Template Cleanup

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I really like what dave has done to the template on SFN. It looks rather nice. However, I have a few suggestions that could make it quicker loading and cost less bandwidth:

1. Move the CSS to an external file so it can be cached independently of the page, saving bandwidth.
   
2. Look at the Quick Reply box. It has its own table and is nested among several layers of borders and such (same as the reply box). Some of those extra borders could be removed without affecting how nice it looks, while helping rendering time.
   
3. Move stuff from inline style tags to the main CSS so it can be cached.
   
4. I'd like to see the little top bar thingy redone. It doesn't look that great at the moment. Especially the little folder icons vBulletin uses for its nav tree, and such. That could be improved upon.
   
5. Can't we consolidate the Active Topics menu into New Posts? I don't know how many people need to know the last half hour. I only care about new ones.
   
6. We really don't need an arcade search function in the dropdown menu.
   
7. In Post Reply, do we need a little "Logged in as So-and-so" button above the reply box? It already says who you are in the upper right ("Welcome So-and-so.").
   
8. The copyright text at the bottom looks like vBulletin is copyright Jelsoft and SFN.
   

 

I don't intend to be demanding, but I think we can make the template nicer than it is. Dave, I don't think your template is bad, it's the default vBulletin stuff that really sucks.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

(Sorry, I can't edit my post at the moment. Bloody time limit.)

 

A few more ideas:

• We don't need the Quick Reply to This Post button. It doesn't do anything but select the Quick Reply box.
  
• Why is the "Posting Rules" box collapsable? Does it really matter? I'd keep it open myself.
  
• I have never seen anybody rate a thread in my life at SFN.
  
• What are the Previous Thread | Next Thread links for? I don't even know what they do anyways.
  
• Couldn't FAQ be added to the Quick Links menu?
  
• Couldn't the UserCP section of the Quick Links menu be removed, given we already have a link to the UserCP up there?
  
• If anybody was going to use the Forum Jump box, it should be higher up. Or get rid of it. I don't know if it's really that useful anyways.
  
• [nitpick]Change the join date to do full months instead of 3-letter abbreviations[/nitpick]
  
• Why do we need a New Posts button in the Quick Links menu when it's already in Active Topics?
  

That's all I can think of for now. It's all nitpicky stuff anyways, so I really don't mind.

 

Dave, I do like your style you made. It's rather nice.

[Dave]

Move the CSS to an external file so it can be cached independently of the page, saving bandwidth.

 

I'll look into that. Don't think it's a problem.

 

Look at the Quick Reply box. It has its own table and is nested among several layers of borders and such (same as the reply box). Some of those extra borders could be removed without affecting how nice it looks, while helping rendering time.

 

Fair enough.

 

Move stuff from inline style tags to the main CSS so it can be cached.

 

A lot of this is to do with vB, and it can be pretty tricky to move it in some cases.

 

I'd like to see the little top bar thingy redone. It doesn't look that great at the moment. Especially the little folder icons vBulletin uses for its nav tree, and such. That could be improved upon.

 

I agree with this one. I just haven't had the time to figure something else out.

 

Can't we consolidate the Active Topics menu into New Posts? I don't know how many people need to know the last half hour. I only care about new ones.

 

The reason I added it in the first place is because people specifically requested it. You can still access the new posts link, it's just inside the menu.

 

We really don't need an arcade search function in the dropdown menu.

 

No, I'll remove that.

 

In Post Reply, do we need a little "Logged in as So-and-so" button above the reply box? It already says who you are in the upper right ("Welcome So-and-so.").

 

No harm in having it.

 

The copyright text at the bottom looks like vBulletin is copyright Jelsoft and SFN.

 

That can be changed

 

We don't need the Quick Reply to This Post button. It doesn't do anything but select the Quick Reply box.

 

It allows you to quote the post without explicitly putting it in the box (assuming you check the option).

 

Why is the "Posting Rules" box collapsable? Does it really matter? I'd keep it open myself.

 

It's up to personal preference, I suppose

 

I have never seen anybody rate a thread in my life at SFN.

 

Well, it's just an extra feature. Doesn't mean it won't necessarily used in future.

 

What are the Previous Thread | Next Thread links for? I don't even know what they do anyways.

 

Allows you to traverse the threads easily.

 

Couldn't FAQ be added to the Quick Links menu?

 

If it's popular enough

 

Couldn't the UserCP section of the Quick Links menu be removed, given we already have a link to the UserCP up there?

 

Same answer.

 

If anybody was going to use the Forum Jump box, it should be higher up. Or get rid of it. I don't know if it's really that useful anyways.

 

I use it quite a lot of the time, after I read through a thread.

 

[nitpick]Change the join date to do full months instead of 3-letter abbreviations[/nitpick]

 

Would cause the text to wrap-around probably; it'd make it look pretty ugly.

 

Why do we need a New Posts button in the Quick Links menu when it's already in Active Topics?

 

We don't, really. It's just I haven't removed the redundant stuff yet.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Thanks for replying Dave.

 

I guess much of it is a matter of preference. But even on the vB forums there are threads about the number of tables used by the default skin. There's even a project to do a table-free layout.

 

About the month word-wrapping: even my name word wraps around anyways... don't know if that column is big enough.

 

Fair enough about the inline style tags. It's better than having it all controlled by deprecated tags and attributes...

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I just looked at some old copies of SFN from archive.org.

 

It looked rather nice back then.

 

 

I'd especially like Fafalone's welcome message back on the front page. It's better than just presenting people with a list of threads.