CLOSED We'd like to get your input.

[Adam]

Hi everyone,

So far things have been going pretty well with the new site and it's quite stable, the speed hasn't fluctuated either. There's still more to do though. Fix the ad issues, we had some adult themed ads popping up so that was turned off for the time being We also need to get the sponsor banners back up and linked along with trying to get a member card back on the site and some minor behind the scenes things.

What we will be doing real soon is by the end of the week we will be installing two Official add-ons from Xenforo. Their Media Gallery & Resource Manager. These are straight forward and there have been no issues we can see on the test site.

The XenForo Media Gallery is an add-on that allows you and your users to create galleries of images and videos in your forum, organized into admin-defined categories or user-created albums.
The XenForo Resource Manager is an add-on that allows you to manage files, downloads, and article-like content within your forum.

Beyond those, we're looking for the following add-ons. A Calendar, Onsite Raffles, Map Integration, and maybe one or two others, , like an emoji pack. What we'd like to hear from you is if we should look at further theming for the site. There are a few prepackaged themes that look pretty good and some of them even have some features that add functionality. There aren't as many out there for XF 2.x compared to what's available for XF 1.52, which is to be expected with any major platform update. Right now our only concern is if these purchased themes will interfere with update/upgrades from XF, but if there's enough interest it may be something we look into further. These are the four this seem to be the best fit from what I've seen when I was looking last month, as time goes by more and more pop up though. They are in no specific order...

https://www.dohtheme.com/community/products/nubia.42/
https://www.dohtheme.com/community/products/expo.40/
https://www.themehouse.com/xenforo/2/themes/drift
https://xenfocus.com/styles/illuminate/

So what do you all think, is the site fine the way it is or could it use a little more eye candy?

 

[skriz]

I just started playing around on the new site...WOW. After the dumpster fire that was the last attempt at a site, you've blown away any and all expectations. Great work to all of those involved.

 

[Adam]

Glad you like it Raj. This is just plain Jane vanilla stock. There's really just a couple appearance tweaks. 99% of the credit goes to Leo.

 

[picoreefguy]

while i think a little sprucing up would look nice, we're here for the content and too much theming could be a distraction. it would be perfectly fine with me if we left things as is looks wise

 

[AquariumSchmo]

This theme looks good to me. I would add a page on the site root with info as to why someone should become a member (faq, benefits, etc.) and either a button to become a supporting member or instructions on how to do so.

 

[FutureInterest]

Of those 4, I like Nubia. I'm not sure if this is a feature specific to Nubia, but it does have "Featured Posts" that are stickied to the main forum page. This would be a nice addition for us so that posts about meetings, swaps, contests can be front and center right away. Other than that there didn't seem to be a lot of material differences between what we have now and Nubia. Of the Nubia versions... I prefer the look of the dark version.

 

[Adam]

I'm not 100% yet but I believe the dark or light version are selectable on the user end.
I believe that's the case with any theme that has more than on option.

Oh, and I prefer Dark on everything on my phone.

 

[FutureInterest]

Aye I've seen the dark/light option on other sites and I prefer having that option. So another point for Nubia imo. I was going to ask Leo if we could do banners on the main page so we can keep the advertising of events front and center... but featured posts would do the job even better. So my vote is for Nubia

 

[Adam]

Leo and I took a break the last couple weeks. We were both a little burned out with everything. Through the process I've been giving input and doing some of the menial admin stuff but he's been doing all the heavy lifting and I think we both needed a break, it's tough when it's only the two of us while having our normal jobs to deal with 1st. Right now we're focusing on the XF side of things and will deal with the WP homepage once we have this fairly nailed down.

After the two add-ons are installed Leo is going to work on the Sponsor banners. I also want to see about having our own separate banner or a highlighted text link near the top of the page for certain announcements along with a more visible link for becoming a supporting member. We have a check list Box Note in Slack that you can look at if you'd like to see where we are.

While that is going on I'm researching the other add-ons I mentioned above.

 

[dball711]

Leo and I took a break the last couple weeks. We were both a little burned out with everything.

To Leo & Adam, the work that the two of you have done to reboot/rebuild the site is nothing short of miraculous. The endless hours you have been putting in is way over and above the call of duty. On behalf of the entire Atlanta Reef Club, "thank you for all you have done". Additionally thanks to Brett for all his work on the front end moving the club to a revised/updated site and the rest of the club officers, BoD, trustees for their all their efforts to help keep this moving.

Please lets keep this moving, we need everyones input to help sculpt & mold the evolution of the new site.

 

[Adam]

There's been over 100 user's active a day for the last several days. Actually since Oct 29th it's been that way everyday, which is great. But there are only 5 votes in this thread

This isn't my site, or Leo's or the BoD's. It's our site, everyone's, supporting member or not. While we are trying to make it better we could really use your input. Wanna see something not available currently? Let us know we'll do what we can to make it happen. With the theming we're going to go with the majority. So if more say leave it, that's what we're going to do...

 

[seand]

I was second I believe

 

[FutureInterest]

This is why Nubia would be awesome

Anything you want higher visibility on can be a featured post on the main forum page.

 

[Adam]

Well it's currently 5 to 4 in favor of sprucing it up some. So a whopping 9 votes.

Anyone else what to share their input?

 

[FutureInterest]

N... U... B... I... A...

 

[Adam]

I hear ya bro. Just hoping we could get more than a 9 user vote on it.

 

[bcavalli]

Just my 2 cents I would go with Drift.

 

[FutureInterest]

Anything that can highlight certain posts onto the main forum page works for me.

 

[Adam]

Calendar with build in mapping is now active.

Still working on the Raffle and currency add-on.

 

[camellia]

It’s awesome!! I was worried for awhile there, really concerned that it was the end of ARC as we knew it.
Wow, so glad I was totally wrong!
Thank you for your hard work dedication and great success!