Strike3Forums.com: A New Look for 2009

[missionhockey21]

After some delay, Strike 3 Forums has been relaunched with a new look. While it is still being edited and tweaked daily to work smoothly with all major browsers, the version you see today gives you a pretty good idea as to what it will be like in the end. I am going to go through a bit of the idea behind it.

It All Started In 2005...
The year Strike3Forums.com was born. In 2005, I was inexperienced with design and essentially modified the basic vBulletin skin to the best of my ability. Each year after that I took the design to a new level, but it still very much retained the spirit of the original. Last year was much more advanced than previous years and I was proud of the design as it was quite intensive on the graphic design front to create.

Then Why?
If last year was good and something to be proud of, why change? Because this forum deserved better. While its obvious I took inspiration from some different sites on the net, I've tried my best to "own" this look and you'll be hard pressed to find a site in our niche that is rocking it.

What Changed?
Plenty, enough to justify using the list function:

• Flexible width styles. Styles will now stretch to your resolution, no matter how large. The ideal resolution I design for is still 1024x768, but it still looks great on other resolutions.
• Search bar in the top right corner, no more clicking to get a drop down search, just enter your term and go.
• Team forums are linked on every page. Heard big news, an epic trade, a devastating injury? Click the team icon and go straight to the team forum to post it.
• The S3F Sidebar. Now that ads are only viewable to guests, the S3F Sidebar gives members many of the "core" forum links to manage their account (some features still need to be enabled here) as well as linking you directly to how many new posts you have to check out. You might be creating a thread and see that there are only 10 new posts since your last visit but see once the thread you are making is posted that it jumps to 20 new posts. The sidebar will also include links to S3F features, such as our power rankings and the weekly roundup show.
• Content starts sooner. With a big banner and navigation menus on the old style, content would really start much lower on your initial page view (ie your first view without a scroll). With the new style though, content starts closer to the page so you can start reading it and responding to it sooner.
• Plus much more, both that have been done and will be done in the future.

In Essence...
The redesign was created to bring about forums that load faster (less graphics, creative use of CSS to impact load times), look cleaner and bighter (simple colors, consistency of styles, and keeping the design to the essentials), and to give you a greater user experience by allowing you to find what you want sooner and give you better navigation while on the forums. Elements were retained from the previous style, such as the layout of the homepage with team icons and columns, but the major change has been for a new navigation and a new visual look.

It is not perfect, but I feel like S3F has taken the right step forward. My number one goal is to create a more browseable experience that is more enjoyable for both members and guests. Browsing S3F should not be difficult and if you are not yet sold on the new design, give it some time and I am positive it will grow on you.

Thank you and thanks for all the very kind compliments you have given the design. I am excited about it too so I was glad to see so many of you were too.

[browntown653]

It looks sweet mish. I'm really excited about the job you've done and the job you will continue to do. Great work as always.

[realmofotalk]

Was the last style burdensome on the server or something else? Because honestly, I really, really liked that style.

[missionhockey21]

Not really mofo. I liked the style too, but it was time to move on. I would normally try to keep it as an option but both styles are so complex that it really would not be the best use of my time and I'll explain why. First, I would have to bring much of that code into a brand new style as the old style would no longer work with the new version of vBulletin. After about 10 hours of that (assuming I only recreate the S3F style and not the additional team styles), I would need to manage two styles everytime I change the code. Like when I add the team styles for the new look, most of the time I won't need to make a change 30 plus teams (one for each style) as I can just change the master style and that is all it takes. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but the style is almost always changing, whether its features you see or I am adding in code to make the pages more search engine friendly. Then you have to realize that since both styles are unique, the code I would need to add to both might change too so it can fit in with that look.

If there was an easy way to keep the old style as an option for members, I would do it, trust me.

[love_that_reefer]

I love being able to click on the teams at the top. Again, I am really digging all the work you did Mission.

[Doppelgänger]

What are the new sig dimensions? :p

[missionhockey21]

The maximum for images is 450x150 (if your sig was being resized before but is under that limit, the reason it happened because it was a setting that I had not yet got to.) The overall height of the sig is 150px, so text/images/tables, all under 150 px.

Also doppel, I am still planning to go through the features. I got a little sidetracked by working on some other things (ensuring how the pages display in different browsers, adding other new features, etc.)

[BuckFoston]

Looks very good. I love it. Question though, is there a new posts button like there was on the old S3F? If there is, I can't find it.

[missionhockey21]

Yes there is! Under the logo, in the welcome menu, you'll see a star icon and it says "XX New Posts."

I have had another user mention that so I'll figure out a way to make it a bit more noticable.

[BuckFoston]

Thank you Mission!

[ljshorty89]

I've already adjusted. I love the new layout Mission. Great work!

[missionhockey21]

Thanks guys!

I can't believe I forgot one of the biggest points (now edited it) about this and that is the styles are now flexible/fluid, which makes browsing so much better than before when the style was locked into only a certain amount of pixels.

[Foster]

Lovin' the look of the team forums.
Nicely done.

[TheRollingStoned]

Looks better than a fine..New York...pizza.

[missionhockey21]

Thanks Foster and Mr. Pacino.