Heads up: New Nexus site design soon

[ringgold99]

I agree with rowtjack07. Good points. Edited July 29, 2011 by ringgold99

[rgx02]

I'd like to suggest something, though i'm not sure if it has to do with page layout or functionality.

 

When viewing the users content, it would be nice if the links pointed directly to the users message. The reason for that is its kinda hard to find ones messages in a post with 600+ replies, even using the search.

[goranga]

I will try to be constructive here and give some pointers. Old nexus is way too much cool to be changed, but I know that Robin will go for a change regardless of what everyone think.

 

I will make some suggestions how to make the new nexus look more like the old nexus.

 

1. New logo looks really bad. Logo should have something medieval (buildings, swords, guards, armors...). It should be picture, not simple symbol. Mixture of grey, dim orange (old nexus orange), blue and brown would be appropriate for logo. If some dude would like to give this a shot, please do so.

 

2. Orange in the new one gives me headache. Dimmer tone of orange should be used (old nexus one).

 

3. Everything is difficult to read in the new design. If you want to make something readable, you make contrast (like black on white or white on black). Orange and white don't work very well together. Gray can be made more light because white letters are shining from the page. Letters seem more thick than in the old nexus and make reading difficult. I think the font is the same, but it looks worse than the old nexus one because of above mentioned reasons.

 

4. Void stripes and use only solids, please.

 

5. Orange annoys me, but that orange line at the top of page annoys me the most. In combination with those ugly orange buttons and logo...It's complete failure. It should be used darker tone of grey for the line (not too much dark). The problem with buttons is that they are different in length. They can be placed on the line to make this difference invisible (without any button shape). If they need to be on the top and have shape of buttons, I would recommend some nice medieval pictures (like premium, store, fotm... in the old nexus).

 

6. Access to stuff is hidden with drop-down menus. In the old nexus you could access everything using links that are immediately visible at the right of the page. Boxes in the new nexus don't look bad (except stripes). All links could be placed into these boxes instead of menus. This is one of reasons why it looks like that too much space is "wasted" and empty.

 

7. Hot-file pictures are too wide and description should go bellow the picture, not to the right. I would lose that part where the text is written. It makes it hard to look at the picture and read at the same time. I like small pictures below for direct access to hot files.

 

8. News section looks odd. Pictures of members are too small. I would move member's stats to the left below the pic. Everything appears too narrow and small. The reason for that is that gray used for news is too dark. More light version of grey should be used and member's stats should be moved to the left below the pic. I also have hard time to read who posted a comment. I guess larger font should be used and wider letters. Unreadable.

 

9. Lines made with orange should be very narrow. Darker and lighter tone of gray should be used for news title combined with dim orange narrow line. Alternative to this is to use dim blue with dim orange line (these two are contrasted) and grey body.

 

10. Profile looks bad. Again, "gestalt" should be applied. Everything should be visible without clicking. Logical info should be grouped together in boxes.

 

I need to take a break. I will continue this later...

Edited July 29, 2011 by goranga

[XTR3M368]

Here is something I REALLY hate. Where you can "uncheck" the "site news", "game news", ect.....you can't uncheck them all or they all come back on. That whole section takes up a RIDICULOUS amount of real estate on the squished page as it is. IMO, that stuff should be able to be turned completely off with just the option bar visible. Why give us the option to turn some of it off and not all?

 

It would be far better to use the area right under the new mods for the new images like on the old site and push the stuff most people don't even look at farther down the page. (meaning all the "blog" type stuff) I only like to read the "newsy, bloggy" stuff very rarely but I do like to see the new images people post.

 

You made a reference to a couple of cars in posts back as an analogy.....I would suggest that how good it looks is at least as important to how fast it will go and the 370z is a FAR more attractive car than the GTR. (no debates about which car people like better please, this was just another analogy) I think the same thing is happening with the new site. You are sacrificing all the unique look for a cookie cutter site that is easy to maintain and runs faster.

 

I would agree with goranga on the #7 issue with one exception. I don't mind them to the right, but I don't like them covering up image. either no opaque text or shrink the image from right to left and use that area for the description.

Edited July 29, 2011 by XTR3M368

[goranga]

I used to compare every site to Nexus. This site is so unique and cool that it's probably one of the most important reasons for it's popularity. That new site looks completely generic...

 

If nexus undergo this change many obscure sites will be better looking. I wander what effect will this have on the community.

 

Sorry Robin. I hope that you have a very good reason to do this.

 

P.S. I would just keep adding new features and small changes to this site. It's perfect as it is. The new one is not more modern or more functional...It's just more generic.

Edited July 29, 2011 by goranga

[portocala]

The new design isn't bad by any standard, but I hope you won't mind too much when I say I don't like it nearly as much as the current site.

 

It may be more accessible and functional (although I'm not an expert), but it has lost its flair and uniqueness. The logo is especially annoying, as it has nothing to do with the beautiful world of The Elder Scrolls. Like others have said, this new version is simply too generic.

 

I am not opposed to changes, perhaps it just needs a few minor tweaks. :)

[Carimya]

I got a problem with the new site: I can not view images of a mod. They are just invisible. O.o

[Smith099]

*Sigh* Dark0ne, you gave me a lecture about aspect ratio when you made that change, but now you (or someone paid by you) re-designs the site with that much wasted space?! Yes, I fully understand that the currently layout isn't really condusive for viewing on a smart phone or tablet, but really, since none of the games work on smart phone or tablets, what would be the point of trying to download a mod to said phone or tablet?

 

Where are the advanced search and tag search options? Yes, the new search bar looks nice, but a simplified category (Oblivion Files, Morrowind Files, Skyrim Files) search system would work just as well. Also the placement is just off. If the site were left justified then the search bar could be placed in the middle between the "Log Out" button and Social section. (And how many people have linked the nexus to Facebook, Twitter and Steam? Actuall question.)

 

As has been said before, yes the current shade of orange is much to bright and the hot files images to large on the horizontal axis. And stripes in boxes, really? What is this, the Hippies Disco Resurrection Society homepage?

 

If you insist on including a drop down menu for logged in members, then "Manage Your Files", "Download/Rating History", "Tracking Center" and "Comment Tracking" should be included on that rather than "Member Area", "Preferences" and "Premium Mebership". The latter group should all be reached through the user's Profile. Personally, I'm on here to look at mods or manage my posted mods, not constantly check my profile or preferences. And while I realize that all of the former are under the "Files" drop down menu, it isn't where they need to be, because many of the members are not posted modders, so they don't need those options.

 

Regarding the logo, seeing that new logo makes me want to break down and cry. The old TES Nexus Logo would fit just fine on the new design and help to take up some of that empty space. A simple graphical update with a Skyrim image would help tie it in to the new game.

 

The current design's tabs on the left of the home page, as well as the logo, help to tie the site directly into The Elder Scrolls. If I had just started playing with Skyrim and I arrived at the new version of TES Nexus, it would take a while to figure out that, yes, this is a site related to the game I'm playing. While the new design for PES looks wrong, it makes it very clear that the design is based on an Elder Scrolls game. By simply changing the pictures behind the lables, it would be easy to tie the site in to the new game while keeping a feeling of continuity with the old site.

 

On the right hand side of the current site there are a considerible number of links and sections that seem to have been condensed into *shudder* drop down menus. While these ddms *seem* to have covered the bases well, it would still save time for the users to have a simplified version of the current link system on the right hand side of the site.

Since news seems to take up much of the main page, a news section isn't really needed, but a link to your blog would be good to have.

 

I went in and looked at the "Edit Attributes" for one of my files, and found that the section for editing the long description is still much to small. That is the most important section of the attributes but while it is finally a respectable width, the height is still lacking. It needs to be at least three times as tall as it currently is.

 

 

In all honesty and truth, I don't like the new design. It looks cheap and cooky-cutter. And if you, or a friend of yours designed this for free, then I'm sorry if you're insulted. If you paid someone to do this, then I would ask for your money back. I've done web design in the past, and every single time I've used the current design of the Nexus as a base and an example of "how to do it right". From what I gather part of the peak time issues is the way the site is currently designed and laid out, but really, the design fuctions and makes the most important part of the site, the mods, easily accessible.

Edited July 29, 2011 by Smith099

[Natterforme]

Ive noticed that a lot of people want to have the old links on the right side back. I think what Dark0ne is going for here is to streamline the Nexus. By having everything under a drop down menu, it categorizes the material and allows new users to search for content based on relevence while at the same time removing clutter. The site is not fundamentally changing what is available on the site, simply changing how you go about finding information. It would be different if the loss of those links meant the loss of an image section, say, or the loss of article posts and comment tracking. These features have not gone away, they have simply been relocated or will be reimplimented when the site gets the makeover. For people who have been here forever, it might be inconvient to figure out where everything is, but for new members(and trust me, there will be a lot more new members when skyrim gets out) it will give an altogether better mod searching experience. The images are easier to find and can be sorted for better viewing. The top 100 lists(basically the go to page for those new to modding to find the best or required mods) now have preview images, which they didnt have before. The hot files now has a scroll bar, which shows images of what each one looks like and gives a description of the mod directly from the author. News is now in bold, and given a large header so that you know its official. And for those who want a different Nexus Icon/Symbol, we must remeber that this is not, thankfully, an isolated site. There are several nexus sites and the Nexus symbol must be able to encompus all of those games, without alienating any of them. Sure, most of them are related to dungeons and dragons/middle ages type rpgs so you could, in theory have a shield crossed by two swords.But that itself isnt very unique to what the nexus stands for. Also, if a new nexus was made that was primarily a scifi shooter(Mass Effect for example), then that nexus symbol would have to be changed. This is good news for the nexus. With Skyrim only a couple months away, the nexus is guranteed to have both new members and a host of new mods that crossover all three moddable elder scrolls games. It only makes sense that the site creator would want to take adantage of this excitement and hype for the new game by updating the site to make it both fresh and new for new and old members alike. :teehee:

[Corehound]

I have to agree with what has been mentioned before, the empty columns on each side of the screen is a real eyesore, it's an utter waste of space and it also means you have that much less information on a single screen, which will require allot more page turning for the user >.<

 

Sadly this "flaw" is seen on more and more websites and I had honestly hoped it wouldn't hit Nexus as well -.-

 

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/imageshare/images/1680733-1296223756.png