I've been thinking of redesigning it if for no other reason than to make it mobile-friendly, but I was thinking of soliciting ideas from others about what they'd want to see on it. Mostly I am looking for opinions on style, but if anyone has any strong opinions on features I will welcome those, too.
The main reason why I haven't changed the front page is because I rather like the style that it already has - it's very reflective of DRD Team and in my opinion, gives it its identity. (And I think Grubber is a good page designer. )
But it's been at least a decade and - well, times change. Much as we all love clinging to the past, there are issues with the page that make it less compatible with modern (especially mobile) browsers.
My goal isn't to dump 2000 lines of Javascript code in from some unknown source and say "hey look cool we got menus that animate!". I just want it to be something that someone can, say, look at on their phone, and immediately go to any relevant page without too much issue. (If you were to try it now you'd get a zoomed out version of the page, which doesn't look terribly bad but it is unreadable)
Spoiler: Zen Sarcasm
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you fart.
6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
14. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
15. Don't squat with your spurs on.
16. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
17. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
18. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
19. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
20. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
21. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
22. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
23. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
24. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
25. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
26. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our behind. Then things get worse.
27. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
28. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
29. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
30. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 12.
31. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
As a matter of interest, how many hits does the front page get versus the forums?
I know that I tend to go straight to the forum but I agree that there should be a front page for the casual/first time visitor rather than the, perhaps, less approachable index page of a forum.
As for how the front page should look/behave; I too have very little to add. Functionally, it seems pretty good ATM. It could do with a few more pictures to make it attractive but that's a function of the stories/posts that get made for the front page rather than the structure of the page itself. I'm not proposing a graphics-heavy page though, merely something that creates a little visual interest for the story.
On average, currently, the front page gets about 9% of the hits that the forum does on a given day.
I was thinking of taking ideas from my existing designs from the devbuilds site and QZDoom, but probably using different backgrounds rather than just computer textures. If I do a background though, I am not really sure what I should do. Dark-gray/black scan-lines of some sort may work.
Spoiler: Zen Sarcasm
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you fart.
6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
14. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
15. Don't squat with your spurs on.
16. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
17. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
18. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
19. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
20. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
21. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
22. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
23. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
24. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
25. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
26. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our behind. Then things get worse.
27. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
28. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
29. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
30. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 12.
31. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
I thought about using the chevrons as a pattern. I'm not sure it'd work well though because it might make text on it harder to read? Dunno. I tried to make them low contrast though still distinctly chevrony shapes. Then I put a scanline effect on top just because why not. And this is built upon the devbuild site's main gradient, as you probably noticed, because that was faster than choosing a color. It's just a mockup to see how it could look, not a serious suggestion.
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you fart.
6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
14. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
15. Don't squat with your spurs on.
16. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
17. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
18. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
19. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
20. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
21. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
22. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
23. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
24. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
25. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
26. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our behind. Then things get worse.
27. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
28. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
29. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
30. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 12.
31. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
Either works. I have image conversion programs out the wazoo, so I doubt there's really any format I can't open.
Spoiler: Zen Sarcasm
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you fart.
6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
14. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
15. Don't squat with your spurs on.
16. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
17. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
18. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
19. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
20. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
21. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
22. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
23. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
24. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
25. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
26. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our behind. Then things get worse.
27. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
28. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
29. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
30. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 12.
31. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
It has four layers: one with the scanline, one with the chevron pattern, a single chevron that was used to create the pattern for flood-filling, and the background. XCF is Gimp's native format.
Surprisingly Photoshop can't read XCF documents (missed opportunity there, for Adobe...) but I was able to convert it with no issues.
It might be a week or two before I am able to do much with this, though, since I have taken on a couple other projects... (and some people wonder why I never complain about boredom ) - again, thanks.
Spoiler: Zen Sarcasm
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you fart.
6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
14. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
15. Don't squat with your spurs on.
16. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
17. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
18. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
19. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
20. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
21. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
22. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
23. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
24. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
25. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
26. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our behind. Then things get worse.
27. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
28. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
29. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
30. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 12.
31. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
One idea is to scan the various forums and use the main items of discussion as "news points" on the front page. This would provide a summary for the visitor. Of course, this would require someone's time. But perhaps you can get volunteers from the DRDTeam community to participate.It would also mean some type of editorial discretion would need to be exercised.
That is an idea worth considering, but that may require enforcing some type of activity on the staff in order to make it consistent and that is not something I feel I really should do.
However, I could possibly also include an RSS reader that combs through recent public posts and puts them up on the front page and creates a topic listing that way.
Spoiler: Zen Sarcasm
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you fart.
6. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
9. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
10. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
11. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
12. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
13. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
14. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.
15. Don't squat with your spurs on.
16. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
17. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
18. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
19. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
20. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
21. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
22. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
23. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
24. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
25. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
26. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our behind. Then things get worse.
27. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
28. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
29. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
30. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 12.
31. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them
Eruanna wrote:However, I could possibly also include an RSS reader that combs through recent public posts and puts them up on the front page and creates a topic listing that way.
There would need to be some editorial review before publication. But perhaps the RSS reader can be trained or programmed to identify important posts for selection.
)
