time we change the forum design we'll try to address them. Thanks for all the feedback.

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    1. 75

       kathleenkatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I thought the old forums were easy to read; I had them chronological, though, not threaded.
       
       But I seriously cannot read the serif font nearly as fast as I could the sans serif font.
       
       
       
       For those interested in what I'm talking about, I found this informative webpage on the readability of fonts:
       http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/basics/readability/
       
       I quite literally cannot read the first paragraph as quickly as I can read the second.

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