Attached Link: New Forum Header?

Very nice!!

I like it very much..

Looks good... especially like the part about "you are a moderator of this forum" :) Maybe we could have say a week testing phase in the forum to see if we like it in practice (if that makes any sense).

Fantastic!!

Lol, yeah sorry, forgot to paint out a couple of things I see as a Mod... Yeah, anything like this will have to be test driven. That's a LOT of links. And, I just remembered something I left out... AS

woah... dude... drac (me likey)

Looks good, like the different links going on.

I like it..we also see that you have 27 unread IMs?? You really are loved here. Probs is..with so much to go thru..are you allowing links to be opened up as a separate window..or do we have to do that.. right click thingummy??

Oooh fancy. I'd actually consider having that as my home page since it's a one stop shop. Put google on there too and it would be perfect (that's a joke before you consider it).

Looks quite cool. But how do you mean to implement it? Table cell backgrounds or CSS? The latter would be hell to implement. Cell backgrounds with this kind of pic would also mean big files, which is, for us on modems, a big minus. Then, how big is it? 800x600? The pic seems too big. Finally, how do we adapt it to our preferred colours? Though you and I have the same colour scheme for RR. :-)

I like the new design; it's very informative and elegant!

Looks really good!

Ha, 27 IM's...you should have seen it before I cleaned it out, over 110. A LOT of "so-and-so has recieved your message". Any/all links on the forum header will open in a new window. The header will be just as much straight and plain HTML as possible, this I have found gives rise to way less problems in compatibility for all of us. So, it will be links hovering over nine (or so) graphics, which at this point all tally up to 25Kb. (plus whatever random graphic is showing at the moment, which averages 15Kb-35Kb) If the extra 25Kb turns out to be too much, I'll build a Header with basically all the links you see in the mock-up, I'll just seperate them with HTML "lines", as to not add any more real weight to the page. Total dimensions of the mock-up header is 835x445. Rather big, but if you are viewing at least at 1024x768 (which you REALLY should be), it fits just fine, as the jpg shows. I may bring those(835x445) dimensions down, but will have to resize the fonts down a little, along with those background graphics. Right now the graphics' bevel borders are a tad too wide anyways. Perferred colors - When making the Html stuff for Renderosity I just keep almost all fonts at "default", this makes sure if you have any preferences that affect font/link colors, it will be what you want it to be. The only thing I would like to add that isn't straight HTML is some basic java that would add in a countodown timer to the Challenge Deadline. AgentSmith

Wow that looks great!

Attached Link: http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/javacounter/

It looks too big to me. Remember that some people have lower screen resolution than you. I hate it when people post very wide pictures to forum threads; it means that the forum software stretches the width of the whole thread so that one has to scroll sideways back and forth to read every line. I suggest you set your monitor to 800x600 and then see what it looks like.

No offense, but you couldn't pay me money to go back to 800x600, lol. Everything is so scrunched together. Most online polls about screen resolution show users who work at 800x600 to be around 5%-20%. The majority is usually at 1024x768. Bryce works alright at 800x600 from what I remember, but every other program you need to go higher just to see all of the interface, and Maya PLE, I go higher than that. AS

Oh, well, I use 1600x1200. but my browser window is about 1024 pixels wide. AS, you could resize the graphic to 800 pixels wide.

Well, I think the point Phantast has is if there is nothing to "swell" the width of the forum, I believe this area (The black area in the mock-up) goes down to something like 640 pixels when viewed at 800x600. Most likely the header WILL be going down in width to under 800 pixels, smaller if I can get it, and it still be legibale. AS

Very slow to load, very Gieger.....sorry AS, not too keen....no offense.

I like it, but do admit to being one of the 800x600 people, still only have a 15" monitor.

I love it!

I think as a matter of politeness one has to cater for the lower common denominator as much as possible. 5-20% is significant. I wouldn't work at that resolution either, but I know people who do. Remember also that the sidebar takes up additional space. If you had a width of 780 pixels for the graphic, that would push the sidebar out into limbo. My recommendation is that small (and simple) is beautiful in this case.

Only a couple of detractors for me: The fonts are small enough already - please don't make them smaller. The type in the middle is already too small and illegible due to its size and lack of contrast. I have to get my eyes 13" from the screen to read it (i measured). The blue link text in the middle is unreadable against black. Otherwise, i like.

At a second look I must admit that the middle section with small letters needs more contrast/lighter color; apart from that it's OK.

To those 800x600 lovers: Everyone should be set to 1024x780.How can anyone look at artwork or be part of this community without a higher setting. To Agent Smith: Will be a cool looking template. Keep in mind coloring though. For me the template work fine. The thing that is a little confusing is,there are so many links crammed into a small area. LOL.... I thought you were too busy here without having to go through all this.

Looks very cool AS....

I dunno, AS. Looks wonderful, yes.... but on some comps it's be a little time-intensive to bring up the site as it is.... More graphics mean an increase of that.. Of course I reserve the right to be wrong... shrugs

1024x768 Yep! I like that Header. It was so realistic that for a second I was in shock to see the 27 messages message seeing as I just read and cleared all mine.

On second look I have to agree the text in the center is very hard to read as well as the blue text there. The rest is small enough, if you make it smaller us older people won't be able to read it without a magnifying glass. The other thing I noticed is that all I see when the page opens is the header... not a bad thing but overwhelming. Good design puts forth a more streamlined, efficient look, easy to read and find things...but then again I just got up and haven't had my coffee dose yet...

I don't have a problem with it, but if size is such an issue for people, maybe you could use dropdown-menus or those java/css ones that slide out when you put your mouse over something. It might end up looking cleaner and easier to read that way, too, right now it's just a bit overwhelming.

It really isn't with me but I like to read the screen at 4 - 5 feet away and I need new glasses - these are all scratched up and are anout 10 years old . . . until I get new glasses this year hopefully it might be a little blurry.

Sorry I'm late, but all I can say is COOL BEANZ, AS! WOW! I like it and it looks real good width, text and etc size from where I sit. Go for it, guy!

I like it. Not very constructive, I know, but...

I love it and I think it is perfect for giving quick access to everything from one place. Me thinks you've been working overtime again AS but I won't tell you to rest this time 'cos this is a wonderful design change. 8) Catlin

Well, only 2.5 months after the last post...;o) Just some quickie notes on this header change (yes, I'm still working on it when I can) *I WILL re-tool it to fit into the area provided even for the members who use an 800x600 monitor resolution. Mainly because I do want this to be as small in Kb as possible anyways. *I DID go a little nuts on the amount of links in the preview I gave, lol. With the reduction in size of the actual header dimensions, there WILL be less links. *The really tiny, light colored FAQ links - I should have mentioned, IF I have those, they will be roll-overs, so they will at least turn white when a cursor is on them, so they would be easier to see. And, If I can, the text would also pop-out (get bigger) by 25% as you rolled over them. (But, these will probably be the first links to be cut in the smaller version anyways...) In the smaller version, less links, but I will provide areas/links for the Merchant who provides Challenge prize, and I have now found the scripting I need for a challenge countdown clock many of you had been wanting. That's all I got for an update, for now. AgentSmith

Thanks for the update, AS...I can hardly wait to see it in real live action here. :)

Way cool! where did you find the clock?

Rofl....okay, you'll laugh... My buddy, whom is thirty-four year AND married is obssesed with.....the Olsen twins. All he is missing is a big trenchcoat to skulk around in...lol. Anyway, he sent me a link, called "Olsen Countdown"; http://www.daleford.com/twins.php It has a running countdown that will expire when the Olsen twins hit their 18th birthday, thus making them "legal". Then my buddy can publically drool over them, lol.... Anyways....I saw the clock!, viewed the source of the page, and the people that made it was nice enough to not only give you their site url where you could get more of these scripts, they include instructions on how to operate it right IN the script. Here's that link; http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex6/index.html AgentSmith

Oh duh, where is my head, I have lots of scripts from them, it's a great site...=)

LOL, a perv saves the day. ;) as a side note, my daughter just told me yesterday that they are fraternal(sp), not identical twins, which I find almost impossible to believe, given that identical twins can more easily look different as they age than non identical twins looking so much alike, but then I'm not biology major.

They totally look identical to me too. What's frighteneing is, even being under 18, they are worth around 300 million dollars, AND...once they turn 18, they can legally take control of their company which is worth nearly one Billion dollars. Heck of a B-Day present.... AS

Ok AS, You seem to know an awful lot here about them, are you sure YOU have a FRIEND who is totally into them? Just Kidding!!!! please don't have me banned from renderosity!

Lol, well I'll admit that my girlfriend like to watch a channel on cable called "E" (Entertainment television), all about Hollywood and stuff. She loves this one show called "It's great to be...". And, then they show you what stupid things certain rich celebrities buy with their truckloads of money, how much they make, etc, etc. And, I usually listen in from the computer room, so...I got an earful of "the olsen twins" one day. Next day "brad and Jen", or "brittany spears", etc, etc. If I had only 10% of the money those people have...I'd instantly buy the Bryce property from Corel, lol! AS

In my defense for the previous post I made, all I can say is I discovered a new brand of Molson beer, this one is called "XXX" and it kicks a$$ with 7.3% alcohol, need I say more. Ok the more part would be I was on my third bottle, LOL. And I agree with wishing I had a fraction of their money, My dream is to get Mr Gates to loan me a fraction of his money for just two yrs. I'm sure I could live off the invested interest of that for the rest of my life. But I don't have any dreams of sleeping with the guy. ;-P

7.3%? Nice, lol... Believe it or not, I heard Gates is no longer the richest guy in the world...who beat him out? Lol...the guy who owns Ikea. Strange but true. (at least for this week) AS

I were Trippin' the rift an I gotta say Six got the Olsen twins beat(both of 'em) hands down - although if you think about it Six's more'n likeiy younger'n them both.

Don't worry guy's it's just that mid-life crisis kicking in. lol 8) And thanks for keeping us informed AS, I'm really looking forward to the new header in action. 8) Catlin