Eileen's Portal

[LoungeAdmin]

Eileen's Lounge Portal

After much work and testing by the admins we are now ready to launch our latest feature, Eileen's Lounge Portal. As you can see near the top of the window, there's a Portal link (location of this link may vary depending on your skin). The portal gives you a top level view of the lounge.

If you use a bookmark to access the lounge then make sure it's either
http://www.eileenslounge.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
or
http://www.eileenslounge.com/portal.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and you will go directly to the portal. If you want the old front page then use
http://www.eileenslounge.com/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.


Note: If you change your style (skin) using the portal drop-down box, then this will only work while you follow links. If you use a bookmark or type an address into your browser then you will revert to your normal style.

This will be the last major modification for a while. We are going to let the lounge 'breathe' and work on small bugs that may come up.

[Bigaldoc]

Wow! Absolutely mind blowing! Everything you EVER wanted to know about The Lounge right there in one place!

Congratulations Mike and Admin Team!

[Samantha]

"Wow!" is right. And good timing, too, since it looks like Mike has plenty of other chores to keep him busy for the next few days.

[Rebel]

Excellent! Thanks Mike and the rest of the Admins.

[Wendell]

Well done for sure! It makes a nice statement about the place.

[geedeearr]

WOW....nice work!
I like it, I like it, I like it!

[Doc Watson]

Excellent !!! Nice work guys and thanks !!!

[BobL]

Very Nice portal - you guys rock!!!

[viking33]

Eileen's Lounge Portal

.

Piece of work, nice going!

[steveh]

Eileen's Lounge Portal.

Thanks

It just keeps getting better

[Hey Jude]

I can honestly declare that this site has the most fantabulous administrators who have definitely hit their mark Looking at all Eileen's Portal has to offer, I feel like I've entered an interactive level of Eileen's Wonderland complete with magical surprises, intrigue with a beautiful clock thrown in for good measure. Upon my arrival, I was already experiencing sensory overload with all the neat effects. I've been to no other site which encapsulates the riveting attention that this site does. Words escape me for being able to adequately express my shock and awe with the intellect who have orchestrated this for the delight of its members, friends, and casual users. In the words of the famous Mr. Grace of Grace Brothers , (Are You Being Served?)

YOU'VE ALL DONE VERY WELL

January 24, 2010 was my lucky day!~!~

[BobArch2]

The Lounge is certainly getting better each day.

Great work folks. Time now for you to pause and enjoy the efforts!!!

[ChrisGreaves]

Eileen's Lounge Portal

Looks great. Thanks.

[Hey Jude]

The Lounge is certainly getting better each day.

Great work folks. Time now for you to pause and enjoy the efforts!!!

I 2nd that sentiment. It is very enjoyable now especially with the chocciebars and fine spirits hehe.

[Skitterbug]

It's been a bit since I've logged in and I am blown away by the change! Amazing and well done! I love this lounge! for providing such a unique place for us to gather together!

[GeoffW]

The portal is a huge improvement. Congratulations to all concerned.

I have a few minor concerns/suggestions.

1. The clock. It doesn't work if you don't have flash; it's unnecessary if you do. Non-flash devices (like iPhone) are becoming a little more common. But even with flash, I don't really need my computer time displayed. I have it on my status bar if I want it.

2. Board style change. I tried a "temporary" change but it didn't change back, after some browsing, unitil I changed the "temporary" setting.

3. Do we need two sections "recent announcements" and "latest global announcements"? There is an overlap there, and a potential for saving scren real estate.

4. The "recent popular topics" and "recent topics" would be more useful if there was the option to transfer to the most recent unread post in that forum. Otherwise, it's nothing more than decoration- for interest only. Like an icon on the LHS of each topic, the same way as when a topic is displayed within a forum.

5. The "User Menu", on the right hand side, is really useful. Logging into the forum, I'd prefer to see "user menu" on the LHS, perhaps above the board style. Putting it over on the right loses some usefulness IMO.

6. Stats could be on the bottom. They're not a big deal.

So there's effectively 5 "columns" ATM. I think only three are needed.

I do view the lounge from both mobile devices and PC. I am influenced by accessing from a mobile device- but I do think that there can be a usability improvement accessing from a PC as well.

Just a few thoughts- hoping that they contribute to an even more useful and friendly lounge.

[HansV]

Hi Geoff, thanks for your comments.

1. The clock isn't really necessary but at least one Lounger likes it, see higher up in this thread.
2. Did you close the browser entirely and still retain the style you set in the Portal?
3. We'll look into this, but it'll probably require advanced tweaking.
4. The 'recent topics' list still seems useful to me because it shows which topics have had activity recently.
5. Why is the user menu less useful on the right hand side?
6. The stats have a vertical layout, I don't think they would look good at the bottom.

[GeoffW]

Hi Geoff, thanks for your comments.

1. The clock isn't really necessary but at least one Lounger likes it, see higher up in this thread.
2. Did you close the browser entirely and still retain the style you set in the Portal?
3. We'll look into this, but it'll probably require advanced tweaking.
4. The 'recent topics' list still seems useful to me because it shows which topics have had activity recently.
5. Why is the user menu less useful on the right hand side?
6. The stats have a vertical layout, I don't think they would look good at the bottom.

OK, I just thought there were a few tweaks which could add a little more to the usefulness of the Portal.

1. If people like the clock, that's cool. But it's not something I log into the Lounge to find. It would be better off to the side a bit.

2. I'm not sure what temporary means. I thought it was for one or two screens, but there is no clear definition. A brief explanation miught be in order.

3. OK

4. "Recent topics" is extremely useful. It would be 99% more useful if I could jump to the last unread post in that thread.

5. User menu on the RHS is less useful because people scan from top to bottom, left to right. One needs to have the most commonly accessed information on the top LHS.

More important on a mobile device- but still very important on any desk computer.

I've attached my own view of something which may be a little more useful. Just an idea which may make the best MS forum around just that little bit better,

[HansV]

#2: When you select a skin in the portal, it'll remain effective until you select another one, or until you close the browser tab/window.

#3: We'll probably remove the Recent Announcements list from the Recent section.

#4: Providing links to the first unread posts in the Recent section is not feasible - Mike looked into it, and the Portal software simply doesn't do this.

#5: I tend to scan across then down rather than down then across, but that is no doubt very personal. This means it's impossible to please everyone.

[StuartR]

#2: When you select a skin in the portal, it'll remain effective until you select another one, or until you close the browser tab/window...

What the temporary skin change does is to add a parameter to all of the links on the page, which selects the numerical style when you follow the links. Each link on the new page also has this parameter applied. If you visit the lounge using any other URL (such as a bookmark or a manually typed URL) then you will revert to the style in your profile.