Hello all,
I am testing out a new feature that I would like your feedback on. If you visit the Avian Critiques section I have set this new feature live for testing. It is a new view that will display the full images in a grid view. Before I set this live throughout the site I would love to hear your thoughts.
I think the grid view is a significant improvement.
Would there be an option to also keep the current view, as an option for those who might prefer it?
Unfortunately no it could not be an option, it has to be one or the other for everyone.
Hi David,
Ok, I’ll be the first and chime in (ok, not the first). First of all, thank you very much for your continuous improvement efforts. I think I speak for many, if not most, that the efforts are appreciated.
I don’t think many would complain about images being bigger! I like the visual of the bigger thumbnails - Can’t really call them thumbnails I guess? 
I like the notion of a grid display. Many folks have been asking for it. And I do think a grid of sorts would be good. Having said that, I’m pretty much a structured kinda person. Like things consistent, laid out the same way where it’s easy for the eye to find things. While I think the floating grid is cool looking and how the images resize and adjust to each other, making great use of space… I’m not sure I like the floating grid. If I’m looking for how many views, or when was the latest response, or even the title, all that info doesn’t line up nor located in the same spot. Also, the rows don’t line up. Sure, the entries in the grid are sized according to the image, which then throws off the row alignment.
One suggestion I have would be to take the “About the Critique section” text and info out of the grid/table. Essentially that first “cell” should be an image. So as it’s presented now, the most recent image post is in column 2. (BTW, I prefer to have the grid sorted by posted date/time, not latest activity)
If it’s an option, I would wish to have the grid consistent; ie. each cell in the grid the same size, where all the info in addition to the thumbnail are in the same spot. Let the image thumb adjust to the cell size. Said another way, I think it would be easier on the eye if the tops of each image thumb were aligned vertically. Have enough space in the cell to accommodate H vs. V.
Back on the positive features, it’s nice to be able to see many more image post thumbs. A nice visual to also see the images - more of them on one page rather than serially down the page .
Curious to hear other’s thoughts.
OH, BTW, not sure if this is because of your testing or not, but thought I would mention. When one starts at the “home” Community page and selects the main Category “Image Critiques”, it takes you to the main Image Critique start page. This is were all the categories are listed in bold letters in a box format with blue bars separating all the boxes. Well, “Avian” is not listed in that view. Just FYI. Again, not sure if that’s due to the testing.
Thanks again for the efforts!
Lon
David,
Thank you.
Lon summarized my thoughts precisely. I wish the grid was uniform for each image. I think the concept is great. Hopefully it can be tweaked just a bit.
I like it, David. With my abysmally slow internet connection it takes a while to have the images pop to their proper size, but when they do it’s great. For most people, it should work perfectly and I just have to practice my patience which is good for my soul.
I like it, David, and tend to agree about equal image size within the grid, which worked out well. For the old site we had 4 across that were more uniformly sized. I’ll vote for the change, whatever y’all can work out. Thanks for the improvement.
David - one word - YESSS!!
I like it. I agree with Lon, I prefer that the grid be sorted by date/time posted. Thanks David!
Thanks for the feedback guys. I completely understand the desire for things to be aligned, but this is not an option in the software. It’s either this or the current view, only small tweaks can be made, the layout is the way it is. So that begs the question, do you like this better the way it is, or the current list view?
I much prefer the new setup, as displayed in the Avian Critique example, alignment or not, to the current list view.
I agree with the voices in favor of the new view.
Frankly many of the catchy titles in the list view leave me scratching my head. And being a contrary sort, I don’t even bother opening those posts, undoubtedly missing some really worthy photos in the process. This way I can react directly to the images and they’ll get a better shot at stirring my interest.
This seems like a no-brainer, I’m going to slowly start rolling this out, please let me know if you see any issues.
I like it too. I feel the partial view in small thumbnails doesn’t do the images people post enough justice, and will probably make it less likely that folks would click over to leave comments. Though it’s not a uniform layout, I think this is a big improvement.
Max
I love it. Thanks!
David,
If you don’t read any further than this. I love the implementation of the new grid display when using the Dark theme. This is a big improvement to the site!
This is night and day, literally. I say that because I’ve been viewing this site using the “Light” theme since that option was available. I just prefer reading dark text on white bg. And I will say to anyone reading this, if you’re viewing this site with the light bg - you need to immediately switch to the Dark theme.
I must say that the new grid display combined with the Dark Theme - is a winning combo. The images pop. And although the images aren’t aligned… that’s ok because I really like the borders and canvas given to each image post and the grid overall, including the supporting info around the image thumb+. There is more structure than what I was seeing with the Avian test. This is now much easier to view in general; even while scrolling - compared to the Avian test(while using the LIGHT theme.)
Not sure if you’ve tested or anyone else notices, but if you’re viewing with the Light theme, the text surrounding the image thumb doesn’t display well (dark font against dark canvas, for example.) It seems to me that this was all designed to have the darker bg and the new grid display shows this off beautifully, IMHO.
The biggest feedback would be - unless you can make the Light Theme behave the same in terms of fonts being visible in the grid as the Dark theme… I would be inclined to just eliminate the Light theme. (BTW, the Light them only applies to the Community page… regardless if you go to the Article section, About, etc., those are still all Dark themed even if you choose Light. No biggie, but while I was on the subject…)
I really like this appearance. Glad Sandra kept pushing for it. Sometimes we just get used to things and accept them. Yes, the centered grid would be better.
This page loads considerably slower than the previous version. Is there any way to make the thumbnail files smaller to increase network performance? I don’t have good bandwidth at my current location.
Found this new format implemented in the “Latest” section this morning and wanted to reiterate how much I like it. From comments on other threads it seems that a lot of people don’t take advantage of the “Latest” section but don’t like the back and forth of checking multiple categories. This new format makes it even easier to scan through and choose what you want to look at further or comment on regardless of category by going to Latest. Thank you for always looking for ways to improve the experience.
Oh yeah.
I still get the list view of the latest on the general navigation page, but by hitting the “More” button at the bottom of the list, I’m moved into the grid view. The comparison is starkly in favor of the grid view!