Coming Soon: Site header redesign (UPDATED FIRST POST 7/1)

[Nights-Rune]

That looks horrible...

I love my bubbles! crying heart

[Rayvnn]

No. Please Gaia Gods No. I've hated floating footers since I first laid eyes on them and try my best to disable them on my websites. Please don't follow the Facebook/Myspace example.

[runkli]

Arrggh floating headers get annoying too quickly; besides, I've never really liked them much. So I vote "NO".

[Ellie Ink]

mmmmmm... no. not liking this.

[Astral Only]

I'm undecided. I like the idea of a floating footer, but I wanna keep my bubble too, and having them both would be redundant. Maybe we can compromise this biggrin
Maybe a floating header? I don't know whee

[gracewar7]

Thanks, everyone, for your valuable feedback. You've provided a lot of food for thought. The biggest concerns I seem to be hearing are:

1. You want to see your notifications, particularly PMs, up in the header as usual and not moving down to the footer.
   
2. You don't want a floating footer for a few reasons:
   
   • It is too Facebook-like and takes away from Gaia's identity.
     
   • You're worried about the lag.
     
   • You're concerned about the space it will take up at the bottom of the page and the fact that it follows you everywhere on the site.

After digesting this feedback and speaking to the various teams, here's what we will do before the first release: We will put PM notifications back in the bubble in the header.

In addition, we considered making changes to the footer based on your feedback. However, we realized that it's tough to evaluate something when you're not interacting with it and just looking at a mock (which someone pointed out is in pretty low resolution). We'd like to take a chance and release it, let it live and breathe a little bit. We'll be releasing it together with an official feedback thread with the announcement. Based on the feedback from the broader Gaia community, we will decide what to do next. There were great suggestions from you, including an option to turn it off or to hide/minimize it, etc. All of these will be considered - we'd simply like to gather more feedback post-launch when you've actually had a chance to try this.

I hope that goes a little way in alleviating some of your concerns. Thanks for all your thoughts.

-Gracewar

[starbolt22]

Yay, we get to keep our bubbles! Thank you so much for listening! And thank you for coming to a reasonable compromise!

[psychofirewitch]

Oh fantastic, guess I won't be able to sign onto Gaia when I'm working on other things anymore. Thanks, Gaia. Thanks a lot. /sarcasm

[CleoSombra]

Wait . . . so dozens (if not hundreds) of people posted in this thread saying they flat out did NOT like the footer for a majority of reasons, but you're still going ahead and putting it out?

Isn't that like saying:

"We're looking for your feedback, even though this is what we're already planning on doing."
"Eek! I don't like it! We don't like it!"
"Well, try and get used to it."

:/


People have already used this format on myspace/facebook and they already HAVE "tried it out." What do you think is going to make them like this footer anymore than they liked the one on myspace/facebook? They're not.

It makes the screen smaller. Our eyes automatically go up to the header. That's where we naturally look. Nobody had any complains about the current set up. There's already more than enough whitespace going on - it doesn't need to be made any more "minimalistic." We have to run our mouse all over the screen do do everything now. Click to look at the friendlist. Move mouse up to open up a game. Move mouse back down to click something else.

We *have* tried the footer before. We didn't like it there - we're not going to like it here.

[theHarechan]

gracewar7

UPDATE 6/22:

Thanks, everyone, for your valuable feedback. You've provided a lot of food for thought. The biggest concerns I seem to be hearing are:
1) You want to see your notifications, particularly PMs, up in the header as usual and not moving down to the footer.
2) You don't want a floating footer for a few reasons:
a) It is too Facebook-like and takes away from Gaia's identity.
b) You're worried about the lag.
c) You're concerned about the space it will take up at the bottom of the page and the fact that it follows you everywhere on the site.

After digesting this feedback and speaking to the various teams, here's what we will do before the first release: We will put PM notifications back in the bubble in the header.

In addition, we considered making changes to the footer based on your feedback. However, we realized that it's tough to evaluate something when you're not interacting with it and just looking at a mock (which someone pointed out is in pretty low resolution). We'd like to take a chance and release it, let it live and breathe a little bit. We'll be releasing it together with an official feedback thread with the announcement. Based on the feedback from the broader Gaia community, we will decide what to do next. There were great suggestions from you, including an option to turn it off or to hide/minimize it, etc. All of these will be considered - we'd simply like to gather more feedback post-launch when you've actually had a chance to try this.

I hope that goes a little way in alleviating some of your concerns. Thanks for all your thoughts.

-Gracewar

How clever and underhanded of you!

Now all the people in this thread, and the numerous users COMPLETELY UNAWARE of this on Gaia since you're too, excuse my language, chickenshit to release this information sitewide, that can't use Facebook because of their floating footer or choose not to because of the massive lag it causes - that they told you it causes in this "feedback" thread (and oh, I'm using that term loosely since it's now painfully obvious that Gaia HQ could care less about what their users think or like) - won't be able to give you any NEGATIVE feedback once it's released!

Wow. You guys really do care about your users, don't you?
And I think this thread can be summed up with the following dramatization:
~`~`~`~
Gaia HQ: "We're releasing a floating footer! What do you think?"

Users: "We don't want it because (I know floating footers cause lag on my computer/I hate the ones I've used in the past because everything is at the bottom/I like the thought bubbles/the current setup is just fine with me/I don't like the way it looks/[insert one of the numerous, valid reasons here]/etc). Could you post a poll? Why are you guys doing this?"

Gaia HQ: "Lalala! We can't hear you! That must mean you like the idea! We'll release it anyway and if you don't like it you can just get use to it! Lalalalala!"
~`~`~`~

You have just pounded the last nail in the coffin for My Love of Gaia. I'm off to bury it now. Gaia HQ can mourn the lost of my disposable income.

[Kill Hybrid]

gracewar7

Thanks, everyone, for your valuable feedback. You've provided a lot of food for thought. The biggest concerns I seem to be hearing are:

1. You want to see your notifications, particularly PMs, up in the header as usual and not moving down to the footer.
   
2. You don't want a floating footer for a few reasons:
   
   • It is too Facebook-like and takes away from Gaia's identity.
     
   • You're worried about the lag.
     
   • You're concerned about the space it will take up at the bottom of the page and the fact that it follows you everywhere on the site.

After digesting this feedback and speaking to the various teams, here's what we will do before the first release: We will put PM notifications back in the bubble in the header.

In addition, we considered making changes to the footer based on your feedback. However, we realized that it's tough to evaluate something when you're not interacting with it and just looking at a mock (which someone pointed out is in pretty low resolution). We'd like to take a chance and release it, let it live and breathe a little bit. We'll be releasing it together with an official feedback thread with the announcement. Based on the feedback from the broader Gaia community, we will decide what to do next. There were great suggestions from you, including an option to turn it off or to hide/minimize it, etc. All of these will be considered - we'd simply like to gather more feedback post-launch when you've actually had a chance to try this.

I hope that goes a little way in alleviating some of your concerns. Thanks for all your thoughts.

-Gracewar

But I've already tried a floating footer out on other sites, so I think my evaluation is pretty accurate when I say I don't want it. That is, unless yours will turn into a megazord or something, then I guess you got me.

Alright, go ahead and release it, watch Site Feedback blow up (I love that, actually) when the broader community unites in one big "DO NOT WANT" stance on it and then release an option to turn it off as a "compromise."

[Lazarus Larkin]

Well, I'm glad you're giving us the bubbles. I really hope you make an Off function ASAP, though, since I'm sure I won't want the stupid thing on. (I still think it's a waste of time that you're even bothering to work on it, honestly.)

[Penn Almasy]

Hey Devs, can we have the option to have a footer in place of those bubbles or not?

Because everyone complained about the reverse when this was first announced. neutral

[Lazarus Larkin]

Penn Almasy

Hey Devs, can we have the option to have a footer in place of those bubbles or not?

Because everyone complained about the reverse when this was first announced. neutral

They did? I must have been on vacation that week or something.

[panoptes]

Penn Almasy

Hey Devs, can we have the option to have a footer in place of those bubbles or not?

I personally am open to that kind of compromise.

I've always wanted there to more options to the gaia experience; colour schemes, headers, footers, whatever.

Options means that there will be a maximum amount of usability for this site, which opens it up for more users.