Just wanted to know if you find the forum home page easier to navigate they way it is now or the old way? I figured the new way allows for a more direct way to get to the forums you want with-out all the scrolling.

Most of the really inconvenient internet forum formats are gone. This is fine.

Looks fine and dandy to me!

Works for me just fine:)

I was new to this site and it was very user friendly to me.I am not a computer geek so I would say for the new web travelers its great.I dodged a couple other sites because they were difficult to navigate through.This is basic and simple to travel through for me.I have it marked in my favs and visit from time to time.Acutally in this catigory this is the ONLY site I marked in my favorites and revisit.If your planning on a change please do not make it too technical as this works for me.Thanks for the great site.I would also like to say I have met a few people on here and you have a great user group.A couple are also basic computer users also I would think.

its not the worst layout i've seen but its not the easiest to navigate. i thought the older version was much easier for navigation. whats a few more clicks anyway. i guess if your on a dial up connection its alot of wasted time but i think the dsl and cable guys make it very affordable.

I like the new layout, it's friendly

works for me!! I think some of the new user will find it to be alot less intimatating...

I'm still fairly new to the zone, but I do find the new layout an improvement with so much to read !!

Seems good to me, Liked the old one but it was long indeed...

Para

Works fine for me, looks much better.

It's good!

I have no problem with the current layout. I find what I am looking for very quickly! Keep up the good work!

Seems to work ok for me. I have not used this site very much. I will be good with it.

I don't have a ton of experience with the site, but so far everything has been easy to use and find. Fortunately it follows the relatively standard forum format so yo can't go wrong.

I prefer the new layout, but I believe that there is still more room for consolidation. Too many forums results in over-specialization, which almost guarantees double-posts from those with questions that fit just as well in more than one category.

Just wanted to know if you find the forum home page easier to navigate they way it is now or the old way? I figured the new way allows for a more direct way to get to the forums you want with-out all the scrolling.

I'm really impressed, congratulations on a very carefully designed website. And the ease of navigating makes it even better. Specially as you set it up now is much better.

Knight.

It is good and friendly. Congratulations for the good work done in this website. Thanks.

Thanks for all your comments, I want make changes that the masses will appreciate.

You, I like the formulation. it is a very interesting site :)

I found it better for sure, but a bit slower. Just imagination or a fact?

Best regards
/Piobaire

Well the new layout its just as nice as a good book, easy to read and follow. The only thing that can go wrong are the multiple double posts, many questions are already answered but that "multiple posts" makes a little bit hard to find them quick.
Maybe more control? Moderators? well just an opinion.

Keep up the good work :)

The server has a high load as I'm emailing the members, it will get faster in a few mins.

I like it.

Well the new layout its just as nice as a good book, easy to read and follow. The only thing that can go wrong are the multiple double posts, many questions are already answered but that "multiple posts" makes a little bit hard to find them quick.
Maybe more control? Moderators? well just an opinion.

Keep up the good work :)

The members can helps us all out by clicking the triangle with the exclamation point in the upper right hand of the post that will allow you to report a post to the mods. That will really help us out if we miss somthing.

I hang out on 2 other fourms (Paintball and Powder Coating) and compaired to those 2 this one is lacking.

Granted I haven't spent allot of time here, but I never really could (easily) find find my way around.

I'm self taught when it come to machining and would love to get into CNC which is why I came here to begin with. But like I said I haven't figured out how to navagate the site yet...

I only got to this thread because of your email.

The members can helps us all out by clicking the triangle with the exclamation point in the upper right hand of the post that will allow you to report a post to the mods. That will really help us out if we miss somthing.

(nuts) Aint knew that !!!!!!!

I'll keep it in mind :p

Hey Paul, maybe I'm a creature of old habits but I prefer the old style. It's also not as easy for me to read it when the contrast is dark blue on darker blue. I can live with it though. What do the horizontal dark blue bands mean?

Thanks!
JR

I have to tweak the color, the band means nothing. I will fix the gradient later this week.

from what i've seen it looks good

Working for me as I am learning all the time. Thanks for letting me be here.
John

Works really good.

Work fine for me and I like it, good work!!!

Yes, the more condensed view of sub-forums on the main forum page works better for me.

I would say that having the light blue band for the first 4 rows of sub-forums and then dark-blue band for remaining forums serves no purpose. At first I looked to find some significance to this, but then decided I was reading too much into it.

So, not to overly critique bit provide constructive interface design guidance, I would either lose the dark-blue band, or put the solid dark-blue band on the Forum header, and then use the graduated light-blue band on whole sub-forum list.

You know what they say about opinions and... :rolleyes:

This website is awsome!
Forget about top-designing homepages, heare we search about information. And we found it, the very best information from every part of this (now) tinny world.
I founded friends, i made a machine, i fell free and english is not my 1st language...
Site is very nice, you can found what you search for.
I ENJOY CNCZONE.
Keep it KOOL !

I agree with you and I will work to get a good solution, but I'm with you on that one.

I don't like the new layout. I liked being able to see how many threads and posts were in different groups. That is a good indication of the popularity whether it is a procedure or a product. I also don't like black text on a dark blue background. I find it a lot easier to read lists by just going stright down rather than having to go down, left and right, down, left and right.........

works for me!!

As a new member to this site, I have haven't had the pleasure of using the old site. I don't have any problems with navigating this one. The information seems nicely grouped, and easy to find! I have run into dead links though that would be my only complaint! Keep up the good work!!!
Regards,
bpmw

Paul

It's ok....

I liked the old one better personally.....

Paul

It's ok....

I liked the old one better personally.....

I will add the option of old and new. :) Stay tuned

I think its fine. This is a brilliant site. I wonder if there would be any mileage in a section for secondary schools? As a teacher I would find it very useful - could possibly have a dedicated STUDENT section? Just a thought.
Best wishes
John

Old layout was easier to read.

Nice clean layout , good job !

Nick

I didn't cruise the old setup, but this is good to go.
D.

For as often as I visit, I like the New, User Friendly, and easy to navagate, no more clutter. Thanks.

I like the layout. It's simple and clean.

Hi

I think the layout ist fine but I think there is to much information on the forum home page. More or less there should be only a good structure for navigation

Best regards
Gerhard

Looks good to me.

don't get me wrong it looks great !!!!!! but was much easier for me to get around the old layout maybe a way to mix the old and new??????

Seems easier to get around. Thanks for trying harder.

works good for me.

This is actually my first post here, but I've been able to send it without
thinking: this means the layout is really straightforward and user friendly!

I like it. :D

I think the format is great and easy to navigate.

No problems here...

JPG

I had got used to the old one but I am sure the new one will grow on me and will become second nature - just a matter of time. I do agree with some of the previous views about the relevance of the dark blue sections, they are very confusing and if there is no significance to them, get rid. Otherwise no problems - keep up the extremely good and, no doubt, hard work - we are all so full of admiration for what this forum has achieved in a relatively short period of time. I would never have started a machine with it.

Mike

Looks very good.

Works for me.

Looks good to me!

Paul,
You hit the nail on the head with this one. Clean layout, keep up the good work. :)

excellent layout makes access really easy and is user friendly

i never knew there was an old one before this one but this one works fine, i recently registered and im glad i did. good job!

I like it, Didn't mind the old either

I like it

Look's and work's great, No problem for me.
W4MWK

Unfortunately it looks like I'm in the vast minority with not liking the new layout. I liked being able to see all of the forum information on the http://www.cnczone.com/forums/ page. Now it has all of the users who accessed the site listed at the bottom. IMHO that's kind of useless information. Being able to see what was posted on the various forums was vastly more useful.

Is it possible for you to have multiple layouts with vBulletin? I know that we can choose what skin to use, but a choice of layout would be cool too.

Sorry for being an ole stick in the mud,,, I even hate it when stores change their layouts,,, Just when you get everything figured out where its at, they change it,,,,, I'm thinkin you need another cnc project, Paul. If you can do as you posted earlier about having an option for the old format,,, I'll be happy.

i'm new here, but i like the design. pretty easy to read and manage.

I'm thinkin you need another cnc project, Paul.

WTF are you talking about?

I'm a FNG to the thread but with that said I think the format works very well.
i've found that navigation and searching for information very easy.

Tony

OK to me... Keep up the good work!!!

i like this forum... there is just soo much to look at and read...

most of this forum is very informative..

Thanks for being here..

I haven't seen the old layout and this one is fine and easy to follow

WTF are you talking about?
:cheers: :cheers:

This is the one site that I visit the most and is the site that I alwys check everytime I'm on line. It just seams to be getting better all the time, I would say the number speak for it self, 88% think its a very nice layout!

JEFFY

The new way to go from one area to another is vastly improved.

Looks good to me! I visit several forums and lighter colors with dark text is always appreciated.

Looks great.

Hi

The format is good but I do have a suggestion or two.

First you need larger icons with more definition. Text I don't care about as I can zoom in via Mozilla. Atleast in the forums I can Mozilla is not givning me that ability at the moment. Now I could go out and get a larger monitor, but to be honest that would crimp my machining budget ;) Yes this is a case of old eyes, but I would not be surprised if many have the same concern.

While this may be asking to much and maybe isn't the site to do it on, I'd like to see a mini SourceForge focused on CNC. The hope is that Open source code could be better manages with that type of system. I realize this is a lot of work as you need, or should have, CVS setup for code storage for developers and file storage for release packages. There are likely to be better choices than CVS now too. The whole idea is to spur community development of CNC and related code. Not exactly front page related other than the subsite should be front page accessible.

I also have mixed feelings about the active threads box. To be honest I often short cut directly to the forums. This just adds to down load time.

Then there is Flash. Could we possibly find a way to get rid of all Shock/Flash items. I don't have these features installed in Mozilla and refuse to install. Beyond the issue with screwing up the installation those of us that are bandwidth limited don't need the bulk flash gives the download. It is not unknown for me to give up on a site that has to much flash/shock stuff embedded in it.

Just my own opinions here. I'm certainlly new to CNCZone so it is hard to judge against older revisions.

thanks
Dave

Have just joined up and yet to have a good look , so far it seems easy

I like it!

The old one showed last topic posted,which was fast as far as picking and choosing goes. Too bad the majority dont see it that way. Sad to see it go!!

This layout is ok, the mass of links at the top should be linked to a single menu page cause even thought they are the same throught the site, many will stop working like while searching, the link to the chat room dies. Just a helpfull idea.

WTF are you talking about?

Wrong Paul. :) He wasn't talking to you.

I preferred the old ,you could glance at dates of posts,number of replies,and number of views.

The old one showed last topic posted,which was fast as far as picking and choosing goes. Too bad the majority dont see it that way. Sad to see it go!!


You can still see that by clicking on the main title> http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=46

I really have to echo Harlows reasoning. i dont want to have to click on a topic just to see if there are any new post. there is alot of time wasted that way. That is, if your on dial up like myself.

It's more simple and logic to navigate on the new version of the site.
D.P.

I really have to echo Harlows reasoning. i dont want to have to click on a topic just to see if there are any new post. there is alot of time wasted that way. That is, if your on dial up like myself.


You can download the tool bar and click the "new posts" or come on the site and click "new posts" to see all the new threads and posts.

It looks good to me.

Thanks for keeping the ideas flowing and improving the forums. After 2 1/2 years I've built my own CNC engraver and starting to get favorable results. Learning from trial and error this website has been inspiration and encouragement to get past problems that would have normally sent the entire project to the recycling scrap pile.

How about a two character search? For example, X3. Now I have to use sieg x3. Or did I miss something?

I'm new here, so can't compare with the old layout. But I can say I haven't been frustrated at all by the navigation, and can usually find something relevant fairly quickly.
I'm on dial-up, and find all your pages load relatively fast even though all the ads come up first.
I enjoy this site a lot! thanks

extremely user friendly...ok with me boss!~

i think it is perfect like this,
don't touch anything !

A++
Calor

just getting used to it seems okay in a xp kinda way

mike

It took about 6 min 53 secs to get used to, but I'm happy with it now...

The new layout is friendly and easy to navigate.
thanks

Looks good to me

I think the layout is user friendly and logical

looks fine

I like it.

I dont mind the new format, I guess the adaptaion is similar to driving a different car with the indicator on the other side of the steering wheel. It just takes a bit of getting used to it.

I have always wished that there was a fly out menu at the top of the page that allowed instant navigation to any section within the zone. Now that would be a great improvement. The tool bar sort of gives this, but it can also be done without having to download a the bar.

The white background is a BIG improvement. I noticed a few weeks ago that you can no longer right click and "save image as" in the photo gallery. I found a way around the lock out but it takes longer. Sure would be nice to be able to save images from the photo gallery again.

thanks for doing such a good job, Harlow

Looks fine, I did like the old though.

Works fine for me.

Hi
The pages are just fine,no problems.
Bill _Spitfire

Way too many subforums. Oh why there has to be a separated forum for every CAM package or motor drive manufacturer?

On topic:
Layout looks OK but now I can't see latests post from all forums with single glance.

But one shouldn't worry, I have never liked web based user interfaces anyway. They will never reach the usability of various usenet reader apps :(

But one shouldn't worry, I have never liked web based user interfaces anyway. They will never reach the usability of various Usenet reader apps :(


UH?? :tired: , Usenets are a thing of the past, they are to hard to follow and very unorganized for my taste here is a site that prove how gone they are http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/default.asp over 150,000 members in 3 years. I guess it's harder for older people that are just use to the simple email only format.

Offtopic:

here is a site that prove how gone they are http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/default.asp
Can't figure out how that site relates to usenet. Looks just another web forum to me. The attachment shows the way I like to read usenet.

What I meant is the user friendliness of stand alone usenet reader software for your PC. Everything can be navigated by keyboard and every action happens without any noticeable delay. Compare that to any "modern" web forum that requires lots of clicking and waiting.

There is also tons of user interfaces you can choose from. No one has to like a single layout that "modern" web forums offer.

Just my opinion.

I'm On Dail Up And It Has Always Been Slow. Thats Why I Don't Come Here Often.

I'm On Dail Up And It Has Always Been Slow. Thats Why I Don't Come Here Often.

Maybe it's time for dsl or cable? ;) My parents have dial up and it's just slow..... for every site, most sites are not dial user friendly.

Offtopic:


Can't figure out how that site relates to usenet. Looks just another web forum to me. The attachment shows the way I like to read usenet.

What I meant is the user friendliness of stand alone usenet reader software for your PC. Everything can be navigated by keyboard and every action happens without any noticeable delay. Compare that to any "modern" web forum that requires lots of clicking and waiting.

There is also tons of user interfaces you can choose from. No one has to like a single layout that "modern" web forums offer.

Just my opinion.


That's cool, did you know that this site has the same thing? Just go to "display modes" and change it their.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/faq.php?s=&do=search&q=thread+display&match=any&titlesonly=0

That's cool, did you know that this site has the same thing?
Yes.

But does it take closer to 0.01 seconds or 10 seconds to view another message? Where can I configure the hotkeys for switching between forums and messages?

Dial Up On This Site Is Slower Then Any Other Sites I Go To. I Believe The Site Is To “bessie“ With Graphics, And Ads Or The Server Is Slow.

That sucks and sadly I won't be making the site and friendlier to dial-users and High-speed is the future, BUT you can always view the site this way http://www.cnczone.com/forums/archive/index.php/

I did a quick page info on this page and it came out to about 240k. That's a big download for dial up. Almost 1/2, 92k is for the HobbyCNC banner and 42k for the Gecko banner. The Industrial Hobby banner is only 6k. The two page thumbnails were 20k & 13k. The rest is all the little graphics.

If you visit the site on a regular basis then the banners will be held in your computer cache and will load almost instantly from your pc rather than the internet. Most dialup services now offer some kind of download image compression that you can set on your computer. That can take a 92k file and reduce it to 25k or 30k and greatly increase speed.

Something else to look at when using dialup is how fast your computer is. Some people don't think pc speed can help but it does. Without looking at the code I expect this page is created using tables. Your pc has to interpret those tables, assemble them, and then put everything in the right spot. Computer speed is more than processor speed. I've seen fragmented hard drives bring fast pcs to a complete stop. Also, stuff like spyware and trojans in the background. I cleaned a pc a few weeks ago that had a total of 186 different bs programs running in the background.

This may be the wrong spot for this so delete it or move it if you want. I know this site survives off banner advertising and the slow download for dialup users is the price one has to pay for such a great source of information.

Hi, I would have to say it is 100% better and I would also say you guys have a very good webmaster. I like this forum even if I am new and haven’t had that much time to spend here lately. It is very useful not just for the businesses but all the website viewer as well and is even getting to be a even superior tools for all….;-) “Thanks”

DynaPowernamics Inc.

I do compress all my code and do many other thing to make the site as fast as I can, and it is a concern of mine, but I can lose sleep over it. I spend hours everyday making sure the site and server are working properly.

this format works just fine

BUT you can always view the site this way http://www.cnczone.com/forums/archive/index.php/

That is so much faster. Maybe a link at the top of the forum to take viewers who would like that option, would be good.
The other option for dial up users is to use the FireFox browser. It will allow you to surf the net without downloading any graphics, but will allow you to see graphics at any moment you do desire to.

For me, the best part of the Zone is seeing all the pictures. Sure they may take a few moments to download, but compared to reading a verbal description of the same thing, I would say the download would take far less time than actually reading and trying to interpret a verbal description. Let alone trying to type a verbal description.

Look great to me , very usefull

New format looks great

I like the new layout! I appreciate the time that you spent putting this together!
I think that I have to do my part, in visits more frequently.
Thanks Guys for keeping me on your mailing list.

Jim Mill

[QUOTE=CNCadmin]Just wanted to know if you find the forum home page easier to navigate they way it is now or the old way? I figured the new way allows for a more direct way to get to the forums you want with-out all the scrolling.[/QUOTE

I'm new caming in the forum,i enjoy all the little time i spend on it.
peoples are polites and respenses are clears.
So I'm happy to be with you!!!

This site is very professional with respect to the design and management.

NOW, as far as the members go..................superb!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I'd like to see is a link to a members currently active threads, so we don't have to fish through each forum trying to figure out where our posts began. (Sometimes there are more than one subject we need help in.) Perhaps this already exists, and if so, "My bad".

Otherwise, I feel priveledged to be part of this site, and again, thank everyone else who is there when we need them.

Happy Machining!!!!!!!

What I'd like to see is a link to a members currently active threads, so we don't have to fish through each forum trying to figure out where our posts began. (Sometimes there are more than one subject we need help in.)

Just click on the users name and you can see all their posts-
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/member.php?userid=3142

Posts
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Last Post:
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07-13-2005 08:40 PM
Find all posts by krustykrab
Find all threads started by krustykrab

I like the site. It's good for tracking a given thread. I love being able to post pics in line with the thread. Great for sharing what's really going on with a machine or project.

Is there a view all option somewhere? It would be kinda nice to have the Yahoo style raw list -o- posts to browse.

But, thanks for a great site and the opportunity to give something back to a community that has offered me so much.

Best,
-jd

Much better!

Both are OK to me :-)

OK! :bat: No comments! :cheers:

looks ok to me count me as a yes

absolutly exlant
best wishs to the site whith the greate sucses.
ahmed drdeer

I liked the old one better. Like a few others have said it would be cool if you gave an option for the old one so users could use the one they wanted.

I liked the old one where you could see the new posts for that topic.
:)

Suits me fine!

It's OK

This is the best site I have ever seen, so much info and great people! Great job Paul for creating a place for us cncers! :)

So far I like the format.

Thanks,

Ted

What I liked about the old way, was you could see the most recent post in each forum. When I leave the Zone, I usually mark all forums read. Sometimes a few new posts get marked as read. But the old way I could easily see when I came back if I didn't read a post. Now the only way is to look through every forum. So I think I miss a lot more posts this way then I would have before.

What I liked about the old way, was you could see the most recent post in each forum. When I leave the Zone, I usually mark all forums read. Sometimes a few new posts get marked as read. But the old way I could easily see when I came back if I didn't read a post. Now the only way is to look through every forum. So I think I miss a lot more posts this way then I would have before.

I have been missing alot of new post with the new layout also.

I was just reading all the post in this thread and I noticed a trend. Most all the people who commented on likeing the new format have less than 30 post to their name, and most who don't like it have more than 75. Most got their one and only post commenting on this thread. I was thinking it should be geared more for the ones who make this site what it is, the one's with lots of posts. You have to take what I say with a grain of salt because I don't have 30 post to my name yet either, but I love to read what all the others post. It also seems like the number of members online at any one time has been less since the change also.

perhaps if possible with the new layout, under each subject heading you could have the 3 most new subject headings that where posted/modified in that catagory. That way you could see if something was added in a thread or subject area you where watching or participating with out having to open the whole catagory. My connection unfortunatly is not very fast at all, so this would save alot of time opening subjects that may have not changed.
Other that that, it looks good so far, and appears alot less cluttered.

Sgt. Shafer (Army Iraq)

I must admit of recent I have found it a bit frustrating finding sections in the main forum index. I love the whole site, but feel the main index has lost a fair bit of information and usability.

Thanks though for everything, Paul.

EDIT: I still havnt voted, because I would much prefere a middle vote other than just yes or no.

In a few week the site is going to be faster and have a more usable features, the search engine is going to ROCK, have will have boolean capability.