Shoutbox

Hi there,

I've been a user of MP for many years now (longer than my forum signup suggests) and recently got an update notification.

When I looked up the site, I went to the usual one I've been going to for years.

I was shocked to find that the site had either been hijacked by hackers or the admin failed to renew the domain and it was bought by someone else hoping to get the traffic.

I slowly came to realise after looking through the forums that this 1990 design was deliberate.
Somehow, this god awful design was allowed to be pushed live.

I'm not sure if I can trust the latest update.
It might install malware on my computer and claim that I have spyware, telling me to purchase some software in order to fix it.

It looks dodgy! Something you'd see when GoDaddy decides to put up a placeholder if you've stopped paying for your domain.

Patchou, I bid you farewell but it's a shame you had to leave on this low note. Hope the guys taking charge of this project wont run it into the ground like they did with the website.

Anyway, that's my feedback. I'll probably go grab the update from Cnet or FileHippo.

quote:

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Originally posted by twigboy
Hi there,

I've been a user of MP for many years now (longer than my forum signup suggests) and recently got an update notification.

When I looked up the site, I went to the usual one I've been going to for years.

I was shocked to find that the site had either been hijacked by hackers or the admin failed to renew the domain and it was bought by someone else hoping to get the traffic.

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Despite the design being not to your liking, I can inform you that msgplus.net is the official website and has the original version, spyware free, available for download.

Note: Of course the software does actually contain adware, as it has been for many years now; remember to un-check the "Sponsor" program if you don't wish to install it.

They've put so much 'work' into they don't want to scrap it. They'll soon realise, that in that sort of market (web design etc) things get scrapped, they start again from scratch and just have to move on.

The sooner they realise it's shit, and the sooner they act on their mistake, the sooner it will be fixed. Obviously.

quote:

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Originally posted by Arcticwolfx
Despite the design being not to your liking, I can inform you that msgplus.net is the official website and has the original version, spyware free, available for download.

Note: Of course the software does actually contain adware, as it has been for many years now; remember to un-check the "Sponsor" program if you don't wish to install it.

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Yeah, I've been unticking that box for years and the software has worked well.

I tried updating it via the update dialog but I guess the server is a bit swamped at the moment. I'll try again later.

quote:

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Originally posted by twigboy
I tried updating it via the update dialog but I guess the server is a bit swamped at the moment. I'll try again later.

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Depends on what update dialog you're talking about, but the auto-update has some issues which still need to be fixed.

If you want the latest, it is best, as always, to manually download it from the official site (and not from Cnet or other shareware sites which quite often do not have the latest version up until much later on - and even then it is not always trustable in my personal experience).

It is purely awful. Nothing more needs to be said.

Those options in the poll on itself do not give the developers anything to work with.

If you really want to see the site improved/changed you should at least give them some proper feedback as in:
What is it exactly you find so awful? How can that be changed to make it better?

Possitive feedback is welcomed too and for that the option in the poll will do, optionally you can tell what it is you like about it. I'm sure that would be much appreciated as well.

I'd be fully willing to design a new site

It's awful though, 'nuff said. And the JavaScript menu isnt functioning properly on FF 4.0.

quote:

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Originally posted by Fike
JavaScript menu isnt functioning properly on FF 4.0.

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I saw somewhere that devs are working on it (may have been the shoutbox)

Contrary to many peoples opinions, i can't say i hate the website. I like the new look, its fresh and really signifies a new era in the ownership of the program.

However, it can be criticised for many things, and that's good - new website designs are not ever going to match everyones taste right away.

quote:

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Originally posted by Sunshine
If you really want to see the site improved/changed you should at least give them some proper feedback as in:
What is it exactly you find so awful? How can that be changed to make it better?

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Sunshine, I'm mildly offended that you even suggested that I put "ways to improve the site" into the voting options.

The poll is for a general opinion and the thread is for discussions on smaller details if someone wished to take the time and share their views.

Positive:

• It's good they didn't use Comic Sans and Jokerman font
  
• I'm glad they didn't implement image trails on my cursor

Negative:

• fonts - they matter. it seems there is only one font that has been applied across the whole site and it is Verdana (yes, even on the banner)
  
• the design seems like it was created by someone who is still living in 1990 and applying basic Photoshop tutorials
  
• justified text is for reading newspaper columns
  
• the heading colours, seriously? light brown?
  
• the over-use of reflections (it's a styling fad, thankfully blew over pretty quick)
  
• vertical alignment of both heading menu and footer looks uneven
  
• left aligned copyright text looks strange
  
• wtf is with that "MyPlus! Login / Register"? The mouse doesn't even change into a pointer so I know its clickable
  
• also with that button, what's with the clear cut from "About Us" to another colour?
  
• the menu background looks like it was copied straight out of a tutorial
  
• there is no indication that the latest news box is a rolling window. if you didn't read it in time, bad luck.
  
• the boxes on the right are differing in style (some rounded, some square, mismatched border colours, different title sizes, strange padding options for the "NewsTitle" class)
  
• do you really need to have a "PLUS!" mouseover image on the front page?
  
• this image made me cringe when I noticed the basic bevel and shadowing
  
• as mentioned by Fike, the javascript is broken on some browsers
  
• I'll spare the colours from any verbal abuse.

I'm not quite sure exactly what it is that makes me feel like this site is untrustworthy.
Perhaps it's a combination of all those issues listed + a few dodgy sites I've stumbled upon in the past which had a similar style.

A suggestion would be to take a free template and modify it to your needs.
The colouring, css styling and images would be put together by someone who knows more experienced.


Please, open up your browser to the current site and compare it to it's former glory.


I know some of you guys are official testers or well reputable members of the forum but if you cannot see that this is a step backwards, please visit this page http://www.cssgarden.co.uk to see some modern examples of web pages.