Author Topic: New site  (Read 7047 times)

bluemonkmn

  • SGDK Author
  • Administrator
  • Fanatic
  • *****
  • Posts: 2761
    • ICQ Messenger - 2678251
    • MSN Messenger - BlueMonkMN@gmail.com
    • View Profile
    • http://sgdk2.sf.net/
    • Email
New site
« on: 2011-05-12, 05:22:20 AM »
Just a quick note (no time to elaborate right now).  I am considering posting a newly formatted site. You can preview it here: http://samlancashire.com/sgdk2.  I welcome comments about whether the new site is 100% better or if you would miss any elements fromt eh old site.

Vincent

  • SGDK2 Addict
  • Expert
  • Fanatic
  • *****
  • Posts: 612
  • Legacy of Kain: Revival is completed!!!
    • View Profile
    • Chivalrous Games
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #1 on: 2011-05-12, 06:23:30 AM »
Will the top menu have dropdown options?  Because links like "documentation" should remain easy to access, it would be a shame to lose them.
If you only want my opinion on "the look and feel", I like the new one very much. :)
Legacy of Kain: Revival completed!
http://lokrevival.webs.com

See also my company website:
http://chivalrousgames.com

bluemonkmn

  • SGDK Author
  • Administrator
  • Fanatic
  • *****
  • Posts: 2761
    • ICQ Messenger - 2678251
    • MSN Messenger - BlueMonkMN@gmail.com
    • View Profile
    • http://sgdk2.sf.net/
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #2 on: 2011-05-12, 07:57:34 AM »
This site is exactly the proposed content for the new site, so *anything* that is missing should be noted.  I have noticed the screenshots are missing, and Sam (the author) also noticed the "About the Author" page is missing.  So he will be adding those this evening hopefully.  I will pass along your comment about the documentation link.  Thanks.

sam

  • Fanatic
  • ***
  • Posts: 303
  • This statement is false.
    • MSN Messenger - samlancashire@hotmail.com
    • View Profile
    • samlancashire.com
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #3 on: 2011-05-12, 02:51:58 PM »
Hi.
I added the screenshots and a link to the documentation in the nav bar.
Should I add the About the Author stuff into the About page or still have it as an extra page (linked to in the nav bar)?

bluemonkmn

  • SGDK Author
  • Administrator
  • Fanatic
  • *****
  • Posts: 2761
    • ICQ Messenger - 2678251
    • MSN Messenger - BlueMonkMN@gmail.com
    • View Profile
    • http://sgdk2.sf.net/
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #4 on: 2011-05-13, 02:39:54 AM »
I think the "About the Author" section could go at the end of the About page.

The unused space in the side-bar troubles me.  I'm having a few thoughts about it and related topics:

1. The requirements are something that the user should be aware of before downloading.  In addition to listing them in the side-bar, maybe it would make sense to duplicate the requirements section from the about page on the download page. Have a sub-section on the Downloads page for "Requirements" with introductory text like "Before downloading, make sure your system can fulfill these requirements."  We can leave the requirements summary in the side-bar too (like you already do), but I just had that thought while looking at it.

2. It would be nice if the screenshots were more prominent.  Since they form a relatively narrow list, do you think it would make sense to put the screenshots in the side-bar, to give the side-bar some more purpose?

3. In my version of the site, I actually have a file called NavBar.inc which is included in all the other html files.  They're actually .shtml files so that I don't have to maintain the navigation links independently on each page.  Would it be practical to do the same with these pages to include a common navigation bar, and possibly the portion of the the side-bar that doesn't change?  Details of all the formats supported by SourceForge are at https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Project%20web%20and%20developer%20web%20platform.   Details about shtml format are at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Side_Includes.  If you don't have a way to test .shtml files, I can probably implement that part myself.

4. Now that the "About" information has its own page, I don't think I need the "Important Information" heading.  The sub-headings by themselves will suffice.  I can change that just as easily as you, though (after I get the site).

5. Do you happen to know a good way to automatically include RSS feed/links on a page?  Then I could just have the RSS feed instead of manually adding news links, right?

Also, I just noticed that the bold formatting of the text at the beginning of most of the news items was lost.
« Last Edit: 2011-05-13, 02:42:55 AM by bluemonkmn »

sam

  • Fanatic
  • ***
  • Posts: 303
  • This statement is false.
    • MSN Messenger - samlancashire@hotmail.com
    • View Profile
    • samlancashire.com
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #5 on: 2011-05-13, 01:04:04 PM »
Quote
1. The requirements are something that the user should be aware of before downloading.  In addition to listing them in the side-bar, maybe it would make sense to duplicate the requirements section from the about page on the download page. Have a sub-section on the Downloads page for "Requirements" with introductory text like "Before downloading, make sure your system can fulfill these requirements."  We can leave the requirements summary in the side-bar too (like you already do), but I just had that thought while looking at it.
Sounds good to me.

Quote
2. It would be nice if the screenshots were more prominent.  Since they form a relatively narrow list, do you think it would make sense to put the screenshots in the side-bar, to give the side-bar some more purpose?
Also makes sense to me- perhaps thumbnails in the sidebar than can be clicked to see the full size image?

Quote
3. In my version of the site, I actually have a file called NavBar.inc which is included in all the other html files.  They're actually .shtml files so that I don't have to maintain the navigation links independently on each page.  Would it be practical to do the same with these pages to include a common navigation bar, and possibly the portion of the the side-bar that doesn't change?  Details of all the formats supported by SourceForge are at https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Project%20web%20and%20developer%20web%20platform.   Details about shtml format are at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Side_Includes.  If you don't have a way to test .shtml files, I can probably implement that part myself.
Both the nav bar and the footer are .php files. They are included in every page via a line of php. There is no need for .shtml, Sourceforge supports php. It would be a good idea to make the sidebar an include as well.

Quote
4. Now that the "About" information has its own page, I don't think I need the "Important Information" heading.  The sub-headings by themselves will suffice.  I can change that just as easily as you, though (after I get the site).
OK. I'll  remove it.

Quote
5. Do you happen to know a good way to automatically include RSS feed/links on a page?  Then I could just have the RSS feed instead of manually adding news links, right?
Yes, I can write a php script to do that. I also have a sort of barebones php-mysql CMS that I wrote for my blog that I could incorporate if you'd rather use that. (functionality for adding, deleting, and editing news entries via an admin panel, automatically updates rss feed)

Quote
Also, I just noticed that the bold formatting of the text at the beginning of most of the news items was lost.
I see that, I will fix it.

bluemonkmn

  • SGDK Author
  • Administrator
  • Fanatic
  • *****
  • Posts: 2761
    • ICQ Messenger - 2678251
    • MSN Messenger - BlueMonkMN@gmail.com
    • View Profile
    • http://sgdk2.sf.net/
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #6 on: 2011-05-15, 07:31:41 AM »
The new site is posted! Please speak up if you see anything out of order.
« Last Edit: 2011-05-15, 07:41:22 AM by bluemonkmn »

Vincent

  • SGDK2 Addict
  • Expert
  • Fanatic
  • *****
  • Posts: 612
  • Legacy of Kain: Revival is completed!!!
    • View Profile
    • Chivalrous Games
    • Email
Re: New site
« Reply #7 on: 2011-05-15, 09:33:35 AM »
Great stuff!  Nice work Sam!
Legacy of Kain: Revival completed!
http://lokrevival.webs.com

See also my company website:
http://chivalrousgames.com