Site Design

[Lex]

So from that link, and thinking about how our content is going to be presented, I like:

Evolve
Origamiez

And a few others. I think we should each choose some, narrow it down to 3 and then put it to a vote.

Please avoid anything that is "lite" or has a "pro" version. We don't want to be losing functionality because of a pay wall. If there is a paid one that is significantly better, I'm more than happy to chip in cash for it.

 

[Shademp]

I'm not sure what you guys are planning, but even if the dropdown menus end up disappearing I took the liberty of creating a specific "FFVII - The Remake" page for permanent links to special content.

Also added the page to the menu.

 

[Flintlock]

Since you're not limited by headline length when making pages, why not use "Final Fantasy VII" instead of "FFVII"? Does the menu have to show the exact page title?

 

[Shademp]

I was able to change the page name to "Final Fantasy VII - The Remake" and then change the menu name back to FFVII - The Remake for spacing. Do you want the url to the remake page to read "final-fantasy-vii" instead of "ffvii"?

 

[Flintlock]

I don't mind either way. I always try to use the full form when I can, but shorter URLs are generally better.

I can live with FFVII in headlines but I really hate "FF7" and would encourage our writers to avoid it.

 

[Claymore]

Having spent hours (and days) on Themeforest in the past for my Tribe site, my current fav is:


Fraction

* Modern and sleek
* Mega menu that you can stick to the top or allow it to follow you down the page
* Latest news carousel - so you don't have to worry about readers missing an important article in the drown of new updates
* Category blocks - shows the latest inclusions to a category of your choice, so nothing will be missed. We could have one for the Remake stuff, one for Podcasts, another for Fan works, another for updates to the VII guides, etc... We could really play with the homepage (and the entire layout of the site in general) because of...
* Customisable sidebars (single or double) to each page, post or category. At the moment, most pages on TLS have menu links at the top of each page section. Now, these can be pushed to the custom sidebars, allowing for better readability and interaction. You can also have a single sticky sidebar (though I personally hate these)
* Spotlight feature. In posts (ala here) you can add a little excerpt to another post (or page I think) at the top of an article. This enables you to add an important link that a reader should check out, or the next continuation to an article if it is part of a series
* Ability to have review blocks and add reviews to posts
* Customisable galleries
* Integrated Woocomerce thingy
* Integrated BuddyPress (though I'm guessing you guys will look for something more powerful for the forum, lol).

It's got potential, and I can see it in TLS green. I think it strikes the right balance between content and minimalism. If you want something a lot more more minimalistic there are tons on Themeforest. Paid, but worth it if you ask me.

 

[Flintlock]

^ I like that, but it would be an absolutely massive departure from our current style (even in TLS colours), probably more than some people would like. It would also show up our forum as being even more ancient if we don't upgrade that at the same time.

 

[Claymore]

Yeah, that was definitely a concern at the back of my mind when considering it for a possibility. Though, saying that, I still believe that a magazine style layout is the best option in order to showcase the different features that we have going for us here. There are similar mag versions (though more minimalistic) that are more toned down whilst still offering that option if you guys decide that this is the way to go.

 

[Lex]

I like that too tbh.

 

[Fangu]

Not a big fan of the mobile version of the menu though.

 

[Cthulhu]

It feels a bit heavyweight with the scrolling and the menus following me around, and it takes quite some time to fully load and get rendered too (over four seconds). That could probably be optimized a bit, but... it still feels heavy. With the FPS meter open it frequently dips below 30FPS, too. It would probably get slimmed down quite a lot for our uses though.

 

[Claymore]

I was kinda expecting more resistance to the magazine layout, since it is so radical and different from the site as it stands now, so I'm quite surprised that it seems like a viable option. There are more lightweight versions than Fraction if we're going down this route.

As for Fraction itself, both the mega menu and the sticky sidebar features can be turned off, which should have an impact on making it load a lot faster, and I agree with Fangu that the mobile version's menu isn't my favourite, but not sure if that can be tweaked or not.

I have a paid download copy if you guys want to test it out and have a play around, or we could look for more lightweight versions of magazine layouts if that's what you guys envision could work here.

 

[Flintlock]

I really think we need to decide what we're doing with our forum before we can make a decision on the front page design. If we stick with what we've got, I think we should look at something with at least the semblances of its layout: the same width, banner and menu at the top, and so on. That still gives us a lot of flexibility in every other aspect.

 

[Claymore]

What were the last thoughts / discussion about a possible forum upgrade? I'm trying to recall, but don't seem to remember there being any clear indication as to a possible avenue to go down.

 

[Ⓐaron]

We decided that future versions of vBulletin probably weren't good enough to upgrade. We haven't really tested out other software enough to discuss whether it's a good replacement. To me, any software we use will have to have something similar to the thanks hack, as well as to be customisable enough to allow users to use custom font formatting. I feel those are two features that distinguish this place quite heavily from most other forums, and I'd like to keep them.

 

[Flintlock]

Well, one problem is that the forum upgrade discussion has taken place in so many different threads. I'll just quote what I wrote yesterday:

The forum situation is pretty crap, but we're going to have to bite the bullet at some point. We should set up a proper consultation for it, that looks at things like: What are our most pressing reasons to upgrade? Which features are we determined to keep and which can we do without? What's the best alternative solution? How easy would it be to migrate our database? Up to now our discussion has been very fragmented and hasn't taken us anywhere (beyond establishing that vB5 is out).

In more detail, this is what I'd like to see happen:

Step 1: Appoint someone to run the consultation.
Step 2: Get them to make a new thread about it so the discussion is all in one place.
Step 3: Agree a timetable.
Step 4: Consult the community on the questions I mentioned above.
Step 5: Review all the options and decide which one is the best (even if that's just tweaking what we've got).
Step 6: Set up a test forum, or even multiple forums if there is more than one viable option.
Step 7: Make a decision - based on the consensus, of course, but ultimately, the final call has to be made by Yop and the person running the consultation.
Step 8: Explain what changes are going to be made in advance.
Step 9: Put it into action.
Step 10: ????
Step 11: Profit!

If we don't do that, we're just going to go round and round in circles, with more conversation about why we can't change than why we can and should.

 

[Claymore]

That sounds like a sensible plan. The same template could be used for the design aspect also.

 

[Shademp]

Not many people are neck-deep enough in the site design topic. On the top of my head, I can think of two people: The Man (Aaron) and The Engineer (Obsidian). I'm sure either of them could run the consultation.

I'd like to see that consultation thread happen just so I can understand why a forum upgrade is even being considered. I don't see what's wrong with our current forum, other than its inability to communicate with WordPress.

 

[Ⓐaron]

I'm not really much of a designer (though I am at least proficient enough with image software that I was able to create several alternate versions of Pixel's original skin). I'm happy to help with the technical side of upgrading things, though. I suspect there aren't too many other people on here with the qualifications to run such a thing. Cthulhu has, but I suspect he's too busy to manage such things.

 

[Flintlock]

I'd like to see that consultation thread happen just so I can understand why a forum upgrade is even being considered. I don't see what's wrong with our current forum, other than its inability to communicate with WordPress.

It's not even that: I've brought up the vB/WP connection plugin on, I think, three different occasions now, and it still hasn't been purchased. Maybe we don't need it, but people have always liked the idea and nobody has ever put forward a reason not to get it, so hopefully you can understand why it gets a bit frustrating sometimes. Still, this is a chance for us to put that behind us.

It's really a question of refreshing the design and making it meet modern web standards. We don't have enough contrast between our text and background to make it properly accessible, I still see broken images in a few places, the text is so small on a 1080p monitor that I constantly have to browse at 110% zoom, browsing on my phone is still not as easy as it should be, and so on. Graphically, we use gradients all over the place when bold, flat colours have been the trend for many years already (I won't even suggest moving to a light theme because that's never going to happen, and since the FFVII remake seems to be sticking with a dark theme, it's probably good that we have one too). Basically, the forum feels like it's running on eleven-year-old software, because it is.

As for finding someone who knows about both the design and technical side of things... I can't think of anyone better qualified or experienced than Fangu. I don't know if she wants to get involved again, and I understand if she doesn't, but she would be my top nomination. Otherwise, I'm sure Aaron and Obs could do a fine job working together with their different areas of expertise.

 

[Shademp]

I don't relate to the reasons pointed out for a forum redesign, except possibly

browsing on my phone is still not as easy as it should be

because I have just gotten a modern phone.

Good luck though. *thumbs up*

 

[Lex]

The forum's look is outdated and needs to be refreshed. We need a snappy, modernised board with fresh elements.

As for the front page, bottlenecking that behind a forum upgrade is just a bad idea, I'm sorry to say. I've lost count of the number of times we've gone round in circles about upgrading the forum (as well as that Wordpress plugin) and here we sit, with ancient forum software.

When it comes to upgrading the forum, the only thing we can do is pester other people, and we absolutely shouldn't gate a front-end upgrade behind a forum upgrade because that'll just delay it.

EDIT: Flint, when it comes to WordPress plugins from now on, I think we should just go for it, install it in WP, and deal with the consequences later.

 

[Flintlock]

EDIT: Flint, when it comes to WordPress plugins from now on, I think we should just go for it, install it in WP, and deal with the consequences later.

I would do that if it was free, but it's $24. No point spending that money if we're not going to be using vB in four weeks' time - see where I'm coming from? We might also need someone with technical expertise to get it set up. I'm sure it's designed to work "out of the box" but we have changed a lot of stuff on our front page so I'm never really sure.

 

[Lex]

I suppose that's one of the advantages to switching to a new theme.

Are we sure that vB plugin works with vB3?

 

[Fangu]

Basically, the forum feels like it's running on eleven-year-old software, because it is.

I dunno, I've always liked the 'old feel' of this place, because New gets old quite quickly, and what really matters anyway, is that the thing is somewhat user friendly and actually works. That's what makes people come back. The web/ phones/ stuff is changing design and standards in a very rapid pace these days - and with good reason; it's the same old 'change shit so people want the New Shit and then we make money'. I'm not really into all of that. It's kind of like buying a new pair of shoes just because they're new, and then two weeks later you want a newer pair.

I know I sound old and tired saying this, but I've worked with too many UX and marketing people over the last two years that I know that what people WANT NOW OMG BECAUSE LOOK EVERYONE ELSE HAS IT AAAAAA is rarely a good reason to change user interface and functionality. Look at what you want to achieve before buying those choose. What do we really want? I'd say a good structure of the written words, where people feel like they can easily interact. That's what should be the heart of the thing. Not 'we want to look professional', because a) the content should reflect that, and b) we aren't anyway

(Sorry if I sound like a bitch, I've been at a developer conference all day and then moved crap around in my new place for hours and now I've had a well deserved Pale Ale)

I can't think of anyone better qualified or experienced than Fangu. I don't know if she wants to get involved again, and I understand if she doesn't, but she would be my top nomination.

For me, it's a question of a) tools and b) Yop. And c) project management drains a developer and I do enough of that at work (omg this thing needs to be green like right now omgggg you're the tech FUCKING FIX IT ALREADY AAAAA) and I have a feeling it's the same for Yop.

idk where I'm going with this. Obviously I'm a fine choice because I do this for a living, and I've learned a massive amount of shit since the first front page redesign. But the cba part is strong in this one.

Also I'm a terrible person and I have issues with everything,