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Young Writers Society


YWS: Apollo Updates Thread



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Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:23 am
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Nate says...



So over the next six to eight weeks, YWS is going to be updating at a frenetic pace. Rather than making a new thread for each update, I'm instead just going to be updating this thread regularly. Also, please feel free to ask when 'X' feature will be available.





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Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:26 am
Nate says...



First new (small) update: changed how signatures look. Signatures now have a different background color than the rest of a post, which I hope will make posts look less cluttered and help people to differentiate between the post and the signature.

By the way, I really did try to go with a color other than blue, but it just wasn't working. The only other shade that really worked well was a light grey, but that's dreadfully boring.





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Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:11 am
Nate says...



Edited the navigation tabs. They now act like the buttons on the rest of the site in that they change color slightly when your mouse hovers over them. However, what most people will probably notice is that I've changed the color from black to green.

I've done this mainly just to give some color to the site. All the blue and black felt... drab. Having that little bit of green livens things up some in my opinion, and it does so in an area of the site that I hope people won't find visually distracting.

Still, I'd appreciate some thoughts on the tabs. If you liked black better, let me know. Or if you have other color suggestions, I'm actively asking for those suggestions :)


Edit

Also, the active tab will eventually be the same color as the rest of the page. So for example, if you're in the forums, then the forum tab would blend in with the shade of blue directly beneath it. I'm waiting to make this change until I have the read / write and storybook areas done.





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Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:53 am
Nate says...



Added bamboo leaves to the background in the top right hand corner of the site because I felt like it.

I think they look nice.





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Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:39 am
Blues says...



Initially, I thought the green tabs were a bit out of place but now that there are bamboo leaves in the corner gives it a place. They do look nice. I love the other new features as well.

When will the notifications be available? I got a few review requests in WRFF and only found out when others told me.





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Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:35 am
Rydia says...



I love the bamboo leaves! I'm not so sure about the shade of green for the tabs though. Maybe orange or red or purple? Work it into a sort of 'tropical' jungle theme?
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:34 pm
Lava says...



Nate wrote:Added bamboo leaves to the background in the top right hand corner of the site because I felt like it.

I think they look nice.

That!
And loove the new sig colours!

Also, I think you could tweak the green colour of the tabs to make it more 'in' with el bamboo?

One thing I was wondering : The forum text space seems too tiny for me, especially when there's a lot to read, it seems long. Is it possible to reduce the size of the buttons on the left,right (I totally meant right) at least in the writing forums?
Last edited by Lava on Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:50 pm
Sins says...



I am way too amused by these bamboo leaves. I keep staring at them.

AzaleaLexis wrote:One thing I was wondering : The forum text space seems too tiny for me, especially when there's a lot to read, it seems long. Is it possible to reduce the size of the buttons on the left, at least in the writing forums?


I agree. That's the only thing that's bothering me right now about the new layout. My worry is that some people will be put off from reading/reviewing the slightly longer pieces of writing on the site because they look so much more daunting than they did before with the old, wider layout. Plus because the reviewing space is also smaller people may start writing shorter reviews because a hundred word review now, for example, looks a lot longer than it did before.

I'm probably just being paranoid as usual but hey, I thought it was worth a mention.
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 2:04 pm
Blues says...



I actually agree with Skins' point about the smaller reviewing space. I usually review in quick reply and because it can be hidden/shown, maybe that could be bigger so it's extended across the whole screen (like the old YWS without the check list size)?

Or perhaps on the side, the actual work could be put on the side in full reply? When I'm reviewing, the reason why I use quick reply is to easily be able to see the work so I can quote any pieces when needed. In quick reply it is a pain to scroll up and down which I do less in Q reply...





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Tue Dec 27, 2011 2:44 pm
Lauren2010 says...



I like having the tabs a different color, but I'm not quite sure this green is right. It feels off and out of place to me. Maybe something closer to the bamboo leaves color?

On the text space, I don't think it's too much of a problem. Most people with common sense ought to be able to judge that it won't take them as long to read what appear to be long strings of text because the space the text occupies is smaller and therefore stretching it out. The text space does nothing to make the actual text longer/shorter, just how it appears. We could make the text area as wide as the screen and make the text appear really short but if it's still a large amount of text people who don't like large amounts of text will still get tired/stop reading.
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:24 pm
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Sins says...



Lauren2010 wrote:Most people with common sense ought to be able to judge...


One thing so many people lack. xD

I know what you mean but I think it's a a psychological thing. People don't necessarily realise they're thinking like it but when they see a long piece of text, they're put off, whereas with a text that's the same length but wider rather than longer, they'll give reading it a shot. Although appearances can be deceiving, not everyone often realises that.
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:20 pm
Angelreader77 says...



Skins wrote:Although appearances can be deceiving, not everyone often realises that.

That is so true.
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:23 pm
StellaThomas says...



I'm such an idiot, I didn't even notice the bamboo leaves. But I like them! A lot. And whenever I see them I'll remember Nate saying, "Because I felt like it" and that will make me giggle.

I also like the green buttons. While I love all the blue we have going on- I love blue- I think they do add a little colour and a little... relief? to the whole set up. So I like those too!
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:29 pm
Demeter says...



I love the green tabs and the leaves! Please leave (ahaha) them as they are!
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:40 pm
Nate says...



Most everyone ->> As I have said before a number of times, the literary works area is going to change. This is why I have specifically asked for people to hold back on bug reports and suggestions unless I have asked for them. Please do not treat this thread as a comments / suggestions thread or as a bug reports thread. There will be a time and place for that, but for the time being, I'm pulling my hair out just to get this stuff done. Arguing about X hypothetical feature is completely nonsensical at this point.








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