Exsiting CTW Frontend

[James]

What do you think of the existing CTW frontend template/graphics ?

 

be 100% HONEST ...

 

And what do you think is good/bad/missing/un-necessary ?

[TomD]

my opinion is that it's actually OK - one of the site's strong points is its colour scheme which is easily identifiable as CTW. you know when you see the sky blue screen which site you're on.

 

the front page doesn't need to be as "big", it's unnecessarily tall. there are too many items running down the right-hand side which could probably go in the middle, and actually be cut down on. the navigation however is very simple and easy to follow down the left.

 

the front page also needs to be far more dynamic. i for one don't ever bother visiting the main site - maybe that's because i'm hardly ever able to make any of the meet-ups but it does appear rather static. there's the news down the right, but since CTW is a lot about the meet-ups, the old "schedule" should return....

 

... which can only happen if a database is set up with coming events, I think this is the first step towards a better site. we all know that the current event suggestions/this week/past events system is difficult to keep track of; write a custom calendar app in PHP and authenticate using cookies from UBB and you've got a pretty good event management system which doesn't require the mods to keep moving things around; there's just far too much work required at the moment.

 

phew.

 

will add more later but what do you think?

[James]

yep - agreed mate. the dynamic bit will be sorted out - its a high priority - but need to get any template design sorted out first - if there is any. Deffo too much on right hand side / too wide. Deffo not up to date enough and as you say no one checks the main page anymore. Need proper templates for the reviews etc.. - at the moment its literally just text on the background.

 

Getting proper event listings and allowing promotors to update themselves is THE highest priority as it could generate some revenue to cover server costs / expand the site / pay people for work. As you say this can only happen once its all in a proper db - which is going to happen. I did start on the physical model a while back in Powerdesigner but not touched it since due to huge amounts on work on at work work. I think the key thing is to keep it simple - at least at first - and then expand on this. Harderfaster have the right approach and the best content in my opinion - also everything is linked really well between members/dj/events/photos. I can definitely get to this but i think we could possible do even better.

 

I think the header is far too large - and i need it re-designed to incorporate the flash banners. Would also like the forum/gallery headers designed properly so its an actual proper header/bar - or perhaps just have ONE header for the entire site - some sites do this some dont.

 

cheers for your comments.

[Scream]

I echo pretty much what Tom says. Although i feel the front page is constructed without fluidity if you know what i mean. You know there are flowing lines then there is the menu with the harsh straight lines, don't really run.

 

Like tom said one of our main aims is the meet ups and having our own events as well. If the site was dynamically driven and the registration was more accuriate in the questions it asked, like where they are from and what kinda music they were into when going clubbing. Then the content would be aimed at them. But that just an idea. I mean if you wanted to see everything they you would select that option.

 

Just wondering would people prefer to events in a calander style or in posts? As sometimes there are so many events you have to back track. I've done something similar with flash that is dynamically driven with PHP and MySQL. The idea would need further developing but it's a possability.

 

We should edit the Post Icons for ctw so that we have our own. I mean how many people actually use the post icons when posting? If we had our own for new post, old post and like the post is hot as it's got x amount of replies it would make us a lot more identified.

 

I think we should redesign the frontend but keep what's good about it. That being the colour scheme and the simpleness about it. We don't need to fix what's not broken. If the content was more dynamically driven then more users would probably view the index page a lot more than just skippin straight to the community sector.

 

It's gonna be hard to manip the logo because so many people know it already. But what really counts there is the font. But we should put it out to users if it should stay the same as there the ones it really counts for in the end of the day.

 

Like james said we should tackle each part bit by bit. We should use a development life cycle for this to keep it under control and create some form of project management so we don't end up our own arses.

 

We should look at other clubbin sites and take what's best from them and build that into ours. HF has good content but i feel is overwhelming when you just log onto the page. This is where the dynamic side would really kick in if we can target the content depending on who's viewing. I think Gurn has one of the best layouts at the moment but they've been doin this for a while and have slowly built it to have a more athestically pleasing front end even though the same framework has remained. I think that is what we'll have to do with the front end too.

 

there are just some of my ideas and views.

[TomD]

sorry i've ended up starting a features discussion in this thread rather than a design discussion.

 

i'm going to be bold and say ditch the right-hand column, there's not sufficient content...yet...for the front page to fill the entire screen width.

 

at the moment i'm in the process of redesigning cscot and it's not going to run to full screen width; i'm aiming for a dynamic design but also with a distinct feel of almost "cleanliness" about it, rather than cluttered. HF is excellent for its features -- in fact after launching CSCOT, i found that it's pretty similar to what i'm aiming for with my site, except just for Edinburgh + Glasgow, but that took a *lot* of programming last summer. However what lets it down is the sheer weight of content that hits you on the front page.

 

end of the day as regards listings and promoters, it's up to you what you want to do, but don't forget that if it's a "world" site then having listings and promoters coming in and adding their listings could prove too much.

 

there also needs to be dynamic links on the forum home page to the content back on the main site so that users who do just go straight to the forums (like me... *ahem*) are tempted to go back to the main site if there's some new content they're interested in.

[Scream]

Tom with what you said about it being "world" it would be even more appropiate if the person could choose what country they are from. I think for the moment we should focus on the UK so the options of

 

England

N.Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Other

 

Would be the best approach. A lot more other questions would be need to be asked but it would be a way of controllin such high content.

 

But lets all be honest if something is wrong we have to say it regardless if of what anyone else thinks. If the site is to work smoothly we say what we think from good to bad.

[colin66]

Agreed that the right hand column should go. Banner (although good and identifiable) should be simplified with perhaps the menu bar running across the top (like harderfaster). The logo could easily be reduced by 50% to accommodate a flash banner on the right hand side - For an advertisers point of view, the higher up the page their banner is, the better.

 

As for content - well at the moment the problem is it's all text and theres way too much of it. We need photos, larger headers etc to break up the flow. Do we need music reviews, charts etc etc on the main page? I think a brief summary of what the site is all about, news, clubbing calendar and some selected thumb nailed photos from recent events should suffice. Anything more and it becomes too busy

 

The Colour scheme is spot on by the way and should be maintained. The fonts though could be better. I think we can't go wrong if we follow harderfaster's example but not as cluttered and keeping the familiar ctw style