Tabbed Categories

[MaryLouW]

I just found this neat little mod and installed it.  I like it!!  Not sure yet if my users will, they're not very receptive to changes.  I do have a question though.

How can I change the background and text to different colors?  The existing colors look very bland on my forum.

[NanoSector]

Hi MaryLouW, glad you like it!

What background and text do you mean?

[MaryLouW]

The background color of the tab and text on the tabs.  In addition to that, I would love rounded tabs so they fit the style of my forum.

[NanoSector]

Excuse my late reply, just saw your reply here.

in /Sources/BoardIndex.php, find:

Code Select Expand

$(".ui-widget-header").addClass("catbg").removeClass("ui-widget-header");

Replace:

Code Select Expand

$(".ui-widget-header").addClass("tc_tabs").removeClass("ui-widget-header");

Then at the end of your theme's index.css (usually themes/{themename}/css/index.css) add:

Code Select Expand


.tc_tabs
{
/* Custom CSS rules to apply colours, etc. */
}

You can use a tool like this:
http://www.colorpicker.com/
to pick some colours and post back which colour you want where, then I can write up some CSS rules for you.

[MaryLouW]

Thank you for the response!!  Unfortunately, my users voted it down.  Personally, I liked the tabs - made it quick to get from one place to the next but I got a negative reaction from my users.  Sadly, I had to revert back.   If you don't keep the users happy, you don't have a forum for very long.  Thank you again.

[NanoSector]

Oh, that's sorry to hear.
Thank you for trying, anyway!

[Steve]

Thank you for the response!!  Unfortunately, my users voted it down.  Personally, I liked the tabs - made it quick to get from one place to the next but I got a negative reaction from my users.  Sadly, I had to revert back.   If you don't keep the users happy, you don't have a forum for very long.  Thank you again.

Know what you mean. My group voted it down as well. It's too radical a change for an established board but for a new one, this would be great. In fact ... I'm mulling over starting a second board and if I do it will definitely have this.

[MaryLouW]

That's true, and I've had my forum since 1999 and still a lot of the old people. We're all on the senior side and it's really hard to get any of them to let me change anything!  They don't notice some of the subtle little things though.  When I upgraded from 1.8 to 2.8, it was virtually a new forum and there were lots of little complaints because we didn't have the things we had before.  I'm slowly getting them back.

Starting a totally new board with the tabs is the way to go.. it's different and very classy although I would want rounded corners on the tabs.  Good luck if you take that route.

[Kindred]

meh... my forum, my rules.

The users come to my sites because they like the content - they'll deal with whatever I choose to put in front of them for themes/displays...   LOL!

[Steve]

That's because you're a brat.

[Arantor]

Others would tell you firmly that this is *my* title.

On the one hand I see where the prevailing wind is coming from, on the other hand I sort of agree with Kindred.

Partly I think it depends mostly on how many boards/categories you have. If you have many, then yes, organisation makes a lot more sense. I could see this mod being useful on sm.org due to the many many boards there are here.

Don't forget though that 'resistance to change' is a very real thing. Users do not like change. Some users will go a very long way to avoiding change, even when the change will unquestionably benefit them, but the perceived cost of change outweighs the perceived benefits.

The way to deal with that in this case is likely to say 'we'll try it for a few weeks, see how it goes, and if it's a problem, we'll revert'.

[NanoSector]

Shameless note to self: Best case scenario the mod allows users to set their preference on what "mode" to use.

[Steve]

I'll agree with your first three points.

But in the 'small forum world' this will cause members to leave and it's nearly impossible to get them back and we small forum owners can't afford that.

Some users will go a very long way to avoiding change, even when the change will unquestionably benefit them, but the perceived cost of change outweighs the perceived benefits.

The way to deal with that in this case is likely to say 'we'll try it for a few weeks, see how it goes, and if it's a problem, we'll revert'.

And we should probably give Nano's thread back.

Shameless note to self: Best case scenario the mod allows users to set their preference on what "mode" to use.

Wait a second. Is that an option or one you're contemplating or neither?

[NanoSector]

Some users will go a very long way to avoiding change, even when the change will unquestionably benefit them, but the perceived cost of change outweighs the perceived benefits.

The way to deal with that in this case is likely to say 'we'll try it for a few weeks, see how it goes, and if it's a problem, we'll revert'.

And we should probably give Nano's thread back.

I really don't mind, it only helps me find feedback on what works and what doesn't.

Shameless note to self: Best case scenario the mod allows users to set their preference on what "mode" to use.

Wait a second. Is that an option or one you're contemplating or neither?

It's not in here, but it might. Or it might not.

[Steve]

Lol ... okay, works for me.

[MaryLouW]

Letting the user have a choice of Tabbed or not is a great idea!  I could go for that! 

When it comes to change, as I said, we are all in the older age group and many of my users have been members for the last 15 or so years.  Change doesn't come easy to we older folk.  Most of my users, including myself,  are well past retirement age and are more interested in creating graphics.  So,  if they're not happy with a given change, I go with the flow.  We lose enough users to the grim reaper as it is. 

I'm easy to get along with so when the majority doesn't like something, we don't do it.  However, I do like to keep my SMF up to date and I love trying new mods.  I know if I mess up, the good folks here will help me make it right again. 

Thanks to everyone for being here for those of us who need a helping hand here and there, you are appreciated!!

[NanoSector]

Thank you for your kind words Really appreciated!

[Jeff B]

What would it take to create a hybrid of this? Where you have tabs on top, yet you don't hide any of the other parts of the index, or change the existng headings?  Our members have balked at this, however they like the idea of jumping down to a certain category when they need to. Our board index page is quite long, and sometimes its hard to find what you are looking for when you really want it.

[MaryLouW]

What would it take to create a hybrid of this? Where you have tabs on top, yet you don't hide any of the other parts of the index, or change the existng headings?  Our members have balked at this, however they like the idea of jumping down to a certain category when they need to. Our board index page is quite long, and sometimes its hard to find what you are looking for when you really want it.

That sounds like a super idea!  I think my users would go for that... they can do as they always have or quickly go to where they want to go without having to scroll through a lengthy index page.   Would also be nice if users could turn it off if they don't want to see it.

[NanoSector]

Hmm now that's an idea... added to my to-do list
Though from the looks of it now I really do not have time to update this or any other mod. School eats up time like crazy.