87 replies to this topic

[LinktheMaster]

Part of the reason I'm doing this thing in two columns is because three column layouts tend to get cluttered after the site fills with content, and PureZC exemplifies that. >_>

That we can definitely agree on. Down with the three column layout!

[Mitchfork]

I also prefer LinktheMaster's design. I think that a simple design based on a color theme is preferable to one with an image background; the image tends to be distracting and... a little bit cheesy, honestly. The first time I saw it, it just looked like a bunch of randomly placed blobs.

[Ben]

I don't have enough fonts to really come up with something that looks terribly unique, but here is a massive scaleable Triforce to go with whatever someone else might come up with.

Edited by Bagel, 20 November 2011 - 08:12 PM.

[LinktheMaster]

I made my own triforce that we can use!



I think it's really good, what with the angle at all. Very spiffy. Of course, we can also always use the true, original cheeseforce.

[sigtau]

Not necessarily a too-major-update, but I got rid of the tiny content boxes in favor of more spacious ones. The left pane is also highly incomplete. Now going to work on the dropdown menus.

Would like to point out that the reason for such a complicated background is because we never have a place to feature Map of the Month winners. Aside from that, if I don't blur the image when using it as a background, it renders all text on the page unreadable.

EDIT: Derp. Bug identified for lower resolutions. Fixing that.

EDIT 2: Bug fixed. It was the header, I had forgotten that it was set to relative positioning and would follow the viewport as the reader scrolls through, as well as the left content box sometimes overflowing into the right one. Also, I decided to deviate from the bright content boxes and inverted them--they're now dark, to contrast better with the text.

While I'm here, I'd like to clarify that the reason there's a map by Robin in the background is just to demonstrate something I wanted to do for Map of the Month, since it needs some love: on a (optional and disabled by default, mind you) fading background rotation, which can be toggled on and off using a link in the footer, the background will feature the latest Map of the Month victors. Maps will have to be scaled up to fit 1080p resolution and blurred so that it doesn't make the text look awful.

Unless there's another bug, now I'm working on the (optional) JS dropdown menus (or the fading backgrounds, whichever comes first).

http://sigmatauprodu...rezc/index.html

EDIT 3: Who likes optional background rotations? (This feature is to be completely optional, and if you have a slow computer or connection, I don't recommend you click this link.)

[LinktheMaster]

I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous. I understand that you want to help support Map of the Month. I get that. But you're making the site's emphasis 90% on it.

The website is supposed to highlight the content and text on the page, not the background image. Can you imagine browsing PureZC for 30 minutes or more with that? Even just one background image is painful to the eyes if you're looking at the page for too long.

[sigtau]

Ridiculous?

Well, then. I guess there's no point in continuing with my take on the design. (Not trying to sound condescending or anything. I mean, seriously, if it's that bad, why am I even bothering?)

Although this was a great way to tie together all of my CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript knowledge into one convenient package. No harm done.

[Rambly]

http://lz.rosenthalc...tzl/mockup.html

I made this back earlier this year for a ZC offshoot site I was briefly working on. I realize it has a lot of issues (the spacing is really awkward, the little icons next to submission/wiki updates are tacky as hell, other things), but I'm not likely to ever follow up and make it better or add more to it; I simply don't have the time nor do I care enough to work on it. Maybe it might give people some ideas? I dunno. I'm only posting this because other people asked me to. I don't care.

LTM, your site's layout is good, but the aesthetic is pretty terrible--Times New Roman is a hilariously bad font up there with Comic Sans MS, glossy gradients make the site look like something from out of 2005, and I'm really really really sick of the "pale blue" color schemes that infest so many generic "web 2.0" sites. Luckily, all of that can be changed pretty easily, and in terms of displaying information and being easy-to-navigate without bombarding the user with like 500 links (the way PureZC does now), it's pretty good.

[LinktheMaster]

Sorry, I may have been a bit harsh.

The overall layout isn't bad by any means. And some of the ideas you have are good. But you have to remember that PureZC's main site is about content. It's about the uploaded quests, tiles, tilesets, etc. People need to be able to see the content easily without getting distracted.

Edit: As far as your response, Rambly, I know. TNR is a terrible font for web sites. But I hadn't gotten to that point in the mockup. (Well, I say mockup, but it was actually coded.) It was in very, very early stages, and for some silly reason fonts are about the last thing I tinker with. As far as the pale blue color schemes... unfortunately, they're about all that I'm good at.

[Aslion]

i did the logo

[Moosh]

Sorry, I may have been a bit harsh.

The overall layout isn't bad by any means. And some of the ideas you have are good. But you have to remember that PureZC's main site is about content. It's about the uploaded quests, tiles, tilesets, etc. People need to be able to see the content easily without getting distracted.

I don't find it that distracting. But that may just be with the map used in sigtau's example layouts. Of course if MotM was used as the site background all the time, I'm be tempted to make some joke maps...

@Alison: We should so use that as the site logo every April fools.

Edited by Pokemonmaster64, 20 November 2011 - 11:54 PM.

[sigtau]

I don't find it that distracting. But that may just be with the map used in sigtau's example layouts. Of course if MotM was used as the site background all the time, I'm be tempted to make some joke maps...

If it's a joke map, it had better damn well scale nicely into 1080p--I had to omit quite a few winners just because they were too small

[Aslion]

@Alison: We should so use that as the site logo every day

yeah we should i fell it really embodies the main aspects of the site as a whole

Edited by Alison, 20 November 2011 - 11:56 PM.

[Rambly]

Edit: As far as your response, Rambly, I know. TNR is a terrible font for web sites. But I hadn't gotten to that point in the mockup. (Well, I say mockup, but it was actually coded.) It was in very, very early stages, and for some silly reason fonts are about the last thing I tinker with. As far as the pale blue color schemes... unfortunately, they're about all that I'm good at.

It's okay, don't take it too personally. I realize the color scheme'd probably be irrelevant anyway, since like I said, that's something that can be easily changed. That, and I'm ridiculously picky with color. I was probably being too harsh.
Anyway, as far as pale blue being all you're good at--maybe looking up/studying color theory would help you in that area. That, and lots and lots of experimentation with color. It helped me a little bit.

i did the logo

it'd be perfect if it used LTM's triforce

[Aslion]

it'd be perfect if it used LTM's triforce

I don't use "joke triforces" in my logos sorry