Yes, Democratic Underground has new icons.

[Skinner]

We just uploaded a whole bunch of new icons for DU. To make sure you are seeing all of them, visit this page:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/newicons.html

All of the new icons are there.

Skinner
DU Admin

ON EDIT: Based on the feedback so far, it was clear that the four icons on each person's post weren't intuitive enough. So, I've changed them. I think these are better. They're a little smaller, plus they're not quite so bright.

You may need to hit reload/refresh on your web browser to see the new versions:

[NMDemDist2]

1. what's the new green guy for? newbie mods???

:rofl:

[Skinner]

2. Grovelbot. (nt)

[Gato Moteado]

3. hey skinner.....i happened to notice a few minutes ago.....

....while perusing the avatars, that several say something like "avatar removed because of legal threat by fox news".

is this true?

if they threatened DU with legal action why would you give in to their demands? every other entity they ever tried to sue won their legal case easily and was instantly rewarded with fame and fortune!

[htuttle]

4. I think it's Fox tv, not fox news

...and it probably had something to do with the Simpsons (one of the most jealously guarded merchandising franchises since Micky Mouse&trade).

[mark11727]

58. It's when "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" changed the DUMB icon...

...from HOMER to a DUMBBELL.

[Skinner]

13. Because our lawyer said we didn't have a case. (nt)

[Gato Moteado]

17. bummer

i would have danced on the ceilings if we could have gotten a good ass kicking in on those fascists.

[Misunderestimator]

5. Now see... that just raises new questions... what do the greyed out ones..

mean, for example?



as opposed to:



:crazy:

[Skinner]

8. I'm guessing you've never used the "mark" function.

If you try it, you will see how they work.

[Misunderestimator]

10. Oooooooh... you mean the bookmark function?

Funny I never noticed that. Thanks!

[Skinner]

11. No. I mean the "Mark" function.

And the "Mark All" function. The icon looks like this:



It helps you keep track of new posts.

[Misunderestimator]

Wow, that completely escaped me. I will definitely try it.

:D

On edit... Yay! Thanks... I love that feature. :D

[Skinner]

16. It's a good one.

I use it all the time.

[SharonRB]

30. How do you do this?

I can't figure it out.

[jane_pippin]

33. Where is that function? I don't see it anywhere on my screen but I'd like

to use it.

I'm on a mac with safari, if that matters at all. Also, I could just be totally blind.

[Skinner]

34. You need to be looking at a forum listing.

Here is the forum listing for the General Discussion Forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=104

Look at the top of that page. There is an icon that looks like this:



Click it. All the threads in the General Discussion forum will turn gray. When you return, new threads will be yellow, and old threads will be gray.

[SharonRB]

36. I'm either blind or crazy

I don't see that icon anywhere.

So this is just for threads, not for posts within a thread?

[jane_pippin]

37. Huh. Up where the My Posts, Latest, Greatest, etc. are?

It's still not there for me. (I refreshed, and logged out/in again.)

I see these:
Lobby, Latest, Greatest, My Posts, Search, Post, Poll, Options, Inbox, Help, Logout

It's not that big of a deal for me--I've managed so far without it and I still enjoy the DU. But I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to use it. The examples in the new icon list look neat though. :thumbsup:

edit: new thought. must add.

[SharonRB]

38. I don't see it either, Jane

Very strange.

[Kenneth ken]

42. it's a forum function

so you have to be in a forum, but not in a thread.

so when you first click on GD before you read any thread titles, look up.

MARK will mark threads in the forum you're in
MARK ALL will mark ALL threads in ALL forums (have to be in Lobby to see this icon)

It's useful if you read several threads, then before leaving the forum to go to a different forum, click MARK. Then when you come back to the forum again later, the yellow icons on the left will indicate new threads or posts in threads. If there's nothing new, they will all be grey.

[SharonRB]

54. I've tried that

Even when I have a list of threads, I don't have that icon.

[Kenneth ken]

60. I'm glad

Skinner was able to help figure out why it wasn't working for you. I'd have never thought to go look into preferences/options and reset something there.

hope you enjoy using MARK :hi:

[SharonRB]

61. Thanks, Kenneth

I never knew about it before and I guess I had set it that way because I didn't understand what it was. I'll have to try it out.

[Skinner]

44. You're not looking at the right page.

Look at this page:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=104

It's there.

[jane_pippin]

45. I swear I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass Skinner, but this is what I

see when I click on that link:





Like I said, I can live without it just fine. Mostly at this point I just want you to know I'm not nuts. :D

[Skinner]

49. You aren't nuts. I think I know what the problem is.

I'm sorry -- I totally forgot about this. You probably have your preferences set so you aren't using the mark function. Here's what you have to do:

1. Click the "Options" Icon.

2. Click the "Edit your preferences" link.

3. Look for this text:

Use MARK time stamp feature?
Select "yes" if you wish to use the MARK time stamp feature to keep track of new messages. In this mode, you manually mark forums when you finish reading all the messages in that forum. Otherwise, your last visit time stamp is used to keep track of new messages.

4. Set it to "Yes."

5. Click the "Update" button.

Again, I'm sorry about the confusion. I should have know.

[jane_pippin]

52. Woo Hoo! It works just fine when it's actually turned on.

Thanks again.

[Skinner]

53. You're welcome.

I'm glad we figured it out.

[SharonRB]

55. Thanks, Skinner

I thought I was losing my mind. That did it!

[Misunderestimator]

50. That's odd... it should show up between Poll and Options...

(on edit... never mind... I see skinner answered :hi:)

[Kenneth ken]

12. grey vs yellow

when you use the mark feature it turns yellow icons grey. Then when you come back later new messages show up as yellow.

If a thread has no new messages since you marked the forum, the icon stays grey.

[SharonRB]

28. I never knew this

Thanks!

[oasis]

6. Good stuff. Thanks

[graywarrior]

7. What's the little burning one mean?

[Skinner]

9. "hot"

It for threads that get a lot of replies.

[graywarrior]

14. You mean like this one?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4273134

[Angry Girl]

15. Wow! There are about 603 features here I never knew about!

Thanks, Skinner!

[greyl]

18. I think they're a bit too big & too saturated

at least the send message, profile, add buddy, and ignore are.
I think they distract from the content of the thread.
Here's my quick preference:

[Skinner]

20. I agree we may need to change the icons on members' posts.

We'll give it a day or two we we can get used to them. If they still seem to be too much we'll change them.

[catmother]

19. thanks skinner. i 'm still kinda new around here and i wanted

to bookmark something yesterday and couldn't figure out how to do it.

[Berserker]

21. I think they are great

and the size is very good for old eye's

[NightOwwl]

22. OK...stupid question time.

Is there a list somewhere with descriptions of the icons?

[TahitiNut]

23. Obvious question: Why??

Call me lacking in a keen sense of the obvious, but I don't see why. :shrug:

[MH1]

26. I'll second that question.

I liked the old ones just fine. (Is it rude to say I like the old ones better? Or maybe it just shows my pathological dislike of change...)

FWIW I also agree with the comment upthread that the ones in the header of the post are too big. (Skinner already said they'll probably address that - I'm just adding my vote.)

[Skinner]

27. Why?

I'll try to put this delicately. The old icons looked like crap. We decided it was time to get some icons that look like someone spent more than five minutes designing them.

[TahitiNut]

31. Oh. OK. Thanks! Well, y'all deserve props for ...

... making an effort to keep improving the forum, even in aesthetics. I sure can be a world-class nit-picker, but they didn't bother me. I suppose they look different on other monitors and the new ones might print more clearly. Props.

[MH1]

56. Okay now I'm happy!

I *do* like the new "new icons" on posts. :thumbsup:

Just wanted to note that. ;-)

And thanks for all your efforts, Skinner - it is appreciated!

:patriot:

[northamericancitizen]

24. They look childish to me. Is it a law to conform?

[BeFree]

29. Cartoonish?

Definetly distracting. Could I get used to them? Suppose so.

Thanks, Skinner, for my DU. It's great!

On edit: The ones at the top o' the page are great, it's the mail, profile, etc. at each post to which I refer.

[applegrove]

25. Okay - I'm pulling down the smilies to see. No. Smilies the same.

:yoiks:

[helderheid]

32. They are tres sheik!

[Generator]

35. Sexy.

No, I don't get out much. This is it folks, new icons can make or break a whole day! Woo hoo.

[Wordie]

39. Aww, the new icons are really cute! I really like them.

Good job, Skinner, et al! Thanks!

I don't think they're really too big, they're just more noticable than the old ones - partly just *because* they're new, I bet.

[Chovexani]

40. I love 'em.

Much easier on the eyes than the old plain ones. Reminds me of Firefox.

[lady raven]

41. That was weird!

I was reading a thread, switched to a new one, and suddenly there were new icons- I must have looked 2 seconds after they were added. I thought I was losing my mind.

[Vektor]

43. Ah! OK. I like them.

Thanks.

[Liberty Belle]

46. I clicked accidentally on the red cross & it added you to my ignore list!

How do I undo that, Skinner?

I don't like the icons if it's that easy to screw up.

[Ivote]

47. Way To Go Guys

I just love it and you also
:kick:

[Skinner]

51. To remove someone from your ignore list...

Click on the "Options" icon. Then click on "Ignore list."

[Skinner]

48. OK, I made some changes to the new icons.

Based on the feedback so far, it was clear that the four icons on each person's post weren't intuitive enough. So, I've changed them. I think these are better. They're a little smaller, plus they're not quite so bright.

You may need to hit reload/refresh on your web browser to see the new versions:

[ljm2002]

57. Suggestion...

...on the newicons.html page, please include alternate text for the images so that when we roll over with a mouse we get the description of what each one is.

That would probably prevent a lot of questions.

[DeepModem Mom]

59. Lovely -- thanks!

My only problem, and it's probably just me, is I'm having trouble getting used to locked threads not being as easily distinguishable. And I can't even remember now how they were more distinguishable, at a glance, before!

[DeepModem Mom]

62. "I can see clearly now" the locked threads by their symbol --

at a glance. The more distinguishable symbols do, I think, help; I hope others will agree. Thanks, guys, for everything!