Site Design

[Eerongal]

So, we have several changes in the works, but before I implement any, I want to know what everyone LIKES, so that we don't end up changing it on a whim.

(And I swear, this is not just me searching for positive crit in a thread full of negative - but constructive - crit.)

So what do you want to see NOT change?

I like the actual body of the forum pages. Like the blue/white bit at the top and bottoms, and the alternating light/sky blue posts.

Honestly, with a little extra non-blue color for accents, and updated buttons (the ones we have look so archaic) i think it would be just fine. To me, the monochromatic color makes it look flat, and listless.

As far as the header bit like i was talking about, i can live with that, and indeed didnt even notice it until it was brought up. I can just see how it would be an issue without a mouse wheel, ya know? I just didnt acknowledge how much real estate was taken at the very top.

Also in regards to the header bits, i like the area for ads/news (the place with the WoK banner), but at the same time, i think the WoK bit is probably too large. Of note that i think would be helpful to add to this box, is to maybe partition off another square or two and show the facebook/twitter updates for the 17th shard, just to give it "live news feed" sort of thing, know what i mean? Especially if we could see retweet answers from like brandon and/or peter answering any questions put to em.

Or, better yet, we could have it follow brandon, just so we get live brandon coverage as it happens.

I do like that area, i just think it needs a bit more to it, ya know?

Though, maybe to save space up top, would it be possible to add this as a side bar on the left or right? (Right seems like the better area than left to me. Left is always for menus and things, right is for additional info)

These last bits are just me thinking out loud as thoughts come to me, hoping they help any for improvement.

[Chaos]

My opinion on a sidebar is negative, at least, on a forum. It's better to have more real estate in the width. For example, in topics, I'm ostensibly scrolling through 10 or 15 posts. A sidebar is far shorter, so I'm effectively wasting space.

The main page will have a Twitter feed which is both our tweets and Brandon's.

[Shivertongue]

I am officially vetoing the option of a sidebar. I hate sidebars, and it would make the site asymmetrical. And, since I am very OCD about symmetry where I can control it, I am vetoing it out of hand.

Seriously. Don't bring it up again.

As for the twitter feeds, those have been planned since the beginning for the main page of the site. We do not need them on the forums.

[Eerongal]

My opinion on a sidebar is negative, at least, on a forum. It's better to have more real estate in the width. For example, in topics, I'm ostensibly scrolling through 10 or 15 posts. A sidebar is far shorter, so I'm effectively wasting space.

The main page will have a Twitter feed which is both our tweets and Brandon's.

I suppose its a matter of setup. Currently, for me on every PC i use, there's 5 inches on each side of the usable space on the page blank blue space. (as in from the background) It's probably because i keep my resolution incredibly high.

To clarify: on my screen, with my setup and all, on each side of the forum parts (starting and ending at the box up top with the WoK image) i have roughtly 1/4th of the screen blank, blue background space. I'm assuming this is a result of my resolution and no one else has it? The reason i mentioned it was because of this large amount of blank area.

I am officially vetoing the option of a sidebar. I hate sidebars, and it would make the site asymmetrical. And, since I am very OCD about symmetry where I can control it, I am vetoing it out of hand.

Seriously. Don't bring it up again.

As for the twitter feeds, those have been planned since the beginning for the main page of the site. We do not need them on the forums.

fair enough.

[Nerual]

I like the site just the way it is, and seeing as my opinion trumps all others, yeah.  Problem solved. 

[Chaos]

I have a big monitor, too, but if I move to my laptop, I don't. See, it's a fixed width site (I think when forums are expanded to such ridiculous widths, they look, well, ridiculous) so it would narrow it down.

[mycoltbug]

Now that the new home page is set up is there a way to get a navigation buttons set up so that when you are in the forums or blog you can get back to the main homepage? 

[Ryan]

Now that the new home page is set up is there a way to get a navigation buttons set up so that when you are in the forums or blog you can get back to the main homepage? 

Absolutely. That's planned. It's just a matter of me getting the time to do it. (Actually, I may do that tonight, since it shouldn't take long.)

[mycoltbug]

Cool thanks Ryan! The new site is awesome. Good work on it. I wish my limited programing knowledge was in html and not c#, so I could help you out more. 

[Ryan]

HTML is the easy part. ;D

[Earendil]

The only issue I have is with the star background image.  I feel like it has a bunch of compression artifacts around the stars, and it's kind of distracting.  I don't know if there's a higher resolution version, or if it wouldn't go well with the rest of the site, but that's my 2 cents.  The actual forums look really nice, I like the muted colors.

Well, that and the fact that there aren't sixteen shards in the 17...

[Shivertongue]

The only issue I have is with the star background image.  I feel like it has a bunch of compression artifacts around the stars, and it's kind of distracting.  I don't know if there's a higher resolution version, or if it wouldn't go well with the rest of the site, but that's my 2 cents.  The actual forums look really nice, I like the muted colors.

Well, that and the fact that there aren't sixteen shards in the 17...

Honestly, I stole the background image from NASA. Blame them

And 10 shards is enough, by gum!

[Chaos]

Oh man, I'm loving these new changes

[Shivertongue]

Oh man, I'm loving these new changes

It does, in fact, look very snazzy.

Question for the members: does this add the warmth you were looking for? Lemme know!

[Silus - Shard of Flame]

This is crazy better!  The improvements are awesome!  The yellow really makes a difference!

One note, on the forum, at the bottom it still has the old icons for which forums have new posts in them, you might want to change that for the sake of not confusing people.  I was slightly off-put cuz of that, since I was bewildered, but that's probably since I didn't apply my brain to the task for about thirty seconds.  (I was distracted by the sexy new look 8) )

[Shivertongue]

This is crazy better!  The improvements are awesome!  The yellow really makes a difference!

One note, on the forum, at the bottom it still has the old icons for which forums have new posts in them, you might want to change that for the sake of not confusing people.  I was slightly off-put cuz of that, since I was bewildered, but that's probably since I didn't apply my brain to the task for about thirty seconds.  (I was distracted by the sexy new look 8) )

Rest assured, we are aware of that, and it is in the works. It's also a whole 'nother graphic to build, albeit an easy one. It probably would have been done tonight, except we need to sleep.

Glad you like the new stuff! Those Aon's were difficult to make... and I did more than just Omi...

[Eerongal]

I really like the new look and all, but just something small i wanted to put out there, if possible, that could help it look a bit better if you ask me (also it bothers me slightly).

The navigation buttons at the top (the Home, Books, Blog, Wiki, Forum, Mistborn RP, About buttons) really have the look of tabs, like you would have in windows applications (browsers like chrome and firefox for example).

Would it be possible to remove the bit of border underneath the current area of the site you're on to fully give it that "Tabbed" appearance?

E.G. if i'm on the forums, have the bit of yellow border under the "Forums" button non-existant so it lookslike its a selected tab.

I just think that'd make the navigation bits up there look really slick. If it's not possible or too much work or whatever (i dont know what the code looks like, obviously) i wouldn't worry about it, i just think it'd look good.

Edit: also, the navigation bar up there looks different on the forums than on any other page (slightly smaller on the forums). Unifying that would make it look better too, as an overall thing. If you have to choose which, i go with the appearance on the forums, i think those navigation buttons look best.

[Shivertongue]

I really like the new look and all, but just something small i wanted to put out there, if possible, that could help it look a bit better if you ask me (also it bothers me slightly).

The navigation buttons at the top (the Home, Books, Blog, Wiki, Forum, Mistborn RP, About buttons) really have the look of tabs, like you would have in windows applications (browsers like chrome and firefox for example).

Would it be possible to remove the bit of border underneath the current area of the site you're on to fully give it that "Tabbed" appearance?

E.G. if i'm on the forums, have the bit of yellow border under the "Forums" button non-existant so it lookslike its a selected tab.

I just think that'd make the navigation bits up there look really slick. If it's not possible or too much work or whatever (i dont know what the code looks like, obviously) i wouldn't worry about it, i just think it'd look good.

Edit: also, the navigation bar up there looks different on the forums than on any other page (slightly smaller on the forums). Unifying that would make it look better too, as an overall thing. If you have to choose which, i go with the appearance on the forums, i think those navigation buttons look best.

The tabs will not be sticking around permanently. A navbar is in the works.

[Ryan]

The main reason I haven't done that already is because I don't know what Will has in the works for those tabs. The current tab look is just a placeholder. Once we get prettier tabs, I'll definitely make sure they're polished.

Also, the difference in size you've noted is due to a different font being used, because I forgot to link the Google font into the forums when I put up the navbar. Thanks for pointing that out; I don't know if I would have caught it.

[Chaos]

The main reason I haven't done that already is because I don't know what Will has in the works for those tabs. The current tab look is just a placeholder. Once we get prettier tabs, I'll definitely make sure they're polished.

Also, the difference in size you've noted is due to a different font being used, because I forgot to link the Google font into the forums when I put up the navbar. Thanks for pointing that out; I don't know if I would have caught it.

An astute member also notes that google fonts don't translate to every computer, which is why we don't have that more unique font on the forum still. Plus, I actually think the smaller tabs look a better (EDIT: Not that it really matters, of course, since they are temporary)

About the tabs, and getting rid of the yellow line underneath it: see, the yellow is a function of the table itself. I fairly certain I can't remove one part of a border on the table. But, perhaps my table-fu is weak.

[Ryan]

About the tabs, and getting rid of the yellow line underneath it: see, the yellow is a function of the table itself. I fairly certain I can't remove one part of a border on the table. But, perhaps my table-fu is weak.

It can be done. True, you can't remove a part of a border, but you can make the tab overlap the table border.

[KChan]

I said it before, but Will, Ryan, you guys rock. The changes look awesome! This site is just getting better and better. ;D

[Earendil]

And 10 shards is enough, by gum!

Actually, on further reflection, this is surprisingly accurate.  Take the original shards, and subtract the ones we know have died:

16 - 2 (Ati, Leras) - 2 (Skai, Aona) - 1 (The Almighty) = 11.

If we assume that "Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns" refers to the death of the Almighty and Cultivation (seems likely) than we get down to 10 of the original shards remaining. 

[Chaos]

Your number is off (there's nine we know about), but that should be continued elsewhere.

Either way, ten is a holy number on Roshar.

[Shivertongue]

In truth, there are ten shards because it didn't look good with more than that. The original idea was for sixteen, with the shard itself being the 17th. Maybe someday I'll redesign it to make sixteen pieces work. For now, though, it's good.