Forum Design?

[Alex Jenyon]

The whole forum recently went through a total redesign, along with it's transition to 'Vbulletin'. I personally didn't mind the original incarnation of 'mattepainting.org', but the new design certainly wasn't any worse, and did have it's added advantages.

And now it's been redesigned again. And (I'm sorry to say), I think this latest version looks pretty hideous. Please put it back to how it was at the end of August. I was just starting to like it.

Anyone want to agree/disagree?

AJ

[RiKToR]

I personally liked the fact that good artist were being plugged randomly on the main page. Now it just seems like sensory overload.

[Velarion]

I liked the mainpage but doesn't like the forum. Also there are some anomalies here. When I click the go advanced button in edit thread, it goes to delete thread. Also img command doesnt working.

ps: Ok its working but not imageshack links. I dont if its from the forum or not.

[lazer]

I like the way the site is now, nice work Maryam.

The main page is better when it isn't plugging artists, imho.

[mordecaidesign]

I personally don't care one way or another since I see every new post in my feedreader. muhahahaha.

yes. EVERY NEW POST (that's open for everyone to read at least)

[homer]

I think the forum looks the same and it's OK.
But I agree with the front page images. ( I prefer random pictures as well)

[mordecaidesign]

Does maryam not own the site anymore. The "original" design thing in the billing makes it sound like someone else does now.

BTW if you're looking for donations maryam put a paypal link up and we'll donate. Promise.

[Ricardo Garces]

Hi everyone!

I haven't been posting for a while but I still come here everyday to check things out. I liked the new look, it's more cinematographic :)

it's still a little far from the nice looks of conceptart.org and sketchpad, but it's far better organized than those two. I like the grunge look on websites.

Anyway, I think from time to time websites have to change their look, and I feel we are in a good direction.

Best regards to you all!

Ricardo.

[nickmarshallvfx]

I think the site seems more prefessional now. Having artists work on the home page was nice but always gave rise to the argument of how to get there etc. I think the new site looks nice.
The forum aspect does seem to have been pushed down a bit, and i really prefer being able to see at least the last 3 or 4 posts on the home page, but other than that, the changes are fine by me. I like the easy access to the resources and the dvds aimed at matte artists etc. I think it would be better though if mp.org was doing similar to cgsociety and selling the products themselves for matte painters so that we can support this community directly rather than it being amazon.
Anyway, the site seems to have expanded to being more than just the forum that it used to be and i dont mind it.
I am craving for more options when posting in the forums though. Things like smileys might sound trivial but more text options and stuff would be nice.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Do you know how long the site will continue changing for though? Im with Alex in so much as i just get used to one design and then it changes...

Nick

[de gerardo]

I don`t know if I can say something... but...
To me the site is looking nice and is more professional. But what is a little bit strange to me is the fact, that here is nothing special as was before the Gallery of front page or Highlights or something like that.Also the previous look was fine on the random images on front page, but still some kind of challenge is missing here. Also, is a little bit chaotic to me. To find something.. I HAVE to do so many clicks. I prefer less and more useful :) just idea :)
Cheers: G!

Or it will be maybe good idea to pay for membership and to get some bonuses :)

[Alex Jenyon]

I wasn't particularly objecting to the new layout - just the design. The 'wannabe movie poster' front page, and the cheesy metallic font... stuff like that. Instead of being classy and understated, it just comes across as a bit tacky, to my eyes at least.

[Maryam]

Thanks for the comments and your input.

I will work on adding more features to forum.
I’ll also bring back some kind of random element in the front page.
The look is appealing to some, cheesy to others, by asking around (before I make it live) it was %90 OK.

But the most important issue is to keep this forum useful.
The idea is to share your bookmarks, resources and your experiences with each others.
It would be great to “Donate some Time” and share more. This will make the site to grow faster and become a better place to learn and promote.

After all this site has been made with your posts and people visit this site to read your posts and see your work.

So post your experiences, experiments, links and resources
Also post a link back to MattePainting.Org in your Site, Blog…

P.S. I try not to play with the design any more, but some were technically necessary.

Thanks

[drutter]

I'm missing the link to new posts since last visit feature after log-in. I agree that the condensed movie poster style of type on the front and the beaded metal main logo are hideous. The movie poster lettering seems like a huge waste of space, unreadable and serving no real purpose.

Also, I guess you have to make money off the site but I find the google ads visually overwhelm the content.

[lightwell]

I don't mind all the changes so much but I really, really do miss the "recent posts" links. Showing the last two doesn't help much if someone new decides to post a "hi everbody" message and/or someone responds almost immediately to the previous post. When the posts are what makes the forum, lets have a list of the last ten!

One other bit that I anm disappointed with is the lack of info or details when clicking on the random images. Is that something that could be fixed or is it down to the way the images are picked at random?

However, I have to add a big thank you to you Maryam, it must take take up loads of your time and dedictaion keeping this running.

Jim