upgrades underway / we know it looks horrible, will be fixed

[Moderator]

Our Webmaster is doing all sorts of security enhancements, etc. The atrocious look will be fixed.
Thanks, M1

[Moderator]

I've temporarily made some changes for a more soothing, albeit generic look. Our webmaster will improve the appearance when he's available.
M1

[Webmaster]

I have enabled an alternative to the default phpBB3 design 'Prosilver'. The alternative design can be enabled through the UCP. In due course, I will work out a better design which we hope our registrants will appreciate.
Webmaster

[borjastick]

Blimey I've been away for a few days and came back to find a new website replacing the Forum which looks like it is selling 20 yr old cars, half dead budgies and massage services...

[Webmaster]

borjastick:

Are you referring to this?

We performed a rather big software upgrade and it uses an entirely new template engine. This caused issues with the previous design and rather than rewriting it, we're working on replacing it. It may take sometime before that is done, however.

In the meanwhile we're stuck with the above design, or this one:

Suffice to say, we were lagging behind and the upgrade was necessary. We are aware of the fact that the design(s) available at the moment leaves a lot to be desired.
Webmaster

Blimey I've been away for a few days and came back to find a new website replacing the Forum which looks like it is selling 20 yr old cars, half dead budgies and massage services...

[Lamprecht]

In the meanwhile we're stuck with the above design, or this one:

2015-07-02_20-28-09.png

White text on the banner would be better with a black outer glow/shadow

http://css3gen.com/text-shadow/

[Webmaster]

Thanks, that's a good suggestion. I've implemented the suggested change.

Keep in mind, these awful designs are strictly temporary until we have a proper one. So for the time being, bear with us!
Webmaster

In the meanwhile we're stuck with the above design, or this one:

2015-07-02_20-28-09.png

White text on the banner would be better with a black outer glow/shadow

http://css3gen.com/text-shadow/

[Carto's Cutlass Supreme]

The new graphic of the desk looks quite nice!

I wonder if we should take off the stickies. It's good for new people I suppose, but for regulars they have to just constantly ignore those and go down 5 or 6 lines to see the active threads.

[Moderator]

It's good for new people ...

That's the point.
M1

[LYZ]

It's good for new people ...

That's the point.
M1

Wouldn't it be best to have all the present stickies all in one? Perhaps a 'Start here' sticky for new people, with links to all the essential threads. Just my 2c

[Dresden]

Webmaster:

I hope the alternating blue and white in the comments is only temporary; it's very distracting.

Thank you!

[Kingfisher]

I'm puzzled by the icons to the left of subject topics, the circles enclosing lines symbolising text. Some are in black and some in red. Some have a star, others not and in some the text is scrolling but in most it isn't. Also some topics are in black font and some in a barely distinguishable dark grey.

I haven't figured out how to tell at a glance which topics have new unread posts.

[Dresden]

Kingfisher said:

"Some have a star, others not....."

I think the topics with a star are topics you have commented on.

[borjastick]

I don't know why we can't go back to the previous design. It had gravitas and was sober in its ambiance. I liked it, I hate this current version, it just looks so tacky. Like it's been bought off the peg from some dodgy web design group.

[Webmaster]

Which design do you mean? The one that ships as standard with phpBB3? You can select it in the user control panel. The one we used prior to the software upgrade is incompatible with this version.

You can rest assured, borjastick, that I am going to deploy a better design - just give it time
Webmaster

I don't know why we can't go back to the previous design. It had gravitas and was sober in its ambiance. I liked it, I hate this current version, it just looks so tacky. Like it's been bought off the peg from some dodgy web design group.