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Amorya · May 29, 2002, 06:03 PM

<a href="http://www.scifiminds.net" target="_blank">www.scifiminds.net</a>

We're converting it to a PHP-driven version, and with that we will be clearing up the design. At the moment, they look fairly similar, apart from the default text being smaller on the new one. So, I'd like any other comments on what you might like to see changed. Be as harsh as you like!

Amorya

philzilla · May 29, 2002, 06:30 PM

TIMES NEW ROMAN IS CRIME!!!

i'll calm down in a minute, hold on... then i'll check it out again

you done much with php yet, or is this just an idea you have? i'm in the process of having to teach myself, as i go along. i'll PM you a URL to check, should you care to see such a thing...

Mac Guru · May 30, 2002, 09:07 AM

DITTO.

Use a sans-serif man! If you INSIST on that starfield background PLEASE put your body copy in a table that has a color or a grey behind it. The text is VERY illegible on that dot pattern. It is entirely possible to use the header you have now as a stand alone header bar then have the rest of the site on a color instead of a pattern.

The Links should be a different color. That blue is almost invisible and actually hurts my eyes to read.

You need to look into fixing the fact that your page scrolls an extra half a page from where the content ends as well.

Phaser blast horizontal rules are very "I'm a newbie to the interweb" looking. If I were you, I'd stick to plain hr's.

That's all I have time for right now.

Mac Guru

Amorya · May 31, 2002, 01:47 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by philzilla:
TIMES NEW ROMAN IS CRIME!!!

i'll calm down in a minute, hold on... then i'll check it out again

you done much with php yet, or is this just an idea you have? i'm in the process of having to teach myself, as i go along. i'll PM you a URL to check, should you care to see such a thing...<hr /></blockquote>I've got the majority of the PHP up and running... it's all based on PHPbb's users system, and presently the user can post, edit and view fanfics, post reviews, and a few other things. Yeah, it's messy code, but it's my first attempt... anyway, it all seems to work

At the moment, I'm still using this design, which existed when I joined the project. I don't know how much freedom I'll have to change it, but I'm looking for ideas anyway. Point taken about times, I hadn't really noticed 'cos it's all in Ludica for me. I'll choose summat more sensible soon

Amorya

Amorya · May 31, 2002, 01:49 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Mac Guru:
DITTO.

Use a sans-serif man! If you INSIST on that starfield background PLEASE put your body copy in a table that has a color or a grey behind it. The text is VERY illegible on that dot pattern. It is entirely possible to use the header you have now as a stand alone header bar then have the rest of the site on a color instead of a pattern.<hr /></blockquote>I'll talk to the site owner about that. He seems quite attached to the stars, but maybe I could box out all the text.

<blockquote>quote:<hr />The Links should be a different color. That blue is almost invisible and actually hurts my eyes to read.<hr /></blockquote>That's already on my to-do list

<blockquote>quote:<hr />You need to look into fixing the fact that your page scrolls an extra half a page from where the content ends as well.<hr /></blockquote>Hmmm, hadn't noticed that... seems to be an IE-only problem. I'll check it out.

Thanks for your help

Amorya

Amorya · Aug 17, 2002, 09:51 AM

Just giving this thread a bump to ask for any more opinions. It's changed quite a bit since last time I posted!

http://www.scifiminds.net

Amorya

slimshady023 · Aug 17, 2002, 11:27 PM

Hey Amorya,

Your site has some neat elements to it, a nice sci-fi theme to it, and I can tell that a lot of time has been invested into it. If I were to alter anything, it would be this:

- the purple background (introducing color was a good move, but this shade doesn't like me. Maybe try the same shade in a blue?).
- the logo "sci-fi minds" at header top (everything at the right and left of the logo is so dynamic, that the actual logo is lost in the world. I can't think of what I would do right now, but you might just want to play with it and see what works... brainstorm... maybe lose the shaddow and try a light "outer glow" in Photoshop, to make it look glowing? This usually makes a nice glowing effect / sci-fi feel, and would look sweet).
- the links background color (the black makes it blend into the starry background around it. I would try a dark grey, dark enough to that it separates the content from the background, but not light enough so that it draws too much attention).

Finally, and this is something I'm sure you are getting around to anyway. But, I would work on the X-Files section content. That show rocks!

Anyway, great site. From the number of online message board users, it also looks like you have quite a number of followers. Best of luck, or should I say... "live long and prosper!" heh heh. Later!

- Slim

Amorya · Aug 19, 2002, 09:05 PM

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Slimshady.

On the design issues, I'll have a play with the ideas you mentioned. It's about time we redid the top graphics, I think... they were done in a free PC graphics program ages ago

We are getting through adding content. It's coming slowly, but it's getting there. We're busy converting all the fanfic off the old (static HTML) site first, but after that we'll do more of the episode guides.

Asyose else got any comments?

Amorya

Adam Betts · Aug 23, 2002, 12:28 AM

Looks great

Maybe you could make the title a little more readable by changing the text color or make the shadow more stronger.

I never like any website that said something like "Welcome to this homepage" or "Make yourself at home". They're little too newbie-ish

But other than that, I like it

l008com · Aug 25, 2002, 09:29 PM

Sorry, I just don't feel like reading all the other replies so far... My only complaint is your images. Most of them are really poor quality. Use ImageReady to do some slices, and be creative, you can make it look ALOT better without having it be too much bigger. One of the biggest problems I see on the web today is people using JPGs for everything when a Gif in its place would look better, and be a smaller file size.

Apple Pro Underwear · Aug 25, 2002, 11:59 PM

i know you didn't design it from the ground up but...

just because it is a sc-fi site doesn't mean it has to have stars and moons and spaceships all over the place. a sci-fi type color palette, sharp angles and etc can be more sucessful than what the original designers chose here.

mwolstat · Aug 28, 2002, 12:29 PM

the stars and stuff is a little obvious design-wise, but i think it works fine. you might consider a background jpeg that tiles a little more smoothly, tho. it pretty easy to see the edges of the tile where there isn't much content to hide it.
i didn't see the site before, but i like the way the text all appears in the black boxes, they stand out well against the star pattern.

the jpeg compression inside the header image text is bothersome. one thing you might try is to make a table with the background image a jpeg of the planet without any text and then the content of the table cell a gif of the text with a transparent background, creating a double layer effect. you make the user download 2 images rather than one, but they will both compress smaller, and you will get nice crisp text at the top of every page.

keep up the good work!