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Instructor
#51 Old 15th May 2013 at 3:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ChiK_HeinekeN
I have a question (probably a dumb one but...) What's the point of having the option of choosing the old style and bootstrap if it can't run at the same time? If you choose bootstrap ( either you like it or are adjusting for the future change) but when you go to the download page you have to switch to the old style to see the page properly then, in my opinion, it's a waste of time.

If you want to browse the site with Bootstrap enabled and have it working, you have to browse from this url: https://www.modthesims.info/?styleid=40
Otherwise just going to modthesims.com will only work with the classic theme.

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Mad Poster
#52 Old 15th May 2013 at 3:46 PM
Thank you Delphy. We didn't really mean to discourage on improving the website (trust me, its already improved), but its just that we got used to it the way it was that, well, you know... Although, I'm hoping for a better improvement in the improvements. :D
Forum Resident
#53 Old 15th May 2013 at 3:57 PM
I still do not have a problem with the appearance of the site no matter where you goes with it. I am more concerned about the content of the site. No one pays attention to me saying over and over there are dead links here being ignored. I want to see all download links in pristine condition.

Let me elaborate further since I get no one agreeing with me on this point: If I look up a mod for, let's say, how to allow toddlers to visit a community lot. And that mod is a very bad broken mod that has messed up everyone's game and is all over comments that it never worked for anyone ever with pages of comments saying, "this is broke my game!," that mod should be REMOVED. Not blacklisted. REMOVED. That way when another mod maker comes along they will not see that mod there and say to themselves, "Oh, I was going to make a mod like that but look some one else already did it!" Then we are stuck with broken mod.

I find downloads from 2005,6,7(?) with message on them saying, "Our database was corrupted this past week, sorry." Six years ago this lot's link was broken yet still it is here on TS2 downloads.

There are so many moderators hired to make sure someone's post is not end up in wrong spot on forum as if that would be end of world if it did. Yet do any of these employees check for faulty links and offer to remove these useless downloads taking up space??? I have heard it said it is so vary hard to qualify to have your download put on this site. But I say it is zillion times harder to get it off this site when it has gone rot!

No one listens to me.
Mad Poster
#54 Old 15th May 2013 at 4:14 PM
I applaud the fact that you are able to make this decision. It shows a great deal of maturity, and also ability to take feedback and reflect upon what one did right/wrong. An open beta test where users are allowed to be part of shaping the new layout is an excellent way of letting us "newewomgwhatishappening" get used to it slowly, and also have a chance at sharing why we love the site. We all have a reason why we come to this particular site, and that is such a resource to tap into when updating the site.

You were right that I can't see everything at once. Flawed memory, it felt as though I could.

Where do we head for feedback on the new version? Having both available is really helpful, because you can make comparisons and explain more in detail what it is you don't love or do love about either one of the versions. Here, or elsewhere?

@LaurellKH: Isn't there an ever-ongoing project of adding files that were lost when someone states they have them and share? I agree it is kind of annoying to find an item you want and get the message that it was lost ages ago, and still have it be in the list, but I understand why they are left alone. Best of two worlds would be if they could make a sub-category for "chii lost files" where they move all threads that have missing files, so people could easily browse through and see if they have anything that was lost. But that is a lot of work that most likely won't give much results.
And all the maladies of the world burst forth from Pandora's cooch
#55 Old 15th May 2013 at 4:15 PM
A quote from the Site FAQ: "All staff members are volunteers, working on the site in their spare time; and we have quite a small team - generally around twenty or so staff members at any one time."

So, no one is "hired", nor are they "employees". They do this in there spare time, when they can. True, they may be broken links. Perhaps someone who feels so strongly about it could volunteer to take care of those?
Test Subject
#56 Old 15th May 2013 at 4:20 PM
I was shocked by the change, had to check my URL at the top because I was in the site earlier yesterday and it looked normal, went in last night and it was different. I was not upset by the change, I actually liked the updated look. I played around with the color changes I like the yellow on purple, I however didn't mess with any themes. I really like the way you did the individual pages for the creators product. It did take me a sec to find the page tab to get to the download (could be slightly more defined), but it didn't deter me from using the page.

My only suggestions, and this is minor and not a complaint. Having taken Graphic design courses, it is harped upon to not use script style fonts because they are harder to read. This is your website and I only visit, but the header fonts used on the new style were a bit less professional looking. Not saying don't bring your artistic flare to the new style, I liked it, but try a more legible typeface for your headers. If the script is your chosen I can live with it, I love this site and it would take an all out shut down for me to stop using it. I feel that in retrospect, the creators should be the main voice of suggestion, and people like me who have never uploaded anything because we are inadequate at creating (not to say I am not trying) or just do not create, should be the lesser voice of reason. I liked it and whatever you do can only make it better.

Field Researcher
#59 Old 15th May 2013 at 4:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by LaurellKH (snipped)
...No one pays attention to me saying over and over there are dead links here being ignored.

...Let me elaborate further since I get no one agreeing with me on this point...

...No one listens to me.


Just for the record let me say that it happens that I do agree with you on both counts (dead/broken links & the never-worked/buggy downloads) & all I can say is that it is completely in the hands of the staff here as to how to deal with such things & they seem to have other priorities. (Not a "judgment" call, just a statement! Please don't hit the nice wolfy! She likes the staff here!)

I did my part for the "broken" link thing once (submitted the working copy of the file I had as per the directions) & as to the stuff that is completely out-dated and/or apparently buggy I have *trained* myself to try & ignore them. I like to believe that such things worked at one point (or else why would they have been allowed on the site in the first place?) & that the fact that they now deemed *useless* or out-dated/buggy is completely out of my hands...erm, paws.

Not much comfort I know, but at least you know you are not completely alone if your frustrations/opinions!

**** Leader of the MoonBats! ****
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#60 Old 15th May 2013 at 5:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by TranquilInsanity
My only suggestions, and this is minor and not a complaint. Having taken Graphic design courses, it is harped upon to not use script style fonts because they are harder to read.


Well maybe there can be some styles with and some without fancy fonts. I have currently switched to bootstrap amelia and I love its pretty handwriting font.

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
Mad Poster
#61 Old 15th May 2013 at 5:29 PM Last edited by jje1000 : 15th May 2013 at 5:41 PM.
Nice to see some changes, as a website should always be a work in progress.

Speaking purely of function and aesthetics...

- Lack for ordering- it was hard finding what I wanted from the drop down menus- everything looked the same.
- Too much white space- Some coloured boxes around the text should help. It looks a little too spartan right now, and I find my eye wandering everywhere instead of on the important parts!
- Things are too widely spaced out- I shouldn't need to scroll halfway down a page to get to the place where the active threads are (ex. here: https://www.modthesims.info/fd.php?f=561); nor should the drop-down menu take up half the window. This was my biggest concern. Perhaps using a grid format for things like submenus, or pushing them to a sidebar will help reduce the amount of vertical page space for things like submenus.
- Download page should return to a grid format; right now it's hard to scan for things you like
- Right now, I find that the new and old sites are fairly limited in terms of page exposure- meaning that while a few pages like the main community forum and the downloads page recieve a lot of attention, other pages like the Journals and Yearbook (and the donate button!) are tucked away expect for the adventurous clicker. Reordering the site and perhaps integrating these features more deeply into other pages would help- maybe there could be an option to create a main 'homepage' which aggregates content onto one-page- things like thread posts, new downloads, journals, etc. (something like Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/all/)
- Perhaps some of the main menu tabs could be merged together. Things like News, Community and Site could be merged together, as well as the Help and Create Tabs. Again, perhaps allowing the user to choose their own individual choices would work

- Building on this, perhaps allowing the user some options for appearance should fix these issues. Maybe something that allows users to drag and drop their preferred menus/menu order, choose the colour of their boxes, size of font, size of thumbnails amount of white space, etc. would work. Something like what's happening on the User Profile page, but individualized. Perhaps eventually something like the tumblr themes could emerge out of this, with people sharing their individual site layouts.

- Definitely the userbase needs to be eased in gently- too great a change, and you could risk repeating what happened over at Gawker or Digg. Perhaps allowing people to optionally keep the old layout (and slowly swap them over one by one) would work.
- TLDR; Navigation and page exposure at both the old an new MTS3 are a bit too complex- simplifying navigation without removing content should help. Also, user customization.

Anyways, thanks for all the work and effort you put into this site, Delphy!
Instructor
#62 Old 15th May 2013 at 6:05 PM
first of all a belated Happy Birthday. I was very surprised by all the new shinies yesterday but I wasn't annoyed by it or anything. It's time the site got an update and you're not the only ones doing it. I only had two problems. First the search function, the most import feature here on MTS for me, was moved to the bottom of the page in the download sections for TS2 and TS3.

The second one was the themes that although there was a vast selection of colors they all needed a lot of polishing. By this I mean that some of the themes looked great in the Download sections but were a real pain to deal with in the Discussion section. I couldn't tell when i post started or where it ended and who was talking about what. Same thing goes for the Downloads section. Certain themes made that page extremely hard to browse through.

My advice would be to start with two themes and slowly roll out more while paying good attention that each theme has a good background color to text color contrast, each "section" is easily visible by making them different colors or adding border lines and that the theme looks good everywhere on the site. By section I mean that it should be obvious to me when one post start and the other ends or which download belongs to whom. Or when a header is actually a header and not part of the rest of the page.

I personally welcome the change, the site will look a lot modern and the downloads will get a better spotlight to shine on them but please don't let that get in the way of being more practical. So please make the search button more visible and easily accessible. I'm sure that with some tweaks the end result will be great. I'm not a creator though so this is just the opinion of an "end user" not a contributor.

TL;DR *Please don't bury the search function on the bottom of the page
*Make sure the themes look good everywhere on the site and that it's easy to see the different sections of the page more clearly

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Meet Me In My Next Life
#63 Old 15th May 2013 at 6:10 PM Last edited by Simonut : 15th May 2013 at 6:20 PM.
Yesterday was a surprise to me to see a "New Setup" but it was a pleasant one. This is 2013 I think we need a new look overall, nothing stay the same in life what is old goes out and what is new comes in.
I like yesterday new setup myself, and hope that maybe in the future Delphy you will be able to add some of those features, yeah I am for that whole new look I really love the homepage, I also found ( for me ) getting around was no problem.

Just got to be patience and read to find what you want, the only problem I found and did not like was when I downloaded a creator item and leave a thank you feedback my avatar was not there, other than that I like it.
I did not stay on the site long to check other things, but I did check out The Sims Discussion area, It was just a bit confusing there, but not much, I find all you need to do is use your big eyes and read and follow direction as to where you want to go. So all and all yes I like it very much.

"Nothing in life is a Surprise it just happen to come your way at the time".
Test Subject
#64 Old 15th May 2013 at 6:10 PM
An optional open beta would work wonders. That way people can report potential bugs and issues, and give constructive feedback. Rather than just forcing it on people.

Just a thought.
Test Subject
#65 Old 15th May 2013 at 6:44 PM
me i prefer the medieval layout but since the new one showed up i'm back to the old layout and i was wondering if the medieval one would still be allowed to be used bc it is my favourite one
Mad Poster
#66 Old 15th May 2013 at 6:51 PM
I was OK with either one. A little confused with the new one for a short time, but the ol' dinosaur here got used to it quickly enough.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Scholar
#67 Old 15th May 2013 at 7:07 PM
Oh yes, thank you Delphy for providing the old style website, while you guys fix and rearrange the new website. Definitely was a shock to see a new layout that was messy. Hopefully the future website will look better organized and functional. Indeed, the new website did remind me of the look of blogs. Less professional looking, I'd wonder if there might be other style options aside from Bootstrap. Anyway, best of luck for the new design.

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See what images I have posted on DeviantArt as well related to The Sims 2 and designs.
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Space Pony
#68 Old 15th May 2013 at 7:11 PM
I was surprised to see the new layout last night, but got used to it fairly quickly, and I liked it, it was a good change, even if it needed some work. Keeping the site looking the same makes it seem dated, in my opinion.

Though when reading the comments about the new layout, I was disappointed that so many people were saying it was stupid and shouldn't have been change.

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Alchemist
#69 Old 15th May 2013 at 7:15 PM
Delphy, your post = class. Pure class.
Warrior Gryphon
site owner
Original Poster
#70 Old 15th May 2013 at 7:20 PM
I've setup a Bootstrap feedback forum here: https://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=671 You can give specific feedback there. Theres also an input thread to do with postbits.

Please take specific feedback and comments over there. Thanks!

Story books are full of fairy tales, of Kings and Queens, and the bluest skies.
Test Subject
#71 Old 15th May 2013 at 7:33 PM
Aw man that's a bummer. I don't like change but I absolutely loved the new layout. I had no problems with it, I found my way around very easily, and I chose the beige on brown theme, which was easy on my eyes. I hope that layout comes back in the future. I feel like the new layout yesterday was a tease and I want more! Hehe.
Lab Assistant
#72 Old 15th May 2013 at 7:53 PM
I think the main reason for the uproar over the new layout was the lack of warning. I know I for one saw the notices about the b-day maintenance and was seriously startled later in the day when I came back and saw a complete redesign - though the sticky notice on every page of the site linking to the news announcement concerning what happened and was going on helped things considerably.

I was also disappointed by the number of flames posted (even as early as I first checked) that were screaming about the redesign for no other posted reason than "it's new". Constructive criticism is one thing, flaming is another. Pointing out that "it's difficult to easily see what's new and what's not on the Downloads pages due to the variable height boxes" is constructive criticism, saying "OMG the site looks awful - change it back now!!!!" or "how dare you change the layout, change it back now!!!" are flames.

Moving the rest of this post over to the new forum.
Warrior Gryphon
site owner
Original Poster
#73 Old 15th May 2013 at 9:19 PM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
- Things are too widely spaced out- I shouldn't need to scroll halfway down a page to get to the place where the active threads are (ex. here: https://www.modthesims.info/fd.php?f=561); ...


Thanks for the feedback. I've just been working on the forumdisplay view so here's a side by side browser comparison on a single screen of the old and new layouts.



As you can see, now the new view actually requires *less* scrolling to get to the posts.

With regards to the menus, thats definately something I'm looking into. The existing (old) dropdown menu structure gets very clunky when you have a lot of content as we do, but with that said, the new menus *do* have a lot of empty space, so I need to find a happy medium.

Story books are full of fairy tales, of Kings and Queens, and the bluest skies.
Warrior Gryphon
site owner
Original Poster
#74 Old 15th May 2013 at 9:26 PM
Quote: Originally posted by LaurellKH
I still do not have a problem with the appearance of the site no matter where you goes with it. I am more concerned about the content of the site. No one pays attention to me saying over and over there are dead links here being ignored. I want to see all download links in pristine condition.

Let me elaborate further since I get no one agreeing with me on this point: If I look up a mod for, let's say, how to allow toddlers to visit a community lot. And that mod is a very bad broken mod that has messed up everyone's game and is all over comments that it never worked for anyone ever with pages of comments saying, "this is broke my game!," that mod should be REMOVED. Not blacklisted. REMOVED. That way when another mod maker comes along they will not see that mod there and say to themselves, "Oh, I was going to make a mod like that but look some one else already did it!" Then we are stuck with broken mod.

I find downloads from 2005,6,7(?) with message on them saying, "Our database was corrupted this past week, sorry." Six years ago this lot's link was broken yet still it is here on TS2 downloads.

There are so many moderators hired to make sure someone's post is not end up in wrong spot on forum as if that would be end of world if it did. Yet do any of these employees check for faulty links and offer to remove these useless downloads taking up space??? I have heard it said it is so vary hard to qualify to have your download put on this site. But I say it is zillion times harder to get it off this site when it has gone rot!

No one listens to me.


You know, you're right - theres no point in those downloads that don't have active files anymore even showing up on the site. I meant to do something about that a long time ago but I guess I forgot. Although theres only 1,314 of them, thats still minor change in terms of the total number of downloads we have. I'll go ahead and move them out at some point this week.

Now, with regards to downloads having broken links, do you mean the above ones, with the banner, or something else?

With regards to stuff that, well, just breaks - you can use the report functionality to flag these up. I guess the big problem is that there is currently 79,273 download threads on the site, which is a LOT to go through. And, as somebody else pointed out, the staff are volunteers and nobody has the role to go through some 80k downloads figuring out which ones are broken and which aren't.

Story books are full of fairy tales, of Kings and Queens, and the bluest skies.
Lab Assistant
#75 Old 15th May 2013 at 9:42 PM
I'm both sad and happy that we've switched back to the old MTS for the time being. I liked the new changes--for the most part--it was just too much too fast. I had no idea there'd even been an option to view v2.9 let alone that you guys were working on updating the site. (In retrospect, I should have known you guys were.) One day it was the same site I'd used for a long time and gotten used to, the next it was completely different and I felt like I was floundering trying to get my bearings.

We can't all be ninjas but it doesn't take much to be a pirate.
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