RHPv2? Well, not quite, but almost.

More like 1.5

As many of you will be aware, I normally make quite small incremental updates to the site. This lessens the testing burden, as most changes are quite localised, and therefore minimises any risk of bugs creeping in.

Anyway, this time around, I had a mission to update the presentation of the site (replacing the current style sheets) and editing a lot of code (primarily because some coding standards I used years ago I no longer like, so I wanted to bring it in line with my current thinking)

If that doesn't mean anything to you, don't worry. All I'm saying is I have changed a lot of stuff, some you will see, some you won't that is all under the bonnet/hood.

For the presentation changes, I was very keen to lose some of the garish design. I know it isn't to everyone's taste, and even though no regular users have complained about it, I think it needed updating. Basically, I think blue text should be for links only. This is the most obvious change - the proliferation of black text, rather than just the odd bit I had crept in over time. I know the blue text had been key to the look of the site since it launched, but I'm quite sure no one is that attached to it, right?

Also, every form on the site has been recoded - they all now look consistent, rather than the odd bag of layouts we currently have.

And some icons have changes. Most very subtly (resized), other completely. Icon legends will now click through to the site faq, if appropriate.


So, rather than just release this one day unexpectedly and take everyone by surprise, I thought I would give a little sneek preview to collect some feedback. There is nothing too ground breaking here, some more interesting than others, but here we go anyway.
(If the image appears squashed, you made need to expand your browser size to fit.)

My games.
New filters added to the columns - these two pop ups can be used individually or together, and should make locating your games a little easier.
<a href=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rnewman/rhp2shots/mygames.gif target=_imgnew1>My Games image</a>

New game
The most overhauled form of all. Now, one field is all that is used for entering your opponents name or email. An additional advanced options section pops out the 'set piece' games and the new open invite rating filter section. This leaves the form as clean and simple as is possible for first time users. All text on this page is currently provisional. (Also, note, private games have now been removed.)
<a href=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rnewman/rhp2shots/newgame.gif target=_imgnew2>New game image</a>

Open invites.
New open invite rating filters in action.
<a href=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rnewman/rhp2shots/openinvite.gif target=_imgnew3>Open invite image</a>

Board view.
Nothing too exciting here - just a cleaner board coordinate surround.
<a href=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rnewman/rhp2shots/board.gif target=_imgnew4>Board image</a>

Forums
Another large change in presentation (still under development). Let me know what you think.
<a href=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rnewman/rhp2shots/forum.gif target=_imgnew5>Forums image</a>


Something else to go in this release is the expansion of the sieges. I will be removing the normal index page for the sieges, and replacing it with a table view, and then expanding the number of boards. I will probably remove the concept of 'castles' altogether and return to 'boards.' It confuses many at the moment, and once the table view is introduced, it would have made even less sense. Again, your input is appreciated.

That's is all, thanks for reading.

-Russ

I like the new forum look. Very sleek. You may however make the 'posting date'-bar slightly more higher (2px?). It now looks quite cramped. (If that is the correct word 😕)

Come to think of it, can you change the color of the buttons too? The light blue is a little out of place among all the grey and white, IMHO.

I love the new look - much easier on the eye and clearer to read. Only place I've found that hasn't got the new look is when you look at Clan Challenge Results pages, minor quibble, the rest of it is superb! 🙂

Originally posted by Exy
I love the new look - much easier on the eye and clearer to read. Only place I've found that hasn't got the new look is when you look at Clan Challenge Results pages, minor quibble, the rest of it is superb! 🙂

Not quite sure I understand you, Exy. The new look is just proposed, and not live yet.

The clan challenge results pages will be presented in the same way as the rest of the site.

-Russ

Originally posted by Russ
Not quite sure I understand you, Exy. The new look is just proposed, and not live yet.

The clan challenge results pages will be presented in the same way as the rest of the site.

-Russ

I must be going mad, I thought all the pale blue alternate striping on all the pages was new. I haven't noticed it before. 🙄

Okay, my opinion:
short answer: i like it! 🙂 as most/all changes
since I play here 😀

but:

newgame: put the gamename down (perhaps to advanced?) as it is optional. The explenation what &quot;timeout&quot; means is above the &quot;cell&quot;/&quot;headline&quot; on the left. This confuses a bit.

MyGames: I do not like these popup thing too much, so... 😉 and
they are transparent 😵

Forum: I liked the old one better. bg colors of posts do not
change alternating (do you understand what I mean?). There are no
&quot;reply&quot; and recommend&quot;, ... links?!?

I think all links on all pages should look the same style (eg I
like it when the bg changes when you are with the mouse on it or
when they are overlined).

you don't allow any (external) links on the site (due to juristic
reasons I think, no?). But you use many gif-Graphics, which is not
allowed as well. Why don't you skip to png?

will you change anything at the navigation of the site (red bar, blue box under it ... ?)

everything else looks very good! 🙂 when will all that go online?
(no promise, just an estimation) 😉

th

I will be testing for a few days. So, maybe late next week, but probably the week after.

-Russ

Very nice changes Russ, especially the New Game page. The only thing I am not fond of is the forums look. I guess I am used to it the way it is now and like it that way. I like the black, but not the new layout. That's my opinion- great work!😀

ncrosby🙂

Originally posted by ncrosby
Very nice changes Russ, especially the New Game page. The only thing I am not fond of is the forums look. I guess I am used to it the way it is now and like it that way. I like the black, but not the new layout. That's my opinion- great work!😀

ncrosby🙂

The only thing that really is different on the forums is the white area for the message itself. If others don't like this, I will remove it, and let the underlying colour come through. Thanks for feedback so far.

[After taking a second look, it might just be that the alternating row colours are not different enough for the forums.]

-Russ

...and another idea (very old, but never posted - yes, that's
possible 😉 ):

I'd love to be able to choose my own outlooking of the
site. This is somehow possible already (as with timeforchess and
chessatwork), but the use of templates could be improved. I guess
the siteadmins know much more about possibilities in this field.

I like e.g. the possibility of choosing my own chess-set, why not
choosing the whole site's style?
th

I like the new style. Very well done Russ.

Maybe you can do yourself a favor if you are in a code changing period. Maybe you could change the code so you can let us do some of your work. That will give you more time to do more important things than starting next rounds or making new tournaments and that kind of stuff. But maybe that is not possible. I have no idea, because I don't know much about programming.
If you are going to do this, I volunteer to take some of your (not too difficult, but something like the tournament things I mentioned) tasks, so you can concentrate on the important stuff
Sander

Looks excellent thanks for all the hard work 😀😀😀😀

Crocster

Originally posted by thire
...and another idea (very old, but never posted - yes, that's
possible 😉 ):

I'd [b]love to be able to choose my own outlooking of the
site. This is somehow possible already (as with timeforchess and
chessatwork), but the use of templates could be improved. I guess
the siteadmins know much more about possibilities in this field.

I like e.g. the possibility of choosing my own chess-set, why not
choosing the whole site's style?
th[/b]

This could happen in the future. Once I'm happy with browser CSS compliance, it could happen.

-Russ

Whilst you`re on you update 😉 Is thete anything that can be done about the way clans challenge? i.e be able to view the challengee`s members before accepting or something. Or at least dissable the auto select function. That way mistakes won`t happen.

A big clan update is to complex to bundle in to this release.

I know I have been promising this forever, but the clan updates really will be done soon. Once this is RHP release is live, I need to quickly add ratings to uChess (should only take a week at most) and then I really will start work on the clan updates (including the clan league.)

-Russ