PoD Redesign Contest

[bicostp]

PoD redesign thread. Riiiiiiise.



More tweaking of stuff happened!

• Added a search bar (it works now)
  Moved the login stuff to another sidebar

The only problem I can't figure out is why the sidebars create a stair-step effect. (Each one down gets closer to the body text.)

I'm not going to post a screenshot this time.

Instead, I uploaded a copy of the work in progress page:
http://bicostp.portablesofdoom.org/sandbox/Pod2Beta/

A few of the links in the navigation bar work now. (That is, they bring you to mock-up versions of the updated pages.) The "Etiuqette" link also works.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Rants?

You guys will use it, too, so I want your input to make it better!

[daguuy]

I like the design but It should use more of the available space. The black on the sides is just wasted space that could be used for something important.

[bicostp]

Well, the wrapper is 760 pixels wide at the moment, which still lets people running 800x600 see the whole thing. I'm kind of adament about changing it so you need 1024x768 to see the entire page without doing a lot of scrolling. (There are a few people whos till use lower resolutions so they "can see the stuff and its not tiny"... silly people.)

[daguuy]

Is there a way to make it use a % of the screen instead of pixels?

[Harshboy]

My only rant is: Damn you Bic! Your too good for me to compete with your 1337 skilz

Anyway, nice job there. You've got my vote.

[bicostp]

Is there a way to make it use a % of the screen instead of pixels?

Yup. All the style definitions are in a CSS file, so they're pretty easy to change. The problem is that dynamic width might make the navigation bar look sloppy by leaving tons of empty space, or squeezing it into two rows (which would destroy the tabbed page effect). And for some reason the blue copyright bar doesn't scale the same way the rest of the boxes do. (It's always about 10 pixels too wide.)

At least the Firefox Web Developer Toolbar is coming in handy for something! (Look for it on the Firefox add-ons page. It's great.)

Setting the width to about 95-100% looks okay at 800x600, but the blue bar still doen't do as it's told.

[bicostp]

I just can't leave dead threads alone!

Okay the old design wasted quite a bit of space, so I came up with something else. It still uses the sidebars, but it doesn't leave acres of empty space on the sides. Instead it uses a top bar to house the logo, search, and (eventually) log in/out forms. The sidebar will still have a random portable, a poll, and of course the photo of nos.

So far this layout only exists within the canvas of Photoshop, but the idea is there and a lot of the code can be copied from the other design. (Yay self-plagarism! )

There's a few in there, and each is a different color. If you want to see other colors, they aren't hard to mock up because all the color stuff is in one layer with a color overlay.

http://bicostp.portablesofdoom.org/sand ... D_mockups/

What do you think? Want me to get this one working, or scrap it and continue with the other one? Of course if you have any ideas for this one I'm all ears. (er... eyes, since it's text... whatever. )

[CronoTriggerfan]

Wow, beautiful layout, bic! Personally, my vote goes to either blue or ruby, with blue slightly on top; very sleek!

CTFan

[bicostp]

Well, you should be able to select which color to use when the thing's done, but I forget how to choose between css definitions using PHP.

[Skyone]

I like ruby and blue the most. Very cool.

[gannon]

I forget how to choose between css definitions using PHP.

Very easy to do, which is why I wanted submitted designs to be (hopefully) css only (so you can easily choose which one you want).
Anyways, this contest seems dead. What do we have, 1 or 2 entries?

[Skyone]

I forgot it was a contest. Just declare Bic the winnar and move on.

[EnterTheHatrix]

Sites not working for me..
Too late to enter?

[bicostp]

Nah, there's always time. Thanks for the offer, Skyone, but let's see what everybody else comes up with, <i>then</i> make a decision.

Boy this project's been extended! Ah well, what's another couple months?

[EnterTheHatrix]

Is it just a HTML template with CSS?