site redesign preview

[zeroality]

http://www.pokemontopaz.net/preview/sitetemp.html

The only two links that will work are Home and Topaz. Check them out and see how the sub-navigation changes (the links up there are just for testing, that isn't what they will be).

Comments, suggestions?

[HavocWraith]

Bubbles!!! Awesome!!!

[NyteFyre]

ehh, it's ok, i guess, though i like this version better...

[ImmunityBow]

Just to explain a bit of the redesign: Several of the Pokemon on our site right now aren't appearing in Topaz until later patches, so it doesn't make sense to showcase them like we do on the site. It's better to showcase our Pokemon a bit more instead.

[zeroality]

ehh, it's ok, i guess, though i like this version better...
How would you improve this one? I was trying to go for a cleaner look but it did come out a bit spartan. Maybe I should try slapping on some art in the background to spruce it up?

[NyteFyre]

well, it seems a bit small and crowded with the Box thing, and i thought we all agreed that tabs weren't such a great idea? I'm just saying that if you could make the box feel like it wouldn't be crowded what with everything that goes in a post, i could find it better. Background art would be amazing to have, it's always a good idea to have some background art in my opinion. Idk, it just seems a little cramped and bare...

[zeroality]

That is actually more content area than the site has now, 780 over 740px. I will brush it up with real content and we'll see. I don't recall a tab discussion but I think it helps keep the navigation better organized with what I want to do with the sublinks and doesn't take up space being on the side. I'm not sure about the style though so if you guys have suggestions on that, I'm open.

Will add background art.

[SilentSentinel]

Are we still gonna have sprite and concept art pages as new bubbles?

[Cyndadile]

Does what overlap?

[zeroality]

Sprites will be on the repository and concept art will be a sublink under Topaz.


Does what overlap?
Oh, that was a test. I set everything to 0 margin and that removes paragraph spacing as well so I had to set the values manually and I wanted to make sure the paragraphs didn't end up overlapping. Sorry for the confusion.

[Cyndadile]

Ok.

Maybe you should add a link to the repository?

[zeroality]

Yeah that will be in the final version. I decided to take a day off from coding/design work but I'll be getting on this pretty soon.

[STT]

About the repo, is everything finished up there yet?

[zeroality]

Almost, it will be finished at the same time as the site.

[zeroality]

Just posting to say that since I enjoyed my day off yesterday so much, I'm taking another day. Trying to avoid burnout as I have a pretty heavy workload ahead of me.

[ImmunityBow]

No problems. You've been doing a lot of work lately and one day more won't kill anyone.

[Merlin]

feel free...
actually i think it's kinda weird cause you want a day off and i wanna work on something (what i dont know but i do wanna work on a project of some form..... outside of the pokemon one i've been trying to figure out for the past 3 months...)

anyway from the way it looks i think it's great...
i like the bubbles idea and yes i agree some background art would be nice to have...

[Quinn]

I really like the site looks. Most everyone has said what I've though, except, maybe its just my eyes, but the bubbles and/or the text inside could be amped a little bit bigger. That may be just me though.

[Merlin]

actually from the looks of it there might be about 7 tabs so trying to increase the size might not be a good idea...
though considering the page can be redesigned appropriately yes slightly larger buttons would be good...
the words in those bubbles could also stand to be a little larger and as you roll the mouse over it i think it would be a good idea to increase the size as the bubble comes up...
and maybe a slightly different color for each but again it looks good right now so i really don't have any problems with it cept for the lack of background pics but i think those are gonna be added in soon anyway...

[Quinn]

that sums it all up pretty decently

[zeroality]

http://www.pokemontopaz.net/test/sitetemp.html

I took the recommendations. I'm having a problem with the overflow because I'm not familiar with the min-height css property but I'll have that fixed soon and I will add news. The background color for the box inside will change too. Mr.Firrel on the side is 380px tall so I have set the content area to never be under 400px tall, even if the page isn't full so it will display properly any way the page is rendered. Was that technical enough?

[NyteFyre]

very technical, Zero, very technical.

[HavocWraith]

Are there going to be more concept art around the back ground

[Merlin]

nice!
it looks very awesome...
how many background pics are there gonna be on the sides???

[HavocWraith]

hum...Is it just me or is very few concept artist's art being used...Are you going for uniform or do you just not want to post other concept art up?

I'm fine with that, I know my art isn't the best. I just kinda noticed that the majority of the pics happen to be from the same artist.

[zeroality]

I plan on using your work, the Ingero is going to be used as a page decoration somewhere and I think the Unicrown is going to be in the banner.

oykawoo just happens to be an expert in vector art, which is perfect for using in site layouts because the images are crisp and scalable and that's why his work shows up often. I used phoenixsong's Whispaw in one of the tabs and X-Antibody's Ingero is going to make it on the site somewhere as well. Novoni's work is already on the forum buttons.

I'm not done yet, there will be more art in the design when I'm finished. :D

[HavocWraith]

Oh thank you, I wasn't too concerned about my art being used, I just thought I would point it out.

[zeroality]

Updated with more artwork.

http://pokemontopaz.net/test/sitetemp.html

and so you can see the background of the content:

http://pokemontopaz.net/test/sitetemp2.html

Finally, I get to use Typhinda's art! It's a hard piece to use because you can't use it in buttons due to the massive width of its bulk.

Also fixed rounded borders in Firefox, they should show now. I'm fixing to test in IE8 and Safari.

If someone could check this in IE7 and see if the page looks normal then that would be great. If you need a screenshot of how it is supposed to look then let me know.

[ImmunityBow]

Cool, it's looking nice, but maybe the slightest bit subdued. With all the colours but the background blue being subdued, I think it needs something that stands out a bit more too. The little Jirachis are a good example.

[zeroality]

Yeah, couldn't hurt to slap on a few more images.

[Quinn]

what I can see with typanda is HOT. might I sugest putting it on a border so more of it is seen. It kinda blends in with the words and the blue around it. A good orange or yellow might be better behind there, so it contradicts the blue. Not too strong, though it shouldn't blend in. Also, yah some more art would ROCK ON!

[zeroality]

Yes, I looked at the typhinda background on my sis's computer and it really doesn't show well at all. I tend to have my monitor set to a much darker setting than most people since my eyes are sensitive.

Anyway when I was projecting to finish this and the repository today, I wasn't thinking about mother's day. I've been on the go all morning/afternoon and just recently got a chance to sit down. I've been taking care of odd things here and there but will finish up the main stuff tomorrow.

[Merlin]

well i'm at the library in my city and i don't know which IE they're using but it looks good and I can see all the pokemon really well...

[zeroality]

http://pokemontopaz.net/testde/sitetemp.html
http://pokemontopaz.net/testde/sitetemp2.html

I uploaded to new directory to make sure everybody sees the latest version instead of cached stuff.

I changed the twitter/facebook icons, made the content background pop out more (is it enough?), and added images to the title bar to 'spruce it up a bit' as per IB's suggestion.

I'm not done with the navigation yet.

Edit: Fixed Ohmure/Raiger's shadow after I realized they needed to be the same as Jirachi's and the opacity was messing it up. Raiger does have a shadow, it just doesn't show well.

[zeroality]

Had to check the status of my new power supply and I see there are no comments. I can still work on this while I'm offline but unless there's feedback then not much is going to change.

I can get on tomorrow evening to read any suggestions or comments.

[Quinn]

will you be putting more art on tonight? Also, just wonderin, where is the dex and the repository going to be?

[SilentSentinel]

Maybe put Spidream over on the left side?

[zeroality]

Where can I possibly fit more art? I don't want to make it overcrowded. I could put another Pokemon on the right side, like Firrel, but there isn't really any suitable art that fits the size and pose needed to be in that area.

I'm not sure yet how I will link to the repository but it will be there. I've also rethought the navigation and I've decided that the main (starting) tab will be Topaz instead, since that is the main focus of the site. Home will probably be changed to something else and will contain the miscellaneous links, such as affiliates and so forth, and will be moved somewhere else with the Topaz tab being moved to the first position.

I don't think there is even a Spidream on the design rp? @_@

I'll be checking the mail today for the replacement power supply but I doubt it will be there. I bought it off of eBay so I didn't get a tracking number or anything. :\

[MewLoverEX]

Maybe another trainer? I like having Willow at the top. If someone could come up with art for the default trainer or one of the others, I think they would be a nice addition.

Also, I think Arowana would look good on the right side, if the concept art image was facing the other way (http://i874.photobucket.com/albums/ab306/ultiverse/arowana.png). [Didn't edit it, just flipped it around.]

[Quinn]

I think there is enough room at the right to throw another art work. Also, I kinda believe it might look good with a "slight" overload in the back. Not like 50 images over each other or the entire background filled, but some slight overlapping. Also, as a request, may I request my friends Dolphure? That and Kelvoyant are here favorite art pieces she says, and when she logs on again and see's her fav (possibly both) on the site, she will be "giddy like a little school girl"

[zeroality]

I've already decided on what to do with the right side. I'm working on it and will try to get something up tonight.

Kelvoyant would fit nicely with what I had in mind.

Not sure what you mean about images in the back. You mean where Typhinda is now?

[Quinn]

yah, sorry the background images is what I mean't. I think some slight overlapping in different peoples art might look nice. Though not a superload though, just enough that shows about 2 or so from all the artists that I've seen so far.

[zeroality]

I only got 6 hrs of sleep last night so my mind is like mush. I got a little done around here but will be going at full steam tomorrow.

[HavocWraith]

Wow, It's really starting to look good!

[zeroality]

After a lot of consideration, I have decided to scrap this. I thought about keeping you all in suspense as to what I was going to do but decided I wouldn't be that cruel.

I'm going to redesign (and re-code) the current site layout. I just think it's cleaner, has more options and doesn't feel so cramped. I was actually having trouble fitting everything I wanted to put on the site.

I will incorporate some elements from the previous redesign into this one, so I think you all will be happy with the results. Not sure when I'll have a preview up.

[Eliot Kovach]

Maybe some more happier main pokemon on the bubbles? Maybe instead of Misticade we have Polara and instead Whispaw(not because its not cheerful enough, because it's hardly to recognize it) Vixun, or Barkub?

But I like the look, its way much clearer then this one.

[Merlin]

Hey is the site redesign still in progress???

[Reliability]

I assume not at the moment. zero has other things that he has to do, and this isn't huge priority. Maybe some time in the future, but it's not something you can put a time stamp on.