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phillryu · Apr 25, 2005, 11:43 PM

Hey guys,

As some of you may know, I'm the webmaster of MacThemes.net, which largely began out of the MacNN GUI Customization forum. The site's been a pretty good success, in part due to MacNN, so I'd like to give you guys a sneak peak at my current project, MacWidgets.net, coming Monday after Tiger. Each day, I'll be updating the teaser page to show off another widget.

The website's been the result of hard work by over a dozen talented individuals, especially of course our web programmers and artists. So, I hope some of the excitement we are feeling rubs off on you guys.

Feel free to post questions or speculations about the shown widgets here.

MacWidgets.net Countdown

mrtew · Apr 25, 2005, 11:46 PM

Cool!!!

Rafiki · Apr 25, 2005, 11:49 PM

Nice!! Looking forward to it!

ambush · Apr 25, 2005, 11:53 PM

I hope people will like our widgets... especially the one I made...

mac15 · Apr 26, 2005, 07:49 AM

The site is going to be huge... Big props to all who helped! If only I helped out more

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Apr 26, 2005, 08:00 AM

Good luck...there's about 400 different Dashboard sites already, but with MacTheme's track record thus far, you should rise to the top easily.

Lucky for me, there's only one other 3rd party Automator site in the works that I know of

Noonster · Apr 26, 2005, 08:03 AM

That CPU Puck looks cool....
- Have you got lots in the pipeline??

Roll on monday :-)

ManOfSteal · Apr 26, 2005, 08:25 AM

I assume Adam Betts has been part of this project?

Great work!

phillryu · Apr 26, 2005, 08:50 AM

Adam Betts has not. He's been WoWing

But there have been many great artists to fill in, and they've done a great job, so I'm sure you guys will be impressed with our designs.

phillryu · Apr 26, 2005, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Noonster

That CPU Puck looks cool....
- Have you got lots in the pipeline??

Roll on monday :-)

We'll probably have about 5 ready for release on Monday, though we'll be spreading them out a bit. Then, there's like ten more finished designs that are in the works. So yes, lots in the pipeline.

Grrr · Apr 26, 2005, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn

Good luck...there's about 400 different Dashboard sites already,

Um, Really? I've only found 1 that works, and signs of 2 or 3 more that will no doubt spring to life within the next few days..

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Apr 26, 2005, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by Grrr

Um, Really? I've only found 1 that works, and signs of 2 or 3 more that will no doubt spring to life within the next few days..

11 listed here alone (not counting the two developer sites):
http://www.dori.com/dashboard/

Randman · Apr 26, 2005, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by phillryu

We'll probably have about 5 ready for release on Monday, though we'll be spreading them out a bit.

Don't do that. Saturate the market at first, let people enjoy them at once, then have newer ones for people to come back to.

Noonster · Apr 26, 2005, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by phillryu

We'll probably have about 5 ready for release on Monday, though we'll be spreading them out a bit. Then, there's like ten more finished designs that are in the works. So yes, lots in the pipeline.

Thanks for the reply.... its all exciting

- Cant wait to see what you have to offer.

Darren

mishap · Apr 26, 2005, 01:42 PM

Awesome!

Finally some real widgets!

Fortius · Apr 26, 2005, 01:58 PM

I hope MW will be as good as MT, if so it will pwwn all other widget sites

Komisar · Apr 26, 2005, 02:39 PM

Looks decent

phillryu · Apr 26, 2005, 07:19 PM

Teaser is updated. I might have to make this twice a day to show off all of our widgets!

ManOfSteal · Apr 26, 2005, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by phillryu

Teaser is updated. I might have to make this twice a day to show off all of our widgets!

Delicious Library releases MiniShelves, eh? Interesting.

ambush · Apr 26, 2005, 11:46 PM

I want to eat them, they're so Nifty�.

Wait 'till you see Echo. BTW, is that the final name, Phill?

MacDog · Apr 27, 2005, 12:41 AM

This has nothing to do with MW web site, cause I wish you all luck. But for the sake of Apple and you guys, I hope Widgets are MUCH easier to create than themes, otherwise the site will turn into a holding ground for 5,000 mock-ups and 10 actual widgets. Or worse yet, a site with 10 actual widgets and 5,000 copies of them *Kough!!*

phillryu · Apr 27, 2005, 07:20 AM

We won't have any mocokups.

And yes, widgets in general are like 10x less time consuming to make than themes. They don't have as steep of an effort curve.

ambush · Apr 27, 2005, 09:09 PM

Oh check out the new teaser

Reggie Fowler · Apr 27, 2005, 09:14 PM

Even better site.

http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/showcase/

ManOfSteal · Apr 27, 2005, 09:15 PM

Originally Posted by ambush

Oh check out the new teaser

Nice!

ambush: Wouldn't you be a MacWidgets.net Widget Developer, instead of a "MacThemes.net" Widget Developer?

ambush · Apr 27, 2005, 09:43 PM

I wonder how you can compare when you haven't even seen MacWidgets.net. But feel free to make a fool of yourself.

GoRickey:THX.

ManOfSteal · Apr 27, 2005, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by ambush

GoRickey:THX.

You bet, great work by the way...cannot wait to add them to my Dashboard collection!

demograph68 · May 2, 2005, 03:01 PM

It's now monday and the anticipation is enormous! 3...2...1...

sandsl · May 2, 2005, 05:51 PM

Your late, get to it. Bad web developer!

Grrr · May 2, 2005, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by demograph68

It's now monday and the anticipation is enormous! 3...2...1...

Uh huh.. You plugged it enough phillyru, so where is it?

phillryu · May 2, 2005, 09:35 PM

Well, what can I say? Complications. However, not necessarily bad complications. I might be able to say more in a day or two, in which case I'll definitely update you guys.

Noonster · May 5, 2005, 07:57 AM

Anymore news mate??
- Cant wait to get access to these Widgets!

cybergoober · May 5, 2005, 08:18 AM

Need. More. Widgets.

...

phillryu · May 5, 2005, 08:24 AM

Well, for you guys, this is probably all bad news.

Basically we may be holding the widgets for a future release with a high-profile Mac software company. Which means that you may not be able to use our shown widgets for some time, though it also means that with some added motivation on our parts, when these are released, they will be accompanied by many more really slick widgets.

And the site launch, in part due to this, is going to be delayed by a week or two. However, since you guys have been very patient, I'll give you guys a (slightly outdated) preview of the website design. Not the full website, but the design.

http://www.omnidot.com/widget/

Thanks for your patience.

Randman · May 5, 2005, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by phillryu

Basically we may be holding the widgets for a future release with a high-profile Mac software company.

phillryu · May 5, 2005, 10:29 AM

Well, I might as well try to use this thread to help make the site launch better.

What do you guys think about the design? Particularly the widget archive, and also, do you think the categories we have in place currently will be fine? Let me know, cause this delay does give us time to make further tweaks and improvements.

iamnotmad · May 5, 2005, 10:46 AM

The site looks fine, though considering it's pretty much the same design as your macthemes..... snooooz.... How about something new?

Oh and super lame on the announcement complete with countdown to nothing. How about go make some more fun of goMac for announcing things without release. At least his stuff is not held up for an *apparent* money making deal with a "high profile Mac software company".

Stradlater · May 5, 2005, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by phillryu

Basically we may be holding the widgets for a future release with a high-profile Mac software company.

Standalone widgets for money = bad idea. Widgets that accompany a shareware product (like the Transmit widget) are fine.

Mrjinglesusa · May 5, 2005, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Reggie Fowler

Even better site.

http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/showcase/

Originally Posted by ambush

I wonder how you can compare when you haven't even seen MacWidgets.net. But feel free to make a fool of yourself.

Originally Posted by phillryu

Well, for you guys, this is probably all bad news.

Basically we may be holding the widgets for a future release with a high-profile Mac software company. Which means that you may not be able to use our shown widgets for some time, though it also means that with some added motivation on our parts, when these are released, they will be accompanied by many more really slick widgets.

And the site launch, in part due to this, is going to be delayed by a week or two. However, since you guys have been very patient, I'll give you guys a (slightly outdated) preview of the website design. Not the full website, but the design.

That's why. At least there are sites out there with downloadable widgets already. As it stands, any site out there that has active widgets available for download is a "better site" at this point. Previews mean nothing, especially considering the above phillryu quote.

Mrjinglesusa · May 5, 2005, 11:26 AM

Good Widget resource site:

http://www.widgettracker.com/

FREE and available NOW. Also has links to many other widget download sites.

OwlBoy · May 5, 2005, 11:56 AM

Yes, yes, but where is Omega?

I suspect this is all a distraction from it...

-Owl

[APi]TheMan · May 5, 2005, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by phillryu

And the site launch, in part due to this, is going to be delayed by a week or two. However, since you guys have been very patient, I'll give you guys a (slightly outdated) preview of the website design. Not the full website, but the design.

http://www.omnidot.com/widget/

Sexy... man that's slick.

Kristoff · May 5, 2005, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by phillryu

http://www.omnidot.com/widget/

That is one of the coolest looking websites I have ever seen.
Too bad you missed the launch.
Hope everything works out for you, because that is some nice eye candy of a web site.

phillryu · May 5, 2005, 03:08 PM

Well, seeing that what I was counting down to was MacWidgets.net the website anyway, and that I'm showing you guys what is basically the final design for the site, it's not exactly vaporware right?

But I know, I apologize for this... it was an unfortunate series of events that we're scrambling to fix at this point, and I hope you realize that this isn't exactly the happiest decision I had to make. The fact is, we've all been working very hard on this site for months, and we're just as anxious, if not even more anxious, than you guys to get this stuff out.

And come on now, don't tell me the website is the same design as MacThemes. Yes, we tried to standardize some concepts of it to be consistent between the two Mac____.net sites, but I think this is still pretty different.

Krypton · May 5, 2005, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by phillryu

Basically we may be holding the widgets for a future release with a high-profile Mac software company.

Is that defaultmind by any chance?

phillryu · May 5, 2005, 03:37 PM

Nope, but we're not going to play a guessing game.

Krypton · May 5, 2005, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by phillryu

Nope, but we're not going to play a guessing game.

Killjoy

I can't think of many companies that would have an interest in dashboard widgets, Mike Matas and Delicious Monster would be very much into this sort of thing - but they're more than capable of coming up with their own.

I'm going to mention MacRabbit and The Iconfactory instead.

OwlBoy · May 7, 2005, 12:32 PM

Panic might enjoy widget making too.

-Owl

mdc · May 7, 2005, 04:11 PM

i really like the site. i agree on the mac____.net look. i think it should be similar, since they are both in the same "family." i think you guys have made a great looking site.

now make with the quickness

pyn · May 7, 2005, 10:01 PM

bad user interface

- the website doesn't fit on a 1024x768 screen unless you open the window to cover the whole screen
- all the widgets just seemed "plopped" together... they don't match like the default Apple widgets do
- rollover links would be nice [widget archive]
- the purple is weird and out of place...and the white makes my eyes hurt
- you might need a "other" or "misc" category
- does the widget archive expand downwards?
- maybe make the slider a little bit more slidey...just moving makes it dull, maybe like a fast woosh and then slowing down to a stop
- the forums just looks wayyyy to out of balance. especially the scan lines
- again, the purple looks very weird in for the rounded rectangles in the contact page

the design isn't consistent like the macthemes design which was much much better