New Look Home Page

[archibalduk]

If you visit our main news home page (click here) you'll see that it has undergone a well-needed facelift!

I haven't been happy with the way our home page has looked for a number of years now and in fact I'd started redesigning many parts of the site over two years ago. However, I put it on the back-burner to concentrate on helping with the roster updates and developing EHM tools. I thought it was about time I implemented at least part of the design and, as a first step, I have uploaded the home page portion. I don't have a time estimate as to the implementation of the remaining parts of the site; it'll be a case of finding time in between working on the usual EHM updates/tools.

Please do let me know if you have any comments/suggestions about the new home page.

[bruins72]

Nice work! Looks great.

[Tasku]

Looks good!

[Peter_Doherty]

Gotta be honest, like the old look better.. but hey, im here to read and write about ehm and nhl so i dont really care how it looks either tbf

[Animal31]

I DONT LIKE IT I WANT TO GO HOME

[riz_si]

Looks good

[CJ]

Lil' bit "too big" for my taste on the fonts but other than that it looks fresh!

Where's my 1998db by the way? It's not showing in the Retro Databases?

[MWE]

Looks good well done

[nino33]

Hmmm...I use a small widescreen TV as a monitor, and now it feels like I'm looking at a smartphone screen now instead of a computer screen HaHa
While I like larger font (easier to read for my old man eyes!), the change is pretty significant and it sure lessens what I can see on the screen...not sure how well that'll work on other screens (especially Forum homepages)

I think I'd like the larger font once I was within an individual thread, but now on the Main News homepage all I see is the banner, the first news article and the current TBL rosters link (and they're both cut off right before their bottom); I used to be able to see multiple posts from the Recent Topics list without scrolling

Also, for me at least there's no Login available from the Main News homepage anymore


All that said, I too come for the content/discussion and can deal with a changing look/presentation

[Animal31]

functionally I dont like how it no longer shows the auther of the latest posts. I like to monitor that section to see new activity, but its hard to see what isnt me now

[Peter_Doherty]

Agree with Animal, thats my biggest annoyance aswell...

[CJ]

functionally I dont like how it no longer shows the auther of the latest posts. I like to monitor that section to see new activity, but its hard to see what isnt me now

Oh now that you pointed that out.
I log on here many many times a day... I used to see the last post here was posted by me, so nothing new and I'll leave the place. Now I'll actually have to click on the newest topic to see who's posted there.

[B. Stinson]

functionally I dont like how it no longer shows the auther of the latest posts. I like to monitor that section to see new activity, but its hard to see what isnt me now

Same here. That was always my primary way of seeing if someone has posted since my last visit.

[archibalduk]

Many thanks for all of the feedback. I'll look at revising the page based on what everybody has said above; i.e.:

• Look at reducing the text size slightly (certainly the title/headline text);
• Add the authors back to the Latest Posts list;
• Add the 1998 DB to the list of retro DBs (I think I missed it because it's not in our Downloads DB yet - I'll fix that too);
• If I can find some space, I'll restore the Login box;
• I think the news items are a bit too plain right now - too much white space.

The main motivation for the redesign is because the Home Page looked too much like a forum post and I felt didn't really look like a real home page. Also, the text was a bit on the small side and the headlines didn't stand out at all. I wanted to implement the changes now because 1) it had been sat on my hard drive since January 2013 and 2) I'm fed up with the long-winded method for updating the latest roster details on the old home page (the new one is much easier).

As for the rest of the forums, I don't plan on changing the look. It's only the site pages that I plan to redesign.

[CJ]

Keep editing the home page. You know you get feedback here and ideas if you need any!

The ""TBL Rosters" & "Challenge #35" boxes are nice. But the main articles on the right are pretty boring now with just plain text and a white background (as you also said). They'd need some kinda of boxes also. But having the same boxes as the left isn't good either.
I don't know but maybe changing the background colour to something darker might spice things up (darker blue or something bluish/blackish?)

[*]Add the 1998 DB to the list of retro DBs (I think I missed it because it's not in our Downloads DB yet - I'll fix that too);

Yes I noticed that too. Figured that was the issue with it.

[bruins72]

I miss my new PM indicator on the main page. I also liked having the new messages and unread messages links on the main page, but I understand not having them there so it doesn't look like a part of the forum.

[CJ]

I miss my new PM indicator on the main page. I also liked having the new messages and unread messages links on the main page, but I understand not having them there so it doesn't look like a part of the forum.

Didn't notice that either but yes the PM indicator needs to come back.

[archibalduk]

I've updated the home page. It's still a bit plain, but I've addressed everything else. Let me know what you think or if you think anything else should be changed.

[Animal31]

Well now it just looks bad

[bruins72]

Well now it just looks bad

That's a bit rude. Don't you think?

[nino33]

I like it!

I was checking in as changes were occurring! At first I noticed each item take up a whole horizontal bar of it's own (not a good look I thought), and then after reading a couple posts I noticed the "new look" and immediately had a positive response! The "columned version" is IMO a good look!

I didn't like the previous change/look, and to be honest was feeling I wanted the old look back...until I saw today's changes. For me, I like the columned look. And I like how I can see even more at a glance now, and the concerns that were brought up have been addressed...I like the changes (surprising myself a bit HaHa).

The new look Home Page looks good! Congrats Arch!


What I don't like...based on what I'm seeing I'm not a fan of how the news item sections go on and on with blank on either side, requiring a lot of scrolling and also not very pleasing to the eye...I think it'd be best with a minimum amount of scrolling on a main page (i.e. not much lower than the Recent Topicss section; if future "center column posts" are written with brevity in mind, and a link to open up for more I think that'd be a good idea

Also, regarding the Retro Rosters spot (which I love! surprise surprise HaHa)
- maybe the new 1998 CJ Rosters post should include the link to the WIP thread? http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... &start=150
- maybe CJ's update of the 2006 UUDB should be included too? http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... 13&t=11256


That's my two cents

[Animal31]

whatever it is right now dont touch it for like 4 years

[archibalduk]

I was checking in as changes were occurring! At first I noticed each item take up a whole horizontal bar of it's own (not a good look I thought), and then after reading a couple posts I noticed the "new look" and immediately had a positive response! The "columned version" is IMO a good look!

Once the edited html/php/css files are uploaded, the site's cache has to be updated otherwise only certain parts of the pages are updated. So you must have caught it between me uploading the files and refreshing the cache!

I didn't like the previous change/look, and to be honest was feeling I wanted the old look back...until I saw today's changes. For me, I like the columned look. And I like how I can see even more at a glance now, and the concerns that were brought up have been addressed...I like the changes (surprising myself a bit HaHa).

I'm glad to hear that. I haven't been a fan of our old look for a number of years now. The forum is obviously the key part of our site, but I'd like a more modern home/landing page which looks like a real news page rather than a forum index (which is how I felt the old home page looked). Also, things such as the retro rosters and latest roster links can now be edited via the site's database rather than having to manually edit the site's files and reset the cache each time.

What I don't like...based on what I'm seeing I'm not a fan of how the news item sections go on and on with blank on either side, requiring a lot of scrolling and also not very pleasing to the eye...I think it'd be best with a minimum amount of scrolling on a main page (i.e. not much lower than the Recent Topicss section; if future "center column posts" are written with brevity in mind, and a link to open up for more I think that'd be a good idea

Ok, I'll have a think about this. I can impose a text limit before news items are "snipped" with a "Read More..." link to read the full article. Or alternatively, the first one or two news items are displayed in full and the remaining items are shown just as headlines along with some image depicting their category. Or something vaguely similar to this perhaps: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/

Also, regarding the Retro Rosters spot (which I love! surprise surprise HaHa)
- maybe the new 1998 CJ Rosters post should include the link to the WIP thread? http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... &start=150
- maybe CJ's update of the 2006 UUDB should be included too? http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... 13&t=11256

Good point about the 2006 rosters - I've added them to the list. I think I'd rather the links go to the latest download page rather than the discussion threads. I see the links on the home page as a quick way for users to download a DB - and also most/all download threads have a link to the related discussion thread.

[nino33]

- maybe the new 1998 CJ Rosters post should include the link to the WIP thread? http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/vi ... &start=150

I think I'd rather the links go to the latest download page rather than the discussion threads. I see the links on the home page as a quick way for users to download a DB - and also most/all download threads have a link to the related discussion thread.

I see now the link to the related discussion thread within the 1998 download thread, that's what I was thinking was missing (if it was already/always there I missed seeing it yesterday HaHa)

[batdad]

I hate change. Grumble.


I guess it looks good.