Forum:New Mainpage Design

Forums: Yew Grove > New Mainpage Design

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This thread was archived on 9 February 2012 by Liquidhelium.

There is a new thread associated with the new mainpage, found here. Please vote there instead!

Discussion

Support - as creator Adam Savage 23:29, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

Master I support too because you told me to. SavBot 19:24, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Strong oppose - Absolutely nty. We could implement the runes, maybe, but everything else is a big nono. Ronan^Talk 23:33, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

How so? Adam Savage

23:33, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

Unbalanced, inconsistent, forums box is messed up on iPads, grammar mistakes, {{USERNAME}} doesn't work for anons (the vast, vast majority of our viewers), colours don't work well together, borders are differing and sore to look it. Overall layout is far, far worse than what we currently have (which I like quite a lot). Ronan^Talk 23:40, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

Oppose - Get rid of the Chickenness and I'll consider it. --Liquid^Talk 23:36, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

Please be specific on what you'd like me to change, otherwise I don't know how to improve it. Adam Savage

23:38, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

? Chicken7 ^>talk 11:03, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

That main page looks like Chicken designed it. Check out the Community portal for another example of Chicken's graphical design ideas. I'm not that big a fan of that style of box (found on the current main page as well). --Liquid^Talk 14:32, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

Oppose - There are certain very specific flaws I could point out, but I'm not going to do any of that. Lets just say that it has something to do with New Zealand Prime Minister Tony Blair. http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu33/Psycho_Robot/Sigs%20and%20Avatars/kitty.pngPsycho Robot talk 23:55, February 5, 2012 (UTC)

What does he have to do with any of this? Adam Savage

01:07, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

~~Neutral~~ - This looks like a very minor change, so I will only note my indifference here. It does not look particularly bad to me, though.

a proofreader ▸

00:16, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Changed to Support after looking at the differences some more. I like how the news and community information are put at the top, as well as the active forum threads/requests. I also like the runes for the boxes. a proofreader ▸ 01:38, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Support for the most part - It looks nice, my main concern is with the box around the main content. It just doesn't seem to go with the rest of the boxes. Then comes the issue with the USERNAME template, but that can be ignored by removing it all together or adding something with a parameter like "Welcome to the RuneScape Wiki, Friend!". The forums box seems kinda off center and doesn't seem to belong. Maybe put a small smidget of some of our current threads? User:TyA/sig 00:17, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but "Welcome to the RuneScape Wiki, Friend!" has got to be the cheesiest line I've seen here. --Liquid^Talk 00:27, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Alright, I can change the main content box. I can also change the welcome bar, and the forums box. I'l get to it right now. Adam Savage

01:07, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Updated. Adam Savage

01:28, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Oppose - I like the proposed layout because of how much it reminds me of the current main page. That said, I still like the current main page quite a bit more. I wouldn't mind implementing the runes, but that's not a major change. I would point out other flaws I see in the proposed lay out, but there's no point in doing that because my solution would be to make it look more like the current main page. User:Stelercus/Signature 01:49, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

The more information I get about what I've made, the better I'll be at making improvements. Pointing out flaws is more than welcome! Adam Savage

02:59, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Okay. Make it more like the main page. Copy the entire content of the main page, then add the runes back in. That would make it perfect. Regards, User:Stelercus/Signature 00:25, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

Support visual improvements - I like the color scheme/runes/layout of the boxes better. I like the Wiki news box, and how it's coupled with RS news. I like the forums box, that'd be nice to auto-update. I also like the concept art chosen. "Featureds" is an odd title choice but I, again, like the coupled box. I think things could be moved around a bit more, UOTM is all by itself down there. But overall I like the proposed mainpage idea better than our current one. I say visually because idk if the coding is right and everything. ^-^ User:Urbancowgurl777/Signature 01:53, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Wise choice, my coding will probably need review -_- Adam Savage

02:59, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Comment - Keep in mind that the whole point of this is to break free from the current main page and go for something new. I tried to stick to the basic layout of the current page because I know that people would appreciate that, and because there's nothing wrong with the current layout, I just wanted to condense it a bit and make it more aesthetically pleasing, and easier to navigate through, and to add a few new features. Adam Savage 02:59, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Neutral/Oppose - I don't like the Forums box. It just doesn't look good at all though I can't explain why. Also, consider that we don't usually have active RfAs, so there would be an empty space there most of the time. And "Hot Forum Topics" is misleading (and sounds bad) because there is no way to get "hot" topics there. I also don't like the title "Featureds", nor do I like the giant space left empty on the sides of the Featured Image. And there is a huge space left empty by the UOTM. Consider that usually, not a lot is written there. There is no way that we could fill that up, and then it looks bad. Also, the UOTM is just 1 box down there; it seems incredibly out of place. ɳex undique 03:20, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Well, I've got to be off to bed, but tomorrow I'll work on that! Adam Savage

03:29, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Comment - The main page needs to be used as an SEO tool as well. Having a content box is very necessary, preferably near the top of the page. Also, if we're going to redesign it, we should try and use divs instead of tables (it'll highlight our content better to search engines). I think the forums section is a bit unnecessary, especially since there's the community box already. I like having the CTI there as well, although that might just be aversion to change. "Featureds" sounds a bit weird and is formatted oddly; what if we had the left half of it be an article, and the right half of the box be the picture? I don't understand why there's a picture in the User of the Month box. It would be good to replace the very top box on your example with what we already have on the main page, with the skill icons and the "x articles since 8 April 2005." The version on your main page has too much blank space. Also, you must always remember that when/if this actually goes on mainspace, there will be an ad at the top of the right column. ʞo oɔ 04:55, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

It's funny you should mention the featured article and image on separate sides. I couldn't get that to work with div tags at all, so the on on top of the other style is what I had to go with. Also, good point, I didn't realize that there was a forums link in the community box. I'll change some things around and see if I can please some people. Adam Savage

12:58, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Comment -

I don't like the extra box you have at the top just to say "Welcome to the RuneScape Wiki". It looks quite out of place. Include a welcome thing in the main heading, or don't have it at all. I think having "RuneScape Wiki" in big text and a few lines below pretty much repeating it would look bad.
More of a minor point, but in the wiki news bit the bullets don't align properly with the image, which looks bad.
I don't like what you've put in the forums box. What exactly is a "hot forum topic"? We don't have very many RfAs at all, so giving them there own little section which will be empty 90% of the time seems pointless. But what you could do though is you could put RfCMs and RfRs and things like that as well in one section. Then you could just say "there are no rights requests" or something when there aren't any, which would be much less frequent than just RfAs alone. If you're going to have a link to UOTM, put links to featured images and RS:PM discussions and things like that in there as well.
- Also, putting a link to Forum:Index, which redirects to the yew grove, seems pointless considering there is a link to the yew grove literally right above it. At least change the button to say yew grove, because... forum index? What's that?
  - The bullets in that box don't align properly either.
I don't like how you've just seemlessly merged the featured articles and images boxes together. There's absolutely no distinction between them, and it makes it seem like they're the same thing unless you read the small font. Having them like that just looks bad. Having separate boxes with separate headings is the best way to go. But change the "Featureds" heading, if anything. >_>
The image you have in the UOTM box is quite irrelevant, and creates a large gap. At least make it something brighter and more colourful.

REDIRECT User:-Matt/sig 06:21, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Support look - It looks really cool, except my only problem is the featured image bit. It should stay on the sidebar, as it is a waste of space being in the main section. I would say it would look best at the top where it currently is. Sentra246 08:14, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Support runes, oppose rest - The runes in the sections is a nice RuneScape-y touch, but I oppose the rest, and will nitpick why. Firstly, the standalone "Welcome to the RuneScape Wiki!" box seems empty and unnecessary. In fact, we don't need that entire line, we already introduced the wiki with the summary before the box. Speaking of which, I noticed you added swords to the sides of the header, which seems unnecessary, not to mention the two skill icons on each side aren't randomized on your edit like the current main page hosts.

The wiki news header seems to have a lot of spacing. I dislike the headers inside the coloured boxes, which already have headers (ie, News -> RuneScape News and Wiki News). I don't like advertising requests for adminship (which are rare and the majority are overzealous users who want to be a sysop because it's "cool") on the main page. It's unnecessary and those who would discuss an RfA know about it in other ways. Likewise, I think it's unnecessary to repeat the "user of the month" twice (note: it hasn't been user of the month for a long time, it's featured user now, a voted user randomly chosen from an array). Finally, the bullets in this box are too cramped and are inconsistent with the rest of the bullets on the page (presumably because they're bullets, not a list).

Scrolling down a bit, I dislike the merging of the featured article and image. Not to mention "featureds" is not a word. It not only looks bad to merge them together, but there's no clear disambiguation between what these two things are. The vertically massive image on "user of the month" (again, it's featured user) makes the box unevenly spaced. Plus, we once more have the "header inside a box" issue, which also introduces even more empty space.

And of course, there's what's missing. As has been mentioned, the contents links are necessary for search engine optimization, not to mention people tend to miss the "way-up-there" menu with all the links. Thus, the need for linking to common portal-like pages in the content area of the main page is beneficial for humans and machines alike. As well, the events team has been neglected, there's no section for them. As well, the common trade index box has been a part of our main page for a long time, and beneficial. It should not be removed, even if many users may not have use for it.

All in all, the page seems messy, has a lot of "empty space", several changes feel redundant, the organization is deeply flawed, and overall, it's just not an improvement. I like the runes, for no particular reason other than the significance for the game, but as for the rest, my stance is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Hofmic Talk 13:49, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it.". That's one of my biggest pet peeves. Or, as George Carlin once said, "a psychotic rage-induced (bleep) hatred". I go by, "If it isn't broke, improve upon it.". I am improving on most of the things you've pointed out, though, in fact. Adam Savage

13:56, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Except it's not an improvement. The runes are cool, but the rest sucks, for the reasons given in my text wall above. Hofmic Talk 21:33, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Oh, and looking at some of the changes you made since I wrote the above, it's still by no means an improvement in my book. In addition to my previous points, the CTI wastes space with such a large box for such a simple feature, the image in the events box suffers the same as every other image you added in: it leaves loads of white space. I dislike how the featured user uses a header inside the box rather than having links to the user page, the talk page, and most importantly, the featured users page. The content box at the top of the page looks horrid. Hofmic Talk 21:43, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Please don't say things like "it sucks". Try to be politely constructive, nobody wants to hear that about their work. And, please tell me how you'd like me to improve on the page so it appeals to your tastes, and, if you could show me this huge amount of blank space you're describing, I'd appreciate it, because I don't see these deserts of text-less space. Adam Savage

03:12, February 7, 2012 (UTC)

I've already mentioned what I didn't like. To improve the page so it "appeals to my taste", you'd have to simply get rid of what I don't like. For example, the excess white space created by the too-large images. Don't know what I mean? Take a look. Bear in mind you do keep changing the page all the time, so much of what I've said may not apply any more, but at the moment, I don't agree with the too-large images creating the aforementioned white space, the fact that featured user uses a header creates repetition, and lacks links to the user's talk page and the featured users page (in other words, how it is on the main page currently). I'm neutral-ish on the combination of the featured article and images, pondering how well that will really work (featured articles generally have an image which may be larger than your static fishing featured article). Hofmic Talk 06:21, February 7, 2012 (UTC)

Comment - Revised the design again, added an "Advertisement" box to simulate the space that would be taken up by an advertisement. I also used suggestions to make some changes. Adam Savage 14:22, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Partial support/oppose - The addition of some images is leaving WAY too much space open and blank for my liking, and it looks unprofessional as a result of it. If you could get text to wrap around the images to reduce the open space, I would probably be all for supporting, otherwise, oppose. Rhys ^Talk 15:34, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

I don't know ow to do that :F Adam Savage

16:03, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, it isn't possible. All images on the wiki are square by default. Chicken7 ^>talk 11:03, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

comment - why is this in the calculator namespace? --Iiii I I I 20:25, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

~~(This is Adam) It's here because there isn't a sidebar on this space, so it loads correctly. !!!!~~

Tried to do it on my bot account, but the sig didn't work. -_- Adam Savage

23:35, February 6, 2012 (UTC)

Comment - Updated again. Adam Savage 03:34, February 7, 2012 (UTC)

Also, I don't remember who it was that commented on the title inside title bit on the featured user box, who said it should link to something important: It links to their userpage. Also, someone said that the randomskill templates weren't randomizing: Reload the page, I'm using the same templates in the same order as are already on the mainpage. I've also removed some of that whitespace. Adam Savage

03:41, February 7, 2012 (UTC)

Comment - I still think the featured articles need to be differentiated from the featured images (and vice versa) more. I think having them in the same area is a good idea, though. Sub headings and a divide between the two would be fine. There's also still some whitespace in the events box.

REDIRECT User:-Matt/sig 06:14, February 7, 2012 (UTC)

Support - I see nothing visibly wrong with the new change, and I see a better layout too {=D}. --Youdead0020:01, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

Ish-support - Your signature hero guys are too big and make it look awkward. Smuff ^{[The cake is a lie]} 20:41, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

Slight Support - It seems fine and dandy, but the title fonts on the Featured Content box seem to bug me a bit, the glow seems to not belong there. Other than that, good job. S T Y G 20:46, February 8, 2012 (UTC)

Closed - Given the new thread at Forum:New Mainpage Design: Redux, there is little reason to have two places to discuss the same thing. As such, I will close this thread now. --Liquid^Talk 16:54, February 9, 2012 (UTC)