The Look of the site

[badfaith]

Ungrateful wretch that I am, I was thinking perhaps the site could do with some jazzing up a bit... It gets a bit staid to look at after a while.
..... Ooh, or maybe there could be options to customise it for personal tastes which could be saved in our settings.

I'd quite like to see a paisley background or something when I visit the site... or seventies brown and orange when looking at seventies albums, or a tie-dye sixties one... and maybe just blank when looking at 2000's (har har)

[albummaster]

we are currently getting some new graphics designed which should freshen things up a bit and we can maybe expect these to be finished in the lead-up to xmas, I'm not promising paisley backgrounds though, but it should look a bit smarter

[badfaith]

I must admit to being a little disappointed... the only appreciable change is the font used for "Best Ever Albums", which is nice, don't get me wrong, but the logo is being elbowed out of the site by an enourmous advertising banner... is this a loss of identity? or has the increasing popularity of the site expressed in registered user numbers led to the inevitable commercialisation of every bit of site space available... even the Site banner?
Are we going to see mini adverts on each of our posts next?

I know times are hard, and you chaps have to make some cash from your efforts just to keep this site going... but I think it's worth remembering that many who use this site do so because it represents a little refuge from all that modern "if it moves, sell it!" attitude. A sanctuary of taste in a sea of pop culture.

I feel a line must be drawn somewhere here, before the site is bought by Disney, and all "offensive" (that is, unsaleable, views) has to be withdrawn, and your users abandon ship.

[RFNAPLES]

I concur; the ad in the site banner is quite large. Not only does it interfere with the site logo but camouflages the quote. Don't recall where the top level ad used to be.

The black font color of best ever on the blue background is difficult to read. Black on white or white on blue would be better.
_________________
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES

[Mr. Shankly]

The new font makes me wanna get out Saturday Night Fever and dance.

[badfaith]

Just read back my post... didn't mean to come across as preachy, I just wanted to make the point that it follows that the nature of the site naturally draws people of strong or confirmed views- geeks, or at least geeky people, who make lists, and like to discuss or even dare I say announce their views.
As a group, or to use the modern vernacular- a demographic, you'd probably be hard pushed to find a collection of people less likely to be coerced or influenced into purchasing something simply on the basis of how loudly you shout about it... or a demographic more conscious and cynical of any attempts to do so.
Many may have come to this site precisely because we don't succumb to new trends or fashions, are largely immune to social pressures to conform to modern tastes, and consequently do not watch pop idol or the x factor, and are minded to consume on our own terms, and at our own instigation.
This is not to say that there is no room for adverising, but I'm just saying that with this group of people, perhaps a degree of discretion and subtlety may be better advised. Know your audience.

With this in mind, may I suggest the ad banner be moved to a more suitable position, and the restoration of the site logo.
This, I feel, would be more in accordance with the aspirations and higher expectations of your music loving geek-oid users, such as myself, and make a powerful statement regarding the sanctity of the finer aspects of human culture, dignity, and integrity.

AMEN

...But of course, you've most likely already signed contracts with advertisers that bind you for eternity and a day, and it is now beyond your control to remove or re-place them, and so the banner will evermore serve as a mark of one more point of disillusionment in life's great disapointment- and a sign to me and others of confirmation that evrything has it's price, and that there is nothing so sacred in this world that it can't be purchased. (long protracted sigh of resignation, and a tear for my battered soul)

[albummaster]

I don't like viewing adverts that much either and I share your point of view, but the site has to cover its costs. Unfortunately, the site does cost money to maintain and it uses up a lot of server resources.

Members already see less adverts than anonymous users, but we'll look at disabling the top banner for logged-in members. In the meantime, if you are not using it already, you could use Adblock Plus and you'll never see another advert again.

As an aside. there are no more ads on the site than there were before. The ad has just moved places from where it was before (beneath the login stripe) to within the top banner area. This allows us more page content to be displayed in the same viewing area.

RFNAPLES - thanks for the feedback regarding the font colours. I'll see if our designer can maybe tweak those a little.

EDIT: The banner ad is now only visible to anonymous users. If you are logged in, you will no longer see it.

[badfaith]

Wonderful, you have gone some little way to restoring my faith in the world.

While I stand by my original views on the matter, I do apologose if they were made in a manner unbecoming a civilised human being of reason and judgement, and offer my thanks for going that extra mile to keep your geeks happy (or at least one of them!.... todays lesson: I must try not to impute my own prejudices to others, and assume they feel as I do).

Albummaster you're a star. and a hero.

[morgan123]

I had a one thing in my mind which i wanted to say, since i visit on this forum and that is about the design of forum. The color which you use to it is very nice, it seem simple and impressive. I think there is no need of any change. But changes is the rule of nature.