The Dink Network

Phase 3 of Generation 9 is now complete. Changes include:

* New design that everyone will hate. I love it, though.
* New welcome page at www.dinknetwork.com for users who aren't logged in.
* Account: Can choose a 'tag line' that appears by your username. Sort of an anti-signature.
* Account: Can choose which country you live in, which will put a little flag next to your name.
* Account: Can choose an 'accent' color (basically a border color).
* Account: Can enter an Xbox 360 gamertag.
* Profile: Fixed private message links.
* Profile: Fixed AIM/YIM mixup.
* Profile: Added screenshots.
* Profile: Added random forum post.
* Files: Simplified main files page.
* Forum: Various tweaks.

Any praise, suggestions, or complaints are welcome.

I freaked out when I couldn't access the site then almost died right now when it worked. I thought my beloved Dink Network had been bought by some company planning on using the site to sell the mods and also had gotten rid of the forums and such.

Well the front page certainly has alot less information...I now have to go to a new page to get news. However from the perspective of someone who has never played Dink Smallwood the front page looks very professional like that which you'd want to download a game from. The old front page looked like something for a niche community that new people would have problems fitting it at.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

If you are logged in, you'll see the latest news instead of the front page.

Wow it does that? Excellent!

It will take awhile to get used to the "bright" layout as well.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

Wow, I thought I just typed in the wrong address for a second there. I love it, it's an awesome design, might take a bit to get used to but it's worth it.

Funked!!

i wondered for a second-wtf had happened??? trhen i realised-it must be that dang lazy redink1 attempting to update the site

I think we all thought the same thing: What the...? But I think it's actually pretty cool. Though, it looks just like lots of other forums, now, save the layout, of course.

w00t! It looks so SWEEET!

Guh. Ugly flags. Use the FAMFAMFAM Flags, please? Pretty please?

My eyes, MY EYES!!

Really though, I like it. Feels different from the previous generations, the new post sticker is pretty unnoticeable but maybe that's something you'll get used to.

A bug- The poll/lurker box gets on the text field in IE.

It looks a lot more professional now, still I miss the old blue forum.

I love the way the forum is divided into tabs, though it's a bit of a shame that the newbie can't see which symbol corresponds to a certain forum.

The new filepage looks great, I love the fact that you can download Dink straightaway there. Still all the file categories are listed as a list, I would have liked it better if it had some sort of hierarchy. (DMODs having the file subcategory romp, quest, demo and so on...)

EDIT: I'll add this to the wish list too...

Whoa, not just flags, but SHADED flags!!1

I didn't really expect to see this. Quite nice.

i am kinda getting used to it know... after 2 visits

Wow.
I thought something was up when the site was down last night. Thought it was still having problems and had only half loaded when I saw it just now
Quite nice, but as has been mentioned it will take a bit of getting used to!

As for suggestions... the file categories seem very random just in order of which has most files, it might be better arranged for example romp, quest and epic next to each other.

Edit: plus the times are still off. I need to put GMT -3 to show GMT.
Edit2: and it would be nice to see what's happening to your avatar in the profile page

When you change your persona, location, or accent, the icon in the upper-right of the screen will update.

This layout is too bright, and too much like the other forums, like DinkDude95 already stated (several times I think).

It would be nice to be able to choose which layout (or generation as we call it) one wants.

Also, this new site doesn't have the "ambience" the old one had. Not Dinky enough.

Well, I don't care that you don't care that I don't like it. Still, I will try to break it.0‚50‚5
--Edit
Haha, I'm still able to duck with the font.

Too white, my eyes burn

I thought I'd press too many times my mouse and the computer would change the colours again. (My computer's bug!) Then I realised that it wasn't a bug!

Call me nitpicky, but the pink "new post" colour is really difficult to see on my below-par monitor. Could you darken it just a bit more?

IE? People still use IE? Please don't tell me you use IE by choice? Oh my gawd, that would hurt the computer section of my brain.

I use Flock

With this, random, post, thingy, we're probably gonna see lot of more thread necros (threcros?).

Dear Mr. Elitist, he may simply be using a browser different from his standard program to help work out the kinks in the new design, which is good practice.

So you use IE then? Trying to defend it, huh? Well, I call you a strawman, I push you over, therefore I win.

Which, Mr. Namecaller, is the web developer's responsibility. As such, I too use IE, but I despise that browser still, and if I have to ignore a group of users when developing web stuff, I ignore the IE users.

This looks pretty good. I was shocked when I first entered this site and noticed it was changed, hehe.

WHITE BACKGROUND?! Nooooooo!!

Don' like it

IE? People still use IE? Please don't tell me you use IE by choice? Oh my gawd, that would hurt the computer section of my brain.

Hah, I was expecting that response from you. I don't generally use IE although I have no particular dislike towards it either.

When typing in your username/password, the white text is nearly invisible on the yellow background that google toolbar puts in for autofill.

I'm not sure how popular google toolbar is, but maybe something darker like fuchsia would be better for the text up there.

Edit: Also, the Finnish flag doesn't show up too well with that white background.

Making web stuff that can't be used properly by the majority of web users seems a bit odd though.

i have google toolbar too and it has yellow input fields for certain boxes, but i have no problem with the colours

Color me surprised.

Normal users can of course just use IE, if they don't want all the extra usefulness and extensions.

I like it. It's all clean and shiny! It is a
bit bright...but then again it's almost 4am here
and I'm sitting in the dark with my nose to the
screen.

HEY! Where's my flag?!! *gasp* - ohh, nevermind...

it is ok once you get used to it

My school still uses one of the older versions of IE (even though I despise is either way). It's one of the old ones, without tabs, even.

Oh, and, by the way, Firefox is so ducking cool. It kicks butt.

Oooh, an updated look! Nice work, /me is gonna look around for all of the new features

Ahem. Better flags, please. Right now.

the layout isn't very good... the 'message' box i am writting in now is overlapped by the partners and poll. i can't see the writting on the far right

It's neat, I like the faded-out burning house... too bad you only get it once you reach the very bottom. The light gray shade is kinda blank to me - at least now that one's used to the old darker look. I would like the sword at the top to look more "real".. the blade's alright, but the guard is so 2D

I like having the polls visible in the forum. 'Cause I usually only check the forum.

I like the changes It looks...different.

when i reply, the poll overlaps the message box and i xan't see what i am typing

Nested view stops working once the posts get a certain distance across the screen (about a third of the way to the sidebar on my screen).

And thanks for fixing the new post colour - much easier to see now

Yay! The flags were implemented! Much better looking. I also thinks it fits better with the rest of the icons on the icon-row.

it burns my eyes!!1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111d13
rawr rawr rawr rawr rawr rawr
my head is gonna xplode!!

What happened to the new files/new reviews list on the side? Darn, now we have to wait for a news post to know about them

They're still here, just on the files page instead of the sidebar.

Woah. I go away for a week and when I return, everything has gone all cool and spangly.

Nice work.

I think that's done on purpose, though being able to still see who you're replying to would be a mighty useful feature.