Beta Nav Bar Panel

[Admin]

The beta version of the Nav Bar Customizer is now available. Log into your account, click on Manage Sites & Rings, then click on Manage My Sites, then click on the "get" link under the 'NavCode' heading.

Please report any problems here. Suggestions for changes are also welcome. We do plan on changing the layout and rearranging the controls a bit, but this version will (hopefully) give you a good run at it and expose any bugs that we missed.   

[Killer]

Admin wrote:
The beta version of the Nav Bar Customizer is now available. Log into your account, click on Manage Sites & Rings, then click on Manage My Sites, then click on the "get" link under the 'NavCode' heading.

 

Shouldn't it be "Manage My Rings" instead since it is the ring that the code belongs to. If that is for users, should the ring master get to set up their default look ring code in case users just uses the default code.

[Admin]

Killer wrote:

Shouldn't it be "Manage My Rings" instead since it is the ring that the code belongs to. If that is for users, should the ring master get to set up their default look ring code in case users just uses the default code.

Technically it could be either way but we thought it made more sense to choose the code based on which site it would be put on, since you can have multiple navbars per site (because a site can exist in more than one ring). We'll probably add a link onto the Manage Rings pages at some point as well. We'll also develop some universal ring/site code, but that may be a ways off.

[Killer]

Admin wrote:

Technically it could be either way but we thought it made more sense to choose the code based on which site it would be put on, since you can have multiple navbars per site (because a site can exist in more than one ring).

 

I think it would be more sense for ring master to do the nav code because it is the ring code where the ring master wants to show. If I only own the ring and no sites I would have nothing to change.

[Admin]

Killer wrote:

I think it would be more sense for ring master to do the nav code because it is the ring code where the ring master wants to show. If I only own the ring and no sites I would have nothing to change.

I understand what you're saying, but it's really the site owner who needs to be able to select the colors so the navbar can match (or in some cases just be visible) on their page.

We can add a panel for the ringmaster to set the default look and feel, but (for example) if you create a black navbar and someone (a site owner) wants to put it on a page that also happens to be black, it'll just about disappear. The site owners really need some control over how the navbar appears on their pages, although I think having the ring owner be able to set the default look is a good idea. I'll add that to the list of things to implement.

[Killer]

Admin wrote:
The site owners really need some control over how the navbar appears on their pages, although I think having the ring owner be able to set the default look is a good idea. I'll add that to the list of things to implement.

Yes. That is my point. Site owner could adjust their own color scheme if they know how to do it. But for those who have no wish to adjust anything, I want them to use my default colors/style.

[bendall]

(qoute) Yes. That is my point. Site owner could adjust their own color scheme if they know how to do it. But for those who have no wish to adjust anything, I want them to use my default colors/style. (/quote)

I want my default colours/style as well: I welcome the nav bar panel to be on the RINGS panel,

  and the _graphic_ would be that I wish, and not the graphic from you - how soon we will have possabilty to store the Icons on your server?

The multi-rings site _Should_ be tellable from the graphics, not from the text! (Exactly webring1.0 style - except for the webring tendency to use the same graphics!)

Peter Bendall

[Admin]

Killer wrote

Yes. That is my point. Site owner could adjust their own color scheme if they know how to do it. But for those who have no wish to adjust anything, I want them to use my default colors/style.

We'll add some sort of default settings for the nav bar code as soon as time permits.We're pedalling as fast as we can. Please understand all this stuff takes a fair amount of time for us to design, code, and test.  

[Admin]

bendall wrote:
how soon we will have possabilty to store the Icons on your server?

This is in process but I don't have an ETA. I would guess a week or so, possibly less.


The multi-rings site _Should_ be tellable from the graphics, not from the text!

I don't know what you mean here, could you explain this a little more?


(Exactly webring1.0 style - except for the webring tendency to use the same graphics!)

?????????? Again, I'm not sure what you're saying there.


Note to all:  Please understand, webring.com has had *years* to build their system. We've had a couple of months so far. We think we've done pretty well and we're adding features and fleshing out the system, but this is going to be an incremental process and won't happen overnight. 

[Killer]

Admin wrote:
We'll add some sort of default settings for the nav bar code as soon as time permits.We're pedalling as fast as we can. Please understand all this stuff takes a fair amount of time for us to design, code, and test.   

Sorry if my post seems to press you to do it fast. I have no intention to do that. I understand all these are time consuming and you don't do this full time. I just want you to put the nav code request as more important.

[bendall]

admin said in the reply to Me,
[quote] (The multi-rings site _Should_ be tellable from the graphics, not from the text!)
    I don't know what you mean here, could you explain this a little more? [/quote]

The navpanel are similar in layout, especially if you are colourblind!
The way that navpanel are arranged, at random, with the tendency for Sites having many navpanels is for the visitor to navigate many sites first with the GRAPHIICs- not with the text.
(well, I do, and I am not color-tone-blind or colorblind! Just impaired sight.)

I applaud the way that you put a minimum in the navpanel (Previous Site : Random Site : Next Site : List Sites) but have you thought of "Skip" as well, if the site is temporily off line?

[quote] (Exactly webring1.0 style - except for the webring tendency to use the same graphics!) Again, I'm not sure what you're saying there. [/quote]

I have noticed Webring1.0 are going to graphics the same pattern - the webring logo!
I have got five, different, sites displaying the webring logo in the 15 or so sites that I maintain.

Well, you have got an advantage over webring - you listen !!!!

[Admin]

Okay....here's what we've done.

If you go into your Rings Management and click on "edit" for a ring, you'll see a shiny new button called "Set Default Colors" at the bottom of the page on the right side. This button will take you, the Ring Owner, to a panel where you can customize the default look and feel of your ring's Nav Bar. Once you're done, click the :Save Settings" button.

After you've done this, when a site owner goes to get the ring code for a site in your ring, they will be given a default Nav Bar with the colors you picked already filled in with the ring code ready to copy. If they want to they can click another new button titled "Customize Colors" and then select their own color scheme.

This should allow for the best of both worlds for both Ring Owners and Site Owners. This took two of us most of yesterday and today to do. We're bushed and our fingers are sore, so we're gonna take a day off to relax. Feel free to play with the new code. Keep in mind that the Navbar HTML isn't 100% final, we still have some minor tweaks to do, mainly so that the icon area background color can be set and one or two other minor things. But we're not gonna do 'em today.

[bendall]

I would prefer the Sites "customise navbar" ought to echo the Rings "customise  navbars"
They are (partially) not, especially the "site graphic / icon"!

But, you knew that, didn't you!!!

[Admin]

I would prefer the Sites "customise navbar" ought to echo the Rings "customise  navbars" They are (partially) not, especially the "site graphic / icon"!
But, you knew that, didn't you!!!

Lol, I didn't know that, but it's fixed now. Images will display now correctly in the Site Code view when one is selected in the default Ring Settings. Thanks for catching that.

[bendall]

There is two instances of "Icon / Logo / navbar graphics"
One, the graphic in the "Search" (large!)
Two, the navbar code to replace the"...spacer.gif" (50x50!)

You said
(quote) - This is very easy to fix; if you want to post your navbar code here I'll be glad to modify it for you so you can start using it. The control panel for customizing nav code is in production, but it'll be a little while in coming. (/quote)

I understand that I have two "codes" differing in size - one "original size" and one reduced to 50x50.
Do you want the codes individually, or the original size only?
How DO I post the codes in the Forum?

Peter Bendall