New Spring site design, I need your feedback.

[BaNa]

That's sort of the point, it's a front page not a news column, so you want big eye catching text, and not much of it.

Actually i dont read too big texts, because they are usually just useless ads on web.

Which is why i dont like it...

big text and buttons are important for ergonomic reasons. The bigger the button, the more likely you are to notice it and the faster you are to click it. Buttons are better than lines of text because they have more area and it is easier to differentiate between them

[SwiftSpear]

I'm against preceding the site with a spashscreen. Spring isn't really a game expressly, ultimately we're an engine project and a community, I don't want to navigate useless extra clicks before the site loads in full.

The front page should be updating, informative, and concise. We advertize more about what we're doing here with an "about" section, or FAQ. I think that's one of the things the current site does worst.

[Teutooni]

I'm against preceding the site with a spashscreen. Spring isn't really a game expressly, ultimately we're an engine project and a community, I don't want to navigate useless extra clicks before the site loads in full.

Erhm, who are we doing that new site for? I think we already have reached most people who are intrested in an engine project, and should market spring as a game. Avarage users don't know much about game engines.

The few useless extra clicks and big texts are there to provide vital information for newcomers without flooding their senses. ~~

[AF]

The front page of most professional websites try to highlight something in big then fofer the usual smaller stuff at the bottom.

The emphasis is that our frontpage is our frontpage, so dont design it like a news page, thats what the news page is for.

When a new suer comes to the website we need to hit them with what's relevant. Quicklinks to FAQ, download page, and how to get help, what's relevant to them.

In this case you're confusing the role fo the initial page with the role fo satisfying the existing user. Since the vast majority fo enw suers wills ee the first page we need to make it the sticking point that lures them into the rest of the website. We dont need full news items, list the top 3 and maybe a small paragraph of 10-15 words maximum, and content in text is usually a waste. A user wont spend 10 minutes reading your frontpage to figure out if they want to stay or not, they need to be told immediately via pictures and other means so that they can be lured into the wordier content.

So in full, we do need an updates page, namely the news page, but that's not the job of the front page. The front page is the portal the page that lures new users in like a honey trap, and there's a very real danger that existing suers will not be able to see this and derail the process, and the main entry point for new users will be designed for existing users instead.


Also teutooni, we have not marketed spring as an engine at all. Spring is marketed as 3D TA and only 3D TA. This is unsustainable too since aside from having exhausted the potential fan base of users, the TA3D project will sweep up the rest.

[TradeMark]

That's sort of the point, it's a front page not a news column, so you want big eye catching text, and not much of it.

Actually i dont read too big texts, because they are usually just useless ads on web.

Which is why i dont like it...

big text and buttons are important for ergonomic reasons. The bigger the button, the more likely you are to notice it and the faster you are to click it. Buttons are better than lines of text because they have more area and it is easier to differentiate between them

But my point is, the page looks like some advertise site which is full of bs. Which makes me feel like, closing the page immediately or else i get spammed with popups.

I have some sort of built in ad-blocker in my head, once i didnt notice some picture someone made, because it looked like banner, and i didnt notice it at all :D

Also, i dont like rounded edges, they looks lame, just lame, cant think better word for it...

Remember this is just my opinion. dont get upset...

[AF]

Any modern web browser has an antipopup feature. Most modern web browsers even block adverts.

Im putting this down to a personal quirk than a logical argument. Advertisements are enver larger than a certain size unless theyre the sort with the bar at the top saying skip advert and continue to that have video advertisements.

[LordMatt]

Do a flash based website, include the second trailer. ;]

No flash sites = phail

I'm against preceding the site with a spashscreen.

+1 Splashscreens are pretentious and useless.

I also agree with many of AF's points about the design of the front page.

[very_bad_soldier]

I would prefer a splashscreen (like AF's) to give new players the easiest start possible. Advanced players can easily bookmark the main page instead of the "splashpage" and will never have to see it again.

[TradeMark]

I hate splashscreens, doormat pages, big text, and especially flash sites.