Theme Upgrade (Starship Time)

[falcon9]

Ok… the chat feature didn’t pan out… so we’re powering up the new Starship as it’s our ticket to a greater Gymnaverse!

The site is upgrading visually in order to bring a more modern look and feel to the site. Images / media will come to the front of the site with this upgrade.

Please understand that this is a purely cosmetic change and does not change the way that the site functions.

If you do not like the new look and feel of the site and you are feeling “lost in space”… not to worry. The old theme is still available. Just follow the directions below to change your theme (Gymnaverse OG is the classic theme).

Click on your icon in the upper right >> the profile head tab on the right >> preferences >> interface >> theme >> select the theme you would like >> scroll down and “save changes”

 

[irichluck21]

Yeah. Not a fan of this new feature.
I don’t like the posts on the front page…I prefer the previous version where it showed all the threads and I can decide what to read, rather than have to scroll through various posts from threads.

 

[falcon9]

Not a problem… just use the old one.

EDIT: @irichluck21 The content should be the same on either theme… it’s just formatted differently. Where are you seeing a page that has posts from threads?

 

[irichluck21]

Sorry, meant the format feed where it is like twitter showing who is posting and the content of the post.

I changed it back to the original format already! LOL

 

[makam]

On mobile, the OG lets you see more without scrolling so I’m a fan of that. But it is nice to try new options/updates to see what works.

 

[tempest]

no me gusta

 

[falcon9]

Yes… this theme requires more scrolling… so for members who are looking for less scrolling… the old theme is the way to go.

The new theme allows images on the site to be shown off better. Yes… it’s a more modern / social media vibe… however… once clicked into the thread it still functions like an old school forum (flat asynchronous discussion).

It should help the site look as more of a “gymnastics” site at first glance.

Please understand that the site is fundamentally the same no matter which theme you use.

 

[KristyJ]

I also switched back to the old theme, though it took me a few tries to find the interface option. I find the new theme somewhat difficult to navigate, unfortunately.

 

[MaryClare]

Aesthetically I like the new look but it’s less efficient and I’ve missed a few new posts

 

[Bob]

omg I hate this new layout. I want to see a list of topics with new replies like before. Scrolling through like this is super annoying and I can’t find what I’m looking for.

 

[Bob]

Ive managed to find the old layout fortunately.

 

[onodian]

I am surprisingly fine with this, me being such a hater, my only tip would be can we please move the welcome to the gymnaverse topic to the side or something? That’s a little annoying, for me to have to see a welcome every time even though I basically know all about y’all up to your social security number.

 

[falcon9]

my only tip would be can we please move the welcome to the gymnaverse topic to the side or something?

Ok… I see what you are saying. Pinned topics that are globally pinned can be individually unpinned by each user… which seems confusing… so I have unpinned that message. I am going to try to turn that welcome message into a PM for new members.

 

[falcon9]

Honestly everyone… I knew this would be a rough sell to you all… that’s why the old theme will always live on. This forum has great content / excellent conversation… however… it’s struggling to bring in new members. I understand that people like the way this forum is and the people that are here… however… 1 new registration every 30 days is not good. While it is not necessary to grow fast and gain tons of new members as that could change the dynamic of the site… gaining 1 new member per day (not per month) would be considered slow. Forums that are not growing… will eventually be declining.

This is a great site with great members. There are others out there that would love to be a part of this type of community. There are many that aren’t happy with modern social media and want more conversation. By looking a bit more like modern social media… but still functioning like a old school forum… the community can find those people.

Let’s get into the title… Starship Time. It was named that for a reason. Starship is SpaceX’s new rocket… it is believed it will help us get to Mars. For those of you that don’t follow SpaceX… here is the recent Starship launch…

Starship Flight Test

Starship gave us quite a show during today’s first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas. At 8:33 a.m. CT...

www.youtube.com

Starship explodes about 4 minutes after launch. The launch was still considered a success.

Again… I knew this would be a rough sell… but I do think it will help build the site and find new members that want to have intelligent gymnastics discussion.

 

[MaryClare]

Tbh…the biggest barrier to new members is that there aren’t enough topics. Too much content is hidden away in big long threads. It’s unnavigable to new users.

 

[Bob]

I agree we need more topics. More not US topics too. I know it is up to us to start topics.

 

[MaryClare]

A lot of it is far too technical. Post after post of detailed judging analysis is quite a niche interest, even amongst long term fans.

The All Around forum failed because it tried to be too high brow and it made for quite an intimidating environment, even though it was a generally respectful and drama free forum.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Maybe we should all make an effort to start new instead of adding to the existing ones. I’ll try and remember.

 

[JDB]

I think the social media megathread is good use of infinite scroll. The British WAG/MAG thread is not.

 

[Passion]

The social media megathread could probably be broken down by year at least. Like 2022 megathread, 2023 megathread, etc. The current megathread was started in 2021.

Not saying someone should have to sit there and try to divide all that up, but going forward maybe we could start a 2023 one and then in January switch to a 2024 one.

Or divide it by month?