Theme Feedback

Xarcell

I'm looking for some feedback, both good & bad on my first theme I made for vanilla. Mind you I'm very new to vanilla(still haven't used it yet). So this is my first site using vanilla, but I'm not sure if I'll stick with it(trying to decide between vanilla & xenforo).

http://xarchology.com

Let me know what you think of the theme I made for it. It's still unfinished. Options need work, profile page needs work, and I still gonna put something in the header.

Thanks.

mcu_hq

looks good to me, although I'm not a fan of huge images as the background. They tend to slow down the site and discourage me from staying on it for too long. Your vanilla logo seems to be taking the longest to load, probably because you are hot linking it from a different site.

Xarcell

mcu_hq said:
looks good to me, although I'm not a fan of huge images as the background. They tend to slow down the site and discourage me from staying on it for too long. Your vanilla logo seems to be taking the longest to load, probably because you are hot linking it from a different site.

Logo is not hot-linked from a different site. I will look at it more.

Xarcell

I changed the code bit. It shouldn't be taking so long, as it's a small file.

mcu_hq

this is what I see: i.imgur.com/AikVX.png

Xarcell

mcu_hq said:
this is what I see: i.imgur.com/AikVX.png

Thanks, Fixed.

peregrine

looks nice. Are you going to upload the theme to the add-ons.

Xarcell

peregrine said:
looks nice. I are you going to upload the theme to the add-ons.

No, it's an exclusive theme for my site. However, if I do end up using vanilla, I will most likely make themes for vanilla in my spare time.

I've made themes for xenforo, wordpress, simple machines(SMF), Drupal, Blogger. So I guess vanilla is due...

Xarcell

I'm completely unhappy with the main menu though. I had other plans for it, but couldn't get jQuery to work properly. I'm open to suggestions on what to do with it...

Linc

Looks pretty good. Did you stick to only modifying CSS and the default.master template?

Xarcell

Lincoln said:
Looks pretty good. Did you stick to only modifying CSS and the default.master template?

Yes. I don't fully understand Vanilla yet, so those where the only two files I could find to manipulate. I wouldn't know how to get to the rest, they are not shown in the default.

Linc

No, that's good. You can go crazy with theming, but it'll likely be a maintenance headache at some point. Those 2 files are the key.

prisca_eyedea

Looks good, Xarell - though i have to admit that the fade in/out for each page would be annoying to me ~ might be just me and my taste though, of course
This is nice for the first page load - but a bit OTT for every page.

I alos think some of your transparencies make the interface confusing, eg the popup - looks as if the background page leaks into it, could be confusing for some users...

nice airy feel though

Xarcell

prisca_eyedea said:
Looks good, Xarell - though i have to admit that the fade in/out for each page would be annoying to me ~ might be just me and my taste though, of course
This is nice for the first page load - but a bit OTT for every page.

I alos think some of your transparencies make the interface confusing, eg the popup - looks as if the background page leaks into it, could be confusing for some users...

nice airy feel though

Thanks for the feedback. I do feel the opacity is abused a bit. I am thinking of removing the opacity in the white parts. I also intend to reduce the fade bit to just the main section. Sometimes opacity with fade effects slow down the page load effect even more because it burns the browser up. So those on lower end PC's see slower load times.

Sheila

I like the overall legacy forum look, well defined. The background just might feel a bit overkill to some users. You also might wanna change the default Vanilla theme color (pink) for hover as well.

The header (banner) could take less place. I understand the possible need for for branding/ brand visibility, but after all, it's the content on board that matters, not the name of the board.

Xarcell

Sheila said:
I like the overall legacy forum look, well defined. The background just might feel a bit overkill to some users. You also might wanna change the default Vanilla theme color (pink) for hover as well.

The header (banner) could take less place. I understand the possible need for for branding/ brand visibility, but after all, it's the content on board that matters, not the name of the board.

Thanks for the feedback. I intend to add more to the header, like maybe a news ticker or slider, but I haven't had the time the past few days to do anything to it.

I did remove the opacity from inside the containers though. I will work more on it when I get time.

Xarcell

Ok, I removed the background image since most seemed as though they didn't like it. I adjusted some colors a bit. Added random quotes to the header, and reduced the page fade effect to the containers.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Xarcell

I decided to scrap vanilla and switch back to xenforo. Please delete this topic if you feel necessary.

422

Thanks for letting us know ?

peregrine

ditto on 422's response.

mclovin

Goodluck with it @Xarcell