mbishop63 Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 TES Nexus is here, and what better way to celebrate with a discussion on the site? Over the past 9 days I have been busy at work developing a site to rival my previous work, TESSource, which was the result of 3 years of work. If you could code websites, or had the time to run/code a gaming website such as this one, what would you make? What options would there be? What features would you keep? What features would you drop? What features would you change? This is "Have Your Say", feedback style! Congratz on your new site. TESSource was the best download site for mods I think and I am sure that Nexus will be even better My only suggestion is more choice for the smilies. I like the ones on the official forum better. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Septim741 Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 I make websites, and I'm quite proud of my accomplishments thus far. I love CSS and XHTML and stuff, and so I have a good idea about what's possible with a site and the work put into it. As of yet, I like what you've done iwht the Place Dark0ne, however it think it lacks the spice and boldness of the former site. More color perhaps, but definitely some graphics. Which brings me to my next point. I love making webstie graphics, and again, I'm quite proud of my accomplishments. I'm dissappointed by the graphics on the site now, or lack thereof. I'm sure that you're busy working on them, and I know it's just a matter of time before they're up and looking good, and so I'm not going to stress this point. Ultimately, you've done a good job on it, but it has a long way to come before it outshines it's predecessor. Now, coming a bit more on-topic, if I had the time, and the knowledge of PHP and SQL, to run a gaming website and oversee a database for game modifications, I'd create my site very similar to this one. I like the style of the page, very plain and spiced up by a color or two out of the ordinary that contrasts or blends well with the greyscale/neutral theme. I like the column theme, but I'd take it to another level with more features on the acutal homepage so visitors and members wouldn't have to constantly go between Home, News, file Index, etc... Also, I want the homepage to have a bit more... impressive... features and graphics to be the first things noticed to leave a good initial impression, but not becoming too repetitive and annoying to regulars (which happens on the sites that go crazy with the details). Finally, I keep the graphics, features, and all that whatnot that's necessary simple and small enough to keep load times fast for all visitors. Usually I don't visit a site if I have to wait more than a few seconds for it to load. That's it for now... hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark0ne Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 You mention the lack of graphics being a problem, but then mention keeping the graphics simple and small. Perhaps you would like to elaborate on what pictures you would actually want, where you would put them, and why you would put them there? In this age of CSS websites, images really aren't that important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumonji Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 You mention the lack of graphics being a problem, but then mention keeping the graphics simple and small. Perhaps you would like to elaborate on what pictures you would actually want, where you would put them, and why you would put them there? In this age of CSS websites, images really aren't that important. Images aren't important? Are you nuts? :wacko: If you mean a certain kind of image encoding, then ya. But if you mean graphic design isn't important, then why aren't you playing a text-based game? The new site is just boring. Ya, you've heard all the kudos about how glad we are that you're back, how glad we are that we still have our content, and I totally support that. But the new look is just too washed out boring. Doesn't remind me of Oblivion in the slightest. The sections run together; Not enough contrast. And we can only see oe small uploaded image per page to catch our eyes... We want our eye-candy! :rolleyes: -Jumonji Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonaerts Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Ive been lost for days without this site!!The new file interface looks like it will shape up nicely once the pics are back in there. Everything looks great and thank you for making this happen. Best wishies J/A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark0ne Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 If you mean a certain kind of image encoding, then ya. But if you mean graphic design isn't important, then why aren't you playing a text-based game? I'm sure you can appreciate that images on a website and graphics in a game are two entirely different things. The new site is just boring. Ya, you've heard all the kudos about how glad we are that you're back, how glad we are that we still have our content, and I totally support that. But the new look is just too washed out boring. Doesn't remind me of Oblivion in the slightest. The sections run together; Not enough contrast. And we can only see oe small uploaded image per page to catch our eyes... TESNexus isn't an Oblivion advertisement. The purpose of the site is not to make people want to buy the game, it's to help people find the mods they want in the most convenient way. There are many gaming fansites out there with their awesome flare; you know, the ones you go to and think "crap, this must have taken ages to look this good!". From the offset that definitely wasn't my aim; I want people to like the site for its functionality, not it's looks. Clean looks, awesome functionality. That's the idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Septim741 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Well of course I'd elaborate. Just let me gather my thoughts for a min... ...What I would do is this: First, make a larger (wider is what I mean) logo or banner for the top, so that it strecthes along the page. Also, it needs different background colors, rather than the same as the rest of the site. A third shade of grey would be splendid. Darker. Which color exactly. Looking at your CSS (http://www.tesnexus.com/style.css) I'd go with your "input" and "select" selectors, the background color #313131. It would make a splendid banner. For those of you who need to see the color for yourself, look at the background of the "search" field on the homepage. Second, make a header, relatively narrow (doesn't have to be though), same colors as the logo/banner, for the top of each news post on the home. Also, make some smaller ones for each of the parts on the right and left sidebars (splendidly crafted ones at that) and put those as the background image for all the smaller headers there. Simply, an image for the h1, h2, and h3 selectors. Everything you have a header on, it could use an image. Third, the backgound could have a tad more detail, rather than a simple color, so I'd construct, if nothing else, a huge image (1280x1024) with a gradient that simple changes the background from the lighter grey ("box" selector bg color) to the current one. No repeat obviously. Position in the top left. Or left top, not sure. Finally, I'm wondering if a more noticable border on the sidebars and headers would work. Maybe the link color? That might be a little too much though, so probably you shouldn't do it unless you really want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumonji Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Well of course I'd elaborate. Just let me gather my thoughts for a min... ...What I would do is this:(Snip)...so I'd construct, if nothing else, a huge image (1280x1024) with a gradient that simple changes the background from the lighter grey ("box" selector bg color) to the current one. No repeat obviously. Position in the top left. Or left top, not sure. (Snip) Um... most of your ideas are sound, but you do not need a huge image like this. All you need is a one-pixel gradient line for the background image, then force it to cover the entire height with the image properties. It's an old html trick. No download time at all, but covers the entire page with a left-to-right gradient color. ------------ Dark0ne, I appreciate that you don't want a garish site, and I don't either. But there's a world of options between garish and boring. You want tasteful but appealing, and highly functional. Professional graphic designers spend their careers trying to master that balance (and most don't succeed, by the way.) I'm sure you'll still have a very large audience, probably as big as you need or want. But if you started out with this un-design in the beginning, I doubt you would have built up the loyal fan base that you now have. Anyway - 'nuff said. I'm just glad your back! -Jumonji Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark0ne Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 But if you started out with this un-design in the beginning, I doubt you would have built up the loyal fan base that you now have. I disagree, and I'm sure many of the "fan base" would too. You ask the uploaders, or the downloaders, and they'll tell you they chose TESSource over the other options for the functionality, especially the instant uploads. The rest, as they say, is history :) I like the new look, as do 70% of the visitors to this new site. I'm content with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumonji Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 But if you started out with this un-design in the beginning, I doubt you would have built up the loyal fan base that you now have. I disagree, and I'm sure many of the "fan base" would too. You ask the uploaders, or the downloaders, and they'll tell you they chose TESSource over the other options for the functionality, especially the instant uploads. The rest, as they say, is history :) I like the new look, as do 70% of the visitors to this new site. I'm content with that. What would have happened is all academic - just keep an open mind. Be aware of graphic design when you surf and take note of what works and what doesn't. "Look & Feel" combines graphic design with functional design. It's important that people can eyeball a page and quickly know what it's about and what you can do with it. It's not an either/or - a good website is highly functional AND draws you in to the mood of what the site is about. A site like The Elder Scrolls is over-the-top. The design gets in the way of the functionality and it looks more like cover-art for the box than a webpage. A site like The CS Wiki is really good - nice Oblivion colors but extremely functional and not garish at all. The OBMM site is also a bit bland, even though the colors are better. Like someone slept through the design class and borrowed someone's notes before creating the website. The UESP Wiki seems to do everything right - very functional and Oblivion-like, but still strikes me as boring. Maybe that's just me... I like the darker dungeon look. Ok, that's all I'll say on this topic. Your site will remain Rhianna's home for as long as she's welcome. And thanks again - we're all glad your back! -Jumonji Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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