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  #1  
Old Feb 17, 2010, 07:05 PM
Kidd Cabbage Kidd Cabbage is offline
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Default So, the site design pretty much sucks...

So, I've been talking with Quintin about the site design with some ideas I had, and we talked about it and agree that changing how the site looks is definitely a good thing. There are a few disagreements between the two of us about what the focuses on the main page should be and where things should go, so let's get some other thoughts.

(note there are a few differences that I don't mention, like the header differences - that's because there's no disagreement there: they were just changed in between the two versions)

Here's the first layout design:



Summary:
-Songs advertised through experience are featured in the center of the page.
-Most Active and New Songs merged into one table, switchable by tab.
-Competitions gets its own table below new songs.
-News merged with discussion (logic: Announcements will be made on the forums anyway, so why the redundancy?)




And here's the second layout design:




Summary:
-News front and center, competitions included, instead of merged with discussion. (logic: Doubt that casual visitors will visit the forums for news)
-Advertised songs in the top right
-New songs in the bottom right
-Most Active songs removed due to probable redundancy with Advertised Songs




So what are y'alls' thoughts on the two layouts? What do you like about either? Any other suggestions?
  #2  
Old Feb 17, 2010, 08:24 PM
Omnomnomnom Omnomnomnom is offline
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Most active songs should still be there though, somehow. Maybe since the playlist area you've designated "pops up", we could put the most active tracks under that, since it'll take a scroll over to pop up the menu anyway. Might be a bit annoying, so use the other side? What's the point in it popping up, if the part it pops up over isn't used. Wasted space, so we may as well use it. Other than that, I actually like the idea a lot. The site, as is, is very "scroll down to see this" based. Which is grand, only, the site has too much info for that to really work that way. So far, your plan seems decent. I'm not a designer, but I found your layout logical and accessible.
  #3  
Old Feb 17, 2010, 08:37 PM
Omnomnomnom Omnomnomnom is offline
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.... I should've called "Photoshopped". -_-'
  #4  
Old Feb 17, 2010, 09:06 PM
Kidd Cabbage Kidd Cabbage is offline
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Well, the logic behind getting rid of the most active songs is that if songs are being posted on the front page, then they'll most likely be the most active - and if you're using your XP to put them on the front page, you're doing so to make them more active. (Edit: Plus, if most active songs are being posted on the front page, there is less incentive to promote your music with XP if you're already doing well on the site)

And the playlist being a popup wasn't fully decided - that was an idea of mine where it would scroll with you at the bottom right of the screen andyou pop it out with a click or mouseover - if you put it on the front page, though, it wouldn't follow you while you browse through songs, though.

Last edited by Kidd Cabbage; Feb 17, 2010 at 09:17 PM.
  #5  
Old Feb 17, 2010, 09:23 PM
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quintin3265 quintin3265 is offline
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Omnom, make sure that you visit http://svillage.mine.nu and offer another comment. There were significant changes made already based upon comments in recent threads, but which have not yet been released to production. As you can see, the number of things on the front page is reduced, and the song details pages are changed around.

The one issue with this design is the playlists. Playlists popping out of the bottom right is an unworkable idea, because they are associated with each grid. It would take 20 hours or more to extricate playlists like that and more to design a new interface, and I'm sure everyone will agree the opportunity cost of that is too high. Furthermore, songs would stop playing as the user browsed to other pages, while now playlists continue as the user browses.

The other things in the designs are not difficult with the coding and can be tweaked more easily.

Also, I'm pretty much convinced that rebranding as gameremixes.com is a must. If you were new to game music and knew nothing about video game remixes, which site would you go to based on domain alone? Squareenixmusic.com has expanded well outside of Square Enix's music, and so I think it's possible to start with gameremixes.com and still accept originals. Remixsite.org will simply redirect to gameremixes.com and all URLs would remain working.
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  #6  
Old Feb 17, 2010, 09:33 PM
Kidd Cabbage Kidd Cabbage is offline
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I don't know how to say this in coding terms...

But if you were to make everything load inside of the main page... like have the header and playlist be a frame that the index and song pages load inside of, could the playlist not have the need to reload every time you change pages?
  #7  
Old Feb 19, 2010, 08:48 AM
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quintin3265 quintin3265 is offline
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Yes, but only with a lot of effort and either using iframes or Javascript. If everyone thinks this is a great idea, then I'll do that, but I think that the opportunity cost is too high in this instance. We could be implementing a great new feature in the tens of hours it will take to do that compared to simply bringing the playlist up in a new window.

The more significant problem, perhaps, is that this scheme would cause search engine rankings to decrease significantly. To the search engines, such a site would appear to be only one page. Google plans to release support for AJAX websites like that in a few months, but until then the site would drop off the rankings almost completely.

---------------

On a different note, none of the site designs has discussed colors or graphics, and these need to be addressed quickly. I've already got experience points half-working in the Dev version. They are being stored for everyone someone does in the Dev version, but I have yet to implement an interface to display how many points people have to users.

One design I'm not really willing to consider is using 8-bit graphics and old C64 or SNES-style pixelated text. Game music has evolved quite a bit over the years, and I think that portraying the site in that manner limits the appeal to hardcore gamers. Casual gamers and people who don't play games are more likely to download songs, I say, if the site looks more modern.

Perhaps FoxxDragon should be contacted and asked to produce some sample graphics that combine both games and modernity? I'm sure he might consider doing so. If he designs something we like, he could then be paid to secure the rights for the new design.
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  #8  
Old Feb 19, 2010, 02:55 PM
Kidd Cabbage Kidd Cabbage is offline
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I talk to Foxx pretty often, so I'll see if he's interested at all. If not, I could talk with you and see what you're looking for - I might be able to help with more ideas.
  #9  
Old Feb 20, 2010, 07:56 AM
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quintin3265 quintin3265 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kidd Cabbage View Post
I talk to Foxx pretty often, so I'll see if he's interested at all. If not, I could talk with you and see what you're looking for - I might be able to help with more ideas.
Let me know what he says. We need to get started with this right away, so if he declines, we can start looking for someone else.
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  #10  
Old Feb 22, 2010, 01:40 PM
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quintin3265 quintin3265 is offline
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I was thinking about this and I realized that there is a way that we can partially resolve the "remixes vs originals" issue. There can simply be separate tabs on the "latest songs" or "most active songs" or other grids: one for "remixes" and one for "originals." That would clearly separate the two. We could still leave the existing "browse all songs" feature available to search both types of music.
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  #11  
Old Feb 22, 2010, 07:57 PM
Omnomnomnom Omnomnomnom is offline
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Sorry, been here and there, but not much time to comment, so a couple of things.

The site you linked me to; idea-wise, I think KiddCabbage's is better. More navigationally friendly. So for the moment, that's what I'm thinking is best. If Foxx has a better idea, great.

Quote:
Also, I'm pretty much convinced that rebranding as gameremixes.com is a must.
Woah.... where'd that name come from? The problem is not with the word "site", but the word "remix". What's different in the intent with what you're suggesting exactly? "Remix" implies taking tracks already made and REdoing them. There's gotta be something more neutral to choose if you want a site that can do both without anyone being confused. Keep "game" and substitute "remix" for something else.

Just my opinion of course, and I realise this thread isn't necessarily about that, but there's a lot happening all at once, so sorry for going off topic.
 

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