Your Input Desired Re: Main Site Theme

[Nyctibius]

Today Nev and I were discussing some of the issues that our current theme has. Right now they aren't major--some minor coloration problems and an issue with the Quote button number among the most severe, and while we don't consider them truly problematic, we are aware that this can impact the user experience negatively all the same.

So the question must be asked: how do you feel about the current main theme for Umbra? Should we change it? For now the poll will be a simple yes or no, but feel free to discuss below.

As an aside: As always, if there is any theme you want on the site, let us know and we will put it on our list.

As an aside, 2: if/when suggesting themes try and make sure they're Xenforo 1.x themes. We're running Xenforo 1.5 here on Umbra, so 2.0 stuff isn't compatible. We may update in the future, so if you have a really nice 2.0 theme still suggest it, but at present we're eyeballing 1.x.

 

[Tarieles]

Just a note, I don't seem to be able to vote on the poll

I will say that personally, I don't like the default theme. Coloration issues aside, it just doesn't feel clean or terribly professional. I know this is a RP site so it's not like we are super professional, but... idk, just something about the default that sort of turned me off originally.

Thankfully, you guys had Flat Awesome Dark. It just feels so much more clean and a little fancy. It's simple and nearly a bit elegant in a way. Love that theme. I need dark themes because my eyes are wonky, but sometimes black is too dark and contrasty. The dark gray is perfect for me.

Just something to think on, but it is in my completely honest opinion that the default seems a little... blah and a little cartoony almost.

 

[Nyctibius]

Hopefully that should be rectified now, meaning you can vote. We missed a minor setting in the backend, but it should be fixed.

As for your feedback--thank you very much! User comfort is super important to us, so I'm glad that we managed to have a theme to keep you around. Best to settle and get feedback on these things early, right?

 

[Nevermind]

@Member

Just making sure everyone gets a chance to view this thread and vote. Your input is extremely important to us!

 

[Dao Ma]

I personally like the default theme, but if it's having minor complications that could be mild annoyances (or can be foreseen as greater annoyances), I'm all for changing the theme. I would like to keep a dark theme and be sure to have a color that contrasts.

 

[Dao Ma]

Update:

Something that is also a little more mobile-friendly would be nice. For some reason on mobile, it doesn't like to adjust correctly for my keyboard, or I have to constantly readjust the sizing of the site. It's a little bit wonky and makes it difficult to write.

That and the edit window makes it difficult to edit in RTE sometimes. Especially images. I think for me, it would get irksome when I'm in a particular mood to organize my rp thread information and need a little bit of coding.

By quick glance, I did like the appearance and streamline of this theme here.
Maybe even something similar to this.

I'm not sure what your price range is or what kind of feel/theme you're going for for the site. So maybe those can be some kind of ideas for inspiration.

 

[Nevermind]

Those are awesome suggestions! We have no price range; Nyc and I are willing to go for whatever we can to make the site easy and comfortable to navigate for everyone.

The default theme will be dark (because... "Umbra"... wouldn't make much sense otherwise), but we will always have a light version to accomodate users who would prefer a light theme.

Umbra is still very new, and this is a learning process for everyone involved. We're going to stumble here and there, and unfortunately this current theme just doesn't seem to be working out for us. Whatever theme we go with as the default needs to be clean, professional, and easy to use. We will probably still keep the current default as an option for users to pick if they like but experimenting with something else is probably for the best. Your input is immensely appreciated!

 

[Nyctibius]

As an addendum, if/when suggesting themes try and make sure they're Xenforo 1.x themes. We're running Xenforo 1.5 here on Umbra, so 2.0 stuff isn't compatible. We may update in the future, so if you have a really nice 2.0 theme still suggest it, but at present we're eyeballing 1.x.

 

[Dao Ma]

Good to know. I wasn't sure which version of xF you were running. I'll keep an eye out for some.

 

[Nyctibius]

@Dao Ma Yeah, for the record, I really liked both of your suggestions but when I saw they were 2.0 I had an 'oh, damn' moment. I figured that would be important information for everyone else to know too lmao

 

[Dao Ma]

DarkTabbed 1.5
Ruthenium 1.x
Potassium 1.x

As some examples maybe.

 

[Sunshine Kitti]

I like the current theme's simplicity, but I feel like a different shade of blue might be in order? But I know things are still developing and am looking forward to how things grow and change!

Edit: I actually super love "Flat Awesome Dark." It's perfect and is now my style of choice

 

[Nyctibius]

@Member

Hey, guys, this is a 24-hour last call! Get your opinion heard if you have one before Friday at 2400 PDT/0300 EDT. Er... that's midnight/three in the morning for people who don't Military Time. Force of habit, sorry.

 

[Deleted 8]

I like the theme as is. For me, it is easier on the eyes.

 

[Nyctibius]

@Member

The poll is now closed! Thank you to everyone who voted and shared their opinions. Your input is invaluable to us.

The results of the poll are plain to see: 7 for, 5 against. We will be changing Umbra's default theme in the coming weeks (give us up to a month before you start thinking of us as liars). Do bear in mind that doesn't mean the current default will be going anywhere--most likely we will revert it back to its marketing name and keep it on the site for all of you who still enjoy using it.

Thanks again to everyone for their participation.