87 replies to this topic

[Cukeman]

So if someone was to try their hand at this what would you like to see?
Some palettes, some buttons, what exactly needs done?

[Wild Bill]

A concept logo and/or a mockup for a homepage design would be awesome.

[sigtau]

A concept logo and/or a mockup for a homepage design would be awesome.

Design mockup?



EDIT: Okay, here you go.

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

A really, really, really rudimentary mockup of what I think the site could look like. There are still some features I'd like to implement, such as dropdown menus ("Quests" will drop down to reveal "2.50 quests", "2.10 quests" and so forth), and really minor quirks (the nav links at the top require JavaScript, which is a simple fix), but I thought I'd post to you guys and see what you think.

Tested and working in Firefox, IE, and Chrome. Optimized for resolutions of 1024x768 or higher, can go as high as 1920x1080.

[Adem]

I like it! I assume the forums, chat and such would all fit under "Community". It's nifty!

[Radien]

As I said on IRC, I like it. Looks great, sigtau.

[Yapollo]

sigtau's design looks promising. You could even change the background periodically (but you can't use "busy" maps, which is a pity, because I like those).

Anyways, looks great, sigtau.

[Ventus]

I like what sigtau has made..but with my crappy dial-up, the page would probable take a really long time to load for me.

Which I do love the look of it, its just my Internet wouldn't be able to handle it much at all, it would be awesome if you guys did use this design, but added a option for dial-up users like myself, the options Is,

1. Basic page view = The page would look like the same old page, that would load better on dial-up

2. Standard view = The page would look like sigtau's awesome page design.

Now what I thought, is have it where's there's a new option in the user control panel, where they could chose what type view they could use, If that was possible, that would be awesome!.

But thats only if you guys use sigtau's page design, or anyones else that is made like sigtau's page.

Thats only a thought . and sorry if I went off-topic

[sigtau]

In the process of doing the dropdown menus right now, and making their functionality completely optional. Possibly going to also make an optional JavaScript which will rotate the map used in the background. Going to also attempt to mock up a page that shows the quest listing, and a general content page that can be used as a base for when the forums need to be skinned into the design.

As for loading time, dialup is one of those tricky things in web design, and nowadays, since less than 10% of the web audience uses dialup, it's often common practice to only optimize for a slow DSL connection at the very worst. Not to totally disregard you there, but it's just that not a lot of people are on dialup nowadays and accomodating for such a small part of the userbase is sort of a waste of time--at this stage, anyways.

[Old-Skool]

friggin sweet, TMS. I saw Zero Quest in that mockup

Also, it looks like you went with my idea regarding the map background. I like it.

Edited by King Aquamentus, 20 November 2011 - 05:56 PM.

[Ventus]

Well if the page does get sigtau's design, , I had to do some modifying on my browser but now at least it loads a lot faster then before, so I guess I can live with it
If it does get that look though, I'll live, it might be little slower, but hey its nice looking <3

Edited by Ventus, 20 November 2011 - 06:10 PM.

[LinktheMaster]

I'm actually not fond of it.

Sure, it's pretty, but it's not a very effective web site at all. The background is much too busy, there's not much room for content, and its looks suffer at larger screen resolutions (the left pane is left aligned, but the right pane is right aligned with a lot of nothingness in the middle). The design overall would feel a lot better for a simple site to showcase one's own work (as in a personal gallery of artwork, web sites, whatever), but it it doesn't have the feel of a site where people contribute, post comments, talk on a discussion board, etc.

Your coding is also not good for people who have javascript disabled, but this is merely a concept demo, so I can forgive that.

So, it's a nice design. Is it a nice design for PZC? I personally don't think so.

Edit: Hmm... I guess I'll post a design mockup I had for a replacement ZC site. http://dl.dropbox.co...404/zcsite3.png It's not the best in the world, and it's not "PZCified", but I think it would look okay with a green look. But I'm not good with color schemes.

[sigtau]

I'm actually not fond of it.

Sure, it's pretty, but it's not a very effective web site at all. The background is much too busy, there's not much room for content, and its looks suffer at larger screen resolutions (the left pane is left aligned, but the right pane is right aligned with a lot of nothingness in the middle). The design overall would feel a lot better for a simple site to showcase one's own work (as in a personal gallery of artwork, web sites, whatever), but it it doesn't have the feel of a site where people contribute, post comments, talk on a discussion board, etc.

Directly addressing the content space thing, because I only just got back to my 1600x900 resolution at home. Going to expand it drastically. I was trying to make it so that you'd never have to use a body scrollbar (a scrollbar on the whole page) but it looks like I can't get around that due to a limitation in CSS where you can't place percentage height values within each other (a necessity for the heights and widths to properly interact).

As for the look and feel thing, that's entirely due to the fact that I'm utilizing typography that you would find on a more 'stylized' website, rather than one designed just for 'functionality.' A "functionally stylized" website would take far more time, and fall into the line of designs for websites like Twitter or Facebook--and consequently, if we want to keep up with what WildBill was trying to say ("the web has changed a lot since then" etc.) then it would also require some heavy use of JavaScript, possibly even to the point of breaking the site if JS is disabled altogether.

I promise it'll end up looking a little more appropriate once I fix the content box issue.

Your coding is also not good for people who have javascript disabled, but this is merely a concept demo, so I can forgive that.

Wait until I get the next iteration of the demo up, this will change.

So, it's a nice design. Is it a nice design for PZC? I personally don't think so.

Edit: Hmm... I guess I'll post a design mockup I had for a replacement ZC site. http://dl.dropbox.co...404/zcsite3.png It's not the best in the world, and it's not "PZCified", but I think it would look okay with a green look. But I'm not good with color schemes.

Clean and simple, I like it. Definitely a stark contrast from what I had going there. It's entirely up to WildBill on what we end up doing with the site, though, so I suppose we just have to wait.

[Ben]

I'd vastly prefer something like LTM's design. In PureZC's case you probably want something that embodies function more than form. Plus (even though you're not going to be playing ZC on one) it would be a lot more smartphone-friendly. I don't think PureZC needs a true mobile site, but what it does need is something clean and standards-based. Not too JavaScript heavy, and no Flash!

Honestly, something similar to how it is now but with a better submission management system would be great. I might toss together a mockup, actually, though page design is not my forté either.

[LinktheMaster]

if we want to keep up with what WildBill was trying to say ("the web has changed a lot since then" etc.) then it would also require some heavy use of JavaScript, possibly even to the point of breaking the site if JS is disabled altogether.

Well, I think he meant that he believes it should become a "web 2.0" site. What exactly does this mean? It's kind of an abstract term. Part of web 2.0 means easy user interaction, typically with javascript or HTML 5. I agree that having some JavaScript or HTML5 stuff would be nice. I would love to see things like comments happen through AJAX or something similar. However, nothing critical (like posting comments, seeing screenshots, etc.) should rely completely with JavaScript. Added thrills, sure. But not critical. But there are ways to get both to work.

But another big part of web 2.0 is a nice, easy to read, clean interface. Look at big examples of web 2.0. They typically have a few, distinct colors, are simplistic, and typically aren't too busy outside of the header. Not all web 2.- sites are like this, but that typically stands for the movement.

I do agree that WB (and I'd say the userbase in general) has a lot of input to give.

Honestly, something similar to how it is now but with a better submission management system would be great. I might toss together a mockup, actually, though page design is not my forté either.

Well, some things on PureZC, while they are functional, need to be improved, especially if things get added. The side bar isn't very intuitive, and if some other things get added... say... scripting and tutorial databases, then the sidebar gets even more cluttered. The shoutbox, while it is decently used, isn't really necessary. It's mostly spammish. It could be replaced by a lot more useful stuff, such as screenshots from the newest submissions, information about PZC/ZC, and other random stuff.

But, I'd definitely encourage more people to whip up mockups, even if they're simplistic MS paint ones.

[sigtau]

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. >_>