Feedback Request Northwest Firearms Version 3 beta now available for Supporting Members, Vendors, and Volunteers

[Joe Link]

I've seem to be seeing a glitch that is difficult to describe. The window shifts format now and then because an extra slidey bar suddenly shows up and disappears. I'm talking about the bar on the far right-hand side of everyone's browser window that allows a user to slide up and down the page. Well, an extra one pops up right inside of the primary one, and then pops away again. When it pops up, it makes the window a 1/4" narrower (or whatever is the width of the slidey bar) and all the text reorients for the smaller window...not much, just enough to be noticeable. I am running Chrome on a Mac. This only happens in 3.0.

It's not a slide bar, it's a small rectangular box with up/down arrows. When you click up or down the page goes all the way to the top or bottom, then the box disappears. It shows up when you move the cursor back and forth over a thread topic, the page jerks back and forth as the up/down arrows appear/disappear.

Edit: Okay, the up/down arrow box is there all the time, and has nothing to do with the page jerking back and forth. I see the slide bar that Chris is speaking of but it's not slide-able as it goes from top to bottom.

I sure hope you're going to get the preview box that comes up when you hover over a thread topic
back.

I'm on a desk top BTW.

Signed

Confused

Ah this makes much more sense! Those 'scroll buttons' are a new feature; displayed as an overlay to get you to the top or bottom of the page faster. These will be an option which you can turn on or off.

These are causing the actual page to re-size and/or jerk? I'll check it out with chrome on my Mac right now.

@Mikej which browser and operating system are you using? Also, we'll definitely be getting the preview box back

Yep. So you see this quirk, too?

@Joe Link
I've got an idea, but we've stipulated that I have no idea what I'm talking about. I go to TruthAboutGuns all the time for gun news and buzz. Their header seems to make a lot of sense for this site, too. They have a white bar with their logo (which is also a link to the Home page) and below that a simple black bar about the same size as ours. The black bar has other links. The cool part is that it "breaks off" (my word) and follows the user as you scroll down, keeping those links available. If you scroll back up to the top the black bar "re-couples" with the white title bar.

It seems to me this could kill two birds with one stone. 1) Many members have commented on wanting at least a couple of buttons with easier access like New Content and Alerts. Perhaps these quick access buttons could reside at the top in a white title bar which disappears as a user scrolls down, leaving the black bar to follow the user, keeping those tools embedded in the menus as they are now. 2) Our current black bar seems to hover "in front" of the forum lists so that the top half-inch hides behind the black bar. If, say, I have a link like this (https://www.northwestfirearms.com/#classified-ads.4), right now the black title "Classified Ads" hides behind the black bar, as does the top half-inch of any internal link. Perhaps somehow the black bar could be part of pages (keeping text below the bar and unhidden by a bar that is "in front"), but it de-couples after scrolling down a bit and moves with the user.

Again, take this all with a huge grain of salt and I'm not sure it is even worth the trouble. For me, I don't care much if I have to click 2 or 3 buttons instead of only 1. I also don't care much if I have to scroll down a half-inch. I just put it out there as a way that one site dealt with the black bar with links.

You don't have to know what you're talking about, this info is helpful! I'll take a look at it

I like it all so far! Cleaner looking over all and easy to use!

Good to hear

Hey, I just noticed something, though not a big deal. In 3.0, we no longer have our saying under our name. Location used to be in the table below our banners, but now is below our screen name and the saying is not even there.

Any word on when Trade Rating will become 3 numbers instead of just the percentage? 100% doesn't tell me anything and it is too much work to click on 2 or 3 more buttons.

The 'saying' is now in the member card (which pops up when a name is clicked). Trade rating will be changed as soon as our developer gets a bit of time

@Joe Link - I just spotted something else I was curious about. When I first get to the site, I get a window on the side that says "Recent Activity". But once I navigate to any other page, that window goes away and doesn't come back. The only way to get it back is to close my browser and return to the site.

Is this how it's supposed to work? I like this feature, but would like if it were available all the time.

What I see when I first arrive:

View attachment 245030



When I navigate to any other page, it's gone:

View attachment 245029

That 'recent activity' box is a live update of everything that happens on the site. It's configured to display only on the front page, which you can get back to by either clicking the Menu then Home or Forums, or by clicking the logo at the top of the page. I have it restricted to the front page right now because I want to make sure the server can handle the load from it. Every box you see on the sidebar can be enabled or disabled for each page

 

[Joe Link]

Hmm, I can't seem to get the scroll buttons to shift the site one way or another, they just lay on top of whatever is normally displayed. Any other tips for reproducing the issue?

 

[CHLChris]

Ah this makes much more sense! Those 'scroll buttons' are a new feature; displayed as an overlay to get you to the top or bottom of the page faster. These will be an option which you can turn on or off.

These are causing the actual page to re-size and/or jerk? I'll check it out with chrome on my Mac right now.

His edit was much closer to what I am seeing. I don't think it has anything to do with the up-arrow/down-arrow box at the lower right. No, I mean a slidey bar appears (making the window's contents resize slightly) and then quickly disappears (undoing the resizing that was causing by the appearance of the slidey bar). And this new slidey bar is IN ADDITION to the standard slidey bar that every browser window in the known universe has on the right side.

 

[Barney]

I like the "New Posts" in version 3!
Thanks

 

[CHLChris]

Alright, Joe, I figured out something about that slidey thing that I've been talking about. I finally noticed the trigger. I'm not sure why it happens, but I know exactly WHEN it happens.

When hovering over a thread title, at the point when the thread title gets underlined, the slidey thing shows up (and shifts the entire page's text to make room). But after the cursor leaves the thread title text, the slidey thing disappears (and the text readjusts).

I hope this helps you get to the bottom of this issue.

 

[Joe Link]

Alright, Joe, I figured out something about that slidey thing that I've been talking about. I finally noticed the trigger. I'm not sure why it happens, but I know exactly WHEN it happens.

When hovering over a thread title, at the point when the thread title gets underlined, the slidey thing shows up (and shifts the entire page's text to make room). But after the cursor leaves the thread title text, the slidey thing disappears (and the text readjusts).

I hope this helps you get to the bottom of this issue.

That's a HUGE help, thank you.

 

[USAF Medic]

As some of you will recall, we've been working on the new version of our website since November of last year. I'm happy to announce that development is finally coming to a close. Moving into the beta stage, we'd like to once again offer you, our Supporting Members, the first test drives.

Please keep in mind that this is still very much a work in progress. I fully expect you'll find areas which are unpolished, unfinished, or downright broken. We'd love to hear about these experiences, as well as your thoughts and questions. Right now you should consider yourself an adventurer, though we hope to have a complete help system finished soon before the public launch.

This new version marks a significant departure from the standard 'large header' approach of many 2000-era websites. While there is always risk in doing something new or different, I believe this new layout is an incredible step forward in terms of simplicity and useability. Our main goal was to reduce the difficulty many of our older or non-computer savvy users experienced when trying to participate.

I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you, especially after you try it on your phones and tablets

ISSUES / SUGGESTIONS / COMPLAINTS LIST

- Alert & Conversation Location: Alerts and conversations now require more clicks to view and do not provide as much info.
- Thread Preview: Thread preview on hover is disabled.
- Top Alignment: Padding needs to be added to the top of the page for proper alignment when following links to posts in emails and alerts.
- Member Feedback: Feedback in member card needs to be changed from percentage to 0-0-0 format.
- Alert Bubble Count: Alert bubble counts seem to be de-synchronized, delayed, and/or inaccurate. - Bronze Ribbon: Bronze Member ribbon is the incorrect color.
- Tab Alerts: Alert bubbles need to be re-added to browser tabs.
- Margins: Main content box has narrower margins.
- New Thread Indicator: Indicator needs to be easier to see.
- New Content Avatars: No avatars in new content list.
- Unread Page Shading: Unread page shading needs more contrast.
- Conversation Links: Links at bottom of messages are not properly formatted.
- Common Links: New content and watched threads take more clicks to view.

- Link Color: Links are the same color as normal content.
- Top Link: No top link on bottom of page.

Added an up/down button to the right. Members will be able to turn this on or off. ​

As some of you will recall, we've been working on the new version of our website since November of last year. I'm happy to announce that development is finally coming to a close. Moving into the beta stage, we'd like to once again offer you, our Supporting Members, the first test drives.

Please keep in mind that this is still very much a work in progress. I fully expect you'll find areas which are unpolished, unfinished, or downright broken. We'd love to hear about these experiences, as well as your thoughts and questions. Right now you should consider yourself an adventurer, though we hope to have a complete help system finished soon before the public launch.

This new version marks a significant departure from the standard 'large header' approach of many 2000-era websites. While there is always risk in doing something new or different, I believe this new layout is an incredible step forward in terms of simplicity and useability. Our main goal was to reduce the difficulty many of our older or non-computer savvy users experienced when trying to participate.

I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you, especially after you try it on your phones and tablets

ISSUES / SUGGESTIONS / COMPLAINTS LIST

- Alert & Conversation Location: Alerts and conversations now require more clicks to view and do not provide as much info.
- Thread Preview: Thread preview on hover is disabled.
- Top Alignment: Padding needs to be added to the top of the page for proper alignment when following links to posts in emails and alerts.
- Member Feedback: Feedback in member card needs to be changed from percentage to 0-0-0 format.
- Alert Bubble Count: Alert bubble counts seem to be de-synchronized, delayed, and/or inaccurate. - Bronze Ribbon: Bronze Member ribbon is the incorrect color.
- Tab Alerts: Alert bubbles need to be re-added to browser tabs.
- Margins: Main content box has narrower margins.
- New Thread Indicator: Indicator needs to be easier to see.
- New Content Avatars: No avatars in new content list.
- Unread Page Shading: Unread page shading needs more contrast.
- Conversation Links: Links at bottom of messages are not properly formatted.
- Common Links: New content and watched threads take more clicks to view.

- Link Color: Links are the same color as normal content.
- Top Link: No top link on bottom of page.

Added an up/down button to the right. Members will be able to turn this on or off. ​

I like the 3.0. Need a way to search. Such as looking for a part firearm.
It would be nice to see a preveiw photo of items in Classifides.

 

[Joe Link]

I like the 3.0. Need a way to search. Such as looking for a part firearm.
It would be nice to see a preveiw photo of items in Classifides.

Thanks for the reply Ben. Search is located in the top menu on the left. We're going to be bringing thread previews back, but I'm not sure if photos appear in them (or can).

 

[Mikej]

@Mikej which browser and operating system are you using? Also, we'll definitely be getting the preview box back

I use chrome and Windows 7 home Premium.

 

[CHLChris]

@Joe Link : You fixed the problem of page tops being obscured by the black banner at the top. Great work!

 

[Joe Link]

Thanks! The thread previews are turning out to be much more difficult

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Yeah, confirmed fix for the page alignment for 'new thread update' email links. (obviously the same thing)

 

[etrain16]

I like the new Quick Links at the top of the page - got the things back I was missing. Nice work @Joe Link

EDIT: I just noticed something though, when I clicked on "New Content" in this box, it didn't take me to new content, but rather to the home page with a list of all the forums.

 

[CHLChris]

You ready for a super-minor feedback/suggestion? At the top or bottom of a multi-page thread, where there are the boxes with numbers that indicate which page of the thread you are viewing...I have a really hard time seeing which box is highlighted. If I may suggest, the white is just fine for the page you're viewing, but the other page boxes should be in a darker gray. Just a thought.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Where has "Your Content" hidden it's self?

 

[Joe Link]

I like the new Quick Links at the top of the page - got the things back I was missing. Nice work @Joe Link

EDIT: I just noticed something though, when I clicked on "New Content" in this box, it didn't take me to new content, but rather to the home page with a list of all the forums.

Good to hear. I'm still not satisfied with this solution, but it'll work till I can come up with something better.

Thanks for the reminder about the links not working, I had to add them quickly as I was headed out the door. They're working now

View attachment 245592

You ready for a super-minor feedback/suggestion? At the top or bottom of a multi-page thread, where there are the boxes with numbers that indicate which page of the thread you are viewing...I have a really hard time seeing which box is highlighted. If I may suggest, the white is just fine for the page you're viewing, but the other page boxes should be in a darker gray. Just a thought.

Thanks, I think someone else recommended this as well. My goal is to not make it too distracting on the page, but we definitely need to be able to easily tell which page we're on. I just switched the colors, highlighting the current page. Does that make it easier?

Where has "Your Content" hidden it's self?

I just added it to the 'Quick Links' menu on the sidebar.

 

[CHLChris]

I like how hovering over the page you want is dark gray and that the chosen page is light gray (versus all being super-light gray and your chosen page being the white one). That helps, for sure!

 

[CHLChris]

I just added it to the 'Quick Links' menu on the sidebar.

And you fixed the other links! They actually work now...

 

[Joe Link]

Today I did a bit of work on a potential Quick Links option, I'd like to hear what you guys think. You'll see the quick links list in your user menu (top right) is empty. <broken link removed> (Account Center > Preferences), scroll down, select which you'd like to show there, then save it. Please let me know if I'm forgetting any potentially useful links

 

[CHLChris]

I don't understand the purpose. Isn't one of the purposes for 3.0 is to simplify and streamline the experience? You already added a new Quick Links box on the right side. Why would we also need a customizable set of (red) quick links inside our own user menu? I do prefer them to live in the user menu, however! Good idea!

Since the right side is already getting a bit crowded, maybe the Quick Links box goes away and we just get the customizable Quick Links menu in the user side bar. I REALLY like the ability to hover over the Inbox and Alerts and get a preview list, just like in 2.0. I do wish the hover-preview would work inside the user menu, though. These upgrades to the user menu would allow you to completely remove the Quick Links box.