SDCFans - The Unofficial Fan Site For Silver Dollar City
Site Stuff => Announcements => Topic started by: shavethewhales on October 27, 2007, 01:41:57 PM
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Sometime in early to mid November, I'm going to roll out a new layout along with some new features. I'll be upgrading the photo galleries to run on Lightbox, fixing up the comment system (hopefully adding a log-in feature, rather than letting everyone come in and post), adding a couple of new pages, and maybe throwing in a few other special features as well.
I'm much better prepared for this round of upgrades than the last, so this time things will go much more smoothly and the outcome will be much better. I've already done a lot of it, I really just need to finish the layout/design.
Btw, this upgrade package will probably be the last before I go completely all-out and re-do the entire site in a way that will really set us apart, but that will take awhile.
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I think you all will really enjoy the new look of the site - it's much cleaner and easier to use than what we have now. It may be the first template that I will be comfortable with settling with for a while.
Right now is the time to throw me any suggestions you have. Keep in mind that the photo gallery will be completely re-vamped, and the comment boxes will be upgraded to be easier to read/use.
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Grrrrr.... So I've gone through a few attempts at a new template, and I've given them all up half way through. I'm now starting on what I hope will be it. That's what's been taking me so long, but after I get this done the rest should be a breeze, and I hope to have this done by next weekend or so.
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One more update before I bring out a test model to show you guys:
I've been going back and forth on several designs and color schemes, and I still haven't decided what to do yet. It's tough figuring out what will both look good, be the most functional, and provide the most flexibility for future add ons. As I've said before, I want this template to be good enough to last for some time.
Unfortunately, the new upgrade package won't be done in time for my big Christmas SDC update, but it shouldn't be too terribly long now.
Next time I bring up an update, it'll contain a link to a test template so you guys can make any suggestions or comments on it.
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Alright, just so you guys know:
I've pretty much given up on designing a template from scratch - I just can't seem to make anything fit together right. Thus, I'm going to download something and customize it. Hopefully it won't take me long.
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What sort of layout are you looking for? I've got a pretty simple layout that I used for a website I had last year (it's no longer up)... This is what it looked like:
Main Page (http://web.archive.org/web/20060819223019/http://thecacheonline.com/)
Sub-page (http://web.archive.org/web/20060622172309/thecacheonline.com/potc1/curseinfo.htm)
I used Microsoft's Visual Web Developer Express 2005 (aka the free version) to do my site; I would've used ASP.net so I could use the Masterpages feature, but the level of service I had with my webhost didn't support the ASP stuff.
I dunno what program you're using for the site, so maybe this might come in handy? I barely knew HTML, much less CSS and stuff before I started on my site, and the VWD really helped me get my site finished without much trouble at all.
http://www.microsoft.com/express/vwd/
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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We need a 3 column layout that can easily collapse to two columns. I have several designs in mind, but my terrible graphic design skills have hindered all my recent attempts. Plus, I'm still trying to use the Gimp rather than go out and get a personal copy of photoshop.
I can pretty much code anything I need to by hand, it's just the design that kills me.
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Collapsible 3-column layout... so something like this?
http://www.cross-browser.com/x/examples/x_3col_fm.html
Well, if you need help with the graphic design, feel free to e-mail me with a detailed description of what you're needing help with, and/or maybe a quick sketch to give me an idea of what you're visualizing, and I could see about trying to cook up something.
I haven't used Gimp before, but I downloaded it and some overlay called GimpShop that's supposed to make it look and act more like Photoshop; I got that because some of the tutorials for PS are difficult to translate into Paint Shop Pro, which is what I normally use (though I'm still stuck in version 7).
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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Arg... I've been looking around, but nothing looks good, and anything that comes close would have to be mostly redone anyway.
I might just have to try again on my own, but I have no idea how what I'm going to do... Eh, I'll figure something out - the only thing is that I just don't have much time. I get back from work around 7, and then I have other stuff to do, so there's not much time.
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I think I'm just going to use this: http://www.openwebdesign.org/viewdesign.phtml?id=3499&referer=%2Fmost_popular.phtml
But of course I'll have to do a lot to it. For starters, I'll have change the side navigation, then I'll have to change the right column to hold the stuff I want it to. Then I plan to change the color scheme around a lot.
It's pretty much this or nothing. I just don't have the time, drive, or ability to make anything much better than what we have now.
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Ooo, I like that one. Nice and clean.
Just let me know if I can help in any way.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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^If you want to help, we could really use a logo.
I'll have to send you the colors when I decide on them, but basically a simple symbol with SDCFans.com next to it and the tagline 'A Silver Dollar City Fansite' somewhere on it would be great.
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Okie dokie! Just let me know when you send over the color info what the width and height will need to be.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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Well, I've started on it, but it's pretty rough-looking right now. I hope it turns out better than I think it will.
The color scheme is a little different: kind of a bunch of shades of grey and light brown with deep reds thrown in here and there.
Here's the dimensions you need Joy:
The container height for the logo will be about 60px, and it can be pretty much as wide as you want.
The logo will sit on a background of B9B09D, and the logo colors should probably be dark greys and crimsons around 590000 or so.
Like I said earlier, I think a simple icon or something with the site name and slogan next to it would work well with this template, but you can be as creative as you want. I might need to show you an example of what the template will look like for you to be able to visualize what will look best.
Thanks a lot for this, it's really a big help.
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Ugg, I couldn't use the template because the code for it was dreadful, so I tried to make something myself. Unfortunately, like I've said before: I can't make images. Thus, the template turned to crap.
Here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to try something more simple, yet clean and elegant looking, but only if I can get it done in a week or so. If I can't, I'm just going to swallow my pride go for the best looking free template I can find.
I've been trying to re-do the look of the site for so long I've almost completely forgotten about all the other stuff I want to do with it. It's time to move on.
Don't worry if you've already started on a logo based on what I told you before, Joy - the colors will remain the same for the most part.
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Alright, here's the template I'll be modifying - http://www.opensourcetemplates.org/templates/preview.php?template_id=1101946163
I'll be changing the colors, the logo, and a few small things, but that's pretty much it.
It's not exactly what I wanted, but I think it will work out fine. The only thing I'm really disappointed with is myself for never getting around to designing something myself. Sigh...
Oh well, we need to move on. I'll be getting the new template up today and tomorrow, and it should be pretty much done by tomorrow night.
Next up, I'll be looking at ways to revolutionize the site to allow for easier maintainence and much more user interaction.
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So, for the logo, do I just go by the dimensions of the banner header in that sample template?
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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Well, actually that banner will be an interchanging image. The logo needs to be around 244-300 pixels wide and about 52 pixels tall. You can make some banner images too, if you want, in fact anyone that wants to can. I might be somewhat picky though, the banner really is a focal point of the whole color scheme.
Did you start on it already? I'll feel bad if you did, because now the background color is pure #000 black, though it can change if you've already progressed pretty far. Hopefully you're using a transparent image, as that would work best, but as I said before, I can work with anything.
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Check out the new home page - that's the new template in completed form.
I'll be spending the rest of the night getting the rest of the site transfered onto it. Man I wish I had this thing hooked up on a CMS; that may be my next step.
As I go through the pages, I'll be looking them over and editing them again. If there's anything you think should be modified, now would be a good time to tell me.
Also, now that the site is looking fresh enough for my current likings, I'll be moving on to doing some of the things I've been saying I would for months now. First I'll start off by making a new system for comments on the main site that requires registration. This may seem annoying, but as the site grows spam will become a problem, so it's needed. Besides, the comments are really messy-looking right now as they are.
After that, well, I don't know. There are a lot of things I could do. All I know is that I'll have a lot of free time over the holidays, and now would be the perfect time to whip up something big for the site.
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Don't worry; I haven't started yet. I've been busy getting ready for my trip to SDC this coming weekend and then Christmas after that. I've not had much time to sit down and really think about the design. Now that I have dimensions and exact colors to work with, that'll help a lot.
I like the new layout. Very clean and easy to read.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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I've decided that my next step for the site will be a complex, custom CMS (Content Management System) that will not only make running the site much, much easier, but allow for more features. It's getting kinda hard to update the site when each page is a separate entity, especially seeing as we are amassing a good collection of articles. The CMS will also allow me and everyone else to contribute more to the site on a more regular basis.
CMS's are somewhat complex though, especially this one, but I have a good idea of what I'm doing, more or less. Once I get this done, I have a bunch of other ideas that will really make the site cool.
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Update:
It sure has taken me forever to get the rest of the site switched over, unfortunately. I've got a couple of off days next week though, and I'll probably be able to finish it off then. I've just been so busy over the holidays.
The CMS is coming along though, and boy will it make things easier.
Over the past month or two I've learned an incredible amount of PHP and SQL, among other things, so I'm really feeling like it's time I really picked up the pace with this site and started adding the features I've been dreaming about for so long. Once the entire site is database driven (hence, once I finish the CMS) you can expect a slew of new features.
Oh yeah, I'm still fiddling with the store. It's tough to find a respectable internet t-shirt provider that doesn't require shirts to be bought in bulk.