New Homepage Layout

[Lancer]

How about this Dan, writ large...

YO. You're here. Apolyton Civ site. Don't spit on the floors.

(Just kidding, I think it's great the way it is)

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by Snapcase
What are you trying to achieve with this layout? Why were the design choices made the way they were?
<SNIP>
I give it a C+; it's not exceptionally clearer than the last page and it's pretty Uugly compared to most sites.

Snapcase, I liked your line of thinking: define the goal, analyze the site part, spotlight some style hiccup...

I'm not a professional webmaster, but I was project manager in a project about redesigning a corporate site. Some bit of good site design concept are still resting somewhere in my mostly empty head

Sorry DanQ, I don't want to insult any hard job you did to improve the site, but the only improvement I've found is about a quick load time. You really should address some of the Snapcase points, at least to let us better understand your design plan. I must add I have some compatibility trouble using Netscape 6.2 on a Win XP notebook, 1024*768 resolution (but I have worse trouble with this form to write message ).

It's pretty difficult to me to rate with letters (during my loong past school time in Italy I was used to a rating system based on a decimal method (1 the worst, ten the best) or "evaluations by words" like "good", "excellent", and so on.

My only knowledge of the method link to an old Science Fiction novel I red, titled "E for Effort".

Don't worry, I rated the site a "C", also because you don't use "E" as an allowed option.

[Grrr]

Another point. It is too big. It doesn't fit on a 1024x768 browser window.

[H Tower]

Originally posted by Grrr
Another point. It is too big. It doesn't fit on a 1024x768 browser window.

what do you mean it doesn't fit? it looks fine at 1024x768

[ravagon]

So what words exactly would be used to describe this ... F grade?

Actually it looks quite good. When I first loaded it up though I didn't recognize it and thought I'd entered the wrong URL

[Martin Gühmann]

Ok I tested the link to the old layout, once I am on the old front page I can't use the link that should me lead back to the new layout, it just returns me to the old layout. And if I use Netscape 4.5 the bottom of the page is missing, no:

Apolyton Civilization Site -- Copyright © Daniel Quick and Markos Giannopoulos
This site is an independently owned and operated fansite and as a non-corporate entity is in no way affiliated with any of the companies referred to herein. All trademarks and trade names remain the property of their respective owners

And the link to the old layout is missing as well. If I use Netscape 6.2 than the top downloads stuff in the upper right corner is partly covered by the scroll bar.

-Martin

[Velociryx]

I'm diggin' it!

-=Vel=-

[DanQ]

Typing oversight on my part, re: link from "Alternate" layout back to "Standard", Martin. This has been corrected. In Netscape 4.x+ (and earlier versions I am assuming as well), the bottom portion now appears on both the "Standard" and "Alternate" layouts. There was a coding error and I thank you for pointing it out.

Adm.Naismith: you mentioned you were having problems on your WinXP notebook machine with Netscape 6.2 at 1024x768 resolution. Are you talking about a "horizontal" scroll or..? Is this version of Netscape specific for XP (like some other companies are doing with their products)? What is your monitor size? Please elaborate.

Also, regarding 'what I was going for' in this design was simplicity -- for those who found the most previous version too cluttered. Second, the reason for the table border colour around the news centre was for it to jump out from the rest of the page while still being apart of it, that is as a different shade of blue as opposed to another colour altogether. As for the lack of <I>extensive</I> use of images, again, this was a combination of my simplicity plan as well as load time concerns. Even as broadband access continues to penetrate more areas of the globe, a great majority are still on dial-up and even those on broadband might like to see a page that is not graphics intensive and eating up their allotted bandwidth. Moreover, it was to show that a page does not need to rely heavily on graphics to be, for a lack of a better word at the moment, functional.

But, again, if you prefer the old layout, you are welcome to it. You can switch back and forth between the two regularly or bookmark one and ignore the other from here on in. The choice is yours...

----------------
Dan; Apolyton CS

P.S. If I have not addressed your issue(s) yet, rest assured that I am not ignoring your suggestions/concerns etc. I will address them as soon as possible.

[Zealot]

Hey, it's pretty good on a 14" monitor @ 800x600!
The screen fits perfectly!

So B it is!

[Grrr]

Originally posted by H Tower

Originally posted by Grrr
Another point. It is too big. It doesn't fit on a 1024x768 browser window.

what do you mean it doesn't fit? it looks fine at 1024x768

Now I need to scroll to see the stuff at the bottom of the page.

[Lancer]

Dan, as you know sometimes people prefer what they're used to. Everyone will get used to it and then like it better and it will be the end of the world to switch again.

[Zealot]

Originally posted by Grrr
Now I need to scroll to see the stuff at the bottom of the page.

Oh come on, that doesn't count! All you need to see fits in your screen!

[James Adams]

I like the new homepage

I like it because, is small, but has more information, through links.

[Martin Gühmann]

Originally posted DanQ
Typing oversight on my part, re: link from "Alternate" layout back to "Standard", Martin. This has been corrected. In Netscape 4.x+ (and earlier versions I am assuming as well), the bottom portion now appears on both the "Standard" and "Alternate" layouts. There was a coding error and I thank you for pointing it out.

Thanks looks now much better in Netscape 4.5. I must say it is now best viewed with Netscape 4.5.

The top downloads in the upper right corner are still partly covered by the scroll bar in Netscape 6.2, the other browers show it correctly. I attached an image for illustration. With all browsers except Netscape 4.5 I find a green box in the lower left corner on all the forum pages this box can be fuond in the lower right corner of the page. Finally I was able to find in this box with Opera 6 and IE 5.5 an hidden advertisement.

-Martin

[lockstep]

IMO, the forums are the most important part of Apolyton and therefore should be listed as a distinct separate section (like in the first version of the new layout). I'd rather put 'About Apolyton' under 'Miscellaneous'.