[Feedback Wanted] Proposed Frontpage Changes

[NetRyder]

why the foot dragging? this should have been completed 5 minutes before you told me about it

*runs and hides*

Don't look at me. I'm not the one with access to the server.

*points at EP and runs*

 

[madmatt]

EP is slow, especially now that he has IE7 RTM to play with.

 

[gonaads]

Hey since the front page is getting somewhat cleaned up and streamlined. Ummm, maybe get rid of the "last comment was by..." thing at the bottom of each news story. The "XX comments" at the top of each story is fine. This way we know that people have commented on the story. But we really don't need to know who the last one to comment was, do we? If we wanna know then we can click on the "XX comments " thing at the top of the story and go see. It would also be a way to get people into the commenting area and then they read and maybe post a comment. Or someone that already commented goes in and sees that there are more comments they could post another... ummm, comment. Man that word is getting worn out. Well, ya see what I'm gettin at.

 

[NetRyder]

EP is slow, especially now that he has IE7 RTM to play with.

Well, let's see what else we can improve in the meantime.

A few observations:

1) The sidebar needs some cleaning up. Omar brought this up earlier. I think the "Statistics" section could be moved to the bottom of the sidebar. It's interesting information for site staff, but provides no value to regular visitors. I also propose removing all the 88x31 affiliate buttons and maintaining a text-only list. The medley of disparate colors is a real eye-sore there. In fact, how about having the top 5 affiliates (determined by certain criteria) on the main page, and a "More" link to a static page listing all of them?

2) Ad placement: I just logged out of my account to see how the page looks with ads, and I think we could definitely do some refactoring in this area as well. I was thinking of repositioning some of the ads (without reducing the number of them, of course) so that they're less distracting, but still clearly visible. And is there a reason why the AdSense color scheme is green when the rest of the page is composed of shades of blue?

3) The logo. Everyone wants a new one - something different and distinctive. I haven't really thought about this yet, but I think it would do some good if more people brainstormed for ideas in this case. It would be really great if some of you could describe your ideas in words, or better yet, create a rough draft and post it here for feedback. I understand that this will probably be more time consuming, so the rest of the changes can definitely be implemented even if this one isn't done in time.

Thoughts?

 

[kcnychief]

Hey since the front page is getting somewhat cleaned up and streamlined. Ummm, maybe get rid of the "last comment was by..." thing at the bottom of each news story. The "XX comments" at the top of each story is fine. This way we know that people have commented on the story. But we really don't need to know who the last one to comment was, do we? If we wanna know then we can click on the "XX comments " thing at the top of the story and go see. It would also be a way to get people into the commenting area and then they read and maybe post a comment. Or someone that already commented goes in and sees that there are more comments they could post another... ummm, comment. Man that word is getting worn out. Well, ya see what I'm gettin at.

I like that idea a lot

 

[Sazar]

Fwiw, the front page font looks like ass.

:smoker:

 

[gonaads]

Statistics = colapsable

Affiliates = link to small popup window with their logos that double as links (not that anyone would want to go and visit them when they can be here )

New Logo = a Button style Logo similar to the "Windows Vista" "OSNN Chat" "Folding @ Home" buttons you have on your mockup pages, but bigger with OSNN on it.

 

[gonaads]

Fwiw, the front page font looks like ass.

:smoker:

Hey, what's wrong with ass? I like ass, you don't like ass...? Well, a woman's ass.

 

[Grandmaster]

Well, let's see what else we can improve in the meantime.

A few observations:

Thoughts?

1) Agreed. And the "recent articles" should be renamed since the most "recent" article is from 2004. Of course it can stay the same once we pimp that section and people start submitting reviews/guides.

2) Heh, totally forgot about them.

3) Yes, start thinking up ideas guys!

P.S. We should make everything pink. I'm sick of blue.

Hey, what's wrong with ass? I like ass, you don't like ass...? Well, a woman's ass.

Don't you know? He only likes weiners. And Derek's camping trips.

 

[gonaads]

heh heh heh

 

[madmatt]

I suggested designing a script that displays two or three of the affiliate images (randomly) then displaying the rest as text links.

Also add padding (top and bottom) so they are spaced out a bit (not on top of one another).

A new logo for OSNN? I'm game.

 

[Electronic Punk]

Will retort after coffee.

 

[ming]

Doesn't come out very well, maybe i don't have that font you're talking about, but then i don't see it in arial either. everything is like it's squashed from the sides.

 

[Electronic Punk]

My feedback, tho I am sure some of you know I already rolled out a few things

Kinda like the new buttons, vista one is a good idea but not sure where it will link. I collapse my headline box (something you have omitted ) so I would really like a forum button up there as I dfind myself looking where to click when its collapsed - often resort to the link on the left.

A few days hopefully we will be a Windows Vista featured community so that graphic should be updated, lets hope it fits in!

not sure where to put the RSS/Live buttons, did have them on every single post but it was fairly redudant, it was there to represent all categories but one for all will generally suit. Just need to find a good spot for it.

Headers might be too clear, but I like the idea of changing them, might be able to make them more css friendly too.
Will have to see how things work out on the last one, sure we can come up with something cool.


- Left space with quotes, would love to have the text wrap around that but I found that if you insert an image it all goes to hell, perhaps there is a cooler way to integrate them, I think the offset quoting method really works for us.

Basic news images? I do try to standardise them - ie 100x100 no transparency on the outer edges, up to the news posters to try and stick to them - I have found myself replacing eisting images but not so ofte. I don't think breaking down the icons intocategories is the way to go.

Recent articles is staying, I keep starting articles but never have the time to finish them, kinda sucks, really wanted to write an wmp11 one, got all the data together but just can't sit down and write.

Stats I like tho were affected recently by a change made to the forums. Affiliates is part of a deal really, or at least some, I might be able to remove a few of them to a special links section called affilates, but I tend to operate on an hour system where if the affilite shows our link on every page of their site, I do the same, again link buttons have the same deal. I am making it harder and harder to affiliate with us.

Reduced the main font on the frontpage to 12, and the headline one to 13, some others need to be knocked down by one as well really, will do that quite soon.

I have restarted the comment customisations for the actual shownews pages, but currently only on my test theme of the moment - 800. Will be rolled out quite soon.

Last comment by I quite like, I guess it could be made alt text on the comment button itself, would need to see how it looks. Comment button could be moved to the top now I have.will be remoivng the rss/live buttons from that area.

Ad placement I worked quite hard on, a pain when you need to log out to see them Google was green to moth bring a little colou and make it obvious that it was an add, I have changed some back to blue.

Logo I am gonna be extra fussy about, needs alot of thinking

 

[NetRyder]

Kinda like the new buttons, vista one is a good idea but not sure where it will link. I collapse my headline box (something you have omitted ) so I would really like a forum button up there as I dfind myself looking where to click when its collapsed - often resort to the link on the left.

I was thinking of having the Vista button link to the current "Windows Beta" section of the forum, and eventually to a Windows Vista section if/when we have one. Just a way to bring people into the section.

Forum button shouldn't be a problem. This could be the fourth button in place of the old IRC one. Basically, let's decide on a set of four buttons, and I'll get them done in the same style as the ones in the screenshot (still have my PSD templates, of course).

A few days hopefully we will be a Windows Vista featured community so that graphic should be updated, lets hope it fits in!

Cool! I hope so too.

not sure where to put the RSS/Live buttons, did have them on every single post but it was fairly redudant, it was there to represent all categories but one for all will generally suit. Just need to find a good spot for it.

The small orange blip is small enough that it doesn't really add clutter or get in the way. I wouldn't mind seeing it on every node for categorization purposes.

The Live button is a bit large, and frankly, I'm not sure I see a need for it on every node. It's just another online aggregator, and people who click the RSS button can choose to subscribe to the feed in the aggregator of their choice anyway.

Headers might be too clear, but I like the idea of changing them, might be able to make them more css friendly too.
Will have to see how things work out on the last one, sure we can come up with something cool.

Too clear? Isn't that a good thing? :lick:
Any suggestions on what you might want me to change here then?

- Left space with quotes, would love to have the text wrap around that but I found that if you insert an image it all goes to hell, perhaps there is a cooler way to integrate them, I think the offset quoting method really works for us.

I'm sort of okay with the offset quoting, but what do you think about the replacement image here? I think it's a little more subtle and blends in better with the rest of the node than the blocky blue one.

Basic news images? I do try to standardise them - ie 100x100 no transparency on the outer edges, up to the news posters to try and stick to them - I have found myself replacing eisting images but not so ofte. I don't think breaking down the icons intocategories is the way to go.

Yeah, I think this is pretty much left to the person posting the news. Choose nice icons, and we should be fine.

Recent articles is staying, I keep starting articles but never have the time to finish them, kinda sucks, really wanted to write an wmp11 one, got all the data together but just can't sit down and write.

Doesn't hurt to leave the section there. Would certainly be even better if we had more content, but that's work in progress.

Stats I like tho were affected recently by a change made to the forums. Affiliates is part of a deal really, or at least some, I might be able to remove a few of them to a special links section called affilates, but I tend to operate on an hour system where if the affilite shows our link on every page of their site, I do the same, again link buttons have the same deal. I am making it harder and harder to affiliate with us.

There should be something we can do to clean up this area though, right?

Reduced the main font on the frontpage to 12, and the headline one to 13, some others need to be knocked down by one as well really, will do that quite soon.

Good call. Size 12 is what was being used in the screenshot, so it looks a bit more like what I have on my local copy now.

Last comment by I quite like, I guess it could be made alt text on the comment button itself, would need to see how it looks. Comment button could be moved to the top now I have.will be remoivng the rss/live buttons from that area.

I tried moving the Comments button to the top-right and removing the "Last comment by" text. It looked unbalanced to me (content on three corners, blank bottom-right corner), but I can try to play with this some more later.

Ad placement I worked quite hard on, a pain when you need to log out to see them Google was green to moth bring a little colou and make it obvious that it was an add, I have changed some back to blue.

You pay the bills, and you know what works, so this is totally upto you.
I'm still seeing green AdSense ads on the frontpage though?

Logo I am gonna be extra fussy about, needs alot of thinking

Definitely. This is something I imagine we'll tackle at the very end...unless, of course, someone suddenly comes up with something absolutely brilliant.

 

[Electronic Punk]

When I say ad placement fits it was quite hard work to make sure it looked ok with both the ads there and not there using ultimately the same code.

I do like the new quote icon, is closer to what I was looking for originally.

Can't be clearer on the style yet, keep wowing me with your examples

800 theme was updated slightly and I am about to push it to the other styles, needs adjustments tho so should be up in an hour unless something around here starts not working.

 

[Electronic Punk]

Also wanna reduce the size of

View: Internet Explorer Homepage

News source: Neowin

Down to same as the menu, too big atm I think and would be good to have them look a little different somehow. Need to edit the php (I think) for that, or the .js at the least.

 

[Sazar]

Ok, am I the only one still who thinks that the front-page font looks like ass?

I thought we were trying to attract more people? That font is too bloody hard on the eyes, WAY too hard to read.

Never knew we had a problem with the font

Boo...

 

[Electronic Punk]

Ok so another thing to address and will also see what will work better from my previous post.

Got size 11 and 12 fonts there with icons, wanna tart those up as much as posible really, currently IE6/XP icons time to update them I guess

 

[Sazar]

Looks decent enough