A big change is coming!

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CodenStuff
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A big change is coming!
CodenStuff
Hello coders,

Some of you will have seen my recent blog post about my work on a new site design and I want to elaborate a bit more on exactly what I'm doing.

As I said in my blog I've never been fully happy with the site design because no matter what I do to the layout or modifications I add it still feels like any other phpbb based site and yes I know the site uses phpbb forum software but I don't want it to feel like that, I want it to feel like Codenstuff.

At present we have 2 themes on the site (blue and black) which are identical themes but with different colours and we had these for what...about 2 years now?. While working on the new theme and flicking back and forth between them I came to realise that our current theme sucks, there I've said it lol.

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It's time for a change.

Making a whole new theme from scratch would take a heck of a long time and we don't have that time..we need to change NOW!. So after spending some time looking at various sites, themes and layouts I finally found one that I liked the look of and the new design I'm working on now is based around that and I think it's a good one.

This is a shot of how the new theme will look (I'm still tweaking):

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We will stick with our primary "blue" colour but the other all style will be lighter and cleaner than it is now. I will be including an option to change the primary colour of the theme for those users who just want to customise the site a little bit.

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This new theme will be up on the site in the next few days for people to use, have an early look and give any feedback or suggestions. I mentioned a big change and the reason for that is because when I feel that the theme is prepared enough be properly used on the site I will be making it default for everyone and the current blue and black themes will be removed. Some of you may not like me doing that but I have to because we need to make changes and we can't move forward with the old stuff hanging around. Another reason for removing the current themes is because I will be making some modifications and adding new features that will only work with the new one and I can't continue to maintain the old themes, it takes too much time and it's incredibly frustrating. I'm sorry if some of you are upset/disappointed about this but I have to do it and I hope you understand why :? .

Some of the new features I have planned once we get the new theme up and running are:

Dev packs:
I keep reading posts/pm's/emails not just on here but other sites as well from people who are new to coding and asking "What do I need to do this?", "Where can I download that?" because they don't know what they need in order to start coding in a specific language or platform. So I thought we would help them by creating a proper resource page and having links within each forum that would show them what they need and where to get what they need in order to get started coding for that specific language.

Awards and points:
We don't seem to use our award system anymore so I thought we could re-build this in to a proper coders award system. Quite a few sites have awards for members doing stuff on the site and helping people out so I think it's about time we did too.

New member welcome:
When new members register on the site they will be greeted with a welcome message and a quick guide (possibly in video form) on how to use the site. They will also be given some simple things to do in order to unlock/use parts of the site for example posting a topic in the introduce yourself section, fill in your profile and add an avatar. Just some quick simple things to get them started and help them become a part of our community.

It's your birthday:
lol We can't keep posting a new topic in the boardroom every time someone has a birthday so what we will do is have an area where on a members birthday their name will show up with a birthday message and we will have a button for the rest of us to click to wish them a happy birthday and may be give them some rep points or credits.

Site API:
The API will be fixed and new functions added so we can get to work on developing some apps for Apple, Android and Windows mobile devices because the site should have apps...yes we should.

Codenstuff 2?:
At some point this year I will be creating a new site...well I say site but it wont actually be a site lol. What I will be doing is getting a new domain/web space that will be used solely for storing data for web based services (with an API) and allow us to add things like messaging, code storage and files that we can all use.

Those are just a few of the things I intend to do over the next few months.

This was a long post and I hope you managed to read it all without falling asleep :lol:

As always I am up for any ideas/suggestions/feedback you may have so post and let me know cooll;
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Filip
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Re: A big change is coming!
Filip
Make color scheme changing simple. so it can be changed right away, not from UCP. Also, userbar could get a refresh.
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comathi
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Re: A big change is coming!
comathi
All of this sounds amazing!

I'm especially excited about the dev packs and introduction guide for new members. I think it will make it much easier for them to get around the site, because I know it can be a pain at first lol. And who knows, maybe they'll stick around longer that way :)

As always with your site changes, this is amazing cooll;
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pip
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Re: A big change is coming!
pip
Hello This all looks very good and decent I am interested like Comathi said not only that, but a place were we can all use files or storage sounds amazing also. What are you planning to do with the awards system like a new section not only awards, but like achievements, or badges? Were we could also have like a little shop or something? #CodenStuff #comathi Good work, and look forward to more! :)
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Scottie1972
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Re: A big change is coming!
Scottie1972
awesome... i cant wait!
the site should load faster with the new themes.
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Usman55
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Re: A big change is coming!
Usman55
I'm happy with all the ideas (yeah, I didn't fall asleep). But don't put too much "white" in the new theme, keep it light on the eyes.

The "new member welcome" and "birthday wishing" posts always annoyed me. Thank God they're getting changed.
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noypikami
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Re: A big change is coming!
noypikami
wow,,, nice idea......... i'm excited to see the changes...!!!! :)
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CodenStuff
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Re: A big change is coming!
CodenStuff
Filip wrote:
Make color scheme changing simple. so it can be changed right away, not from UCP. Also, userbar could get a refresh.
Yes changing the theme colour will be easy and you can do it anywhere on site from your options menu:

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At the moment it only changes the primary colour of the site but eventually I hope to include options to change text/link colours as well. It instantly updates the site colour without any page reloads :)
Welcome to CodenStuff.com Learn Code, Love Code. Thank you for being a member of the community.
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Codex
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Re: A big change is coming!
Codex
There is a small bug, when you visit a topic, like this current one (viewtopic.php?f=40&p=76712#p76712), small part of the logo is hideen.

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Also after posting a reply (and topic I'm assuming), there is a lot of spacing: Image
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bisnes_niko
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Re: A big change is coming!
bisnes_niko
When I change to the new theme, I lose the tool icon to get to the settings (ucp)
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