Metal Storm logo
Metal Storm - Design Update


Hi all!

It's been a while since Metal Storm had a proper update. A lot of layouts were rather outdated and it looked terrible on mobile devices.

I started working on a redesign over a year ago, but due to chronic lack of time and Metal Storm's insane amount of pages, the progress was very slow. Now, while not every page has been redesigned, I feel it's ready for release - I certainly wouldn't want to drag it for another year. The remaining pages can then slowly follow as I complete them.

The biggest improvements are centered around responsive layout, which should now scale nicely all the way down to smartphones. A lot of layouts, some sections and functionalities have been updated, most notably the front page and private messaging. My biggest efforts were directed at the most vital parts of the site, like band pages, the forum and publications.

Due to the increased image sizes, many old album and band images wil appear stretched - please replace them with new ones, they will be saved in higher resolution. I will also work on automatically updating gallery thumbnails, which used to be very small and now will look stretched as well.

Please report any broken layouts and bugs here. Though make sure you clear your browser cache before you complain

Happy New Year!

Source: metalstorm.net
Posted: 14.01.2017 by Ivan


Comments page 6 / 7

‹‹ Back to News
Comments: 192   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 515 users
19.01.2017 - 01:54
Change is always hard. Every website experiences complaints from long-time users whenever major changes are made. That's just the way it is! **Kudos** to the MS team for striving to make MS better & responsive. I fully agree with Last Cigarette that the Top 10 current album charts -- when they were on just about every page (due to the wide layout) -- was a huge reason for me to visit MetalStorm more frequently. I would definitely suggest adding them back in... at the bottom of every page when reviewed in responsive format (on narrow screens), if necessary. Just a super key feature on MS.
Loading...
19.01.2017 - 03:19
The Benighted
Yeah, have to agree with quite a few of the other users here: the top ten sidebar is a no-brainer for the front page. For me personally, it's one of the biggest reasons I come here. Without it there I actually wander over to the website less. *shrug*
----
Learn to adapt to the change, or get washed away like tears in the rain.
Loading...
19.01.2017 - 03:47
lugardo
I think this is superb. Makes the website feel newer and gives an easier user experience.
Loading...
19.01.2017 - 10:12
no one
Account deleted
Glad the terrible top ten is gone.

So.....where's the shout box page when on your mobile?
Loading...
19.01.2017 - 12:24
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Elite
Written by [user id=159927] on 18.01.2017 at 20:15

Written by BloodTears on 18.01.2017 at 13:03

Just noticed now you can't see the fans of the bands anymore. I liked seeing who liked certain bands lol

Oh my god, I thought I was the only one who was thinking that!


Now I can't tell who are my fellow proggers
----
Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
Loading...
19.01.2017 - 14:36
Paz
Elite
Written by BloodTears on 19.01.2017 at 12:24

Now I can't tell who are my fellow proggers

Ivor is definitely up there
Loading...
19.01.2017 - 20:17
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Elite
Written by Paz on 19.01.2017 at 14:36

Written by BloodTears on 19.01.2017 at 12:24

Now I can't tell who are my fellow proggers

Ivor is definitely up there


Ahah yes, I know the usual proggers. Ivor's part of my prog group I like knowing the fans of certain bands though.
----
Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
Loading...
20.01.2017 - 01:26
Zap
Guest
Still no idea how to access the shoutbox on mobile :/
Loading...
20.01.2017 - 02:05
Marcus
Doit Like Bernie
"Though make sure you clear your browser cache before you complain"

Thank god you mentioned this - the site looked completely unusable beforehand
Loading...
20.01.2017 - 08:09
Athropos
Burning inside
It seems that I keep getting logged out more often since the release of the new design. Even with the 'keep me logged in' box checked, I'm logged out automatically maybe once a day. Is that normal ?
Loading...
20.01.2017 - 12:52
Aqoa
Account deleted
New design is Much better IMO, and increased number of ( X fans also like ) and similar artists bands is nice to.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 02:30
MetalManic
I still miss the previous rendition of this site. No offence, but I never really like the one that is currently being facelifted. I found that the previous one was very nice to navigate. On the other hand, haveing a mobile layout will be swell. Thanks for the many years of metalstorm. Here's to many more.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 12:51
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Still finding no way to access the SB on mobile.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 14:21
mz
^ me too.
Also, I cant see who has the last comment and what is the last page that has been commented on the albums, general forum, news, etc sections.
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 15:31
Ivan
Retired Admin
Elite
Written by [user id=4365] on 21.01.2017 at 12:51

Still finding no way to access the SB on mobile.

It's now available under 'Community' (mobile devices only)
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 15:33
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Ivan on 21.01.2017 at 15:31

It's now available under 'Community' (mobile devices only)

Yep, got it. Cheers.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 16:54
Athropos
Burning inside
So it seems you can't be logged in on more than one browser at the same time? Seems I can't stay logged in both on my computer and on my phone, each time I log in on one, I'm logged out on the other one.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 17:02
mz
It was the same before
----
Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 17:10
Reaper_Redeemer
Until yesterday everything was messed up with this site in my browser. Today it is repaired. Not sure I like the new design, everything is huge. It is a refresh though.
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 19:08
cobrapel
Concept One
The DVD covers in some case went out of their space (when the track list is short i guess).
Look for example here, the Sombre Vision DVD
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 19:42
Darkside Momo
Retired
Elite
Written by cobrapel on 21.01.2017 at 19:08

The DVD covers in some case went out of their space (when the track list is short i guess).
Look for example here, the Sombre Vision DVD

Saw nothing weird myself...
If you could provide an image, I guess it would be great!
----
My Author's Blog (in French)


"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you"

"I've lost too many years now
I'm stealing back my soul
I am awake"
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 19:57
cobrapel
Concept One
Written by Darkside Momo on 21.01.2017 at 19:42

Written by cobrapel on 21.01.2017 at 19:08

The DVD covers in some case went out of their space (when the track list is short i guess).
Look for example here, the Sombre Vision DVD

Saw nothing weird myself...
If you could provide an image, I guess it would be great!

This is what i see
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 20:01
Darkside Momo
Retired
Elite
Ah yes, weird indeed.
----
My Author's Blog (in French)


"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you"

"I've lost too many years now
I'm stealing back my soul
I am awake"
Loading...
21.01.2017 - 21:25
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
I clicked the link and everything seems fine here
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
Loading...
22.01.2017 - 08:01
Athropos
Burning inside
Written by mz on 21.01.2017 at 17:02

It was the same before


Actually I started using the site on my phone because the new design allows it, that's why I notice it only now.
Loading...
25.01.2017 - 10:51
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Damn, I was hoping the design update might have fixed the Ancient bug.
----
"Another day, another Doug."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
Loading...
25.01.2017 - 11:17
Overrwatcher
I zoomed out to 80% and i'm liking the new style. Without it, everything looks way too big and it's a pain to actually navigate. Even with the zoom out there are a lot of pictures that could be a lot smaller. The gallery and new bands are the worst offender. Especially the new bands, that should be way smaller.

Shoutbox definitely needs to be on the homepage too.
----
Overr's List Of Worthwhile Deathcore Albums

Written by Dr. Strawberry on 12.06.2016 at 19:43

Overwatcher, MS Xena, crumbled him in no time. MS needs you to kill the boredom in here.
Loading...
25.01.2017 - 12:22
Zap
Guest
I miss the ability to preview my comments. I can't have people knowing I suck at those ubb codes.
Loading...
26.01.2017 - 07:19
ScottyM
I'm finally coming back around this thread to see if I can sweet talk the developers into possibly implementing a few minor changes that I truly think would help the user experience and add a little intuitiveness, even improve upon a few flaws I think persisted from the old design to the new.

  • This hasn't changed from the old design to the new, but I personally believe it falls short when compared to other modern web apps with authentication: When a user visits a page that requires them to log in in order to perform an action, in order to perform said action (rate an album, comment on a topic, etc), you have to log in via the header menu bar. If you click log-in (or maybe even click the facebook icon, I don't have my accounts linked, so I can't confirm it happens for both) it first redirects you to the login page. After you log in, instead of redirecting you back to the page you were on prior to clicking the login button, it takes you back to the homepage, instead of the page you were previously on and then you have to navigate back to the page that you intended to take said action on. It would be nice if you were redirected back to the page that you were on when you initially clicked the login button.
  • The charts list is not available on the main page. I'll admit, I visit infrequently, because when I do, I want to see what's popular. Now, in order to see this list, I have to click seemingly any link on the homepage, get directed to that link, and then view the chart on the left column. It would be nice if that chart was made available on the homepage as it has been in the previous design. It's one less click to see what used to be zero clicks away.
  • The rating system for albums feels a lot more obscure now than it did previously, and this may be due to conforming with the change from the previous design, but I felt it wasn't very intutive. Earlier today I went to rate an album i didn't know I had already rated before. Actually, I had a feeling I might have rated it before, but wanted to make sure my previous rating matches how I feel today if I had previously rated it, and there wasn't any easy way for me to know until I clicked through the album's ratings to find the rating demographics. At that point is showed my rating. I went to rate a new album that I had been listening to, and saw the icons for rating spread the entire viewport's distance across, and thought to myself "I don't recall seeing that with the last album..." Perhaps using buttons as opposed to small links, as was done previously would help draw attention to them, and make it a bit more intuitive.


Please don't take these as gripes, I'm a fellow web developer, and I actually enjoy the new layout. It feels more modular, and mobile is always a plus, but there's a few things I thought might benefit from some constructive criticism and suggestions. If you think I'm full of shit, hell, I'll still come around and participate, I just thought I'd point out a few things that stood out to me as things that might benefit from improvement, and enhance the user experience.
Loading...
26.01.2017 - 21:57
chomskeet
Written by Last Cigarette on 18.01.2017 at 23:25

I'm sorry but I really can't believe this new design.Also, you can't have made the charts disappear on the main page. Most of the time, that's the only reason I enter MS to see if there is a new remarkable album.


Agreed, the top ten of the year should definitely be on every page, otherwise the new layout looks good
Loading...

Hits total: 7650 | This month: 23