WinCustomize Homepage concepts
Would like your input
Monday, March 12, 2007 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
As some of you know, the main goal of WC2K7 was to rebuild the backend of the site to be more robust and much faster. The actual look of the site was basically the existing site with a new skin.
So the next step is to start comign up with how we would like the pages to work. We would like to get your input on some of this.
Below is a diagram of the home page:
So the top would continue to have the logo and the button bar (exept forums changed to community but we'll get more to that later).
But rather than giant news items spread out on the site, the news items would intead focus on displaying just the headling and a description with the user clicking on the link if they're interested. This would free up room to display more things.
Under that would be highlighted articles. We would probably merge posts and articles to be the same thing with user ratings causing them to float to the top (so questions for support woudl stick in the help area whereas someone writing about skinnign woudl likely float up).
Over on the right we would use the new space to display more things. The boxes represent thumbnails. How many woudl be displayed depends on the resolution the user is viewing the site with.
But youw oudl get a good run-down at a galnce of what's been going on on the site.
At the bottom, The Popular Galleries woudl be displayed like you see keywords on some sites. It woudl be based on the popularity of the given gallery rather than WinCustomize choosing (annoiting) which galleries are to be displayed.
The Gallery page (gallery.wincustomize.com) woudl instead become the place where users would browse through the galleries in detail which we'll get to in one of the next posts on this subject.
My feeling is that this is a cleaner, more effective way to view the home page than what we currently have.
Thoughts?
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Reply #2 Monday, March 12, 2007 3:57 PM
This was done in Ms paint but this is a concept work of what i mean heh
Reply #3 Monday, March 12, 2007 4:45 PM
Research has shown that many users don't even look at a left sidebar anymore. That layout is also somewhat cluttered IMO.
Reply #4 Monday, March 12, 2007 4:56 PM
I'd have to see the new site in action before I could say, yea or nay.
Reply #6 Monday, March 12, 2007 5:06 PM
Really like the setup of Featured, newest ect. & the rest of the plan sounds great....hope also to see a section for WIP & screenshots of upcoming skins...come on tempt us..
....Have a separate button at the top for tutorials.
It's My Secret
Reply #7 Monday, March 12, 2007 5:17 PM
Reply #8 Monday, March 12, 2007 5:36 PM
It's My Secret
Reply #9 Monday, March 12, 2007 6:09 PM
That woudl be in the Community area.
I like the idea of Recent Community activity though.
Reply #10 Monday, March 12, 2007 6:10 PM
I'm actually not a big fan of Web 2.0. But I do like the idee of proportionally sized fonts based on popularity.
Reply #11 Monday, March 12, 2007 7:16 PM
Reply #14 Monday, March 12, 2007 9:33 PM
I guess what I mean is that I don't want to see WinCustomize look like Flickr or Digg or one of the other popular Web 2.0 sites. I am looking for us to do a clean design but I don't want it to be just a web application.
I'd like to make sure the design has enough graphical elements and coloring that one could make skisn for the site.
Reply #15 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 6:38 AM
Knew that was one of the new things coming up....been waiting patiently for some mention that it was indeed still in the works. It's My Secret
Reply #17 Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:06 AM
Reply #18 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 1:45 AM
Fuzzy - yes, a time before there was an unfriendly environment and wallpapers were accepted if they made good wallpapers as opposed to being good art and newbies could ask questions without being patronized and people could upload screenshots without being attacked as a pedophile if a swimsuit model is on it.
That is where we are looking to get back to. The first step to that goal you've seen. But getting back to Zubaz's point -- we've had the tri-column design. It's been done.
Next stop will be to show the gallery page concept.
But before that, what do you think of segregating the wallpapers from the skins so that skins don't get drowned out by wallpapers but at the same time people who really just want wallpapers can get them?
Reply #19 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 3:15 AM
What do I think, personally?
A lot....
And, while we're at it we 'slightly' segregate screenshots from skins so that 'this just in' pertains to skins, not variation #xyz of 5pm today's icon arrangement....oh wait...5.05pm...must upload that moved icon layout...... [OK, tad 'extreme' but for the slaving-over-the-hot-stove WB skinner...to be shuffled off this mortal coil [front page] by a happy-snap spammer is just the pits].
Back to wallpaper drownings....how about a sub-section for walls called 'Moderator's Choice'. Maybe a gallery shown/given more prominence....like a Featured Wall repository, perhaps....
Reply #20 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:48 AM
...and the subsection thing, too.
...and the screenshot segregation.
All great ideas that will make things easier all-round.
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Reply #1 Monday, March 12, 2007 3:52 PM
On an unrelated note glad to see those art classes are paying off!