Thread: NWFA Will Upgrade To vBulletin 4 Within Two Weeks

I wanted to create a thread to tie everyone a heads up, we will be upgrading our software within the next two weeks. The exact date will depend on a few details, but chances are it will happen on a Friday evening.

We have a test site up and running for those of you who would like to get a feel for the new software at Northwest Firearms Test Forums

Questions and comments are welcome here

Seems ok, will there be an option to use the original skin so we can keep it looking like we're used to if we want? Also, will there be a main page that has all the recently posted in threads?

There will only be one skin initially, the one on the test site now. That may change though once we're up and running. It will have the cms front end like we have now. None of the addons have been setup on the test site yet, but they will be soon.

Looks strikingly similar to another NW forum...

Looks good so far.

I guess I will get used to it, but I dont like it.

I'm interested in hearing peoples thoughts.

I greatly prefer flat color schemes like the current one. Shiny stuff is annoying to look at imo.

EDIT: also, the top bar being black with the rest of it being white and light greys does not look good. Too much contrast!

Change the status icons and make them smaller.

The banner across the top looks like it's half google adds / half site title. It's confusing and a it appears a tad bit sketchy.

hide the mod forum

And finally, I've never been a fan of a members list.

Other than that, it looks like a pretty bare template.
Remember, the brighter the page, the more irritating on the eyes, the less time people can spend looking at it.

Personally, i'm a fan of this template:
vBulletin Skins, IPB Skins, XenForo Skins and Styles - ForumFlux

Originally Posted by MrNiceGuy

Personally, i'm a fan of this template:
vBulletin Skins, IPB Skins, XenForo Skins and Styles - ForumFlux

I like this template too.

and the black banner thing on the top is pretty sketchy.

But besides that change is good.

Thanks guys. This upgrade is going to happen either way, but I'd like to take as much input as possible from the community to shape it.

Which black banner thing are you guys referring to? The new American voices banner ad or the black header?

By status icons do you mean the small read/unread icons to the left of the categories?

My eyes went straight to the "new american voices" songwriting thing. I think the website name should be bigger. Maybe have it go the whole length of the black box on the top of the page so people know there on NWFA.com. Other than that I don't mind the layout as a whole.

Funny thing is I actually used that image cause it was the first banner that size I could find on Google image results. The actual ad will be the large ad we currently have on here. I have to keep the image small so there's room for the two to condense when people view the site at lower resolutions, but I'll probably continue tweaking it to make it look better.

Just a note, I have not yet determined whether we will upgrade to 4.0.x or wait until 4.1 is released. Apparently there are some fairly large changes in 4.1, so it may be worthwhile to wait and see before working on 4.0.x.

Originally Posted by Joey Link

Just a note, I have not yet determined whether we will upgrade to 4.0.x or wait until 4.1 is released. Apparently there are some fairly large changes in 4.1, so it may be worthwhile to wait and see before working on 4.0.x.

ALWAYS a good idea to wait if there are even more changes coming...

And yeah, I tend to like the look of the site as it currently exists. Too much "flash" and "whiz-bang" does tend to cause eye-strain, at least for me.

I personally like the old blue theme better then the new black theme.
I also think that now might be a great time to split up the Rifle & Shotgun Classifieds.
Thanks for your work Joey. It will still be a great site even if it looks weird!

Howard

Originally Posted by MrNiceGuy

Personally, i'm a fan of this template:
vBulletin Skins, IPB Skins, XenForo Skins and Styles - ForumFlux

I agree. Something like that would look awesome with some kind of the Northwest and Firearms theme?

looks good 2 me

#1
Can the tapatalk extension be killed or changed?
Browsing the site on my iphone is irritating when I have to click through the tapatalk notification screen with darn near every page load. In fact, it was so annoying that I actually bought the tapatalk forum browser app, and man - not for me.


#2
Nested threads? I don't know if v bulletin allows it, but I much prefer to read comments in a nested view.

I dig the new skin a lot, except for the black block at the top.

I wanted to update everyone on the status of the migration to vBulletin 4. I've been working the past month on getting everything ready to make the transition as smooth as possible and I'm just about done. My current goal is to shoot for the night of either November 24th or 26th, beginning around 10pm. If all goes well the site shouldn't be down for more than a couple hours.

I encourage all of you to visit the test site, sign up for an account, play around a bit, then report back here. This will allow you to get used to it before the transition, as well as provide valuable information pertaining to functionality and possible bugs. It'll be much better if I can fix these things before the migration.

P.S. For those who don't like the look, we may develop another theme for your selection.

Originally Posted by C&H

#1
Can the tapatalk extension be killed or changed?
Browsing the site on my iphone is irritating when I have to click through the tapatalk notification screen with darn near every page load. In fact, it was so annoying that I actually bought the tapatalk forum browser app, and man - not for me.


#2
Nested threads? I don't know if v bulletin allows it, but I much prefer to read comments in a nested view.

I dig the new skin a lot, except for the black block at the top.

I'll consider both of these things after the migration