Welcome to GTPX

[Timppaq]

So GTPX is out, does that mean GT5 will be too soon?

Great job, looks very GREAT, little different, but that's not always a bad thing. Big thumbs up!! 👍 👍 👍 👍

 

[Peter]

So, GTPX will be able to withstand the large amounts of traffic that comes every E3 without any more problems?

 

[exigeracer]

It looks really quite nice. Just a little commentary right from the get-go.

1) Poster names in the body of the reply text. Scrolling through a thread, the poster name gets lost in the larger body of text of the reply. I think that the poster's name is probably the most important part of the reply, however it isn't currently large enough or isolated enough to be the first thing read. Some templates for vB carry this format and I've never liked it and never really got used to it.

2) I understand that losing ads is a perk that comes with Premium, however I don't think that jamming up the upper half of the page with yet another banner is the right solution for making money off of non-Premo members. There are more visitors, which come with more running costs, however more advertising is not a nice welcome to all of those newcomers, nor those who have supported the site for a long time.

3) I miss having an Alfa in the rotation on the topmost banner

 

[Speedster502]

Hmm, it's going to take some getting used to. There are certainly some elements I don't like already, such as displaying the thread/post count under the Location. I just think this will encourage people to try and rack up the post count for no reason by spamming. I hope it doesn't, but thats what I can honestly see happening. I'd prefer my PSN ID (Or Xbox Username) to be there instead as it's more useful and means that people don't have to go to my profile to see it. Not sure I like the positioning of the username either, makes it seem a bit unbalanced when viewing a thread in my mind. I'm also thinking that the usernames get a little bit lost in the text, not so much of a probelm for Premium users (with the red and bold usernames) but for non-premos it just blends into their posts a little bit too much in my opinion. But I guess I'll have to get used to it.

However, to end this post on a positive note I do think the general design and layout looks quite clean and sharp and keeping with the modern design style. It's clear you've put a lot of effort into this and I'm sure tweaks will be made across the coming weeks to perfect little bits here and there.

 

[Aldo]

One thing I have found that is slightly annoying.
If you click in line with the poster's name you get the drop down list all the way along instead of only getting it when you click on the name.
That was said in a very cryptic manner but I'm sure you got the jist.

 

[JonesyGT246]

Looks great, Jordan! Shouldn't take too long to get used to the changes.

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Just noticed something. There's a new GTP store! But when you are on the page, the window title has the word Store written as "Stre"

 

[Alex.]

As stated on Twitter, very nice work.

Also echoing the 150 x 150 premo avatar call. (Planning to get Premo again soon)

 

[Terronium-12]

I am definitely, definitely digging this! 👍

Terrific job.

 

[Pako]

Looks good man!

 

[TB]

Just noticed something. There's a new GTP store! But when you are on the page, the window title has the word Store written as "Stre"

The store isn't new.

Also, the TV page has "Stre" for the header.

Edit: Never mind. Both fixed now. 👍

It'll take a bit of getting used to for us old and set in our ways guys... but no major complaints so far! 👍

 

[LancerEvo7]

Wow! I'm impressed.

 

[Sharky.]

Very funky Big J! 👍

 

[nk4e]

I am loving it!

 

[astrosdude91]

Good lookin site, Jordan! I also like your new avatar!👍

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

-> I have to say first of all, excellent job Jordan! 👍

It looks really quite nice. Just a little commentary right from the get-go.

1) Poster names in the body of the reply text. Scrolling through a thread, the poster name gets lost in the larger body of text of the reply. I think that the poster's name is probably the most important part of the reply, however it isn't currently large enough or isolated enough to be the first thing read. Some templates for vB carry this format and I've never liked it and never really got used to it.

^ Yes I definitely agree; it may confuse many new members (me included), and I will miss it for sure.

-> May I add one more? That when you reply, the text reply format on GTP-X (Times New Roman) takes a getting used to (from the 'cozy' Verdana) compared to GTP-IX. Apologies for the harsh critisism.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Wow, Jordan, thanks for making this site look so good! As said earlier, it'll take some time to get used to the new look, but that won't be a problem. I especially love the bottom bar with the links to Facebook, Twitter and all that stuff. I was kind of hoping you would keep those "carbon" buttons you had on the main page to the forums, store, etc. But the new ones look equally as good, with the blue slick line going across the screen.

Great stuff! 👍

 

[mafia_boy]

Jeez, I go and play poker for an hour and you totally screw with my mind by launching GTPX!!

To tell you the truth I was so used to the old way it was with our names and funny captions above the avatar that I'm going to have to get used to this.

So, now that you have released, when will Kaz??

 

[Gabkicks]

Great job Jordan, and everyone else involved!

 

[Jordan]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. The posts are in too quickly to address them all right now, but to get to a few:

I feel like the logo and search bar and little background image stretched 100% on the front page makes the whole news part and sidebar looks weird. On the forums though, it looks perfect since the forum body takes the full width.

For the majority of visitors on lower resolutions, there will only be a bit of extra space on either side of the news blog content area. If you've maximized the window on a high-res 16x9 display, yeah, it won't look the best.

Third for me is the sidebar of the front page. Now you have big imposing boxes on the content part with news which work well because they stand out, they're formated the same so they stack nicely so that's nice but the sidebar part only has the most popular post and then right below that you get lonely text and the feed and twitter follower. I think to balance that out in a more consistent way you should have perhaps one box like you have now, red header and listing of popular post then perhaps a lighter box or something shaped in a similar way for the rest so you have nice balance for news post up to the sidebar if that make any sense for you.

Yeah, if you're a Premium user, the blog doesn't look so hot. I designed this template around ad sizes and locations from the beginning, so it actually looks best with something in their place.

The second part which I feel is the thing that could be fixed easily and make the most impact is "highlight color" for links. Right now most of the links you see, you have no visual clue if you're on a link or not, same color, no underline, no nothing. I think a slight color change would give a clear indication to where you're at on a link.

I was curious if someone would notice that. I didn't give it much thought, but will play around with a few hover colors when I get time.

1) Poster names in the body of the reply text. Scrolling through a thread, the poster name gets lost in the larger body of text of the reply. I think that the poster's name is probably the most important part of the reply, however it isn't currently large enough or isolated enough to be the first thing read. Some templates for vB carry this format and I've never liked it and never really got used to it.

I knew the user name placement might be controversial, but after I applied the changes to the template I found it much easier to keep track of usernames (since they are now in the direct vertical flow of your eye as you scan posts). This layout is different from other vBulletin forums, in that the avatars and usernames are separated, with avatars in their own columns. Other forums I have seen include the avatar in the top row, creating lots of unnecessary whitespace. As you can see, I did not do that here.

May I add one more? That when you reply, the text reply format on GTP-X (Times New Roman) takes a getting used to (from the 'cozy' Verdana) compared to GTP-IX. Apologies for the harsh critisism.

What OS and browser are you using? It should be Verdana.

Wow, Jordan, thanks for making this site look so good! As said earlier, it'll take some time to get used to the new look, but that won't be a problem. I especially love the bottom bar with the links to Facebook, Twitter and all that stuff. I was kind of hoping you would keep those "carbon" buttons you had on the main page to the forums, store, etc. But the new ones look equally as good, with the blue slick line going across the screen.

Curiously enough, when GTP9 was released, I recall those buttons were eloquently criticized as looking like "rounded turds on the edge of a toilet bowl"! I never forgot that!

 

[happycorey]

Jordan I love GTP and how you have decided to let it grow but it just seems like a visual downgrade :/

It seems like some fonts are too big and others are too spread apart. And the usernames in a different place could become confusing, as well as the headline/titles, but otherwise it seems almost the same.

I thank you again though for the support and upkeep with the site, but I'm just not a fan of the new look

 

[franz]

Love the post number is back 👍 Everything looks very nice. Good job Jordon!
May I suggest to add a blue line above the footer section? so it can match the header style. I find a bug in profile page: when I click any tabs (About Me, Statistics, Friends and Contact Info), the content drops.

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

-> ...

What OS and browser are you using? It should be Verdana.

^ I'm using a combination of Firefox, IE and Chrome. It only happens on the Reply to Thread page. On the normal page views its Verdana as always.

 

[Azuremen]

Well, I dunno about all this fancy pants stuff Mr. Jordan.

Now I'm going to be critical, cause I do that.

I agree with the flow of the usernames over the posts, and a few other forums I frequent do that was well. However, with the avatar placement now starting above the content, versus right next to it, just makes for a bit of odd flow. Though it will condense the post sizes if they are short 1 liners even further (and I recall I commented on that before back in the MSN/AIM icon days), so I'll just see how it feels.

But, the "new" post icon feels very out of place to me, being that it has a frame while a great deal doesn't really have such sharp contrast. And I understand the need for the contrast wanting to let people know that, well, new content is in the thread. Maybe make it frameless or a bit more subtle? Also, the flame icon for "hot" threads just feels... tacky? Out of place with the geometric shapes and circles at the very least.

Oh, and the post count and Premium badges... they add vertical length making for distraction... perhaps move them up to the name of the user row as well?

Otherwise, I like it. I think. Either way, I'll certainly give it time before I pass too much judgement. As with most change, tend to not like it and then it warms up on me and I love it. Kind of like the E60 M5.

 

[Omnis]

I'm not really a fan of the User ID in the message pane rather than the avatar pane. The tagline too is way far away from the avatar, so mine, for instance, doesn't really work anymore.

It's more like the Mises.org forums now.

 

[alba]

For the majority of visitors on lower resolutions, there will only be a bit of extra space on either side of the news blog content area. If you've maximized the window on a high-res 16x9 display, yeah, it won't look the best.

Yeah, I have a widescreen monitor so that's the reasoning behind it but I think having the frontpage just have a box or something maybe, who knows. It's not that big of a deal since it's a detail but still.

Yeah, if you're a Premium user, the blog doesn't look so hot. I designed this template around ad sizes and locations from the beginning, so it actually looks best with something in their place.

Forgot about the non-premium ads. Which is a good thing obviously, just think you should give your social networking and feed part a bit more of a focus to stand out more, right now the super tiny counters are quite hard to read so something cleaner would look a lot better but then again, details!

I was curious if someone would notice that. I didn't give it much thought, but will play around with a few hover colors when I get time.

First thing I noticed It makes such a huge difference without, night and day !


I'm gonna do a little comparison picture for you tomorrow to show you where I'd get things if I was in your shoes and make sure to take ads into account. Overall I think it's a step forward with just a little bit of tweaks overtime, everyone will get used to it and then be a bit annoyed whenever you'll release GTPXI

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

The store isn't new.

Also, the TV page has "Stre" for the header.

Edit: Never mind. Both fixed now. 👍

It'll take a bit of getting used to for us old and set in our ways guys... but no major complaints so far! 👍

Nope, the store is still showing me Stre

 

[Legendary]

Great looking site Jordan! Also, nice new avatar you have too mate .

 

[Stevisiov]

Just like to put my support out there for what I consider a welcome change. I'm sure its good to see all the hard work pay off. 👍

 

[Terronium-12]

Now just add the option to permanently affix your own font style in the "My GTPlanet" section, and I'll buy you a milkshake.

Not that doing it manually bothers me anymore (I've gotten quite used to it as a matter of fact) but it would still be more then welcomed on my behalf.