Portal

[DinoToyForum]

I'm currently playing around with a portal for the forum, so don't worry if the forum goes a bit weird! If I like it (honestly, I don't really know what to expect) then I might stick with it. Apologies for any inconvenience in the meantime...

EDIT-
OK - so the front page of the forum is now a portal with a suite of features, including recent posts, user info, poll, an instant chat box, and scope for much more. I'll leave it there for now. I could potentially integrate it into the forum too (as opposed to just having it on the front page). What do people think?

EDIT again!-
Now the portal is on a stand alone page: http://www.dinotoyblog.com/forum/PortalStandalone.php

[Himmapaan]

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!

[DinoToyForum]

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!

Is that an "I like it?" or an "I hate it?" 

[Himmapaan]

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!

Is that an "I like it?" or an "I hate it?" 

Haha, neither at present. Simply astonishment. 

[DinoToyForum]

haha! Well, I'm sorry for springing this upon everyone, it just sort of happened without me thinking too much about it!

Personally, I like the chat feature at least. I think that had been requested before. 

[deanm]

I like it. For me its like a quick dash-board (at a glace info summary)

[Metallisuchus]

It's a bit overwhelming on the eyes at first, but I'm sure it will *ahem evolve to however we need it to look, or at least we'll get used to it.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm shifting the different 'blocks' (I call them that, for that is their name) around at the moment, trying to get a sensible layout. So if they move about, that's why! I've moved the chat into the middle, for example

[Metallisuchus]

Cool. That's what I meant by 'evolve' - you'll keep making the changes necessary until it becomes a comfortable design. Good work 

[DinoToyForum]

To make it easy to find the forum proper I've added a link to both the portal and the forum under the 'home' button in the top menu.

As I said, I may integrate the two in the future...

I'm really rather pleased with the portal myself 

[DinoToyForum]

Well, the chat box is proving popular 

[Takama]

It makes the forum seem to move alot faster

[tyrantqueen]

Meh, don't really like it

[DinoToyForum]

According to the poll you're not alone!

[DinoToyForum]

Righty, I decided the portal was a bit too detatched from the forum proper, so I've decided to make the forum the default home page, as it was originally, only with a few additional features in a side bar. You can still visit the full portal page, including the chat area, at: http://www.dinotoyblog.com/forum/PortalStandalone.php

[Seijun]

I would like the sidebar thing more if it was on the right, so it would be easier for me to ignore, but thats just me

[DinoToyForum]

I would like the sidebar thing more if it was on the right, so it would be easier for me to ignore, but thats just me

I've made the background for the sidebar white, so it should be easier to ignore, but hopefully it will be useful on occasions. Also, I always found the main page a little stretched so having the side bar makes the forum a bit easier to digest, for me at least

[Seijun]

Also, I always found the main page a little stretched so having the side bar makes the forum a bit easier to digest, for me at least

I've never had that problem, but my monitor is also painfully small by most people's standards (the new sidebar takes up 1/3 of the screen-space). I think I will be getting a wider monitor soon, this one is on its last legs.

[Takama]

I have noticed that theres a new feture that shows whos all online, and when you click to see the full list "It tells who is were, on the forum "   Now i feel like im being watched

[Metallisuchus]

I have noticed that theres a new feture that shows whos all online, and when you click to see the full list "It tells who is were, on the forum "   Now i feel like im being watched

Now we'll know how long you're staring at that Megacerops photo