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The Icon Bar: News and features: Icon Bar and Acorn Arcade relaunch
 

Icon Bar and Acorn Arcade relaunch

Posted by The Icon Bar team on 17:36, 26/11/2006 | , , ,
 
Change is good. Welcome to Icon Bar 2.0.
 
We're expanding the site's remit significantly, bringing new areas of interest to existing, lapsed and ex-RISC OS users: alternative platforms, new technologies, and various other geek-related things, whilst still keeping tabs on what's happening in the RISC OS scene. We might reminisce about the good old days of dusty computing. We might do a sex wee thinking about the next Mac OS.
 
Don't get us wrong, we're not dismissing RISC OS completely. But we have realised that many other things interest us too - perhaps as a consequence of the sensibilities that Acorn instilled in us - and we want to share them with you.
 
We might even begin to enjoy computing again.

New features

Because of the broader subject matter it's become necessary to introduce better methods of exploring the site. One way of achieving this is the introduction of tagging. Each article is tagged with appropriate keywords - just click on that tag to see other relevant articles. If you're itching to complain about us deviating from our RISC OS remit, just shut up and bookmark the RISC OS tag. Happy now? Good.
 
We've also merged the front page news with the forums - historically the most popular part of the site. The comments on our news items and articles now benefit from all the features found in the forums - such as quoting, hyperlinks, smileys, and avatars. If you haven't already registered a username, why not sign up now and get involved?

Acorn Arcade

The Icon Bar has merged with its sister site, Acorn Arcade. The two sites now follow the same look and feel, and share all their news, features, comments and forums. If you have an Acorn Arcade username you'll be able to log in at The Icon Bar, and vice versa.

The Playpen writ large

Anyone who reads the forums will know that authors and readers alike share interests outside of RISC OS. One of the most popular threads of recent times is about the Nintendo DS, and it's not just because it uses two ARM processors. Even discussions about snatches of song lyrics make for better threads than RISC OS arguments.
 
We want to leave behind the obsessive-compulsive love-hate relationship with the RISC OS scene, and all the petty infighting and repetitive arguments that plague it.
 
Will you join us?
 

  Icon Bar and Acorn Arcade relaunch
  This is a long thread. Click here to view the threaded list.
 
Rob Kendrick Message #94276, posted by nunfetishist at 19:16, 26/11/2006
nunfetishist
Today's phish is trout a la creme.

Posts: 524 		Err, it took you most of the day to roll this out? Boggle. :)
  ^
 
Ian Cook Message #94277, posted by ilcook at 19:23, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94276
trainResident idiot
Posts: 1077
Err, it took you most of the day to roll this out? Boggle. :)
Well what do you expect. There's a :monkey: in the works.
  ^
 
Jeffrey Lee Message #94283, posted by Phlamethrower at 19:27, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94276
PhlamethrowerHot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff

Posts: 15100
Err, it took you most of the day to roll this out? Boggle. :)
That was just a marketing ploy.

It got your attention, didn't it?
  ^
 
Chris Williams Message #94284, posted by diodesign at 19:30, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94276
diodesign
The Opposition

Posts: 269 		:o
  ^
 
Michael Drake Message #94287, posted by tlsa at 19:38, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94276

Posts: 1097 		I like it. The new AcornArcade looks very cool too. :)

"We want to leave behind the obsessive-compulsive love-hate relationship with the RISC OS scene, and all the petty infighting and repetitive arguments that plague it." ... "Sites not even worthy of a functioning link - Drobe" :sniff:
  ^
 
Richard Goodwin Message #94288, posted by rich at 19:41, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94287
Rich
Dictator for life
Posts: 6828
A joke, of course. If we didn't like Drobe, we wouldn't have bothered ribbing them. And notice how we finally gave Chris access to avatars and stuff? :E
________
RichGCheers,
Rich.
  ^
 
Chris Williams Message #94290, posted by diodesign at 19:44, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94288
diodesign
The Opposition

Posts: 269 		The tagging system is quite cool, and I like the big picture plugs on the left hand side. :) Have you gone through every old article and tagged them?
  ^
 
James Shaw Message #94291, posted by Hertzsprung at 19:48, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94290
Hertzsprung
Ghost-like

Posts: 1746 		Nice work, people, the new look is much improved :)
  ^
 
Michael Drake Message #94293, posted by tlsa at 19:50, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94288

Posts: 1097
A joke, of course. If we didn't like Drobe, we wouldn't have bothered ribbing them. And notice how we finally gave Chris access to avatars and stuff? :E
OK, cool. Reminded me of UK:R's links.

A few ideas and comments:

Can you Add a TIB link to AA and an AA link to TIB somewhere near the top?

On AA, the "Got news?" bit and featured article on the left side bar are TIB related.

Can you add links to the hosted sites on one of the sidebars? Such as, for TIB:
http://compo.iconbar.com
http://photodesk.iconbar.com
http://ftpc.iconbar.com

and AA:
http://picodrive.acornarcade.com
http://starfighter.acornarcade.com
http://asylum.acornarcade.com

[Edited by tlsa at 00:35, 27/11/2006]
  ^
 
Richard Goodwin Message #94294, posted by rich at 19:58, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94293
Rich
Dictator for life
Posts: 6828
Subdomains are in the "Hosted sites" list...

But yeah, some more links are probably necessary. We'll probably still be fine-tuning for a while.
________
RichGCheers,
Rich.
  ^
 
Michael Drake Message #94295, posted by tlsa at 20:05, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94294

Posts: 1097 		I'm not getting links to the hosted sites anywhere. :o I've tried searching the front page for "hosted" and not found it.

On this page the ^ link images at the bottom right of each comment have broken image URLs.

[Edited by tlsa at 00:31, 27/11/2006]
  ^
 
Richard Goodwin Message #94304, posted by rich at 20:17, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94295
Rich
Dictator for life
Posts: 6828
"web hosting". My memory is getting terrible.

I noticed the "^" thing, and submitted a bug report, but everyone's easting pizza ATM :)
________
RichGCheers,
Rich.
  ^
 
Michael Drake Message #94306, posted by tlsa at 20:24, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94304

Posts: 1097 		Ah, right, OK thanks. I think having links on the sidebar to the subdomains relevant to TIB and AA would be good, though.
  ^
 
Richard Goodwin Message #94321, posted by rich at 21:03, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94290
Rich
Dictator for life
Posts: 6828
The tagging system is quite cool, and I like the big picture plugs on the left hand side. :) Have you gone through every old article and tagged them?
I think most articles have been auto-tagged, but some older ones probably need a bit of tarting up.

I quite like the fact that we can see all articles about The Vigay just by clicking the dropdown :) His Appreciation Society could be spruced up now... ;)
________
RichGCheers,
Rich.
  ^
 
Ian Cook Message #94334, posted by ilcook at 21:54, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94321
trainResident idiot
Posts: 1077
The tagging system is quite cool, and I like the big picture plugs on the left hand side. :) Have you gone through every old article and tagged them?
I think most articles have been auto-tagged, but some older ones probably need a bit of tarting up.

I quite like the fact that we can see all articles about The Vigay just by clicking the dropdown :) His Appreciation Society could be spruced up now... ;)
Speaking of |thevigay| where is he?
  ^
 
Jason Togneri Message #94339, posted by filecore at 22:05, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94334

Posts: 3868 		Ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly. No offence. I just don't like the new design. It came as quite a shock when I happily clicked on my bookmark and saw... this :(

Redesigned Acornarcade? I must pop over and take a look...

Edit: I took a look and AA is much nicer. I quite like it. Still think the new TIB is hideous though. Sorry.

[Edited by filecore at 22:06, 26/11/2006]
  ^
 
Michael Drake Message #94346, posted by tlsa at 23:03, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94304

Posts: 1097 		When logged into the forums at AA, the little icons for read/unread posts and the flag to indicate I've posted to a thread are the TIB coloured ones, which are far too bright for the dark AA background.
  ^
 
John Hoare Message #94354, posted by moss at 23:25, 26/11/2006, in reply to message #94339

Posts: 9348
Ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly. No offence. I just don't like the new design. It came as quite a shock when I happily clicked on my bookmark and saw... this :(

Redesigned Acornarcade? I must pop over and take a look...

Edit: I took a look and AA is much nicer. I quite like it. Still think the new TIB is hideous though. Sorry.
I have to say, I know I was involved in some ways with the relaunch - but I didn't do any of the designing or implementing. And I think it looks gorgeous.

Still, what I don't understand is how you can hate TIB but like AA, when all it is is a different colour scheme!

[Edited by moss at 23:25, 26/11/2006]
  ^
 
Jason Togneri Message #94374, posted by filecore at 06:58, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94354

Posts: 3868
Still, what I don't understand is how you can hate TIB but like AA, when all it is is a different colour scheme!
You obviously don't understand aesthetics then. AA works only because of the colour scheme - you don't notice it so much. On the main page of TIB is the worst - you see, the blue against white is much more obvious, and with a thick navigation bar down either side and along the top, it makes me feel like I've swapped my nice 19" monitor for a 15" thing and I'm back to 800x600. I liked the wide, uncluttered design of old TIB.

Where AA has the advantage is dark grey and black - it's not nearly a fraction as noticeable. Maybe I'm not explaining it so well and maybe it's just the aesthetic shock of having an unexpected redesign impose itself upon me, I don't know. But my first reaction was "erm... nope". Sorry guys :(
  ^
 
Simon Challands Message #94379, posted by SimonC at 10:04, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94374
Elite
Right on, Commander!

Posts: 398 		I don't like what it appears to be doing to the forums; the messages only fill about half the width of the window because of a little bit of stuff right up at the top of the page.
  ^
 
John Hoare Message #94380, posted by moss at 10:05, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94379

Posts: 9348
I don't like what it appears to be doing to the forums; the messages only fill about half the width of the window because of a little bit of stuff right up at the top of the page.
What browser are you using, Simon? It's fine here on Safari and Firefox.
  ^
 
Simon Challands Message #94381, posted by SimonC at 10:07, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94380
Elite
Right on, Commander!

Posts: 398 		Stuck with IE at work, it'll have to wait until I get home to try anything else. I was about to edit my post (until I saw it had been replied to already) to point out that that only seems to be happening to these article comment ones; the others are OK.
  ^
 
Michael Drake Message #94388, posted by tlsa at 10:34, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94380

Posts: 1097
I don't like what it appears to be doing to the forums; the messages only fill about half the width of the window because of a little bit of stuff right up at the top of the page.
What browser are you using, Simon? It's fine here on Safari and Firefox.
Fine in NetSurf too.
  ^
 
Phil Mellor Message #94396, posted by monkeyson2 at 10:48, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94381
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
Stuck with IE at work, it'll have to wait until I get home to try anything else. I was about to edit my post (until I saw it had been replied to already) to point out that that only seems to be happening to these article comment ones; the others are OK.
Yeah, I think IE isn't too hot at table widths if you specify the width of the whole table (100%) and an individual column (172px) :(

I fixed it in most places - I'll check this evening.

Edit: Just used IE to post that, and didn't see it happening. What version of IE are you using?

[Edited by monkeyson2 at 10:49, 27/11/2006]
  ^
 
Andrew Message #94397, posted by andrew at 10:49, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94388
HandbagHandbag Boi
Posts: 3439 		So all of the Acorn Arcade postings have been merged into a single forum or have you discarded many? That would be a shame.
  ^
 
John Hoare Message #94402, posted by moss at 11:00, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94397

Posts: 9348
So all of the Acorn Arcade postings have been merged into a single forum or have you discarded many? That would be a shame.
They're all merged into the single forum.
  ^
 
John Hoare Message #94407, posted by moss at 11:10, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94374

Posts: 9348
Still, what I don't understand is how you can hate TIB but like AA, when all it is is a different colour scheme!
You obviously don't understand aesthetics then.
OK, OK, no need to be like that!

I understand aesthetics perfectly well. I just happen to disagree with you on this one, that's all.
  ^
 
Simon Challands Message #94435, posted by SimonC at 13:38, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94396
Elite
Right on, Commander!

Posts: 398

Edit: Just used IE to post that, and didn't see it happening. What version of IE are you using?
Probably something ancient knowing this place - <checks> - 6.0. I've taken a screenshot that I can upload somewhere when I get home.
  ^
 
Jeffrey Lee Message #94444, posted by Phlamethrower at 14:46, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94402
PhlamethrowerHot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff

Posts: 15100
So all of the Acorn Arcade postings have been merged into a single forum or have you discarded many? That would be a shame.
They're all merged into the single forum.
If by "merged into the single forum" you mean "merged into the Games, Programming, Site comments and Staff only" forums, then yes :)
  ^
 
John Hoare Message #94446, posted by moss at 14:51, 27/11/2006, in reply to message #94444

Posts: 9348
So all of the Acorn Arcade postings have been merged into a single forum or have you discarded many? That would be a shame.
They're all merged into the single forum.
If by "merged into the single forum" you mean "merged into the Games, Programming, Site comments and Staff only" forums, then yes :)
Oh, I hadn't realised we were than competent :P
  ^
 
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The Icon Bar: News and features: Icon Bar and Acorn Arcade relaunch