Really hard to look at.

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Great content here, but man, it is ugly. And kind of impossible to read. My brain is already working on dealing with tech issues, and I come to the most poorly designed site I see in any context?  I’m embarrassed to share a link to this site – it looks like a 2001 site for a local church fundraiser or bowling group.  There’s GOT to be a better wordpress theme where you can still allude to the woody theme if you absolutely had to. (Suggestion: let it go)

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You’re absolutely right. Here’s what AskWoody looked like in July 2004, when I launched the site:

 

We got a little more hep (ahem) in November, when the site looked like this:

 

Then in June 2009, Seth Bareiss — a good friend who was also living in Phuket at the time — came up with this design:

Which probably looks familiar.

Seth passed away many years ago. I still miss him.

I thought about changing the site design a little over a year ago, when we grew the Lounge out as an appendage, but somehow the alternatives didn’t seem to be all that much better than the current design.

Times change, eh? A year ago we were pulling about 1,000 visits a day. Now we’re consistently going over 25,000 per day. The advertising revenue hasn’t increased much, but the demands of the site certainly have.

I’m thinking about redesigning the site again, but such things are not cheap. If you know of anyone with site design experience who’d like to submit a bid, I’m all ears… woody@askwoody.com

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Ascaris, Elly, HiFlyer, BobbyB, Kirsty, EspressoWillie, Microfix, satrow

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I like the site design though so its more of a “your mileage may vary” sorta deal.If the alternative is the new style of flat charmless style sites that you need to use a noscripting tool on otherwise it’ll melt your cpu then its a definite no

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Capella, Ascaris, Elly, HiFlyer, Microfix, Kirsty

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Ok, why not create a GoFundMe account.  Everyone else does!  Sadly, I don’t know anyone who does sites anymore.  Everyone I know just tinkers (like me).

Cheers!!
Willie McClure
“We are trying to build a gentler, kinder society, and if we all pitch in just a little bit, we are going to get there.” Alex Trebek

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I actually think the layout/ design is fine as it is.

Who says it needs to be a natural softwood color?

In keeping with the wood and grain theme how do you think a black ash with grey grain would look with WHITE fonts down the Recent Replies. Recent Topics section would look? The same black ash theme throughout and for a new MS-DEFCON system logo, red font with brown shadow on a tan color is just ouch on the eyes!

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created IT- AE

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With Windows patching what it is, we need to keep the “Knock-on-Woody” theme!

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Myst, Kirsty, Cascadian, DrBonzo, Elly, HiFlyer

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Don’t fix what’s not broke. I like it just fine just the way it is.

I’m not picking on sevenforums.com, but that generic style is really crummy. Of course, no matter what the style, someone will not like it. So if you (Woody) are happy with it that’s what really matters.

Just one person’s opinion. 🙂

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Kirsty, Cascadian, Ascaris, Elly

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Modern themes are not better, and mostly ugly by my standards. I’ve never had trouble getting the information I needed here. I’m quite fond of Woody, and his AskWoody Lounge theme. This place isn’t like all the other tech places, and is better for it.

“Knock on Woody”… good one, PKCano!

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Myst, HiFlyer, Kirsty, Cascadian, DrBonzo

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I can read the forums just fine.  I could care less about the theme.

Where am I? What am I doing in this hand basket?

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Kirsty

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Maybe the perception is in my own head. But to me it is not just any woodgrain or a particular species of wood. It is specifically evoking a ‘Woody’. Like Beach Boys, or Jan and Dean; cars that Frankie and Annette used to pile everything needed for a beach party into.

The wood panel detail that ran down the side of early utility vehicles. Because dents and scratches in wood are called character, while dents and scratches in iron cause rust and are called ‘cancer’. Maybe I’m dating myself and pigeonholing my music preferences all at the same time. But that is what I see, every time I look at the sidebar.
—
dropped over to Wikipedia to see if they had an article, and found they consistently call it a woodie instead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodie_(car_body_style)

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Myst, Elly

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Woody, I just noticed that the top article on your 18JUN2009 snippet above is about the poor choice involved with naming Microsoft Security Essentials, and the confusion it causes.

I recognize I’m crossing streams here a little, but nearly nine years latter we are dealing with what does Windows Defender mean within the Win7 Operating System.

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cupere wrote:

Great content here, but man, it is ugly. And kind of impossible to read. My brain is already working on dealing with tech issues, and I come to the most poorly designed site I see in any context? I’m embarrassed to share a link to this site – it looks like a 2001 site for a local church fundraiser or bowling group. There’s GOT to be a better wordpress theme where you can still allude to the woody theme if you absolutely had to. (Suggestion: let it go)

Cupere:

Perhaps you would like to contribute some funding to allow Woody to make improvements to the website. We have links on the right side of the screen which facilitate contributing to the site.

Jim

PS: What’s wrong with church fundraisers or bowling groups?

PPS: We will be glad to refund the money you paid to log onto this site and get all of the great technical information and assistance that people post here.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 8.1 running in a VM

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Elly, HiFlyer, geekdom

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cupere wrote:

Great content here, but man, it is ugly. And kind of impossible to read. 

In any given day, I dredge through a lot of ugly and hard to read. This site is neither.

 

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
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Elly, HiFlyer

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I like the site. Mikey likes the site. It’s comfortable , welcoming and my favorite.

We don’t need not stinkin’ badges, er….purty site.

HF

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Elly

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HiFlyer wrote:

It’s comfortable , welcoming and my favorite.

That said it better than I could…

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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HiFlyer

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