# Work Continues on New Front Page Theme



## Michael Morris (Feb 2, 2004)

Russ and I collaborated some more on a new front page setup.  Here's a gif of what's in store and as usual I'm asking for comments.


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## Tallok (Feb 2, 2004)

ooh ooh, me likey 
Edit: didn't morrus want to keep the globe how it is now? Even so, it works best the way it is in your sample pic, IMO


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## Crothian (Feb 2, 2004)

What's wrong with the current one?  I don't think it needs changed.

edit:    bad t....


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## Michael Morris (Feb 2, 2004)

Crothian said:
			
		

> What's wrong with the current one?  I don't think it needs changed.
> 
> edit:    bad t....




The current set up is, well, kinda cluttered and wastes a lot of space, especially at the top.  It isn't as well seperated off.  Put them side by side and this becomes clear.

As for the globe, The main impetus for changing it is that I don't have the original globe used in creating the image.  Not having the original creates tons of graphic editting problems which I've discussed with Russ, though he's yet to make a final ruling.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 2, 2004)

It looks ok, except the bright yellow lines all over the place, are well too bright. If the color on those were toned done a bit it's be wicked cool.


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## AGGEMAM (Feb 2, 2004)

I like the main links being at the very top but there is no need to reapeat them on the left side.

Also somehow get that original globe.

And as Sir O said toning down the yellow lines a bit would make it more reader friendly, in fact toning down the yellow colour used as a whole.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 2, 2004)

Below are the two themes beside each other.  Note how much higher on the page the news starts on the new theme than on the old (almost 2 inches on a 15" screen).  This is accomplished without appearing cluttered.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 2, 2004)

AGGEMAM said:
			
		

> I like the main links being at the very top but there is no need to reapeat them on the left side.




Actually there is.  Until the new theme is set as the default removing a link from one theme would remove it from both themes.



> Also somehow get that original globe.




I searched for 7 hours one night for it and couldn't find it.  If you find it let me know.



> And as Sir O said toning down the yellow lines a bit would make it more reader friendly, in fact toning down the yellow colour used as a whole.




The yellow bars seperate each area from each other.  Removing them would make the page feel squished.


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## AGGEMAM (Feb 2, 2004)

And as you're going for the rounded corner dividing line style, you should look into making all the yellow bordered boxes with rounded corners too.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 2, 2004)

AGGEMAM said:
			
		

> And as you're going for the rounded corner dividing line style, you should look into making all the yellow bordered boxes with rounded corners too.




Nah, the 56.6 users probably wouldn't like the extra bandwidth that would take (about 100K). Neither would the server for that matter.


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## AGGEMAM (Feb 2, 2004)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> Actually there is.




Well, then I assume you imply that they are gone in the final version, right?



			
				Michael Morris said:
			
		

> The yellow bars seperate each area from each other.  Removing them would make the page feel squished.




I wasn't saying anything about removing them but rather turning the tone of the colour down.


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## AGGEMAM (Feb 2, 2004)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> Nah, the 56.6 users probably wouldn't like the extra bandwidth that would take (about 100K). Neither would the server for that matter.




So why even go for it as the dividing line, either you follow oyur style through, or you think of something else. I for one would not like to see a style that is not at least tried followed through.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 2, 2004)

I'll think on it.  Curving the outer rectangles would involve a *lot* of code that would have to be sent to the browser each time the page loads.  Surprisingly this new style is about the same size as the one it is replacing - a little smaller even - but I hesitate to add much else to it over concerns of fluff.

Personally it doesn't bother me that the major bar (and the ad tab) is curved off and the others are square.


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## AGGEMAM (Feb 2, 2004)

As a possible compomise you could consider is rounding the edge on the big ad-box on the right and toning the yellow colour down, that would make the small boxes _appear_ rounded somewhat.


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## HellHound (Feb 2, 2004)

looks great to me!


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 2, 2004)

> I wasn't saying anything about removing them but rather turning the tone of the colour down.





Uh,what he said.   With all the other colors being dark those bright shiney yellow lines are glaring. Definatly need to be switched to a more subdued color.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 6, 2004)

Ok, You guys' suggestions have been duly noted and here is the result.  More comments welcome.


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## Tallok (Feb 6, 2004)

It's a little..errr.... greeen, but, while it's still good, I had no problem with the first one


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## Darrin Drader (Feb 7, 2004)

When posted side by side with the current one, I'm definitely in favor of the new one. It has a nice look to it.


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Feb 7, 2004)

That's a definate improvement! The darker color on those lines makes then far less glaring. The new ones easier on the eyes and shouldn't draw attention away from everything else on the page, like the bright yellow ones did.


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## Morrus (Feb 7, 2004)

I agree - the second one is better.


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## Varianor Abroad (Feb 7, 2004)

I like the second one and the new look. Although I found the fonts a little harder to read now that it's showing on the front page?


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## talinthas (Feb 7, 2004)

i don't really like the new font.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 7, 2004)

Heh heh - It's same font guys.  Sometimes it's a little smaller, but both versions use Verdana as their font.

Anyway, I guess the new front is official since Russ changed it over.


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## talinthas (Feb 7, 2004)

actually, after looking at it, i think that what was bugging me is that the font is very bright.  is it possible to tone it down one step?


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## Michael Morris (Feb 7, 2004)

talinthas said:
			
		

> actually, after looking at it, i think that what was bugging me is that the font is very bright.  is it possible to tone it down one step?




Very possible and very easy, but let's gather some more opinions on the matter eh tal?

Anyone else think the text should come down a couple notches??  Russ?


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## BobROE (Feb 7, 2004)

Ya, there's something wrong with the text, and I think it's the brightness (if the font hasn't changed).


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## maggot (Feb 7, 2004)

Hate the new font.  I couldn't even finish reading today's news with that font.


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## WayneLigon (Feb 7, 2004)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> Russ and I collaborated some more on a new front page setup. Here's a gif of what's in store and as usual I'm asking for comments.



I like it _a great deal_. Extremely pleasing to the eye.


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## Morrus (Feb 7, 2004)

The text does, indeed, look different (worse), but I can't quite put my finger on the difference.  It is the same font, so it must be a different size?


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## Michael Morris (Feb 7, 2004)

Well, I put my finger on the difference..  It was 

font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif;

Changed it to

font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;

For those not familiar with CSS, that is a search order - not all people's computers have the same fonts on them, so you are best off choosing a sequence of fonts.  The first one is the "first choice" and if it isn't available the browser goes to the second and so on.

Verdana is the Vbulletin default font and was the font used on the giga-insetable rogue theme (the "old theme" of news).  I forgot that tahoma was pre-empting it.

The font is set to 12 pt. for now in most instances.  The old style set had the fonts set up relatively..

The colors are actually the same on both styles - I didn't change that part of the style sheet at all so I'm somewhat puzzled when folks say the colors are worse - they're the same.


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## herald (Feb 8, 2004)

I love it. Keep it.


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## RangerWickett (Feb 8, 2004)

Well, I think the dividing line is too green-brown.  I'd rather go for a pale silver-gold color.  Both desaturated and darker than the original yellow, not just darker.

I'm not logged in, I don't think, but the clock on the site defaults to US Eastern Time, correct?  Maybe put a note to that effect.


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## buzz (Feb 9, 2004)

Just curious: did the letter-spacing of the new main page chage? I'm finding it harder to read than the old design. Also, IMHO, the left side of the page could use a little padding; the text butts right up against the edge of my browser window (noticed on both Win IE6 and Mac Safari 1.2). I also agree with RangerWickett that the line is kind of an ugly color.

More curiousness: What do you guys have against dark text on a light background? Seems to have worked well for the last few millenia of print technology.


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## Nifelhein (Feb 9, 2004)

I think it looks a lot better, but I like the new style of showing news instead of the old one and I use karate theme right now.

Anyway, there is no link to the new style anymore... lucky me, have bookmarked it at home! 

Anyhow... it looks too green indeed, maybe people having problem have the tahoma font installed and now they have to look at verdana, that is what happenned to me.

Maybe the borders would be better with lemmonchiff too. And I always disliked that 3 image that is found in the black area... since noah's site!

And I like the red enpublishing theme better, just hate the logo, prefer enwolrd's.. oh god, I might have a hard time now...


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## maggot (Feb 9, 2004)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> Well, I put my finger on the difference..  It was
> 
> font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif;
> 
> ...





That's interesting, because the font displayed on my browser went from a very readable 10pt Arial to a very unreadable 9pt Tahoma.

I'm not happy at all with the change in font.  Other than removing Tahoma from my machine, does anyone know a way for me to control the font displayed?


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## Michael Morris (Feb 10, 2004)

maggot said:
			
		

> That's interesting, because the font displayed on my browser went from a very readable 10pt Arial to a very unreadable 9pt Tahoma.
> 
> I'm not happy at all with the change in font.  Other than removing Tahoma from my machine, does anyone know a way for me to control the font displayed?




Refresh your cache.  CSS style sheets cache seperate from their parent page.


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## William Ronald (Feb 10, 2004)

I like the new design, and found it easy on the eyes. I was not distracted by the colors or the boxes.

Good job!!!


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## jdfrenzel (Feb 10, 2004)

I much prefer the new look. Cleaner, easier to pick out my hot spots, and easier to read. Well done!


--- John


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## Holy Bovine (Feb 10, 2004)

New front page =


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## maggot (Feb 10, 2004)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> Refresh your cache.  CSS style sheets cache seperate from their parent page.




Thanks, but that doesn't work.  I could handle the font if the size wasn't hard-coded.  No matter my browsers font setting (smallest to largest), the font comes out 9pt, which is very small.

I can't comment on the rest of the changes because I can't get past the font.


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## Michael Morris (Feb 10, 2004)

maggot said:
			
		

> Thanks, but that doesn't work.  I could handle the font if the size wasn't hard-coded.  No matter my browsers font setting (smallest to largest), the font comes out 9pt, which is very small.
> 
> I can't comment on the rest of the changes because I can't get past the font.




I'm not abandoning you maggot - Your browser wouldn't be NS by any chance?  If so that's the problem - NS uses a slightly different stylesheet and I forgot to update it.  Doing so now...


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## Michael Morris (Feb 10, 2004)

Ok guys, made some minor changes in response to your continuing comments.

Resolved the font issue.  It's now set to Verdana as it should be on all browsers, not just IE.
Added a 5 pixel spacer to the left margin to get the left menus off the side of the page.
Changed the clock to it's own style setting - on some browsers it and the search bar were so large they were messing up the rendering at the top.
Changed the seperator to gray #666666.  Noticable but not as audacious as #ffff99 yellow or #666600 yellow-green.

With that I think we're good to go.


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## maggot (Feb 10, 2004)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> I'm not abandoning you maggot - Your browser wouldn't be NS by any chance?  If so that's the problem - NS uses a slightly different stylesheet and I forgot to update it.  Doing so now...




Thanks.  Actually, I switch between IE on Windows and NS on Linux.  I'm on IE now, and the font has gone to Veranda, thank heavens.  If only I could control the font size.  9pt is a bit small for my eyes.

I'll take a look with NS later.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Feb 11, 2004)

New front page looks very professional.  Good work!

One question ... the "3" icons in the background look familiar ... they aren't someone's IP, are they?


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## buzz (Feb 11, 2004)

FWIW, I'm noticing some display anomalies with Safari 1.2 and IE 5.2.3 under MacOS X 10.3.2. Screenshots available below.

http://www.buzzmo.com/enworld/

I like the grey stripe; change the other greeny-yellow lines, too!


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## Chacal (Feb 11, 2004)

I really like the new look. Thanks Michael !

Chacal


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## Nifelhein (Feb 11, 2004)

It looks great, but the day grey rectangle does not have a separator, if it would have I think it would look better. Anyway, it looks marvelous other than that.

The 3 on the background was from Eric Noah's site, unless I am wrong, and I never quite liked it... but other than that I like this theme better than any other now, and am gonna stick with it.


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