Hi everyone, As you may or may not know, as the MyBB lead designer, I am tasked with rebuilding the MyBB default theme and user interface from the ground up for MyBB 2.0. I can't provide any specifics, but I am going through the entire front end and carefully evaluating the current interface and identifying what changes could be made to make a very easy to use and enjoyable user experience. Obviously I am identifying my own personal gripes with the interface and theme as part of this process, but in addition, I would love to hear from others about what you think can be improved about the default theme. And so, I ask: What are your gripes with the MyBB default theme and user interface? What would you change? Thanks!
Oh my, oh my! MyBB 2.0? :spin: I don't know if my suggestions would be something you're in charge to do as Designer, but I'll shoot anyways The only thing I'd like for MyBB themes, would be body CSS classes applied by default to pages. For example, in the showthread, the body would have a class of "showthread forum-id" or something like that. It'd be nice to see this kind of classes applied to other things like on postbits for the author, or for staff. I think this would be really nice and would be very helpful for designers to develop more dynamic themes. Other than that, maybe replacing the inline images-based buttons? Oh oh, and my dream (which might be too much to ask, or is probably beign considered?), a table-less theme? It's not really necessary, but I personally find it way easier to work w/o tables. Sorry if my day dreaming is useless, I think the default theme is great already. Simple, effective and very usable
Two issues: 1) The language selection isn't useful. It's almost never used on forums. A theme selector would be much more appreciated. Also, the fact that it seems like 3 pixels or so too low (not vertical middle aligned) pisses me off :p 2) The editor textarea in the New Reply/Thread page goes beyond the blue formatting block.
I'm surprised there hasn't been that much feedback given; I figured there would be a lot more. :shrug:
That's not exactly helpful. "I want you to change EVERYTHING, but I don't know what you should change. Good Luck."
It would be nice to have a couple of layouts. Like one for a professional and business site. Then one for a personal, more laid back site. If you think about it. Once you set up your forum the skin is the next thing to tackle. A theme with more a blog feel would be great for a personal one while the standard format is good for a professional one. I would like to see something besides the standard formatting of how the forums are displayed. Take daniweb.com for example. If you can do it. It would be great to have the 'categories' list as menu items and then a dropdown for the actual forums. Which would leave room in the main page for things like new post, announcement, and such. Even a tree like menu in a sidebar with the main index featuring new post, spotlight, and notices.
It would be nice if there was a second theme already available on the list.That way the master theme is not the only choice available,when the new 2.0 software version is available for download. Maybe incorporate a very popular theme,that gets many downloads?
All very good ideas. Both very annoying. Do you have any larger suggestions regarding the theme? The theme is being completely rebuilt for 2.0, so it's just as easy to make something different as it is to make it similar to how it is in 1.x. Thanks. Fortunately, I've already been working on it for several months now. I'm still far from finished, though. You won't be disappointed, then. All interesting ideas, but I'm not very sure if they're practical. We'll see.
IIRC, they wait until they have functional pages before showing screenshots. An interesting fact about Justin, is he does his mockups with paper and pencil first. I know that's what he did with the 1.4 ACP, because I saw them with my own eyes. I adopted that process from him for my own work, and it really does help. No need to sit and make up HTML and CSS on the fly, then have to change it a million times. Do you still use that method, Justin?
Quite some time - development hasn't even started yet; all I've done thus far are non-functional mockups. Yes, I still often use pencil and paper (and you can actually find some in my interview). I've also started to use Balsamiq Mockups to lay out some pages before delving into the HTML and CSS. It's come in really handy with the 2.0 theme development, and you don't have to deal with those pesky eraser shavings! :p
Justin, I suggest that you consider making the front page boxes more rounded and that the main front page background white be less bright.The current 1.6 Default is too bright for me. Maybe a softer off white is better? Also can you allow for the possibility of making the comment box be expandable vertically.To accommodate a longer post being written? I thought the default myBB smilie's as being a weaker part of the software package.Maybe upgrade them as well? Cheers.
I dont select myBB as my software because its not easy to customize design wise and we dont have full control, it always have that plastic-ish look! hope this one comes out to be excellent! Good Luck Justin!
