New Ideas for the Site

datadyne007 said:
The web development standard for forums is 640 x 480.
Click to expand...

Huh...the size I see most frequently on other architecture-related discussion forums (like Skyscraperpage or Wired NY) is 1024 x 768. And maybe I'm weird, but I accept longish load times as part of the package when looking at archi-porn.

But how would after-the-fact resizing of an image affect page load times? Aren't those times a direct function of the size of the file and not the pixel count?
 
I said standard, not preferred. To answer your question, yes, the load time is mostly dependent on file size, but it still has to load a 1024x768 image as the preview. A smaller image preview is going to cause the page to load faster.

The smaller images are also handy for viewing on mobile devices. It's funny how it came full circle. I was trying to catch up on the latest posts on my break at work tonight and my phone refused to even load some pages.

vBulletin is a little farther behind though when it comes to image processing and photo gallery integration. Invision Power (IPB) released IP.Photo last year (I own a license) which is a fully featured image gallery that gets integrated into the board where replies and discussions can occur. It's hard to keep track of discussions about certain photos when they're lost in a giant thread too.
 
vBulletin got sold to another company so the development of the forum software's gone a whole other (and in my opinion, worse) direction. Eventually we should switch to IPB unless if we want the steaming turd that is vBulletin 4
 
BarbaricManchurian said:
vBulletin got sold to another company so the development of the forum software's gone a whole other (and in my opinion, worse) direction. Eventually we should switch to IPB unless if we want the steaming turd that is vBulletin 4
Click to expand...

I completely agree. vB is no longer the vB of yesteryear. The software went way downhill after the buyout. The coding is extremely clunky and excessive and is what eventually caused me to not renew my vB license and switch to IPB.

Have you ever heard of XenForo? Some former vB coders created it based on the original vB structure because they were frustrated with what happened after the company was sold.
 
I upped the default resolution to 1024 x 768. We'll see if this works out.

There are a lot of good ideas here. I like the idea of a book section and the building database, though resource limitations might prevent the latter.

I also like emulating the Urban Omnibus site. I am a bit concerned it may detract from the forum though. Who would be willing to write articles for such a feature?

I'll start looking into how to work photos into the front page. I'm already working on a permanent section for the awards on the front page.

I don't foresee the board upgrading to vb 4. The upgrade will most likely be to different software.
 
Just wanted to chime in that I like the actual size of the forums (as in number of forums.)

Places like skyscrapercity are just so crowded and unorganized. I understand they are literally trying to cover every continent's development including stadiums, infrastructure and general arch talk, but that forum looks like a mess.

Also if this forum does expand, we should really look into enacting a fair use policy for posted articles. I love full articles as much as the next guy, but an with an expanded user base will come expanded notoriety; already seen by Banker and Tradesman. Not trying to be a party pooper, and I have no dog in this fight besides the fact that I love this forum, I just don't want Briv to encounter any legal problems in the future.
 
briv said:
I upped the default resolution to 1024 x 768. We'll see if this works out.
Click to expand...

Yay. Thank you.

kz1000ps said:
But how would after-the-fact resizing of an image affect page load times? Aren't those times a direct function of the size of the file and not the pixel count?
Click to expand...

You're correct. Load times will not be affected at all.
 
Pages are actually loading much faster because most of the images don't even have to be processed anymore. I was incorrectly assuming that people posted higher-res photos.

Thanks, briv, for making the change!
 
Another site to look for inspiration too could be http://railroad.net/

I like the clean news page. The top has a simple menu for forums, articles, photo's etc... Its not too cluttered, and the forums remain a big draw.
 
I like the idea of longer articles featured on the main page, managed by an editor, with submissions reviewed by that editor in conjunction with other members who volunteer. I don't think these could or should be breaking news, but would rather synthesize a debate that has been going on in the forum (on any of the many topics under discussion) and provide a point of view.

The caveat, I think, would be that most if not all of the articles should be written and bylined under real names (unless there are good reasons not to do so). I think even more than a submissions review process, this would help guarantee quality and well-reasoned arguments that could be quoted in larger publications.
 
If a page is set up with building detail it should be controlled by the moderators. Any one with info can send the information to the moderators so that the page doesn't become a jumble. Also how about a page of links organized by category. The first post can be controlled and updated by the moderators and the following threads people can post their favorite sites.
 
PaulC said:
If a page is set up with building detail it should be controlled by the moderators. Any one with info can send the information to the moderators so that the page doesn't become a jumble. Also how about a page of links organized by category. The first post can be controlled and updated by the moderators and the following threads people can post their favorite sites.
Click to expand...

How about controlled by "trusted" members (up to 10 or 15)? Unless if we want to hire way more moderators, two or three people is not enough to update it really frequently.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
I pray to god archBoston never turns into that site.
Click to expand...

I agree. No pun intended, but it's an absolute trainwreck. It's the only way to describe it.

I also agree that we need some precedent studies, but we should design something that suits us specifically.
 
BostonUrbEx said:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=72703&p=900154&hilit=off+topic#p900154

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=78693&p=899291&hilit=off+topic#p899291
Click to expand...

First one: I can't even understand half of what they're even talking about, let alone how that thread derailed. Now that I think of it, I'm surprised they don't use some sort of "derailed" pun when locking off-topic threads.

Second one: Lol @ freaking out over Silver Line discussion in a Blue Line thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top