What would you put on the front page.

DeVore

Right, we have to move fast on this one.

We've an intern in here (-[Danny]-) and we need to make him slave harder over a hot php editor. So we're taking advantage of this free labour ... I mean student work-experience program... to redevelop the front page.

Regi and I talked it over last friday and we've got a generic design on the way from Figment (and partly inpired by Daz) to whom much thanks!

Now, we've got a few neat ideas we arent going to tell everyone about until its released as they are (small) surprises but we've listed a few things like Latest 5 polls, and Latest 5 PM's should go on the front page along with latest 20 posts (with more room).

This means that the traditional 5 guys will be going (*sniff*) but the new page will be leaner meaner and altogether more user-useful...

So I cant promise we're going to do all or any of these things but chuck em in and if they are stonkingly good ideas they'll be considered

DeV.

ozt9vdujny3srf

I wud wub a google search box on the page somewhere discreet.

Dunno if u could sort that with google,also i'd say you could make it look great great at the sacrafise of making take a long time to loat, seeing as most people would have it in there temp files after hte first time round

I know you can have google in your tool bar (as i do) but i like the search itrish pages option on google.ie

ballooba

Google pay you to do that. Look at searchtraffic.com and i'm not suggesting for a moment that you use them. Just an indication of what the market rates are for this sort of thing.

anthonymcg

Its not about the front page. But how bout a 'View New Posts' link near in the menu buttons in the top right of the forums. It's a bit of a bitch going into Boards.ie->Bulletin Boards->View New Posts. Cheers.

Thorbar

A little search box with a drop down menu for which forum you want to search.

A box to click that brings you to a random thread that was created in the last 2 days.

I don't know about the google search box, got one already in my toolbar but I guess its good for people who aren't running IE.

A little box showing the vital stats on boards, i.e. current users logged on, highest number ever logged on, number of posts/topics.

And to make the life of a fellow intern more enjoyable a cutecore picture that's randomly selected from a huge gallery of images. (see taz's harddrive).

Victor

Something less white might be nice.

Originally posted by anthonymcg
Its not about the front page. But how bout a 'View New Posts' link near in the menu buttons in the top right of the forums. It's a bit of a bitch going into Boards.ie->Bulletin Boards->View New Posts. Cheers.

Just click on the big logo on the top left corner and you get the last 20 or else click on ''View New Posts' on the front page.

I just did a screenie of the front page (attached).

Area 1 - Generally OK, someone had an extra suggestion last week (in Admin somewhere)
Area 2 - I rarely use this, can it be lost / reduced?
Area 3 - Well its not really "news" is it? can it be lost / reduced?
Area 4 - Can these be added to the top nav bar.
Area 5 - Nice but not essential
Area 6 - Nice but not essential
Area 7 - How active is this?
Area 8 - I'm happy with it as it is, but if you want to update the style then fine. Some of the skins (Smallville?) lead elsewhere than boards.ie.
Area 9 - I never use these, can it be lost / reduced?
Area 10 - Getting a little long these days
Area 11 - Can the 'lads' be added to teh new style either randomly or as waterwarks (behind the latest 20 posts)?
Area 12 - The of tags ("[Article]", "[New]", "[NT]") sometimes reduces the "What" to almost nothing. The "what" needed to be increased in length anyway.

Victor

Do you want to consider the results of this poll when considering minimum screen resolution?

Tag problem demo attached.

Asok

ill give ye a plain white html table of links to the furums ye will be thankful for that!!!:p

Dr_Teeth

I think you need some sort of introduction / blurb style thing for complete newbies to the site tbh. Imagine yourself as someone who's quite new to the web and perhaps hasn't used a BB before.

You need some sort of newbie guide, preferably a 1-2-3 wizard that guides them through the registration process in a friendly manner, shows them what boards is all about and how they should behave.

To a newbie the front-page isn't very clear, and the registration process could be daunting also..

Teeth.

DeVore

While we should be more newbie friendly I am not entirely convinced we should be "moron-friendly".

DeV.

bubbles

Why not have 2 main pages?

The default one where newbies etc would comes across and would use - maybe very simular to the current one.

And then set a url to another advanced main page for more experieced people, www.boards.ie/2/ or something. People can set their homepage to this or maybe have the option saved in a cookie so everytime they go to boards.ie they get the main page they want.

DeVore

What would you put on them though? What would be the difference?

DeV.

PhilipMarlowe

If you are registered and logged in, the front page should be styled relative to your skin choice - I mentioned this before - I use the minimalist skin and when you get used to this, the home page looks 'daft', like it's not the same site...
So if possible, mostly the latest x posts, maybe stats, and a 'content island' for announcements/important admin-type posts featured on the main page. Possibly also a latest x from subbed could be shoved under this too (x being configurable from the CP).

Default homepage for non-registered types can have FAQ, rules, history type links along side the current content.... you have written the history (so far) of boards.... haven't you?

Mark.

Thorbar

Originally posted by DeVore
What would you put on them though? What would be the difference?

DeV.

Create around 10 different little gadgets something along the lines of the 5 I mentioned above and then people can customise what they want on their version of the front page and where they go. In fidelity investments there's an internal webpage that does something along these lines and its great. I got the local weather, new stories and what the markets are doing up on my one but here are loads of different things you can stick up there.

Barry

Asuka

Originally posted by Victor
Area 7 - How active is this?

Not very, im waiting on a t-shirt since last august

A

Gordon

Any chance of getting the top 20 posts (how about a top 30?) to show Unregistered posts?

Oh and any chance of getting your intern to make me a hot chocolate, I could really do with one right now. Boards has an intern... hmmm the Monica Lewinsky of the internet I wonder. /waffle

kaimera

aye, what Licksy said, change the hp to refelect the users Boards.ie color scheme.

ya get tired o going from the bright white to the dull gray on minimalist each time.

it is possible to write a lil executable file for d/l so that the hp can be saved to a hard drive so it's easier on the server?

Asok

Hmm looks like i will be a busy little elf,and because of that i must say these few things

• Gordon i do terrible things to the coffee in spin so you really dont want any frothy beverage prepared by me and i keel you
• anyone who makes and more complicated things for me to do i keel you!
• i wont kill any of the above but the rest of you watch out
• i will bend to devores iron will and do this work ...........I SAID WILL!

ecksor

Originally posted by Kaimera
it is possible to write a lil executable file for d/l so that the hp can be saved to a hard drive so it's easier on the server?

Easier in what way? (I don't see what you're getting at here).

kaimera

so that each users preferred settings would be stored on their own pc.

DeVore

we are going to build a structure that will allow us to move forward with a number of the advanced things suggested here.

Firstly, we're planning a content island but it will be community based and I think it will rock (its actually Regis idea to be fair though we were both kinda coming to the same conclusion around the same time )

Secondly skinning the front page will happen but not in the first push. We are however building for it (using CSS and that sort of stuff) and Regi wants to see it done so it will happen (unlike stuff I want to see done but then get distracted by the presence of donuts...)

I like the idea of configurable areas of the screen and aggregating info into them. Lets build the platform first and THEN think about going for extra credit.

Gordon, I never realised Unregistered posts dont show up in the last 20! Could you create a topic on Admin about that?

DeV

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Victor

Is it time to move to a 1024 * 768 layout?

See poll http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86230

DeVore

I'm in favour of a 1024x768 design but Regi is set on 800x600 so we have to have that argument
We might settle on one that uses the extra space but for less important things.


The current xml feed is being redone into proper RSS... Talliesin is going to guide us on that with the big RSS-brain of his.

DeV.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

DeVore

We dont have the design together yet, we wanted to take the feedback from the community first. We'll post it when we have something to show you.

I think theres no reason why we cant keep the old one at /oldindex.php or something so that if you DO like it you could bookmark that instead.

I think the new one is going to rock though!

DeV.

wobble

Any update on an rss feed? I have tried searching for threads on rss here but this is the only one I get.

Regards
Wobble

smiles

Right someone just sent me a link to the temp idea for the boards front page from Figments site and TBH it looks remarkably pants - all dull and grey and very very business like and unfriendly.

<< Fio >>

dahamsta

Originally posted by DeVore
Firstly, we're planning a content island

A "content island"? Jesus preserve us, who came up with that godawful name?

adam

DeVore

I dont know... I was just wondering why I wrote that too as it makes no sense to me either

I was probably channeling Gerry McGovern at the time... apologies...


Anyway, neat timing as we hope to have a completed sample Real Soon Now...
The changes utterly own Meh Pants... but we have to finish the look and feel and make it more Boardsie if you know what I mean.

Its all CSSed though so changing anything should be a doddle and I expect we'll have a "skinned" front page soon after we launch the default one.

In the new version are things like:
Tech (and other) Magazine style content.

Filtered top 20 (All, Subscribed, Arts, Society, AH, Tech, Games, etc etc)... these will bring you the top 20 from just that branch of the navigation (very handy if all you want to see are Tech posts and not PI shenanigans!)... similar to how the Subbed Top 20 works now.

Event anouncements

Moderator recommended threads (so you can tune into the stuff the mods think are top quality threads, so you never miss fun stuff happening on boards you dont visit regularly).

and a few other things.
Primarily it will redesign the front page from the 200K gargantuan thing it is right now to a streamlined page which lets you control what you want to see from Boards. It gives us a platform on which to develop that idea further.

It's giving me wood, right now.

DeV.

DeVore

Ah, I was responding to Licksy's use of the phrase Content Island. Blame him. He made me do it.

DeV.

nosmo

On the new look, very "AIB".. Don't know why, that just came to mind.

dahamsta

Licksy, go outside the door and think about what you've done.

adam

Gordon

If you want to have a picture of me on the front page - that's fine I don't mind, I'm sure it will increase traffic etc..

amp

Howabout some of that juicy data on:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/index.php?s=

It could be formatted like this:
----
Latest new user:
Hello to DEATHGIVER2004

Latest banned user:
Bye bye DEATHGIVER2003.3
----

And also graphs mapping how many users online a la MircStats. GRAPHS R FUN!

PhilipMarlowe

And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those pesky kids at www.infopop.com

TomTom

How about a link to the boards e-mail, or an option to log directly into it as well as boards, e.g. pop up new window.

Also things are very bundled up on the boards.ie menu, could they be spread out around the first page and stuff.

Alot of ppl don't even realise many of those features are there

phreak

Originally posted by TomTom
How about a link to the boards e-mail, or an option to log directly into it as well as boards, e.g. pop up new window.

i'd like to see that too. maybe with a link on the left hand side saying if you have new e-mails or unread ones like the PM thing.

DeVore

Ok, Firstly Smiles I dunno who gave you a link but they are out of line. The reason we havent released the look and feel is because we havent finished it AT ALL. To indicate that to ourselves Figgy made it all grey. We've already decided that people associate the shade of blue we have already with Boards.

We're going to do a Google thing with the logo and have different people from Boards submit different logos for short periods.

You are right about it being more organised etc, Boards is getting huge in terms of areas and information-overload and we need to be more organised in how we front end it.

I dont think its possible (or desirable) to log into your mail and check for new mail as we dont have your email password stored in the database. But links to stuff like the Mail interface are a good idea.

Debates and Events get more prominence, there are LOTS more info-streams (so that rather then just communicating with everyone here, or in an announcement, we can announce stuff on the front screen too...)

We want to get the ideas I have into a decent enough design first and THEN we'll open it up to everyone to put forward ideas.
We've all agreed that the Boards "Eyes" will make an appearance on the new page as the "lads"are still our mascots kinda. However they take up too much space when there is a ton of stuff going a-begging.

Anyway, everyone complained the last time we changed the front page
I hope to be leaving the current front page up after the new one goes live as Index2.php or something. So that people who REALLY want to use it can.

DeV.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Gordon

A search button on the front page would be good.

PiE

Originally posted by DeVore
We're going to do a Google thing with the logo and have different people from Boards submit different logos for short periods

That's a bloody good idea.

Originally posted by Gordon
A search button on the front page

As is that.

Victor

Originally posted by DeVore
I dont think its possible (or desirable) to log into your mail and check for new mail as we dont have your email password stored in the database. But links to stuff like the Mail interface are a good idea.

Do you mean like a set of links to "most used websites"? Like the Hotmail, AOL, yahoo, ireland.com, etc. ones that internet cafes have.

Thorbar

Originally posted by Mercury_Tilt
how about a pge 3 kind of "breasts of the day" thing?

And for the gay boys maybe a "manly chest" of the day?

No?

ok then. At least I tried.

Thanks for robbing my cutecore idea merc any other ideas you'd like to plunder from my brain???????????????