I have just installed the Minimalist White theme (from elk.net site repo) and the Alien Green color variation (from themes) on the site, and fixed some issue that was preventing user theme selection from working normally. (it should work now, at the next update).
This is experimentation, expect things to go on unfamiliar ways and come out broken. They will, and that's how we take the best approach and why. We're experimenting the minimalist design, a "real" minimalist and more interactive design.
I've been grumbled at, for making the Minimalist White-ish theme default, when we first need to "pale" its brightness for all sensitivities. :) So shiny we can't look at it, huh?
OK, I set the Greenish as default for now. And I've added quickly, for you to find in the themes repository, also the new mobile theme. Please check out the themes installed, as well as the repositories, and feel free to try them out, update them, change them as desired, and propose your changes.
You can find the Minimalist White theme in the site repository:
https://github.com/elkarte/elkarte.net
We'll add it to themes repository asap too. You can find the other themes here, including ElkArte mobile theme work:
https://github.com/elkarte/themes
Still can't change theme :P
Please, try now!
Can change :)
Make the switch themes and language on the main page in the basement(footer).
I do not like white color.
I love minimalist designs, but it needs some color. The avatars also break layout.
I'm not exactly the right person to say this (as I'm still not happy with any of Wedge's skins and I'm aiming for something more simplistic too), but indeed the current theme is, err... Special.
The avatar layout is still broken, one month after. In order to access the action bar (sorry, that's how I call it myself...), I have to hover the user name. Totally makes sense! Only thing I can do is "Quote to new topic", which I don't want to... If I want to quote someone, well... I guess I can't, then..?
And the Reply button's dropdown menu seems out of place with the rest of the design.
The 'Post' button is to the right, so I tend to click "Save Draft" instead. Needs a different color to mark it as a "Submit" button. You may not want to use as many colors as Wedge buttons use (grey, red, green, blue...), but at least two different colors would be nice, or at least an icon...
Food for thought...
Okay, got it... The action bar shows up after hovering the post for a second or so. Doesn't need a user name hover.
Also, the top link in it is its own link, i.e. Quote. Having only one "Quote to new topic" entry is misleading.
Thanks for the tip. I was trying to figure out how to make it show up. Very annoying.
Yay for SMF 2.1?
I like that it is hidden. I just didn't understand how to unhide it. Maybe the timing should be a lot less or maybe just an icon which opens up all of that stuff.
The timing should be about half a second, TBH I didn't pay much attention to the details because it was really at an experimental phase (you see many elements ("insert quote" PMs buttons, others), are broken due to the hiding) and not being so skilled with themes I do something when I'm really bored... :P (luckily now Eurich is working on it O:-))
When it comes to hiding UI elements, you should ensure that if you're going to hide an interactive element, you at least add a visual clue that says how to activate it... User menus have a user link, which you can hover, and shows a mini-menu, like in Wedge. Action menu should have an icon, or at least some indication that you have to hover the post. Especially on mobile, where... Well, hovering a post is not exactly the logical thing to do...
I think I had the original idea of "show-by-hover" from twitter. Not that I like or use it and not saying it has a good interface either (I pretty much hate it), just saying I thought it is used on a site that should be quite popular, so it should not be something completely new to everybody. ;)
Yep, I personally wouldn't use it in a default theme or at least I would make it obvious (i.e. without delay at all).
Well, considering that no ideas are ever new, and are either consciously or unconsciously recycled from something else (for instance, in music or movies..), the same is true for design, UI and UX. Hell, that's what 'trends' are about... Something that some people start to see as 'nice', and they start reproducing, until others think the same and start doing the same as well...
There's a funny joke about this in The Brads, in the latest issue of .Net Magazine.
So, basically: Facebook and Twitter didn't invent anything, they just made incremental improvements to their UI mostly based on user feedback, which itself was based on habits, and based on designer opinions, which are themselves based on current trends.
All in all... Just because Twitter does it, doesn't mean it's the "best" way of doing things. Actually, even on mobile they don't do it... ;) (i.e. no hover effects that show elements. Although they still don't show the elements, at all...)