NAS Forum - Brand update and maintenance.

Brand update and maintenance, 26 September - more details

..."more Details" links to information saying:

Brand and site maintenance - 26 September 2018
Owing to planned maintenance, this site will be unavailable overnight on 26 September, including the early hours of 27 September. We are doing two pieces of work:

Refreshing the design to reflect the National Autistic Society's new brand.
Updating the software to a new version. The main benefit to this should be improvements to the listing of messages in threads, and the flagging of new messages. We want to implement this in order to help with problems that users have reported

...The words "new brand" link to a (small) Page, here:
www.autism.org.uk/.../2018-09-13-changing.aspx

... いま, From myself: I begin this Thread because that is one of the things which I myself used to be most useful for, upon this Forum... But Now things are different and so I Post less (!). Also, However, not everyone notices the Main NAS message, and, also, WebPM says that "As ever, your feedback after the update is welcome." upon the following Thread:

community.autism.org.uk/.../82297

...Lastly from me, this next Link is actually the latest Thread for Posting "Strange" Things... but not many people remembered it...

community.autism.org.uk/.../

...That Thread contains many Links to other Threads which are for specific problems (Older Errors, Notifications, Ideas, Spam, Copybots, etc.).

In closing: All in all, Thanks NAS - especially Mr.WebPM. And Good Luck to all.

  • Yes, it's not about zoom, it's about a mobile version and an app would be even better. Making something that already doesn't fit on your screen bigger just makes it fit worse? I have to zoom it in order to be able to use buttons and menus but zooming in and out all the time is annoying.

  • I cannot access my profile settings and other things.

    The top of the website is missing.

    I cannot even log out. I can only simply close the window. There is no log out option anymore.

  • Brilliant, thanks - will do that! Couldn't the devs just tweak their css though?

  • Should it be down to the user to have a specific browser and plug-in?

    I think the same and have the same question.

  • Have you tried any of the suggestions on our accessibility page? For example, with Midnight Lizard in Chrome, I can have any of about 15 alternative colour schemes at the press of a (couple of) buttons.

    I do not use Chrome at all.

    I use Windows Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.

  • If you wanted to use the most common UI for users, then why isn't the site built with bootstrap?

    From what I can see from users comments, you only need light & dark themes. And you don't need to be logged in to switch - that's what cookies are for.

    I've worked on government and city council websites and can tell you the colour schemes are nothing to do with anything other than being locked into long contracts with a company that charges £10k just to make minor text changes to the site, and are working to an antique framework that they have no idea how to change. 

    As for the colours, they are dictated by the councils own branding scheme.

    You appear to be over-thinking this, Go with the website stats (I have a website that shows more users visit by PC than mobile devices bucking the trend), and work to the audience. 

  • Hi Candlewax

    I think it depends how you look at it. If you see one site in isolation, then yes, that site needs to provide tools. However, Jakob's Law (from the usability guru Jakob Nielsen) suggests not doing that, but recognising that users want to use the same approaches on the various sites that they visit - mostly, probably, ones that have nothing to do with autism or this organisation. So, the effort is best spent on supporting as best we can those standard methods.

    Anything we did along the lines that you suggested would still probably not suit everyone (because we can see the varying needs here in terms of colours and design), we couldn't match the 15 colour choices above (and more if you design custom ones), and anyway it wouldn't be any help anywhere else.

    That, probably, is why other sites don't offer colour choices in profiles - and that would not work even on the charity's main site, simply because most users are not signed in and therefore don't have profiles. It's also why government sites appear also to be relying on the kinds of approach that I have described, in spite of their greater resources.

    I do appreciate that there are differing views here. I hope it's helpful for me to set out the alternative.

    Regards

  • Should it be down to the user to have a specific browser and plug-in? It's not difficult to create different stylesheets that the user can select from their profile or dropdown in the menu. They aren't likely to be complete stylesheets - just the colour schemes.

    It's not even difficult for the users to have the ability to choose their own colours/fonts on their profile screen and have them applied across the site (granted, it's not something other sites do - but it's still an easy task)

  • Have you tried any of the suggestions on our accessibility page? For example, with Midnight Lizard in Chrome, I can have any of about 15 alternative colour schemes at the press of a (couple of) buttons. On my tablet, I can go monochrome similarly. Feedback would be welcome.

    https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/about-us/website/accessibility.aspx

    Regards

  • I would love a dark theme.

    I do not like the white background.

  • Slow loading and buttons so small I keep hitting the wrong one, bubble telling me I'm disconnected, random crashes, painful colour scheme, doesn't pick up my dark theme. My cache clears automatically on closing firefox but still slow. Seriiusly hard to use on mobile. Buttons so small I keep reporting myself as abusive when I try to touch the 'edit' button. Think the software might need replacing with proper multi-device interfaces? It really needs updating?

    But obvs thanks for providing it at all and I do understand resource constraints.

  • Missing your presence DC, yes noticed the name change, 

    I do hope you are ok.

    and thank you for starting and keeping certain threads updated and brought back to the front so to speak.

     Yes still a clash  of certain colours, well clash? More like a match as certain colours white on white aren’t useful, or indeed practical. 

    Rambling now as very tired, just had to say Hi and take care please.

    x()x :) 

  • Greetings, all - for a time I am here (...) and, yes, I have slightly changed my UserName. (New Thread, anyone curious.)

    ...But this is on this Thread to Mr WebPM... Good Work (whatever you did)!... But THIS trouble - "Style Clashes" - in your own words, still exists? I use your own page as example, since it uses a lot of White anyway...

    ...As said before, here, the Buttons (activities, friends, etc.) are still there, but they are still not visible...They are STILL White Writing upon White!

    (P.S. - Still at Mr.Webster... Sorry, I know that I do not post so often anymore, it is not my own fault. Also - I bet you miss them, certain people who knew how to CODE HTML as well, hmmm (Cass, DongF...)...?  I miss them too, but that is also not my fault. I only know the Theory, and my devices are *still* "old", but I still love them... right back to my Commodore64!) Hope you understand!

     :-D

  • Hi

    Sorry, I hadn't thought about that as being a potential source of confusion. We're using a standard module that you may also see on other sites. The word that is showing tells you your current setting so, if you can see "On", that setting is on (and the same for "Off", obviously). You hopefuly don't need me to tell you that we're definitely not trying to trick you; the idea was to make it clear!

    We'll extend the module to this community site soon. We wanted to get it right on the main (WWW) site first. The extension won't have a massive impact if you're visiting the main site often (and you do that every time you sign in), because this community site doesn't use any additional cookies except some essential ones. The setting that you make will apply to both sites (and at least one other of our sites as well).

    You can check on cookies set here: https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/about-us/website/cookies/details.aspx

    Hope this helps to clarify things.

    By the way, the work yesterday included some background restructuring of databases to help us to improve performance, which has been a theme in this and related threads. I can't promise a great improvement yet, but we are working on it.

  • "14 January 2019: Essential maintenance. We regret that sign-ins will be unavailable for most of the working day on Monday, owing to planned work on the system."

    (...I have chance to Post just now, now...)

    ...Greetings all; I am on mostly at nights, not during the day, and so I am asking - Did this actually happen? Any improvements or anything?

    The only one I see so far is the "COOKIE" Message. If WebPM answers this post, please say how these buttons work. The buttons shift from Yes to No, and the buttons either SHOW Yes or No, and I am asking how this works: Is it where the button is shifted to, or what the Button SHOWS which applies?

    E.g. - Personalisation : YES / NO

    The button covers up the word YES  and shows the word NO.

    Does this mean Yes or No is selected?

    ...Yes, this may seem like a stupid question... but there are countless sites out there which use things like this to trick people. I would Post pictures, but surely I need not do so?

    Thanks anyway, Mr.WebPM...

  • "14 January 2019: Essential maintenance. We regret that sign-ins will be unavailable for most of the working day on Monday, owing to planned work on the system."

    ...Greetings to All! Even if I can post nothing else tonight, then I post that - as often, in case persons AUTOMATICALLY logged-on did not see it. This is on the the Main Page, but only shows if not logged on...

    NAS - You see this, in future, put important stuff like that on Main pages Please, whether anyone is logged in or not - this has happened before - right up there at the start of this Thread. 

    (...I have to sign off, now, I knew it...Darn... Good Fortune, anyone anyway.)

  • hmmm...I now have no notifications again. Grrrr!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! please tell me what I am doing wrong. If I have "subscriptions" ticked I then get notifications on replies to threads I have not posted on. If I untick subscriptions I then don't seem to get any notifications at all.

    What I want is the lightning bolt thingy to light up IF AND ONLY IF THERE ARE REPLIES TO THREADS I HAVE POSTED ON. 

    Help!

  • Greetings, Miss Nasally-Enhanced...   :-)

    Myself (and WebPM) mention some things below (wayyy below) about this. In the meantime, also for anyone else, what you may try (or are already trying?) is the following:

    1 - Most Devices have a setting under "Accessibility" or for "Sight impaired"; check this to reverse colours, and the message may become visible. This differs for all machines, though.

    2 - Try Copying and Pasting everything upon the page -Top to bottom, and/or white on white - into  another Text-Management Program (A Notepad or Text/Word Editor). 

    ...I know that these might not work or are annoying, but, as below, WebPM says that they are 'working on the problem'. I also wrote below a Thanks for your Posting... and please - anyone! - feel free to Post stuff like that here - it is what this Thread is for... Y'know...

  • Miss Elephant-In-The-Room Posted something else, here. In the middle of this same Thread:   https://community.autism.org.uk/f/miscellaneous-and-chat/13381/nas-forum---brand-update-and-maintenance/86987#86987

    (This link is for anyone either not finding the message+picture, or just not bothering to scroll upwards..!)

    To Miss Elephant... WebPMs reply above covers this - but massive THANKS for Posting that. (I cannot recieve PMs and so would not have known about that.)

    To WebPM... all that as well... Good Luck.