Above the Fold? - Forums Help - vBulletin, IPB, phpBB, SMF skins and community

purplefdu · 09-10-2007, 02:41 PM

So my forum just ran a skin contest for a new skin. The parameters allowed them to have a banner of up to 300pixels high. Our previous banner was only 150-200 pixels tall, as the site isn't about having a pretty banner but about content. Since the new design has a 300pixel tall banner it has pushed half the "about the forum" section to below the fold. which means the announcements, etiquette, and information are above the fold, but the rules, member announcements and greetings, and the redirect to the game our forum is about are below the fold.I know not everyone believes in the idea of designing with above/below the fold in mind, but I have serious doubts with the rules being not visible while sitting on the index page. we have a problem with older members not following the rules and they know where to find them. Do you think that is important or have a banner height that works well?

Noodlez · 09-11-2007, 06:39 PM

I've never heard of a forum to have a fold - do you mean just like how a Microsoft Word document goes to another (second) page?

But yeah, for a forum to have a fold, it must be quite a large forum!! As for a banner, I think you could either keep the banner you currently have and reorganize / shrink the amount of forums you have to make everything fit.

purplefdu · 09-13-2007, 04:49 PM

"above the fold" is a concept from newspaper printing of getting the important news above where the paper folded, or the part people saw immediately in a news stand or paper box. So for internet applications its what you see before having to scroll down the page.

We have 6 major subforum types and 4-8 subforums in each of those, as we are a large fairly complex community surrounding a game with many ways to play/focuses. And condensing that just isn't going to happen. Nor is shrinking the banner at this time. Every time we change the skin there is almost a riot about the color being too dark/light and hurting people's eyes and making them blind. Teenage girls are quite hard to administrate, especially in large numbers.

dreaming · 09-14-2007, 02:43 AM

Would it be possible for you to put what will fit above the fold, leaving room to add links to the remaining items also above the fold. The remaining items could be below the fold, but since the links to them would be above it, they would still be easily seen.

purplefdu · 09-14-2007, 02:23 PM

Not without a riot. Change isn't something implemented easily, even if its for the good of the board. But I work with helping other boards and setting up new boards for friends and was hoping to get a more "worldly" idea. I've got plenty of design knowledge, but little in forum design and management, except what I've gained firsthand with working with this forum. And basing my knowledge on the whims of teenagers is less than satisfactory.

We added a modification that allows for the "collapse" of the main subforums, but it only works with IE and we haven't found one that works in both IE and mozilla browsers. I used to use that until I couldn't stomach IE7s issues. When its all collapsed down it looks good, but they like it to be more open, even if it requires scrolling alot.

09-10-2007, 02:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
User Profile purplefdu Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 51 Total Points: 750 Donate My Zoints Profile My Photos: (0)	Above the Fold? So my forum just ran a skin contest for a new skin. The parameters allowed them to have a banner of up to 300pixels high. Our previous banner was only 150-200 pixels tall, as the site isn't about having a pretty banner but about content. Since the new design has a 300pixel tall banner it has pushed half the "about the forum" section to below the fold. which means the announcements, etiquette, and information are above the fold, but the rules, member announcements and greetings, and the redirect to the game our forum is about are below the fold.I know not everyone believes in the idea of designing with above/below the fold in mind, but I have serious doubts with the rules being not visible while sitting on the index page. we have a problem with older members not following the rules and they know where to find them. Do you think that is important or have a banner height that works well?

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09-11-2007, 06:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
User Profile Noodlez Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 23 Total Points: 450 Donate My Zoints Profile My Photos: (0)	I've never heard of a forum to have a fold - do you mean just like how a Microsoft Word document goes to another (second) page? But yeah, for a forum to have a fold, it must be quite a large forum!! As for a banner, I think you could either keep the banner you currently have and reorganize / shrink the amount of forums you have to make everything fit.

09-13-2007, 04:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
User Profile purplefdu Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 51 Total Points: 750 Donate My Zoints Profile My Photos: (0)	"above the fold" is a concept from newspaper printing of getting the important news above where the paper folded, or the part people saw immediately in a news stand or paper box. So for internet applications its what you see before having to scroll down the page. We have 6 major subforum types and 4-8 subforums in each of those, as we are a large fairly complex community surrounding a game with many ways to play/focuses. And condensing that just isn't going to happen. Nor is shrinking the banner at this time. Every time we change the skin there is almost a riot about the color being too dark/light and hurting people's eyes and making them blind. Teenage girls are quite hard to administrate, especially in large numbers.

09-14-2007, 02:43 AM	#4 (permalink)
User Profile dreaming Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 25 Total Points: 525 Donate My Zoints Profile My Photos: (0)	Would it be possible for you to put what will fit above the fold, leaving room to add links to the remaining items also above the fold. The remaining items could be below the fold, but since the links to them would be above it, they would still be easily seen.

09-14-2007, 02:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
User Profile purplefdu Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 51 Total Points: 750 Donate My Zoints Profile My Photos: (0)	Not without a riot. Change isn't something implemented easily, even if its for the good of the board. But I work with helping other boards and setting up new boards for friends and was hoping to get a more "worldly" idea. I've got plenty of design knowledge, but little in forum design and management, except what I've gained firsthand with working with this forum. And basing my knowledge on the whims of teenagers is less than satisfactory. We added a modification that allows for the "collapse" of the main subforums, but it only works with IE and we haven't found one that works in both IE and mozilla browsers. I used to use that until I couldn't stomach IE7s issues. When its all collapsed down it looks good, but they like it to be more open, even if it requires scrolling alot.