New Menu Opinions

[rhysmcc]

This is what I get, if I try to scroll down it scrolls the page under the pop up. I know you can't design for every mobile.. But the current design works fine so I'lol be voting that way I think

 

 

 

[red750]

OK on my laptop, but on my Android tablet, I get a similar situation to that depicted in post #6, ( ie. lower icons slide over the labels) and tapping the icons/labels does nothing. - FIXED (Admin)

 

 

[dutchroll]

When you hover your mouse over the menu items you get a pop-up. That's all fine, but you can't hover the mouse down and get subsequent pop-ups because the first one is obscuring the others. Ironically you can do it in reverse, because the pop-ups appear below and so they don't obscure the menu item above.

 

Where menus lead to pop-up items, it's nice to be able to hover your mouse over whichever item you want in whatever sequence you want, and get the pop-up appear however you do it.

 

 

[Admin]

A couple of items are tangled up. The "What's New" & "24hrs" are not working - Laptop, Win 7 (64bit), Modzilla Firefox.[ATTACH=full]34062[/ATTACH][ATTACH]34062[/ATTACH]

This should be fixed now, can you please advise?

I have limited the menu column footer to only 3 icons, Go To Top, Home and Contact Us. The overall site footer has been restored containing all 5 of the links now

 

 

[Admin]

This is what I get, if I try to scroll down it scrolls the page under the pop up. I know you can't design for every mobile.. But the current design works fine so I'lol be voting that way I think

Can you check now to see if it is any better with the removal of the footer icons and let me know, thanks

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

I don't have any gripes with the existing menu system on PC (Win7, Chrome) or mobile (Android Galaxy Note 3) but I find the proposed new menu to be counter-intuitive and very 'busy' to navigate. Perhaps that's just because I'm familiar with the old one or perhaps it's because the old one is the same as the majority of websites on the net, whereas the new one seems to be a complete departure from convention. On that basis I imagine it might be very confusing if every website had its own unique menu system.

 

If this change somehow benefits some then I'm sure I'd get used to it but I'd prefer to stick with the more conventional one, so I vote against the change.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Just had a look on computer rather than I phone and I think the forums will be buried by photos and general aviation news, and I only found a few recent posts rather than the new posts of the day. For someone who just comes on where there is a break in activities it might be harder to get to subject matter.

 

This is one of the problems with Facebook and its rolling wall. A lot of discussions just disappear off the screen before anyone notices them, so discussions are much more sporadic.

 

 

[Admin]

Thanks HIC however the general movement on the web is to steer away from what you refer to as "conventional" and the use, or integrated, PC and Mobile systems is becoming the "conventional". What you are seeing with this new proposed menu system is that we are getting in on the upswing of the new "conventional" rather than be last. Have a look at this "The Next Web" and you will see what is coming, in fact the comments on this in a tech forum I visit have agreed that these concepts have been progressively been implemented over the last 2-3 years. The "conventional" web site had the menu in a left hand column in the 90's, then the "conventional" web site became a horizontal menu, currently we are in the adaption phase of the "conventional" web site being one of integration between PC and mobile devices. I think it is more about change then "convention" which is why I am trying my best to communicate and get comments to ensure this is done right for as many people as possible. The proposed new menu system may not be 100% perfect as I write this but with everyone's help we can get it as close to perfect as possible before it becomes standard here.

 

 

[Admin]

Just had a look on computer rather than I phone and I think the forums will be buried by photos and general aviation news, and I only found a few recent posts rather than the new posts of the day. For someone who just comes on where there is a break in activities it might be harder to get to subject matter.This is one of the problems with Facebook and its rolling wall. A lot of discussions just disappear off the screen before anyone notices them, so discussions are much more sporadic.

I don't understand. In the right menu column on a PC you have ALL the sub menu items without even opening the main menu slide out. The "What's New" is there, the "What's New (24hrs)" is there just like the sub menu on the current site. The only difference is that the main menu items like Home, Forums, Media, News, Aircraft, Resources, Search etc are in the slide out menu accessed by the Hamburger Icon.

PLEASE come up with suggestions on how to improve otherwise I am just guessing things...for example would it be better if I put the word "Menu" underneath the hamburger icon or ????????????????????????

 

This new menu system is getting rave reviews on the software forum site I use with comments like:

 

"I think that you are on to something good here. It works better than the default xenforo dropdowns which are not very mobile friendly. It also offers a lot of link space which is great for websites that have lots of addon functionality. It's also good to have the logo visible at all times."

 

"I agree, it is much better than the default. I hope we can get something like that in v2."

 

"Congrats, looks nice.

 

I recently did similar, with a completely different style for mobile usage. Feedback was great, and they love it."

 

 

[turboplanner]

Sorry, just changed my vote to "like it". I'd missed the column over on the RHS - easier to use that the default.

 

 

[Admin]

I can live with either style. I don't use the menu options much.What I would like to see is the Navigation Bar include the current thread title and be visible all the time.

DWF

Are you referring to the sticky header in the Mobile version or on the PC version. If it is PC I am not sure where I could place it, any suggestions?

 

 

[Admin]

I'm finding it a bit difficult to use on the iPhone. I have two "What's New" buttons, one of which is actually the what's new 24, but it doesn't show the full title. - FIXED (Admin)Also, in landscape orientation I can't get all of the buttons to show.

 

I like it, but if these issues were fixed it would be better.

I need to look into iPhone impacts but will need to find someone with one to help me with testing. It all works brilliantly on other mobile phones I have tested it on

 

 

[kgwilson]

I use a PC mainly so the top drop down menu style is best. Also I have an old 4:3 aspect ratio screen rather than a modern 16:9 aspect ratio so the menu narrows the effective area for viewing. I also use a tablet but use the browser not an app for accessing the site but as the screen is 16:9 it is OK.

 

The "back to top", "home" and "contact icons" are superimposed on top of "Tagged Forums", "Tagged Threads" and "Whats new" options in the Android Tablet in landscape browser mode so you cannot access these options. The browser settings are to autofit pages to the screen. Removing autofit had no effect. In portait mode there is no side menu, just the menu hamburger at the top right. This worked once by opening the Menu as a separate page & then wouldn't work again till I put the tablet back in landscape. Tried again and it worked once then no go again.

 

Cheers

 

Kevin

 

 

[Admin]

When you hover your mouse over the menu items you get a pop-up. That's all fine, but you can't hover the mouse down and get subsequent pop-ups because the first one is obscuring the others. Ironically you can do it in reverse, because the pop-ups appear below and so they don't obscure the menu item above.Where menus lead to pop-up items, it's nice to be able to hover your mouse over whichever item you want in whatever sequence you want, and get the pop-up appear however you do it.

I have done some "mock ups" of an alternative option that may suit:

1. This option removes the Conversations and Alerts popups to the User Menu hover button with a single red flag displaying if you have new conversations or alerts. The user can then hover on the conversations and alerts links in the user menu drop down to get the popups. The only issue with this is that it is a 2 step process.:

 

 

2. In this option the mock up shows the User Menu group moved back to the Header however, the issue with this is that like the current menu system, they are not sticky unlike being in the right menu column of the new menu system. Once a user scrolls down a page they lose the ability to be alerted and to access these areas until they go back to the top of the page...sort of defeats the new sticky right column menu system

 

 

Any comments on this?

 

NOTE: The whole menu system will be changed some way or another to suit what is coming up later, which I can't disclose at this stage, but I believe this new system is better, it's just trying to get it as perfect for you all as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

[gandalph]

Ian,

 

I selected "don't like it" because for years all the menu options on every program and on every browser I've used have been across the top of the screen/page. So that means (for me) there's a lot of muscle memory invested in looking up to find a menu option. No doubt I will adapt but unless the change does more than implement change for the sake of change, I'd rather not. So I guess what I'm saying is, I like it just fine the way it is. Just seems more natural for me.

 

 

[SDQDI]

I have done some "mock ups" of an alternative option that may suit:1. This option removes the Conversations and Alerts popups to the User Menu hover button with a single red flag displaying if you have new conversations or alerts. The user can then hover on the conversations and alerts links in the user menu drop down to get the popups. The only issue with this is that it is a 2 step process.:

[ATTACH]34072[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]34073[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]34074[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]34075[/ATTACH]

 

2. In this option the mock up shows the User Menu group moved back to the Header however, the issue with this is that like the current menu system, they are not sticky unlike being in the right menu column of the new menu system. Once a user scrolls down a page they lose the ability to be alerted and to access these areas until they go back to the top of the page...sort of defeats the new sticky right column menu system

 

[ATTACH]34076[/ATTACH]

 

Any comments on this?

 

NOTE: The whole menu system will be changed some way or another to suit what is coming up later, which I can't disclose at this stage, but I believe this new system is better, it's just trying to get it as perfect for you all as possible.

Ian my question is similar to dutchroll inasmuch as when I open the notifications tab (iPad) the notifications hide the menu eg what's new and what's new 24, I was wondering if when we opened the tabs if they could open just inside the menu so we could still see and use the menu without having to close a tab?

 

 

[Admin]

Thank you to everyone who has helped with comments on this very important proposed change. I will now look into them all and decide whether to go ahead with this new menu system after any necessary changes, go back to the drawing board and come up with a new future fitting design or shelve it. Thanks again

 

 

[Admin]

The idea behind the new menu system was that it needed to be sticky, it needed to be used, it needed to be easier and in line with a whole new design of what is planned for the site which hopefully will be achieved this year. I will say that the forums will become a lot less important in the overall site as there will be much more than just forums, a LOT more. In fact "IF" what is hoped for all comes together there will be 3 full time people working on this site and 20 others of the same style and features but in different subject areas. An example of what was needed with the menu system can be seen in the slide out menu mock up below so you can get an idea that the changes that will be coming to the site are NOT just for change sake but instead the components that will all make up to the site being one hell of a fantastic place to belong to.