Borders/breaks

[Samadhi]

This is what I'd really like to see addressed. Here is an image of what I see (with some commentary ) Edges, etc
If the change had only been the addition of the ad block in its current spot without anything the bubbles pointed out, I think most people would have no problem.

The ads just aren't annoying at all (IMO). The layout changes grate at the nerves though.
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[Dragon Phoenix]

I agrre, I don;t mind the ads and it makes sense to have them. But the big grey columns left and right annoy the hell out of me.
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[Courk]

I don't mind the grey edging, nor do I mind the grey bar. I don't think they work fabulously together, however, since they are different shades of grey.

I miss the PALADIN icons mainly because I miss the joke. We don't have a Links page anymore, but if it really meant a lot to people and it was to become PALADIN again, we could use Legal.

I actually like the larger icons, they look smoother than the old ones.

I gotta go to school now, possibly more thoughts later.

[jesternl]

O think the grey bars on the side are ok, but could be smaller. The one across the top should match the gradient on the side. Perhaps in can fade to the same light grade in the center, then back to match the bar on the other side?

I'd move the Google ads to the bottom of the page rather than at the top, other than that, I understand the need.
It's be nice to get the stats on the ads clicked and stuff

In general I feel that the top should be smaller. Right now the entire top half of my screen ( 19" , 1280x1024) is taken up with non-content.

[Jack_Ian]

http://web.archive.org/web/20070108145529/www.greylabyrinth.com/discussion/

I thought I'd post the above link in case it is of help for those of you who might not remember the previous design.

According to Google, money is earned when ads are clicked on, so I can understand why they would be made so prominent. Perhaps a gentle reminder for users to click on the ads occasionally would be useful. Maybe even a % shown to indicate the level of funding still outstanding.
I for one would be more than happy to click on a few ads, I'd even regularly go to a special page of ads, for this purpose. Normally I completely ignore them to the point where they become invisible.

That being said, there is a lot of wasted screen real estate and while the side-bars are "pretty", I would not miss them.

Is it possible to generate the adbox dynamically so that it can stretch right across the window? If so, I'd suggest that it be placed separately on top so that it does not interfere with general design of the site.

[The Great Crep'er]

I have an idea, let's make the grey borders pink!



Seriously though, I have actually gotten used to the design, I wasn't so hip to this change at first, but I guess that's what anyone needs, time to adjust.

I would not mind clicking on the ads, unless I am obligated to buy anything as soon as I click on them, or they give me a seizure.

Other than that, I'd say the upgrades are rather useful, the new fonts look cool, but I think as you all know, the huge grey bars may be ahead of their time.
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[Amb]

Your title says it all.

I am indifferent on the grey bars. They could be there. They could be not. I just want the icons shrunk by 50%, and the wording "THe grey Labyrinth" reduced to one line so the screen isnt completely captured by guff.

[Dented Ford]

The grey sidebars aren't a bother, they don't intrude and just fade into irrelevance. The mismatched colour of the grey bar at the top doesn't look great but it's not the end of the world. I'm with Amb, the sizing of the title area is right out of proportion. I'm aware that the size of the Google adbar isn't negotiable, but could it at least be in a separate zone above the forum and login headings, instead of slap in the middle of the navigation area?

[wordcross]

I don't mind the ads, and I can even deal with the sidebars, but that gray bar at the top is, as Samadhi said, an abomination. It has links usually reserved for the bottom of the page, excepting Nerdware which honestly worked better as an Icon, IMO. Putting it at the top shoves more text below the "fold" of the page, which for some people has already been pushed down by the google ads. When I'm surfing on my laptop I rarely see anything past the first post without scrolling. And I wouldn't complain if the sidebars disappeared. That's my 2 cents.
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Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[The Great Crep'er]

[Courk]

I don't think "The Grey Labyrinth" needs to be one line -- I think it you shrink it in conjunction with the icons it'd be OK.

[MatthewV]

I agree there is too much wasted space. There is a buffer of about a quarter inch on each side of blue and then about three-quarters and inch of greyscale. Considering that it is a percentage, it must be even worse on larger windows.

[Sessie]

I actually really like it; the design is aesthetically pleasing and quite functional.

My only complaint, to echo those above me, is the horizontal grey bar. I agree that those links would normally appear at the bottom of the page (perhaps centered, smaller font, just above or below "Site Designed by Wx3?")
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[Beartalon]

The space between the left and right icons/link is necessary for people who view a browser in a non-maximized window. That space contracts when you narrow the window and you don't lose any horizontal page content unless you make it stupidly narrow.

However, if as Amb suggests we make the GL and PADIA icons on the right smaller, we can make Nerdware an icon again, and ditch Legal, Privacy Policy and Contact Us down to the bottom of the page and lose that horizontal grey bar entirely and regain that space.

(too bad we can't change About to an E word. Then with Nerdware we could spell "pi and e", but that's only good for math geeks)

[Lepton]

I'm glad to see the Nerdware and Links icons gone; neither seemed very important from my point of view. I doubt that anyone uses the cafepress store, especially, so there's hardly any need to keep that link even as a text in the grey bar.

I don't think that we need to keep the Interact icon, either; does anyone go to GL Central anymore? In any case, it's very much a forums-oriented thing as opposed to a GL site-oriented thing.

The "Bend Your Mind" image is rendering poorly in IE6 with lots of white where there ought to be black.

I like the change and I am glad to see that Kevin has decided to go with google ads rather than pay for the server costs himself.

[MatthewV]

I happen to own two GL sweatshirts. I only bought one of them, so I guess some people (my mom) have used Nerdware.