When I clicked on the link to download Temple of the Gorgons 1.1 the MM forums logged me out and then took me to the download page. :-? Its a small bug but I thought it should be reported.

Yes Nick, thx for reporting it. So far, I thought I was the only one who encountered that bug.

Very funny is, that when choosing the new layout for the boards, the bug is gone ... ::)

If you shouldn't know how to change it, this is how you may do it.
1° Click on the User Panel tab.
2° Click on Profile.
3° Click on Options.
4° Enter your password.
5° At the question "Which template ..." choose: MMF.
6° Click on Change Profile.

I had that problem too !!

But, strangely, only when trying to download the TempleOfTheGorgons-update !! It simply didn't work.

However, I had no problems downloading the Catacombs update a minute earlier !!

Freddy wrote on 02.12.2007 at 14:16:10:

Yes Nick, thx for reporting it. So far, I thought I was the only one who encountered that bug. Very funny is, that when choosing the new layout for the boards, the bug is gone ... ::) If you shouldn't know how to change it, this is how you may do it. 1° Click on the User Panel tab. 2° Click on Profile. 3° Click on Options. 4° Enter your password. 5° At the question "Which template ..." choose: MMF. 6° Click on Change Profile.

Strangely, that didn't work for me, either !!   :o

After hittin' OPTIONS on the PROFILE page, a screen appeared stating "Safari couldn't connect to server" or something like that !!

What's happenin' ??

aquaMat wrote on 02.12.2007 at 19:19:24:

... After hittin' OPTIONS on the PROFILE page, a screen appeared stating "Safari couldn't connect to server" ...

Please check if this is a permanent problem or not. Because any server may be "out of reach" for a while.

Right, Freddy !!

I re-checked it just now....and it works fine again!

I also set my "Forum Options" on "YaBB 2.1 old style" and -zooom- it reverts back to the (much better) old and trusted look, PLUS all the functionality of YaBB 2.2.

Truly recommended !!

:) Good news that you have connection again with ActionSoft!

But of course, from my side, I need to recommend "MMF" and not "Old yabb 2.1 style". Because I did create it myself ... ;)

I assume you didn't like the choise of the colours? Or is there more wrong? Please tell me.

Basically, it's all those points I stated elsewhere, the most important of which are:

1. The colors are tiring
2. It looks "crowded". Handling is less "intuitive" than before...!
3. Some fonts are too small and the whole layout looks a bit "dated" (no offence) !

Of course I do not feel offended. Because, about the layout there are two complete seperate things.
1° The choise between the new yabb2.2-look and the old 2.1 one.
2° The changing of the colours for fonts, backgrounds and borders.

As admin I was only busy with point 2° and tried to give MMF some MM-colours: blue for the night and yellow for the moon (and the easy way to make yellow hints possible :)). My "major succes" was getting rid of that yabb-logo and replace it with a MM-pic. That needed to be done by changing a part of a text written in html. ::) Doesn't feel customer-friendly.

I assume that changing the tabs-row (Home to Logout) and e.g. the "dots" that say if there are new posts in a forum, must be changed in that text as well. It isn't possible to change that, like e.g. the background colour of the text area.

Anyway. I am not at all a specialist in this kind of things and am very glad that Joe is coming back to fix the layout of MMF in a much more serious way!

Is anyone against the bigger fonts or the return of the former look about having new posts? You only need to yell !

I like the fonts and the more readable text within the posts. Too big up to the right in the head.

I don't like the very dark-blue background or the nearly as dark-blue in the posts. i also have difficulties to see which field is selected as I have blue as selection colour!!

I do appreciate your work Freddy but it is a little too much. In my opinion the 2.2 look is fairly good with a few changes. Only one step larger font but darker font colour. That's it!

rose wrote on 05.12.2007 at 00:25:51:

... I don't like the very dark-blue background or the nearly as dark-blue in the posts.  ...

Thx for your reply, rose. I am still testing out a lot of things, so there may be major differences with the colours now and then. But :-? posts with very darkblue background?? All posts should have a pastel yellow background! Are you sure about that? Is it possible to post a screenshot?

rose wrote on 05.12.2007 at 00:25:51:

... I do appreciate your work Freddy but it is a little too much. In my opinion the 2.2 look is fairly good with a few changes. Only one step larger font but darker font colour. That's it!

You are absolutely right, rose. While not having any experience with this stuff, I got the feeling that the more I did, the worser it became.

So within a few minutes MMF will look again like the original 2.2 with the following changes:
1° of course no yabb-logo, but a MM-pic in the header;
2° font a little bigger and darker;
3° post-backgrounds always the same;
4° the former images at the left to announce new posts;
5° icon+text in the place of buttons.

It is easier on the eyes now!

And I hope that SandyBean doesn't need sunglasses any more! ;D

YEAH !!!   ;D

Thanks Freddy, it is wonderful, and much easier to read due to the softer colors and larger font.  Well Done!   ;)

Lots of hard work, and much learning and experimenting, and I for one am greatly appreciative.

Thanks,

Sandybean [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

Hi Freddy -
I think you've done a great job. The site has a much friendlier look. My concern to you, for a long while, is that MM, while a terrific non-violent game for kids (and adults), has a primarily grown-up following, and a site that was totally off-putting to any child that stopped by. Some of the member adults have, on occasion, also not been very patient with younger forum members. My grandson (now 8) has been playing MM since he was 5 - back in the "old" days. After some unkind exchanges between adults and kids, we just blocked MM for him. We recently 'unblocked' it, and he, hopefully, will participate at some point and be cheered for doing so and for loving MM. I still think some thought should be given to an area for kids - he has made some great mansions (for a little guy 5-8) that would not stand up to adult scrutiny but are pretty terrific for his age. It seems that the future growth of MM can only be with kids, and, considering the violent nature of most of the games out there, we should do everything we can to encourage kids to come here.

Hi Sheryl,

I cannot remember such incidents. Quite contrarily so: please remember that the two members most active on these boards, Wingy and Mikee, are both 13..... and apart from the odd little joke I feel we never did anything to make them feel un-welcome.

On the other hand, I doubt it would be helpful if we'd deliberately "simplified" our language and conversations only to accomodate one or two kids (below 10 years) that might happen to drop by.

But I'm sure we will welcome any very young kid amongst our midst (if he wants to talk about MM, that is !)

But tat's just my 2 cts worth.....

I do remember what sherryl199 is talking about. And for the same reasons someone like mayapapaya decided to stop activities on MMF in those days. I still hope she returns as well.

Concerning a kids area, I will discuss that with the other admins. Although not having children myself, I understand that there must be a big difference between kids from 8 and from 13 years old. Not to forget that he sherryl199's grandson was only 5, when starting MM!

To be continued.

Rules of posting by Vern:
http://www.actionsoft.com/forums/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1176498555
Just as an reminder.

Hi -
Yes I remember that - Vern & I emailed about it at the time. I do not think there should/needs to be a special kids area - just to remember that kids have a lot of gaming friends and are very computer savvy. There are also a lot of parents looking for safe and friendly games for their children. MM is the perfect game choice. (My grandchildren (6&8) spend a good deal of time at The Penguin Club - they navigate the areas better than I can. It's an interesting site if you have "young" friends). I guess because I love MM, I think we should be receptive to and encourage younger attempts to create and communicate, too. Back to the topic, I think the new look of the boards is much friendlier all the way around.