 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Site News : Test page & member messaging.
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5019 |
I'm working on a face lift for TheBackShed and Homegrown Power. There is a test page at ... http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/testpage.asp The title images will change if you refresh ( F5 ), there are 10 all up. The test page images are different sizes, normally I will only have 2 or 3 sizes, and use the size to format the page, depending on its content. My main concern is if the new menu is working for everyone. If you notice anything weird please let me know. We're still having problems with members trying to contact other members via the forums email client thingy. The forum is sending the emails out, they are being processed by thebackshed.com's mail server and heading out into the internet, but not always getting to their destination. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do, its a mail server out there on the internet thats blocking the emails. It will not happen to all emails, just a few wont make it, and its a common problem with forums. See from a mail servers point of view, a forum looks a lot like a spammer. A forum will send out hundreds of emails in one hit ( when someone posts a new message ), and so do spammers. So some mail servers will learn to block emails from Do_Not_Reply@thebackshed.com, while others wont. It depends on what part of the internet you come from if the message makes it through or not. I do have a couple of options. The forum does have a private messenger, which is currently disabled. The private messenger will let you send a message to any other member, and they will get the message next time they visit the forum. They can then reply to the message. The down side of the private messenger is each member's "In Box" can only hold 25 messegers, they would need to clear it out if its getting full, or someone else wont be able to send them a message. And it means questions about posts are asked and answered privately, and others who may have the same question will miss out on the answer. I can enable the private messenger is there is enough interrest in it. The other option is taking the email processing out of the forums hands. Currently when you send a email to a member, you go into their member details page, and ( if the member has enabled it ) click on the Email button. This brings up the page where you type the message, and then the forum sends it off for you. The advantaqge of this system is all members emails are hidden from view. What I can do is change that Email button to instead display the members email address. So instead of clicking on the Email button, you will see the email address, which you then write down and then send a email with your own email program. The email address will be in the format fred at bedrock.com.au to make it harder for spam bots. You can of course choose to have your email address hidden totaly. So what do we think. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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Downwind Guru  Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Think it looks very good. My personal dislike is web pages that are wider than the screen. They drive me insane!! 
Also wide pages are not very printer friendly. Otherwise top job 
Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| Robb Senior Member  Joined: 01/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
Well with a PM function you can choose who you offer an email address to. I have seen PM spam on other forums but the spamers are soon dealt with and they get little in return. If I want to buy fred nurk's xyz he has for sale in the for sale section I'd rather not post private contacts on the open board be they his or mine. Noone likes spam. We are more interested in erecting turbines. Achiving longer lasting blades and sustained output. 
------------------------------- Edit +1 on the side scrolling. Looked at all 10 images. I'd go for a max image width of 800 given some of us actual pull the back off and fix things like 14 inch monitors  |
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| willib Newbie  Joined: 24/09/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 14 |
It looks ok to me also. although i too do not have a wide screen monitor, and the diagrams could be easily displayed more towards the middle? Also i'm not entirely sure that i was looking at seven phases, because it was still Three Phase. i think i was looking at a three phase machine with seven parallel branches. Or seven branches paralleled to supply more current,and less voltage. whichever, but it still WAS Three Phase. |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5019 |
Yeah you can ignore the page content, its just there as a filler. The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Hi Gizmo, Is the content supposed to automatically adjust to the brouser window size? It doesn't on IE6. The menu system will allow more on screen info. Looks good so far. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5019 |
Hi Gordon No the images dont resize. There are a couple of test images that are wider than I would end up using. As a rule I like to keep the page under 950 pixels wide. 97% of the site visistors are using 1024 pixels wide or more these days. Glad you like the new layout, and yes the menu will help. It should make it easier to find content when its finished. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
Hi Glenn, 
I'm opting for this header image. It goes well with the background wallpaper. Also I'm opting for 950px resolution. I consider it as minimal resolution because a html page should look like a "Magazine page". You can't have much room for that if resolution is smaller. Vasi Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5019 |
Thanks Vasi I'll use different images for different area's. Like if its a electronics page I'll use a circuit board as thebackground picture, that sort of thing. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Gizmo Aside from the font being in the "micro" arena, it looks fine on a Mac. I can pump it up with a couple taps of 'apple +' each time; fine by me. I don't have a problem with posting my email address on the 4m. Spam bots don't scare me; of course, I use a Mac and as such, have ways around a lot of these things. Unix rocks! MacGyver Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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