[S] Forum Themes

[Meph]

A better colour scheme (the blue in AAO6 feels out of place)

This seems subjective. What do you think would be better?

and a main page that is more ergonomical and easier to read would be the main reasons.

What is it that makes it difficult at the moment?

[Ping']

Well, I'm no designer, so it's just my experience as a random user, but the problem I have with the blue is that it's too light, which demands more effort from the reader to actually read what the subforum titles say. I'd suggest a darker colour. Could even be a darker blue.

The default text size of the subforum descriptions should probably be bigger as well, and there should be more space between the different sections so it doesn't feel cluttered.

Finally, in terms of being ergonomical, I like the fact that Avalon put the user control panel and especially new messages next to the other buttons. In AAO6, the most visible buttons are also the most unimportant ones (maybe I'm wrong, but apart from "search", I believe they're barely ever used, "members" is a really impractical tool, you only consult the "FAQ" once - probably never, as a matter of fact - and you generally click on the logo when you want to get to the "homepage") while the really important ones such as new messages are smaller and more difficult to find.

But again, I'm not a designer.

[Meph]

...the problem I have with the blue is that it's too light, which demands more effort from the reader to actually read what the subforum titles say. I'd suggest a darker colour. Could even be a darker blue.

It sounds like your screen's contrast is set too high. That said, I'll make it darker when I get the chance.

The default text size of the subforum descriptions should probably be bigger as well, and there should be more space between the different sections so it doesn't feel cluttered.

That makes sense. OK. But which sections do you mean? Forum categories?

Finally, in terms of being ergonomical, I like the fact that Avalon put the user control panel and especially new messages next to the other buttons. In AAO6, the most visible buttons are also the most unimportant ones (maybe I'm wrong, but apart from "search", I believe they're barely ever used, "members" is a really impractical tool, you only consult the "FAQ" once - probably never, as a matter of fact - and you generally click on the logo when you want to get to the "homepage") while the really important ones such as new messages are smaller and more difficult to find.

I wanted to do that, but phpBB has a strange way of combining certain links together.

[Ping']

If my screen contrast were set too high, I would notice similar problems on other websites, which I don't. I don't know, as you said it may be a subjective thing.

By sections, I mean the French forum, the English forum etc.

Thanks a lot for taking these comments into account =)

[Phantom]

I'd rather not have any *new* forum themes...As Unas said, they are a PAIN to maintain/modify (and this is speaking from experience running/adminning forums from oh so many years ago)


If there's something I hate about phpbb specifically, it's that it's one of the most mod unfriendly software forum out there (even with AutoMOD it's still a pain when there's a mod that isn't updated to the latest version of the forum software, where you have to go individually edit certain files on the server just to get something to install properly...Even then it may not work due to non-existent dependencies that a mod relies on).

So I can't imagine what it's like to have to integrate the AAO web app into a particular theme, let alone the forums :X, it's a waste of time trying to make all themes work.

That said, Avalon is best.