Redesigning and re-branding EN World

[Mouseferatu]

Hmm. Not real fond of the potential new layout myself. Don't get me wrong, it's not awful, and it certainly wouldn't turn me off the site (but then again, almost nothing would ). I just don't think it's nearly as attractive as the current one.

 

[JadeLyon]

hmmm....

I think because of what you are trying to do, putting the java dropdowns AND various links on the side column(s) just don't look very balanced... they don't "mix" well.

I'd go with the drop-downs on the top. And CENTERED.

I think we all like a very pretty column with pretty section headers, and nice neat subpage links below it, but there is so much content, you just can't fit that on a single screen. So... even though I LIKE that format better than buttons, the dropdown from the top is the most practical.

Thing is, this site is a practial site. Pretty is only needed to get wandering souls to stop and gawk. So, go with what is aesthetically balanced, and practical.

At least that's my vote.

-Josef the Cat

 

[Anthraxus]

I think the test page looks pretty good, a lot less cluttered!

The news seemed to load a lot faster than the usual page. The menus showed up a little later, but I do have a slow 33k connection..

I am here for the news, foremost!

 

[Conaill]

Re: Goodie!

2) While the tone was overly harsh, the gentleman with the vendetta against Javascript is not all that unusual. It probably would be a good idea to develop a site that works as well without Javascript, though the Site Map page will probably obviate most of that need.

Ok, I'll admit to being overly harsh in my previous post. Mind you, I LOVE the site, and I appreciate all the great work Morrus is putting into it!

That being said, I have to second the recommendation to have a look at http://www.RPGHost.com : I'm not that fond of having menus on top and on the side, but their drop-down code works perfectly, and there's a link to their site index if you don't have javascript. Much cleaner implementation. (I'm not suggesting you follow their layout though. )

 

[saduff]

No that design isn't at all good. Looks flakey. Enworld just needs some new colors. Maybe some minor layout changes.

 

[Dire_Groundhog]

I like it just fine.

I won't miss the WOTC upcoming product line up at all. Isn't that what their web page is for? If someone is interested in a product, they will know when it is coming out without needing to be reminded daily on the main news page. I like the extra text space opened up by the changes.

As long as the page is easy to read and less cluttered, I am all for the change. I do like the dropdowns. Ease of navigation good, sometimes I forget where things are.

Can you add a link directly to the storyhour board under community? Well, if you are reluctant to do that, I understand.

 

[lambdaZUG]

A couple of (non-menu) points I'd like to toss into the discussion of a site redesign:

Fonts (peeve): Please, please do not change the font size of body text. If you (Morrus) think the text is too big, then change your browser's font size. If I set my browser to display 32 point fonts (e.g.), then I expect web sites to have 32 point fonts. This is particularly crucial for people with poor eyesight.

Also, using white text would help, as would having a solid black background for body text.

Furthermore, the <font> tag is deprecated, outmoded, obsolete. Use stylesheets instead. In fact, you really don't even need tables to accomplish the layout.

A layout I like (provided you ignore the colors) is A List Apart.

It would be helpful to have a more obvious partitioning scheme for the day's news. As it is, it is a nearly solid lump of text. I'd suggest ditching the bulleted list, and instead use headings.



Slashcode, anyone?

 

[Mistwell]

I just don't get it. The main problem with this site is that you scroll through a mess of crap. But almost nothing is done to fix that. We should not be seeing 100% of the news articles on the front page. We should see a very short synopisis, and should be able to click on particular items that interest us to see the entire news item. That is how you do news without cluttering the entire front page with reams of news items of varying length. That's why I referred people to www.comicbookresources.com . It isn't my site, it's just an award winning site that handles news that way. In addition, it uses branding to imprint the color scheme of the site throughout everything you see. However, the new redesign uses even less branding of colors than even the current site (making the right hand side all black, with no border). I'm not trying to bash the hard work that went into this stuff, I'm just saying "what is it you are trying to accomplish"? If it is to get rid of clutter, and to brand the site better, the new site doesn't accomplish either goal very well, with the exception of the new bar at the top (which is an improvement to the clutter).

 

[Henry]

Perhaps the voices outweighed me whilst I was away, but I do not find the Pop-out menus being to the left side instead of at the top at all aesthetically pleasing, nor useful.

I preferred the top, a la RPGShop. I still love the pull-down menu concept, because they do not clutter the page, and provide a common reference point for all pages you are on, but having them to the side really throws me off.

Good luck!

 

[Clint]

Drop-down problems

I'll second the drop-down menu problems. When on the top of the page, half of them popped up behind the ad, so I couldn't see what they said.

And when the menu is on the left (in your second iteration), I had to move the mouse in strange ways to cancel a menu dropdown, as detailed above.

I'm using IE5 on Win2000.

But then again, opening up a web redesign for general comments is insane. Just do what you like.