A navigation tweak is coming!

I don't like it on the left either, it doesn't feel or look right.

I don't like it either.

If your programmers can't figure out a way to allow us to customize the screen, then they aren't worth what you are paying them. Like defoecat said, it is very doeable.

Soooo, basically we can complain all we want it's going to stay that way?

I would also like the option to change it.

I have noticed an added problem by placing the navigation box on the left.
Sometimes, opening a photo the text is cut off now. It seems to only affect some photos but you can't read the text and view the enlarged photo.

I don't like it either, I have the same problem, I have to scroll over to read the forums. This is so awkward, if you had the option to move it to the left side, PLEASE give is the option to keep it on the right side!
Thanks

Put it back on the right.
I personally don't appreciate having to hold my head, and my eyes, to the right, just to read the content I really care about.

It wasn't broken, and didn't need fixing.

*mutter* And you people claimed to "leave things they way they were" when you took over..

I usually don't complain and just "go with the flow" for these changes.

But this time, it is driving me crazy. That extra "white" is a big issue, as I already have a vision problem...and this just makes it much worse.
And it is such a difference the too much white all over the screen makes one want to put sunglasses on.

As others have said, it feels like starting to read "in the middle" of a page. I don't have the ads listed.....don't want them.

Sure hope there is an "easy fix" for this for everything.

Debbie

Terry, I agree, they do have navigation on the left, but they also have ads on the right side, so it evens out the page, What we read is centered, and not off to the right side completely!

I tend to be willing to give change a chance so I looked at what would be very helpful and thought of two things:

Make the bar about half the width it is now and

Continue the bar to the bottom of the screen so anytime you scroll down, there is no white space to the left of the reading screen.

I think that is what is very annoying to many of us and makes us feel like we goofed up something or the page didn't load correctly.

As far as I know this is a permanent change. Whether the navigation can become personally customizable (to see it or not) is possible at some point in the future.

This thread was to give everyone a heads-up that the change was coming so it wouldn't be a surprise to everyone, and give those who were willing an opportunity to test drive it themselves before it went site-wide.

AngelSong, let's be fair here. Internet Brands has kept their promise and has not made sweeping changes to the site. But like most everything else in life, websites are not frozen in time and we don't really want them to be - otherwise we'd still be stuck with what the internet looked like back in the mid-90s. Changes have always been part of DG...and each time there are people who like the change, people who are indifferent, and people who don't care for it.

Navigation is one of the most difficult aspects of website design - and it's highly subjective: what works well for one person may seem clumsy and counter-intuitive for someone else.

I don't appreciate having to read-right all the time.

You're basically saying "Shut up and enable the ads, or get used to leaning right everytime you visit our site."

I've never used the navigation box. In fact I was just thinking this a.m. that it seemed sort of redundant. Out of keeping with the really clean design of Dave's Garden. I recommend Dave's Garden to people thinking about making websites even if they have no interest in gardening. That navigation box is just a teensy weensy flaw. The only major flaw is searching. Inconsistent between environments, not always respectful of quotes, etc.

LAS

I don't understand, if it is working well to leave it on the home page, then why not leave it for the rest of the pages as well? Look how many are complaining. I don't see one positive comment here!

I view DG with an iPad. I use the iPad because disabilities make using the regular computer to difficult. It has not been an issue till now to read the forums. It is now to difficult to see the forums, shoved to the right with all the wasted space on the left... I find I am scrolling all around every time I change forum pages. Before this change, I did not need to do that. I did not care if it cut off the area on the right side I never looked at anyway.

If this change remains without an option, I won't be back after my subscription expires.

Terry, I know your trying to make the best of it, but this is one change I can't "get used to" with an "open mind" --- it just won't work for me.

This message was edited Jun 22, 2011 7:27 AM

Finding this all but impossible to read and focus with my vertigo issues....making feel nauseated. I can't find the Navigation section either on my preferences. Hate that I may have to give up DG.....

I wonder if we cold move ALL navigation to the left, as I have it on my home page. Then that whole column to the left would be filled and not off-balance. I agree it's an abrupt change, and yah, one that I'll get used to. But I think it can be further tweaked. Says the girl with just enough HTML and CSS experience to be dangerous.

Didn't know this change was in the air until I logged on just now. Thought something was wrong. Found this forum and lo and behold....it is on purpose.
Having been a paying member for some 6 years I find it a kick in the face that everything is oriented to the ads. Of course, I have them turned off. One of the things I have liked about DG from the beginning was not having to deal with commercials. Terry, Melody, I know you "just work here" and we are not complaining to you personally. Please pass it on how much the main audience dislikes this change. I am with whoever said above, remove it entirely or make it a drop-down menu. I have never, ever used it as I prefer to go back to my Home page when changing forums.

"just work here". And get paid to deal with our complaints, comments, and difficulties.

Forgive my lack of sympathy.

TaliaRose - read the remarks. NOBODY is happy, for various reasons. You didn't need to "fix" what wasn't "broken".

save this "improvement" for a late April Fools' Joke.

Hate the change!! Don't use it, want it back on the right side or not at all!!!!!!

I don't understand why this needs to turn into a "nasty" situation.
Seriously, they are trying and it is their job to "deal with us" but not their fault for the changes.

I am not happy about the change either, but there is no reason to be rude.

Don't shoot the messengers...they are trying to help.

I do have a serious question. If everything on the "navigation box" is readily available on the tabs, what is the purpose of the box? If there is something that needs to be presented, why can it not be another tab?

If this was done, to make Plant Files better, why not only make it visible on the Plant Files forum? I love the Plant Files and have contributed a lot of time to it. Maybe the change could only take place there to fix the issue mentioned with the ads. I don't think it needs to affect the whole site. The Plant Files is a free reference guide to whomever wants to use it and also generates revenue by those wishing to point out what they sell. Maybe you could even ad a tab for advertisers or shopping to the main tabs. I think a lot of us would look! We may not want ads glaring in our faces but you know we like to shop. :)

I think the biggest gripe is that the pages are now not centered, shoved to the right and appear to be cut off along with the huge white "nothing" on the left.

It sometimes feels like IB wants to make this a "cookie cutter" website that fits with a certain model. I realize it might make things easier to maintain and troubleshoot but this is not what the people here want. I know there is always room for improvement but this change doesn't seem to best fit the forums. Most of us are here for the forums, to read, learn and connect with others on certain topics. It doesn't seem best to mess up the majority of the site to fix one area of the site.

Let's also remember that the navigation is used on more than just the forums - you need the navigation if you are sending dmails (links to create a new message, go to your inbox, etc. are all in a navigation box.)

As far as the ads go, this change actually makes the ads LESS obtrusive for those who use one of our most popular features, PlantFiles. That increases the usability and attractiveness of the site to visitors, and hopefully moves them to become members, and for more of them to wish to become paid subscribers. And giving all the site pages a more uniform layout makes sense both for us as users (even though it requires an adjustment) and for them to maintain over the long haul.

This paid subscriber is not happy about the change either. I've been here since 2003 and my sub ends in a few days. This navigational change really messes up using my journal (which is no longer public) and my blog, as well as the forums.

I don't think having paid subscribers is very important to IB, so I won't be renewing this time. Somebody please come and get me if they unfix this mess.

In all the years I have been here, I have never had to use that navigation box and I managed to send d-mails and do many other things just fine.

I agree with Calif_Sue, I do not use the navigation box and have never had a problem with my d-mail.

That navigation box on the left is very annoying and serves no
purpose for me. It takes up a huge amount of real estate from the
threads, which is what I'm here to read and why I belong to DG.

Two thumbs down from me! ;-(

Hi all, we'll work on some website design changes to make this box optional, or make it a drop down menu, in the future. We'll also look into our personal homepages and making them look like other pages so the eye doesn't need to shift from page to page. We didn't want to address all of this at once, to give us all a chance to get used to things in new locations.

Our goal isn't to change DG, but rather to remove a lot of the variables in the page template, to make it easier for us to fix, update, and add features. That is what inspired this navigation switch.

If there are pages where you see a white space, or something is broken related to our navigation switch, please share the link here so that I can look into it and get it fixed.

Hi june_nmexico, we did not change the overall width of the column that the side navigation lives in... we just moved the unit from right to left. The width of the middle of the page did not change as well, it just shifted a bit to the right.

Right on! Everyone be patient, design changes take time.

can you just put it back on the right until things get sorted out?

TaliaRose - I know you didn't change the page width but now
I have this wide blank white space to the left of my threads as I
scroll down to read them. I find it distracting and a waste of
space. Just saying... ;-)

TaliaRose said,
"Hi all, we'll work on some website design changes to make this box optional, or make it a drop down menu, in the future. We'll also look into our personal homepages and making them look like other pages so the eye doesn't need to shift from page to page."

A big thank you from me. It looks to me like Admin still listens to the members/subscribers and does what it takes to keep as many of us happy as possible. Much obliged.

Happy Day, All...
Shoe

Yes, I see what you mean. Once we roll out our adjustments to that navigation unit (either making it a drop down, or moving the location of those helpful links to another location), that white space will be removed for easier reading!

>>that white space will be removed for easier reading

That would be a nice option. It just seems "off" to me... and where someone said "dizzying" or nauseous...
me too. just a weird sensation when i try to read.

Hi tcs1366, Yes we will need to address it.

can you just move the navigation up above the thread space?... so everything is over to the left??

onewish1, we probably will do something like that. We don't want to increase the top header space too much for you all though (more scrolling - argh!) but I think we can present the links for each page in a nicer fashion, either in a drop down menu as it's been suggested, or at the top of the page in a neat row.

Talia, I think there is a bug in this new tweak. I work a lot in PlantFiles now and, as an example, every time I move from one picture to another the navigation box spreads out over the whole page for a few seconds and then goes back to its original size. This is also very disconcerting as well as wastes my time waiting for the next screen. It didn't used to do this.

faeden, I *think* I saw that happening before we made this switch. It might be more noticeable now, I'll look into it, and see if it's loading slower to make that more apparent and distracting.