thcfarmer.com needs a design review (ATTN: adult-illicit content)

[nexialys]

I was approved to post this submission, so do not say i did not tell you.

thc/marijuana production or owning is illegal in some places, but not at that site location (Amsterdam)... so please, do not focus on the illegality of the content...

Do not visit this site if you are against drugs or illicit discussions. Do not visit that site if you intend to report it as illegal, because it is not... do not visit it if you want to complaint about its content anyway, as you will be kicked out publically. These guys have received their content approval by the government of their own country, so you would have hard time proving your point.

I'd like you to review the look of the site, the functionalities of the menus and front page.

This site is made for high-speed internet connections (hi-speed for pot smokers, oh what a joke!) i know that the site is heavy on load at first, the owner wanted a real transparent header logo that was fluid and smoky... he have now.

most of the "modifications" i've made to the site are CSS3 compliant, and most of the new images are .png, so if you have an old browser, forget it, you will see white blocks everywhere!

What do you think of the front page (home) structure ?!... it's a vbAdvanced CMPS you know... ok, heavily modified, but cmps anyway... that's part of my job!


>> http://www.thcfarmer.com/

[Alfa1]

Very nice work Nexialys.

Home page:

There are two logo's. I'd loose the bottom one.

The notice colour seems out of place.

IMHO the tabbed content block, should be the same height as the seed auction and strain guide together. Now this causes the grow guide to start on a different height then the recent news and recent threads.

Registration page: The site menu shows links that are already displayed above. This disrupts the order of the site.

Forums:
the shark tank icon is out of place.

Coffeeshop reviews:
What software did you use for the coffeeshop reviews?

Straindb:
http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/strainsdb.php?action=view&eid=340
taste description goes way off to the left.

Did you code the calculator?

[nexialys]

thanks for the precise review Alfa1...

1- i do not see two logos on the homepage... do you have a screenshot so i can fix?

2- notice is supposed to be there, there are more elements for the members (with more info)

3- the tabbed content block is horrible... owner's choice...

4- side menu on registration noted...

5- shark tank is targeted to be out of place, don't ask me why.. lol

6- custom work, from hum,... ok

7- oh...

8- nope...

[Shelley_c]

As you know nexy (no, I'm not your friend) I just can't be bothered to spell your name. I'm primarly reviewing your site from a visual stance I couldn't care less about any modifications you have installed.

I'll start with the header, I like the character I think it's nicely drawn and conveys this small part of the header nicely. However, I'm not so keen on the text to the left... I would have personally made the text a little more prominent with vines/stems weaving in and out of the letters (not to many that it clutters the text).

On to the login box by the header. I like the curved area you have going on in the left side of the login panel so why not continue this and have it curved on the right? Stopping dead in it's tracks the stright edge looks a little incomplete and would look so much better with a curved edge on the right hand side.

Overall, I quite like the style (not keen on the alt1 & alt2 areas though I'm almost positive better suited colours could have been picked in this part. With regards to the collapse icons, everyone knows that the icons are there whether a member wants to expand the forum and/or collapse it the use of text is just too much overkill and makes the icon area look far to big more than it really needs to be.

Personally, I think a nice vibrant deep green would look visually more appealing for the tcats followed (possibly, not definetely) look nice with either a yellowish or black thead gradient or better still combine and intergrate the two areas giving off a seamless appearance so they look like they are one. In my head it looks visually great actually doing it could prove more difficult but defientely possible as i did it to one of my other styles.

Change the last post icons, afterall, it's the index page it's the first page visitors will visit and being a webmaster for nearon 20 years I would have expected a fully custom style with zero default vbulletin stock on one of your styles. Not to mention light green and other variations of green look hideous when vb default blue lies alongside it.

Another suggestion, If your going to use prefixes ensure that you refrain from colouring the text blue. Blue and green don't suit each other unless your either colour blind or plain blind.

I'm not to sure about the threadmarkers.... Red? maybe I'm just viewing the few threadmarkers in this area but they don't compliment the style nor the theme.

With regards to the button set, I'm not that keen on them ( my own personal preference) I would have went for a vibrant green with black highlights and possibly intergrate icons that would compliment the theme and a way to break the style out a little.

There you go, call it tough love nexy though I'm sure you'll benefit from some of the suggestions I put forth. perhaps not. It has potnetial which is one thing i will say.

[nexialys]

Thanks Shelley, your review worth every penny of sweat you have put on it.. :)

i'm sure the designer will be happy to hear about these, he is learning vBulletin structure.. ;)

i just coded from the .psd though, changed nothing to the real look of it... ;)

[Alfa1]

1. First logo has the man spraying the name of the site. The second logo is this: http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/thc_style/headline.jpg
2. notice looks good, expect the colour do not firt the rest of the page.
3. maybe shrink it?

[nexialys]

oh, that sub-logo... yeah, i hate it too.. lol will see with the owner for the notices...

[Spank]

I think you've done an amazing job. Did you code the portal yourself? If so I might have to hire you at some point in the future :D.

I think the notice is ok, it's supposed to be notices, hence the name. And to be noticed easier it has to be different.

Menus are good, nice and simple like they should be. I think it's be better with the home on the lower menu, so it's easier to see.

Terrific job Nexialys.

[iogames]

The site is Ok... but:

- They were so 'high' that registered ThcFarmer.com instead of TheFarmer.com?
- If they wasted all their money in pot, how they gonna pay you? :rolleyes:

p.s. :D Sorry I couldn't help it...

[nexialys]

yeah, like said in my first post, i recoded vbAdvanced cmps... structure and modules...

for Alfa1, thank for the review, like you can see it was changed... dropped the sub-logo, the owner was ok with your comment.. L::)

[Lynne]

- They were so 'high' that registered ThcFarmer.com instead of TheFarmer.com?

Hehe.

thc = Tetrahydrocannabinol = marijuana :D

thc farmer

Um, uh.... google told me that! ;)

[logicuk]

Amazing work nexialys i really love it :)

[sensimilla]

Outstanding! I wish to know some tips, for example how to change the notices color , you did it perfect!

[nexialys]

i can't give my tips, i would not have any more jobs.. lol

anyway, there are tutorials about most of the elements you can modify in the Articles tab on top of this page!

[DieselMinded]

One of the best laid out forums ive seen , Functionality and a Pleasurable Sight

Not sure how its legal to have that site but , its Very Nice ! Great Job

[Marco van Herwaarden]

The world is larger then only the USA. ;)

[alkatraz]

amazing job
looks very similar to an old marijuana forum http://overgrown.com/ which I guess has been shut down?

i even checked the waybackmachine and every cached copy of it has been removed
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://overgrown.com/

[Alfa1]

You mean Overgrow (http://www.overgrow.com) A name that will be familiar to many vb users. Overgrow (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member.php?u=1290)'s forum does not exist anymore. The design was different from THC farmer IMHO. THC farmers design is more modern. I like it better.

[KTBleeding]

Nexi,

You're hearing this from me of all people. One installment of vBadvanced that actually makes sense! Good job.

[Quarterbore]

I like your choice of classifieds :D

I do see some style issues in your classified area however that trouble me as I have see the classifieds instaled on hundreds of sites and never seen one look like this.

Note on many of the pages how your main page border turns grey or white as you get to the bottom? Also note you have white text in the white area to the left of your banner ads.

Page: http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/vbclassified.php

Also, you have the row of random ads showing (same page as above) and they use the "alt1" style but they don't look good with this style?

You also have a missing image on the following page:
http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/vbclassified.php?do=category&categoryid=1
(this is a path error in the AdminCP >> vbClassified >> Category manager)

If you would be interested in working together, I am interested in figuring out if these issues are a problem with my use of the style elements or if this style has elements that are just not compatble with my script and the style should be changed.

If it is my script, I really want to know and I will work with you at my site at http://www.vbclassified.com to address these best I can.

EDIT: The style issue also shows up on the

main page: http://www.thcfarmer.com/
Photo Page: http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/photoplog/index.php
Forums: http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/
Reviews: http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/coffeeshop.php?do=main

So, I think you need to reconsider that background image that starts green-grey and I assume teh white is just after the image file...

[nexialys]

Nexi,

You're hearing this from me of all people. One installment of vBadvanced that actually makes sense! Good job.

Coming from you KT, i accept the compliment with joy.. ;)

I decided to use vbAdvanced instead of a static page because we replicate some content from the homepage on the sidebar, and as there are permissions involved, i prefer having a cached engine to a handmade solution that would have take me twice the time to code.. :)

[Krumbz]

i like it.. but there are some images not yet changed
http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/images/gradients/gradient_panelsurround.gif

for instance.. but other then the small things you missed.. its great

[logicuk]

what other small things are missing Krumbz?

[VBUsers]

great forum and i love the design. Who made it?