Maybe its because I am a member of a number of other forums that have recently undergone something of a facelift but I feel this site could do with a little modernising.

As I have mentioned before the banner really lets the forum down, its bland, ineffective and looks rather amateur.

The grey background has also ran its course and may benefit from a colour change and possibly the overall format of the forum could be adjusted.

Several subsections of the forum are all but dead such as "The Duke Trivia Forum," and "Duke Related News Articles". Perhaps these could be merged into the general discussions section which is too quiet at present, this in reality should be one of the busiest sections of the forum. The "Suggestion" section and "Board News And Announcements" could also be merged as they are virtually dormant sections of the forum. I have always believed that the suggestions area is not correctly located and this is possibly a reason as to the few posts/views within it.

The pictures of John Wayne down the left hand column of each forum section has never really appealed to me and there seems to be a little bit of an overkill with regards to their quantity. In addition to this some of the pictures of John Wayne are not very flattering such as the "Newbie Forum" picture.

These are only my views, overall I think the forums great however I feel I would be doing a disservice if I didn't point the above out.

:agent:

Robbie,

Thanks for your different observations!

I'll speak to a couple of your points.

Regarding the gray background, I thought there was an option in the User Control Panel to change the "skin" but I discovered that I am wrong about that.

Regarding the Duke Trivia Forum, that is where dukefan1 posts a new picture each week, for us to identify. Recently, but with some irregularity (I'm aiming for weekly), I have been posting a trivia question for members to answer via PM. That seems to have been well received.

One of the reasons to have separate sub-forums is to make it a little easier to find things. If the Duke-related news articles and trivia were merged into General Discussions, it would be MUCH harder to find some things.

Now, regarding your comment that General Discussions (focused on JW) should be the busiest section of the board, I couldn't agree with you more. However, I also realize that the object of our discussion has been dead nearly thirty years, so it's not like there's "new" stuff to talk about. For our core group, who have been around awhile, we've covered quite a bit of ground and there's only so much you can say. One of the things I appreciate about this message board is that, though we originally came to know each other because of our love of Duke, we still "hang out" together and discuss all manner of things. What I do occasionally is browse the topics in General Discussions and see if there are threads that can be revived. Sometimes that works, because there are newer members who may not have seen the topic, and there is room for further discussion. Sometimes, a thread is no longer timely, or a question has been answered and there is just nothing else to say.

Thanks, Robbie, for sharing your thoughts. I know that Kevin has direct control over some things, like the appearance of the forum. I'm sure he'll be able to answer some of your concerns and questions.

Chester :newyear:

Hi Chester

Thanks for your response, I want to address your main point however.

Robbie,

Regarding the Duke Trivia Forum, that is where dukefan1 posts a new picture each week, for us to identify. Recently, but with some irregularity (I'm aiming for weekly), I have been posting a trivia question for members to answer via PM. That seems to have been well received.

One of the reasons to have separate sub-forums is to make it a little easier to find things. If the Duke-related news articles and trivia were merged into General Discussions, it would be MUCH harder to find some things.
Chester :newyear:


I understand this point however these subjects could be pinned within "General Discussions" in order to make them easier to find, some of the topics within this section at present could also be unpinned due to the fact there is no need for them to be pinned any longer.

:agent:

Thanks Robbie for your suggestions.

I have been tinkering with a new header (banner) for the site that would look a bit like the old banner that featured Duke in some of his films.

I'm kinda been strapped for time recently and haven't worked with it, and haven't had much time to devote to JWMB. But in due time I'll replace the "rather amateur" looking banner at top with something fresher.

As I have mentioned before the banner really lets the forum down, its bland, ineffective and looks rather amateur.
What do you think of the new banner across the top?

I don't know about anybody else, but I sure like it.

Kevin is going to see if he can activate the feature whereby each member can choose a "skin" that they like, thus letting each member customize the site. That is still in the works.

Chester :newyear:

Love it! Great job, Kevin. Whether or not you get to choose skins is of no matter to me. I will stay no matter how it looks. As long as you don't go with a Goth look, that is. :wink_smile:

Mark

Looks GREAT to me!!!
Cheers - Jay:beer:

While you're at it Kevin, how about a moving avatar. I downloaded one a while back, but couldn't use it because this site doesn't seem to support a moving avatar. Um.....just a thought.

I can't believe i hadn't noticed the banner (Bruce?) before now. It's awesome and really has the feel of Duke about it and gives the site a...a professional feel?

Congrats on the new banner! and thank you to the designer.

I can't believe i hadn't noticed the banner (Bruce?) before now.
Hey, Lt. B, it's OK, it wasn't up the last time you were here (or at least it wasn't here the last time you posted before today). It's just been 3 or 4 days!

Chester :newyear:

Hi

Banner looks great that the beauty of this site it is constantly being updated.

Regards

Arthur

While you're at it Kevin, how about a moving avatar. I downloaded one a while back, but couldn't use it because this site doesn't seem to support a moving avatar. Um.....just a thought.

Your wish GT, is my command. :shades_smile:

Hi

Banner looks great that the beauty of this site it is constantly being updated.

Regards

Arthur


Thanks, more to come in the future.

The grey background has also ran its course and may benefit from a colour change and possibly the overall format of the forum could be adjusted.



:agent:

Members can choose different skins to view the site through. You can find the skin selector at the bottom left corner of every page.

There are currently 3 skins to choose. Members can choose the one they like. Just note that the current theme (the one with the new banner on it called 'CrastelFluid') is the only one that I'll focus on when I add new features. There are times when new feature addons will not work across all theme, so there could be a situation where a feature found on the main default theme will not be available on the additional non-default theme.

Thanks Robbie for your suggestions.

I have been tinkering with a new header (banner) for the site that would look a bit like the old banner that featured Duke in some of his films.

I'm kinda been strapped for time recently and haven't worked with it, and haven't had much time to devote to JWMB. But in due time I'll replace the "rather amateur" looking banner at top with something fresher.

Hi Kevin

First of all I want to apologise for that grossly unfair comment I made regarding the previous banner being rather amateur. Please put this down to my poor linguistic skills rather than an indictment of the forums layout.

I really appreciate the new banner, it has freshened up the board quite considerably, I do however have two suggestions however:

1. The subtext may benefit from the use of capitals e.g. "The Original John Wayne Message Board".

2. Secondly "The John Wayne Store" banner is an awkward juxtaposition with the main banner and looks out of place, the image of John Wayne within the banner looks unsuitable as well. Perhaps relocating the link for the “John Wayne Store” could be a solution to this?

:agent:

thx but the "the original john wayne message board" subtext was done that way on purpose. But thanks for your suggestions.

thx but the "the original john wayne message board" subtext was done that way on purpose. But thanks for your suggestions.

I had a feeling it was, I guess its just down to different strokes for different folks.

:agent: