I need your input on the new version of Breeding Zone…

[rawTOP]

I need you guys to help me find issues with the new version of Breeding Zone. I'm simultaneously changing the underlying software completely (not just an upgrade), and changing the domain. [For those of you who are techies - I'm changing from vBulletin 4 to IP.Board 3 since vB 5 sucks and I need something more modern than what we have now.]

The new URL is: https://breeding.zone

There's discussion elsewhere on here about why I'm changing domains. Essentially shorter is better - especially on mobile. And all the old URLs will redirect when I'm done - so nothing's really lost.

There are a bunch of things I know aren't working (more on that in a bit). But please read this entire thread before giving your feedback since I may already know about the problem. And realize, while you can (and should) do test posts to the new site, everything on that site will get deleted when I do the final migration.

First the new, cool stuff…

1. You can now login with Twitter! This means people don't have to register and validate their emails to join in the discussion. Current members who have Twitter accounts should link their account to their Twitter profiles. Then they can login with a username and password or with Twitter. Along those same lines there's now streamlined tweeting of certain things. For example the new site has the concept of "status" which is basically your current mood or what's on your mind (e.g. "Looking for a bottom to take my loads in NYC"). When you update your status you can also have it tweeted just by clicking a checkbox. Related to that I've added something so your recent tweets can show on your profile page.
   
2. The new site has chat! Since chat isn't something that's saved, go ahead and start using it now. However, at this point I only have a license for 5 concurrent users. I'll add more when you guys start consistently hitting that limit (which will probably be soon).
   
3. You can now have a display name that's different than your login name. This means you can change your own (displayed) profile name any time you want. You don't have to wait months for me to do it for you. Just realize your display name can't be the same as anyone else's login or profile name.
   
4. The entire design is completely different. I haven't finished tweaking it yet, but it's "responsive" which means there's one set of code for everything from desktop to tablet to mobile. As the screen size gets narrower the layout adapts - some things are hidden, or moved around. If you're on a desktop computer you can see this in action just by resizing your browser. Bottom line is a better experience for mobile users. Or you can use Forum Runner or other apps if you prefer an app over viewing in a browser.
   
5. The new look and feel also comes with some interesting bells and whistles. The big pics you see at the top of the page can be changed - there are 7 options available - just pic the one you like most by clicking the paintbrush icon in the top left corner.
   
6. User profiles also have big changes. You can upload a background image. You can add "content blocks" on the side (haven't tried that yet). And the software support you designing completely different looks and feels - though I have that disabled. But if you're interested I can do a trial of it after the new site is launched and things are stable.
   
7. There's now a slideshow feature for member gallery images. And you can rate images (though apparently not in the slideshow).
   
8. There's also a like system for member comments (not just for the thread as a whole). As members write posts others like their score goes up.
   
9. The new site has the concept of "follow this…" forum, user, etc. That lets you create a customized experience for yourself? For example, if you don't want to see straight stuff, then just follow the gay forums, etc.
   

Now for the problems…

1. The main migration was done on Sunday. Gallery images on Monday, and Groups on Tuesday. It's to be expected that stuff newer than that won't be in the new site. Another migration will be done when all the bugs are addressed.
   
2. The current software has both profile pics and avatars. This confused a lot of people. The new software just uses one pic. I've migrated the profile pics since they were larger than the avatars. If you only had an avatar then you won't have anything. And I've noticed some cases where the profile pic didn't seem to migrate. Chances are we'll just live with that and people can upload new pics. Speaking of which - animated gifs are now supported, though I think I have it configured to only show the first frame when used in threads - but it will animate in your profile. Oh, and if you link with Twitter you can have it pull over your Twitter pic.
   
3. The new software doesn't seem to have the ability for people to permission themselves to see certain things. [i've found an add-on for this, but haven't quite worked out all the bugs with it.] This means the chem sex and HIV fetish sections as well as Groups don't work properly. Of those the only thing you can access is Groups - and then only the ones you're already subscribed to, and at the bottom of the Forums page - going directly to Groups will generate an error, and you can't post replies or add new conversations. So a lot of work yet to do on those.
   
4. Some of the multiple choice options I had as profile fields didn't convert properly (e.g. HIV status, Top/Bottom/Vers, etc.) I'll have to see if there's a fix for that. If not, then that info may need to be re-entered.
   
5. Age display preferences didn't seem to translate over. This means everyone's birthday is shown. I gotta fix this somehow…
   
6. Members' Locations didn't go into the proper location field. (Should be fixable)
   
7. It looks like the default is that friend requests are automatically approved. That's the opposite of how things work. Worst case scenario is I set everyone to manual approval but new members will be automatic approval by default.
   
8. I haven't added advertising on the site. I'll probably add that in the sidebars and at the bottom.
   

I'm sure there are other things I should mention. I'll add them as I think about them. In the meantime check out the new site and let me know what you think. When you report bugs let me know what platform you're on (Mac, Win, iOS, Android) and what browser you're using (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.) I'll assign a priority to different items. Cosmetic things can wait until later if the solution doesn't come quickly, but blocking bugs that stop you from doing things you need to do will be highest priority. Given the magnitude of the change some things may just not get supported or migrated. I'll try to keep those items to a minimum though.

Edited August 14, 2014 by rawTOP

[sinfuljock]

Love the new look and responsive design! Looks so much more modern! Thanks for your work!

[Guest ff-whole]

I like the dark minimalist look of the current [this one] forum site... Is that an option?

[rawTOP]

I like the dark minimalist look of the current [this one] forum site... Is that an option?

2 minutes ago I was telling my boyfriend who's a web designer (who rarely has time to work on my sites) that I'd like to darken up the color palette. Partly because dark makes sense for the subject material and also dark should consume less power on mobile devices. So it's on the to-do list, but low priority since it's just cosmetic. First I need to get it to work.

[seaguy]

I also like the look of the site, very clean layout, social media sharing buttons which is nice for sharing some of the less controversial posts lol

Thanks for all your hard work on this Rawtop.

[slowfuck]

I managed to find my way around pretty quick, once I could tear myself away from that background image that displays on wide screens. That's hot! I also like that age is displayed in posts - it helps to know the age of the poster. I'll let you know if I find any problems when I get time to take a long look. Thanks for the hard work - I know how difficult and infuriating it can be.

[rawTOP]

I also like that age is displayed in posts - it helps to know the age of the poster.

I'm going to tweak that add-on to display location and role (top, bottom, vers). So that'll get better.

Edited August 14, 2014 by rawTOP

[Willingbottom]

New site looks great, easy to navigate and much more impressive. Keep at it.

[Bear4Breeding]

I like the new site. Only roamed around a little bit once I realized I had to log into it. You mentioned the pics not moving over on some accounts. I tried to load the one I have here already but it is to big for the new site. The max is only 100kb. Seems small but I'll find a different pic to post on the new site.

And I also agree about the color. Definitely needs to be darker, that bright white blinded me when I first went to it.

Great work rawTOP keep it up.

[TattPig]

My first thought is about how much wasted vertical space there is.

On my 20" monitor with 1050 vertical pixels, the current site's header takes up 350 vertical pixels (including the browser's toolbars and chrome), and the header scrolls up with the page.

On the new site, it's 620 px from the top to the subject heading, and the header/menu never scrolls off the page, wasting 240 px all the time.

On a smaller monitor or on a laptop, that is a serious usability problem.

Is there a way to make the header smaller vertically, or scroll off the screen?

Could the big pic at the top be made the background of the header/menu? That would save about 235 px.

[rawTOP]

My first thought is about how much wasted vertical space there is.

On my 20" monitor with 1050 vertical pixels, the current site's header takes up 350 vertical pixels (including the browser's toolbars and chrome), and the header scrolls up with the page.

On the new site, it's 620 px from the top to the subject heading, and the header/menu never scrolls off the page, wasting 240 px all the time.

On a smaller monitor or on a laptop, that is a serious usability problem.

Is there a way to make the header smaller vertically, or scroll off the screen?

Could the big pic at the top be made the background of the header/menu? That would save about 235 px.

The vertical space of the header is something I want to improve. Just below the logo and main nav there's a bunch of dead space. I'm going to eliminate that. And above and below the breadcrumb / follow us area there's dead space that needs to be eliminated. Those add up to about 100px. Then I'll add a media query that eliminates the "hero panel" (the big pic) completely when the browser height is below a certain threshold. I can also turn off the sticky nav when there's not much height. And I might chop 50px or so off the hero panel - but that means coming up with new pics and it was already hard enough to find ones that worked well in such a skinny space.

Good feedback though - you're definitely seeing stuff that needs improvement.

[rawTOP]

Just a quick update before the migration tomorrow…

I think I've addressed the most of the significant issues with the new site. I've made the look "darker" - though it's not quite as dark as this site. The size of the header has been reduced. When I get a chance I'll reduce it even more, but I don't have time to go looking for even shorter pics. When the person doesn't have much vertical space in the browser the big images now don't show at all. Blogs and Galleries now work properly. Your date of birth isn't shown on your profile (though your age is shown - which is something I've wanted to enforce for a while now).

The list of things that need fixing are relatively small:

• The logo isn't showing on the iPhone – there's some problem with the CSS.
  
• The Groups section needs some cosmetic work, but I think it's functional.
  
• I haven't gotten around to adding location, role (top/bottom), and HIV status under the avatar on forum posts.
  
• I need to put more advertising on the site, but at least a little advertising is there.
  
• I need to figure out how to put more in the sidebar of the blog and gallery section and create sidebars on the blog post pages.
  

If you see any additional problems, please let me know. I've got stuff I have to do tonight, and the migration will start first thing in the morning, so I'll probably get to them right after the migration.