I hate change ...

It will take me some time before I get used to this new interface.
I'll have to find my way around again.

Originally posted by Loose Screw
It will take me some time before I get used to this new interface.
I'll have to find my way around again.

The one thing that really hasn't changed much is the layout of the buttons. In nearly all cases, if it was a blue button below the menus, it is still a blue button below the menus. All side bars and the drop down menus are very nearly the same too. The amount of change was kept to a minimum so it can be introduced over time to avoid more of the fallout I am seeing today.

Originally posted by Russ
The one thing that really hasn't changed much is the layout of the buttons. In nearly all cases, if it was a blue button below the menus, it is still a blue button below the menus. All side bars and the drop down menus are very nearly the same too. The amount of change was kept to a minimum so it can be introduced over time to avoid more of the fallout I am seeing today.

Come on, you knew it would be like this. Have you ever seen anything introduced that didn't get this reaction? 😀

Yeah, but...

Where were all these forum no-names BEFORE today?

Everyone had plenty of time to check out the new site and make their complaints. But no, they did nothing, and now they're complaining.

Typical.


(I know not *everyone* is complaining, but my point is, those who are had plenty of time to see the new site and complain way before now.)

Originally posted by Kewpie
Come on, you knew it would be like this 😀

Well, yes, of course.

One Humorous Detail of "The New Look" on Our New Game Screens:

When it's your move, an Unmoving Clock appears in the Upper Right; once you've moved, One Cartoon-Like Conversation Cloud replaces it, as if to suggest that your opponent is already pondering whether to move or resign on the spot! Many lols to each of you on this Happy Day from My Quiet Street in Cyberspace, USA. (gb)

Originally posted by Kewpie
This is the place to come if you want to grumble about the new user interface.

...?

So Kewpie, maybe it would have been a better idea to choose a less inflamating title and scope...

I will try if I get people posting then.

Originally posted by johnnylongwoody
Yes that does take some getting used to.
It was web page format before where it completely
covered the screen left to right.

Now it is like looking at a word document.

Can I ask, if anyone has an answer, why?

Why the change? Why did it all come about?

Was it necessary to change from the old format?

I had no problems with the old format, maybe some people did?

Not too big on change, are ya johnny?

Careful, you're showing your age. 🙂

Try this:
While on the site, try hitting Ctrl + (that's the Ctrl key and the 'plus' key at the same time) as many times as you need to to make it take up more of the screen. (Ctrl 'minus' to zoom out again.) (Make sure that under the Menu>View>Zoom you do NOT have 'Zoom text only' checked.) (*Works under Firefox, you may need another command for other browsers.)

I feel that the change was unnecessary. It makes the web site took like an elementary chess site with everything being so animated. I really really really hope they change it back. It is less fluid moving around. It looks bad. It offers no improvement to the old style. All in all I am very disappointed in the lack of creative thinking and judgment that went into this change.
-Ethan

Originally posted by Suzianne
Not too big on change, are ya johnny?

Careful, you're showing your age. 🙂

Try this:
While on the site, try hitting Ctrl + (that's the Ctrl key and the 'plus' key at the same time) as many times as you need to to make it take up more of the screen. (Ctrl 'minus' to zoom out again.) (Make sure that under the Menu>View>Zoom you do NOT have 'Zoom tex ...[text shortened]... only' checked.) (*Works under Firefox, you may need another command for other browsers.)

Thanks Suzi, that works for me. 🙂


You already know my age. 52.

Originally posted by johnnylongwoody
Thanks Suzi, that works for me. 🙂


You already know my age. 52.

Yeah, I tried this too, now I can see the site without my reading glasses. 🙂


Yep, I know. You know I have to pull your chain back when I can.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Yeah, I tried this too, now I can see the site without my reading glasses. 🙂


Yep, I know. You know I have to pull your chain back when I can.

Suzi baby, you can yank my chain anytime. 😉


See any bumble bees today??? Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Originally posted by Etown
I feel that the change was unnecessary. It makes the web site took like an elementary chess site with everything being so animated. I really really really hope they change it back. It is less fluid moving around. It looks bad. It offers no improvement to the old style. All in all I am very disappointed in the lack of creative thinking and judgment that went into this change.
-Ethan

'everything being so animated'

Really? What is now so animated that makes it a dealbreaker for you? I don't see any animation, frankly.

'very disappointed in the lack of creative thinking and judgment'

Do you have any idea how many users this site has? Any change has to run a gauntlet of disappointing somebody, and of course, the disappointed are the most vocal about it. The designers have to consider the computer limitations of their users as well as a million opinions of what looks good and what looks ugly. The changes least likely to upset long-time users are conservative, little changes rather than big changes. I think they used a lot of good judgment in choosing what changes would be acceptable and a lot of creative thinking to accomplish this within the limitations of their users.

But then again, my opinion is worth about the same as yours... it and $2 will buy me a cup of coffee.

Just throwing in my two cents, I'm a website and web application developer and I think the new layout is awful.
It's a (User Experience) disaster - worse than the old site.
It's really clear that the design elements have been created based on what has been seen on other websites rather than a clear, light design made specifically for this project.
The coding is heavy and doesn't make use of modern techniques nor provide better support for multiple devices.
Main menu drop downs 'stick' on if you click them - you can just click elsewhere to get rid of them, you HAVE to select one to get rid of the dam thing.
Analyze board popup assumes you have an enormous screen and back/forward features don't work properly.

I love the site and think the engine underlying RHP is great but they should have hired professional web developers to redo the front end (the graphical interface and layout) of the website.

I won't be renewing my subscription this year!

:-(

UPDATE: Wow - I've been looking in more detail at the code for the new site and it's incredibly bloated. I'm actually pretty stunned that they would go live with this when they had a fully functional site already in place (so no hard deadline or reason to rush).

To give an example, I've optimized a VERY small snippet of code in the grand scheme of things in about 2 minutes.

This:

<ul class="mastBarButtonSurround">
<li style="float:left;list-style-type: none;"><a href="/myhome/myhome.php" class="mastBarButtonSelected" style="min-width:90px;">My Home</a></li>
<li style="float:left;list-style-type: none;"><a href="/mymessages/msgbox.php" class="mastBarButton" style="min-width:90px;">My Messages</a></li>
<li style="float:left;list-style-type: none;"><a href="/mygames/mygames.php" class="mastBarButton" style="min-width:90px;">My Games</a></li>
<li style="float:left;list-style-type: none;"><a href="/myhome/myvs.php" class="mastBarButton" style="min-width:90px;">My Performance</a></li>
<li style="float:left;list-style-type: none;"><a href="/usercon/buddylist.php" class="mastBarButton" style="min-width:90px;">My Buddies</a></li>
<li style="float:left;list-style-type: none;"><a href="/profile/playerprofile.php" class="mastBarButton" style="min-width:90px;">My Public Profile</a></li>
</ul>

Should be represented like this:

<ul class="mastBarButtonSurround">
<li><a href="/myhome/myhome.php" class="current">My Home</a></li>
<li><a href="/mymessages/msgbox.php">My Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="/mygames/mygames.php">My Games</a></li>
<li><a href="/myhome/myvs.php">My Performance</a></li>
<li><a href="/usercon/buddylist.php">My Buddies</a></li>
<li><a href="/profile/playerprofile.php">My Public Profile</a></li>
</ul>

With these two lines of code added to the stylesheet:

.mastBarButtonSurround li {float:left;list-style-type: none;}
.mastBarButtonSurround li a {min-width:90px;}

Why does this matter? Because every extra bit of bloated code means there's more data to transfer and the pages load slow, the site works slower, etc.

Now multiply this by the number of pages on the site, the number of other inefficencies (hundreds) and the number of users (thousands).