Spring Site 2

[AF]

http://www.darkstars.co.uk/2008/spring-site-design/

A work in progress that has now reached fruition has been unveiled. Look inside for details!

[koshi]

I agree that the infrastructure should be kept as simple as possible. dokuwiki plus phpbb seems like a reasonable choice.

Somebody should really go and use those funky html and php tags to completely redo this page using fancy css and div containers so it doesn't look like a bog standard wiki page!

Indeed.
It's probably also the hardest part. As it stands now your design just can't compare to roflcopter's (which i prefer) or argh's imo.

[AF]

The point being their designs are just frontpages and static html mockups, whereas I have an entire website.

[koshi]

sure. they have designs that aren't ready to use and you have a site that needs more design.

[AF]

There is no content in my site, and they for the most part have jpegs to show off, I don't see how you can make the comparison.

[koshi]

all i'm trying to say here is that both approaches are lacking what the other has.

I don't see how you can make the comparison.

As it stands now your design just can't compare to roflcopter's (which i prefer) or argh's imo

I didn't say anything against the implementation, mind you. But without a visually attractive design your site won't get anywhere, just as the other two designs won't get anywhere without a decent implementation. Wouldn't trying to get roflcopter's design onto your infrastructure be a good idea? Or do you have plans to improve the design already that just aren't finished yet?

[AF]

My template is designed with the content in mind but at the moment there is no content, whereas roflcopters design is almost entirely content with very little in the way of infrastructure laid out.

I very much doubt roflcopters design will stand up as a site design because of its focus as a front page design.


I would very much like it if the attitude towards site development here shifted from a lengthy process of figuring out which site to choose based on some ultimate pinnacle of perfection that can never be attained resulting in a popular vote based on screen shots and quick glances rather than proper evaluation that eventually leads to the appropriate choices being thrown out in favour of the prettier looking options only to then realize its not right and opinion turning sour and us being stuck with the original site all over again.

Ultimately the question is, this site or the new site in my blog post? roflcopters work can carry on after this site is put up and should it reach the stage where it can become a full site we can then discuss it and if those in charge agree his site surpasses mine then a replacement site can be put up.

And yes the site has native theme support, if roflcopter wishes to develop his own dokuwiki and phpbb themes to implement his design he can do so.

[Neddie]

AF, I need the rights to change all the pages, right now we can't do anything.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Why is this on the general discussion page, and not the other thread?

I think the general concensus was to go with roflcopter's design?

[Neddie]

Because he made and committed a full design, apparently.

[koshi]

Ultimately the question is, this site or the new site in my blog post?

Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself here?

...resulting in a popular vote based on screen shots and quick glances rather than proper evaluation that eventually leads to the appropriate choices being thrown out in favour of the prettier looking options...

You seem set on the idea that the "appropiate choíces" and "pretty looking options" that get the "popular vote" are mutually exclusive, but maybe it's just me.

Also i don't see why things should be rushed now, when things are still developing in the other thread.

[Forboding Angel]

You guys are missing the point. AF's site is running off of a theme, which is universally changeable, and easily too.

Additionally adding new pages to the site is simple as pie. Just because it's not so pretty right at this moment, don't be too quick to brush it off. You can create very powerful, dynamic, and great looking websites using systems such as this. If I had ftp access I might be inclined to create an example.

[SinbadEV]

@Drama: I think your all kinda missing the point, but thats okay... this is GOOD NEWS.

AFs site is a complete infrastructure overhaul while Roflcopters design is basically a photoshoped suggestion, something like a style guide... the kitbashed implementations I threw together are just examples of how the layout would look as an HTML page... there's no fight... if we decide we like roflcopters FrontPage's colour scheme it would be a matter of changing a few lines of a master style sheet... if a better FP design comes up we can use it.

I mean the wipipedia splash page looks nothing like the "real" front page and again very little like the acctual content pages.

@ AF: Awsome work there AF, I really like what you've done there... I'm gonna give it a go tonight... great work... i'm sorry we stepped on your toes...

edit: yeah... what FA said FP and site design mutually exclusive

[Argh]

First off... I wanna see it running, not a screenshot, before I say whether I like it or not. I'd really like to see what tools are available to build pages with, because that sounds exciting to me.

But this pretty much gets past the hurdles with Tim's site, which ultimately became bogged down by technological crap that was less important than getting something done, and was poorly designed from a visual standpoint. With themes... hell, I could see my version, everybody else could see RoflCopter's, and we're all happy

Also i don't see why things should be rushed now, when things are still developing in the other thread.

Other than various static implementations of RoflCopter's design, I don't really see much... er... developing, koshi. I kept my word, and finished an entry, and that's all I said I was going to do. But people's comments pretty much convinced me that any further time spent on this on my part would be wasted.

I think it's mainly just a matter of how RoflCopter's design gets integrated into this, and I look forward to seeing people try to put it together with some PHP to rotate the mods and graphics, etc. on a daily basis... should be straightforward enough.

[SinbadEV]

First off... I wanna see it running, not a screenshot,

http://newspring.darkstars.co.uk/

[kiki]

This has nothing to do with the competition. the competition was for a front end. This is the actual infrastructure. All you have to do is mount that frond end on this infrastructure. There are no conflicts at all.

[Argh]

Hmm. Looked at it. Dunno yet. How do we do a nice, graphical presentation with this? If somebody knows, and could kindly explain to me how to upload graphics, I'll mess with it.

And I don't see anything like a nice, solid topbar, which is one of those things where if you hate it, too bad, most of the world's users like them, because it makes navigation straightforward... lost in the Wiki? Hit the Wiki button, go back to the main page... etc.

[Vadi]

Is this a CMS or a wiki?

[Warlord Zsinj]

What about the code that Gnomre made?

I think it has room to improve, say, with area for news, and a bit more dimensional support (though personally I'd be happy with it floating), but it's functional and it's very pretty.

[SinbadEV]

I know what you've got is a solid backend and I assume you also put some significant effort into the skin we're seeing there.

So here's my critique:

While we want to keep that light friendly "This is a community project" feel I want people to know that this is Real Time Strategy Game from the feel of the page. As such I think we need a more "hardcore" pallete... probably just darker colors is all I'm looking for.

The Big empty space at the top is a pain to look at for me. Ether we need an interesting header up there or the links need to be buttons or there just needs to be less empty space... just compress stuff down I guess.

Newheader.png

(94.57 KiB) Downloaded 5 times

Which brings me to my next point... the whole "SPRING ENGINE" text... it's just not hip enough to be at the top of every page... I'm not sure what WOULD be, but it just doesn't give the vibe I'm looking for... it might be a good idea to have a nice little panel indicating if you are logged in, if you have new PMs, if any threads you are watching are updated etc that links to your forum control panel... also it would be nice if I only had to log-in once for both parts.

I disagree on the toolbar thing... in fact I think that there should be a small link hidden somewhere for us to log-in to the wiki before you can even see that it is a wiki... having that extra inch of footer at the bottom there takes away from the page...

The "pictures" link should probably say "Gallery" or "Screenshots" or something like that.



ASIDE FROM ALL THAT, as it stands right now without changing anything I feel it is a significant step-up from what we've currently got.