A new look for DG!

Change is difficult, we know, but we really think that as soon as we get the tweaks that are needed (search, journals and extras) that folks will like it.

How do I get HOME, COMMUNITIES, GARDEN SHOWCASE and PRODUCTS & SOURCES to be horizontal across the bottom of the banner instead of vertically about 2/3 of the way across? It interferes with my "Skip to New" function.

Thanks.

Texasbelle, you need to clear your cache. Tell me what browser you're using if you don't know how to do this and I'll be happy to help.

Remember when we could only post one photo at a time? Now I'm the only one here who has never posted more than one picture. I'm with trackinsand. Change doesn't always make me happy instantly, but I can get used to anything. And you'll have to drag me out by the hair.

If nothing changed, we would not have the internet to complain about....it may take a bit to work out the kinks for everyone, but a little adversity does not outweigh the benefits of the site.....and Patience is still a virtue.

Right now, the white thread is shown on a background of black or grey, as if it were on a piece of paper laid in front of the dark screen, but upthread it is still a white background on a white screen.

The change isn't what's bothering me, it's that I can't get into my journal and I use it on a regular basis. Sounds like the trade lists have the same problem. Really hope they can get this fixed soon.
This is frustrating.

Yesterday while needing an address and not finding the Extras tab, I decided to Google 'Dave's Garden Extras'. The following link appeared and it does utilize the new look. This shortcut may help folks out in the interim.

http://davesgarden.com/extras.php


Edited to say you may want to bookmark it until it's put back into regular mapping.





This message was edited Jun 27, 2013 5:37 PM

That's great FOTV. Very helpful. Thank you.

Hi,
Is it possible that someone can address my issue? I'm able to function with it, but I've never had to scroll before and the only way I've been able to make the page look like Melody's screen shot, is to zoom my whole page smaller. That's not something I intend to do. I've always used 100% and like it that way.

I haven't been able to do a screen shot so I might just have to take a picture with my camera. Basically, the screen is just far enough to the right that, although I see the whole width of my "watched threads" (and also any posts I read), I don't see the whole banner or "Todays Articles" without scrolling.

It appears others are having this problem as well, but in varying degrees. I've never had to change browsers just to use DG. Does this new format no longer support older systems like XP?
Eventually we'll replace our computer, but for now, this is what we have and it seems to work fine on most web sites.

I guess, more than anything, I'm curious if this is a glitch the techs are working on or if this particular issue isn't considered a DG issue, but rather a browser issue.

This message was edited Jun 27, 2013 6:09 PM

Screenshots are easy to do, some people kind of make it too complex with, "control this and control that", (those are keyboard shortcuts and quite confusing for beginners).
It IS that button on the keyboard that says Pnt Scr Sys Rq (on mine anyway).

You hit that button one time on what you want a screenshot of, (I mean it captures everything, scrollbars, your issues, the clock etc.., your porno site tabs will be across the top..close them first..lol, EVERYTHING)! That puts it on the "clipboard" or copy.
Your basically doing a copy and paste.
Next, all you do is go to MS Paint or whatever image program you use, (I use Paint Shop Pro 7, also, if you have PhotoShop, then, shame on you, your well-to-do and also probably don't need to be told this, haha..just kidding!).

When you have MS Paint open or whatever image editing program, pic program, photo program.. (they're all the same, nothing fancy, every computer should or does have one, except possibly a custom built pc where they umm..gave you the bare minimum). Also, I'm not familiar with Macs but they should have one too, but not sure the name of it and the process of this stuff, tho it should be similar, they would definitely have everything you need tho. Then all you do is go to the "edit" button and "paste as new image" anyway, that's what Paint Shop Pro says, (mine). I see that Paint says Home > then, paste > and it has a drop down and just hit paste > again. Then to save it you name it whatever you want, when it says "save as type" you change that to jpg or jpeg, same thing, and give it a name of whatever (file name) and "save as" (or "save" the first time only) on your computer. You can also change the destination folder if you like, it doesn't have to be in some hard-to-get-to, hard-to-find-later, folder. That part is not to be under-stated, you have to learn to navigate on your computer to get to it to upload that pic, (not alot different than uploading a pic).
I did this screenshot in MS Paint, (it might just be called Paint) but I'm sure alot of people have it as it's a Microsoft program that comes with Windows everything. If you can't find Paint, just go to the start button or in earlier Windows just do a search in the search window for Paint and it will come up that way as well. This was the first time I've used Paint to do a screenshot, it really works very well and it's very easy.
Will


This message was edited Jun 27, 2013 7:49 PM

I agree a heads up would have been good and I am not thrilled that I can not get to my journal right now, but I am surprised at the people saying they are going to leave over this. I hope all the issues will get worked out soon.

nutsaboutnature, there are a couple ways you can manipulate the size of objects on your screen, which we suspect is affecting how it looks and whether things are getting cut off on the right-hand side.

Browser zoom tools are one way. Here's a quick rundown of how to adjust your zoom for various browsers: http://www.smartsheet.com/help/browser-zoom

If you have overridden your computer's monitor settings, you can consider setting those back to the default settings. Computers can detect your monitor's size and will try to give you the optimal settings based on that size, but some people prefer to customize those settings. If you can customize them, then you're probably tech-savvy enough to know how to un-customize them, but if not, it's pretty simple. For PCs, you generally go into your computer's system via the Control Panel and look for "Display" in the options, then choose "adjust resolution."

If those don't work, you may need to reset your browser back to its default settings. If you reach that point and need some links to sites to walk you through that, based on your browser, let us know.

nanny56, you can get to your journal, but searching it may be dodgy. The journals are found in the section we're in right now, which is communities. Look up at the dark bar of links and you'll see one for My Journal.

Terry, all thru this thread you have used, starting with your first post, you have used the word cache. What do you mean by it? I do not have that word anywhere in my files in my computer. If it helps, I am using Firefox.

You can get to your journal, but half of it is cut off. The half you need to make edits.

I guess we were just spoilt before. Back in the old days, when there were changes there would be volunteers to beta test. All the bugs would be worked out before the changes went live. That way the whole community didn't have to suffer through the bugs. Would be nice if they'd do it that way again.

It is much better on my older 19" monitor today. Was only able to test it now because I had a computer nerd cleaning junk out of that old computer all afternoon. (Works much better now).

Anyway, except for the grey font colour, I'm happy now.

BTW, is there a way to make a screen shot (key strokes?) for those of us using newer keyboard without that Print Scr/Sys Rq button? I'd love to know.

Guess you know, I am older and don't like big changes. Is the one I have at the top of this thread the new header? No, I don't like it. Don't know who was getting tired of what we had, but resent that you listened to them Terry.

I still have the overlay. I have figured out it is the same thing printed on top of the other. Any suggestions as to how to get rid of it?

Sorry Terry, if that is the new header, I am tired of it already. Every time I hit enter for anything that screen pops up.

Try clearing your History. That fixed the cut off stuff in the forums for me. Take it back at least a day, you may need more than that.
The later computers seem to use the History instead of cache.

Not perfect but reasonably workable.

A few suggestions:

1) Add a sticky thread to the top of this forum titled something like "How to resolve problems with the new DG design", that contains instructions on how to clear the cache in the most popular browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari). Note that only the cache needs to be cleared, not the history, cookies, or login/password data. Also describe how to adjust font size e.g. Ctrl +/- etc.

2) DG could have avoided most of the cache issues had they renamed the style-sheets (CSS files) for the new design, e.g. name the new version "dg-v2.css". That way the browser is forced to get the new version instead of reusing the old one. This is just basic common sense and I'm surprised your web team isn't aware of it.

3) Always give a heads-up to the user community that a redesign is coming, and preferably sign up a small group of beta-testers from the user community to help resolve any issues before it's rolled out to the public. I've seen this problem on other websites that drop redesigns unannounced... there are inevitably a lot of "I hate it, I'm leaving forever" responses, some due to legitimate problems that weren't resolved before the rollout, and others who feel they were ambushed by an arbitrary change.

On my laptop (circa 2012) the screen shot button is ins/prt sc. It is the topmost buttons above the numbers, towards the far right on the keyboard. In case that helps anyone.

Thanks Tom,
I couldn't find cache on my Windows 7, clearing History was the only thing I found to work with, it did work for me.
Or at least thing aren't chopped up any longer.

Still looking for the Search Bar, to me this is one of the most important features, sure hope it will pop up over the weekend.

Jnette, here is a link to a brief and fairly non-tech explanation of cache, history and cookies, and how/why to clear them routinely: http://earthnet.net/support/general/clear_cache.htm#.UcziZJxRCJQ

TomH3787, I will share your comments with the techs, but as the ls your third suggestion goes...well, we've tried that and in all honesty, changes - whether we beta test them with a user group or let QA group do most of the testing - are bound to involve a few hiccups. And as far as announcing it in advance, over the years, I've discovered that advance announcements usually work against us, and some will report perceived "problems" before we roll out anything. (Not to sound cynical, but a lot of people assume that ANY technical issue is our fault, and/or that we have changed something. It comes with the territory and is a phenomenon that has led me to conclude that unless the community is going to be permanently, negatively affected by a change, there are few good reasons to give advance notice. And this change - while permanent, is not a negative one: we are not taking away any features or benefits, or changing the cost of anything. The few things that aren't working quite right will be working properly soon and I do apologize for the inconvenience.

This message was edited Jun 27, 2013 8:26 PM

I think PCs still all have a print screen button of some sort. Macs are different, but Mac users generally are aware of those differences.

Terry,

I’m a few days old to DG. I was just starting to learn what’s on what row when this “new look for DG!” appears. Have I struck the wrong key, I wondered. Does this need to be here or does it need to be weeded out, I’m trying to decide. It’s hard to decide because I’m new to the garden.

I’m not a geek whiz to start with; I’m a gardener. Old is just fine with me, if it gets the job done. I’m not in any hurry, and I don’t crave bling or a new look. I like steady, reliable production.

I can’t find FAQ or Journal Search, for starters.

It took me a long time to spend that initial twenty bucks. If you keep playing musical programs, don’t expect another twenty.

I’m presently using Firefox. I read a blip on DG that said DG runs better on it. Is it the truth or just a jingle? Get your ducks in a row!

Terry, as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts I already tried changing the size of the screen and it does work as far as layout, but creates a whole other problem.

The problem is that it makes text and everything else smaller than I normally use which is not a solution I'm interested in. I am comfortable with my screen-size set at 100%, not 75 or 80%. I never had to scroll before at the normal 100% setting and I don't have to scroll on any other sites I use.

Thanks, anyway. I'm sure it's overwhelming trying to deal with all the problems. Apparently I'll be scrolling on DG from here on out. Not earth shattering, but certainly inconvenient.

Adam, welcome to DG. We don't play musical programs - this was the first site wide change/upgrade in about a decade :-). We add new stuff occasionally, but we don't tend to make a lot of changes otherwise.

nutsaboutnature, we will be looking at this issue with the techs, since it does seem to affect a few of our members.

How do you search for a thread or topic now? Am I missing it?

Terry,

Thank you for the response. You all are working hard, I feel. I will stick with you for at least a year.

I should have asked about the alignment of your ducks, rather than demanding that you align them, maybe.

My earlier post should have read “Forum Search” rather than “Journal Search”. We all make mistakes.

Take a break. I am.

All of my technical issues were resolved when I went to 'preferences' on the new pink tab at the very top right of the page, clicked on preferences and then on 'add settings' on the left side of the page and unchecked the ability to recieve adds. If you are a paid subscriber and are having technical issues particularly layout issues with to much grey or white space and font issues having to move the bottom bar from side to side to read,you may want to try that because that resolved all my technical issues once the adds were removed, with the exception of what Joy pointed out with the far right hand side of the Journals being cut off, you can now click on add delete in the journal now but far right of page is still cut off. All the other issues seem mostly to be cosmetic ones like maybe improving the banner or maybe a concession of giving us back the old banner, although that might be hard to do or to even make the banner darker as now when you move your mouse over the banner options that green crayon scribbling follows the arrow to each one, that had to have taken alot of programming and hard work but now how are you guys gonna darken the banner or make any cosmetic tweaks on it? I think maybe its not just the lightness of the banner but the white quilt stitching that makes it less appealing than the old DG banner? just my opinion,maybe bring the old banner back somehow or make the stitching dark green or solid line? that might appease some of us old people who like some familiarity, anyone else have any constructive thoughts.

I too cannot use my journal as I cannot access the edit/view/etc.. column!
This is my most used feature on DG... I'm not HAPPY!

KK.

well my journal was looking better you could atleast get to add/edit/delete with just a tiny fraction of the page cut off, but now its cutt off at the view section like a good 3 inches from the edge and i cant add anything to the journal till thats fixed, dont know how it went from almost resolved to much worse, hopefully this will be the first thing the tech team resolves as my journal and the ability to add pics to my entry's in it is one of the most important features I use here at DG.

new thread for us slow dial-uppers?

really miss the forum search

Many of us are used to facebook in recent times and this is making us search for the 'like' button when we read comments and responses above!! :) I'm sure I'm not alone in this habit!

Sorry, buy don't care much at all for the new look.

Way too artsy and delicate for a practical gardening site.
Has that commercialized idiot-proof stamped out feel that you see on almost all sites today.
Looks like DG simply choose some standard bland template.

DG now LOOKS THE SAME as all the other standard bland templates.

Sorry, but don't like it at all.

Terry or Melody, someone else asked this earlier. Is the problem with the page being too wide something that you are considering just our browser problems?

I'm glad that some peoples pages look great but for me - it's rather irritating to have to keep scrolling to read posts. There is very little point to me to make this new look if I can't read the posts. I have to reduce the view to 80% to get the whole post to show up. But I can't read the text.

Since I have tried this new look on two computers and three browsers and still I have a problem with the pages being too wide. I posted yesterday from work and no response, so is this just how it's going to be?

Thanks, Loretta