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Post by CELS on Jan 6, 2004 14:42:58 GMT -5
Well, we haven't really started designing our website yet, but I thought it might be a good idea to start discussing what features we want on the site, and how it all would be structured.
Now, we all seem to agree that we want to start out with some kind of map of the Anargo sector in the form of a dataslate, with some buttons on the sides. Clicking on a subsector on this map will lead you to a subsector map. Clicking on a system will lead you to a system map. Clicking on a world should lead you to a... world map? And of course, each of these pages would have links to additional windows of information. This part of the website is pretty well thought through, I think.
What about other features? Such as artwork, a miniature gallery and fiction, both the stuff by our own members, and eventually the stuff that's contributed by visitors. And what about all our background information on Eldar government, Imperial economy, Navy composition, Adeptus Mechanicus organisation, Imperial Guard regiments, etc Would you have to find all this information by clicking on specific worlds in the sector? Seems like a lot of hassle, and I doubt our visitors would be able to find the information they were looking for.
Any suggestions on how to make all our work surveyable and well arranged, whilst still making it look cool?
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Post by zholud on Jan 6, 2004 16:28:30 GMT -5
Very quick note. Will we make flash or gif roll-overs for the menu? I have some flash menu made for another site and I could give it to use as a base.
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Post by ZarkTheDamned on Jan 7, 2004 13:31:26 GMT -5
The easiest way to decide on a format is to draw up a site map to guide the development.
I'll draw my ideas up in a bit and upload it (my domain name finally resolved so I can start using my webspace properly).
Also, I suggest having a bunch of 'main sections' such as galleries etc in a menu which is always available. Also, a 'related content' bar or something which links to different areas of the site would be cool. For example, if you are at the map of a system controlled by Eldar, the 'related links' bar gives a link to the Eldar section on the 'Xenos Present in the Anargo Sector' page.
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Post by ZarkTheDamned on Jan 7, 2004 14:21:13 GMT -5
OK, here you go: www.dread-zone.co.uk/anargositemap.gifIt's large (on screen) and pretty rough, but should demonstrate my idea reasonably well. The 'Home', Galleries, Factions, Other Info, Links and Contributors would go on the menu I mentioned earlier.
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Post by CELS on Jan 7, 2004 15:21:40 GMT -5
This is pretty good! I would prefer to see Fiction with its own button on the main menu, or under another category, though.
And perhaps a 'news' page, or something similar...
Will opening 'galleries' and 'factions' pages open new windows on top of the current map, or will this make you exit the map?
The 'related items' bar sounds like an excellent touch. Will solve problems like looking at Eldar background and wanting to see their homeworld, or looking at Proteus and wanting to know more about the Adeptus Mechanicus in the sector. Put this at the bottom at the screen, perhaps?
Terrible handwriting by the way ;D
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Post by ZarkTheDamned on Jan 7, 2004 16:08:03 GMT -5
Yes, my handwriting tends to get bad like that when I'm speed drawing a diagram. Also because I'm so used to typing generally I should have stated; each of the bits (home, planet, gallery etc) is it's own page, with the menu on the left and related on the bottom (or wherever). They don't open new windows (this is annoying), to get back to the sector map click it's item on the menu. It's only listed as 'home' because it will be the first page the user sees in the site (beyond an intro or splash screen at least) I was thinking of page-bottom for related links too Feel free to adapt the diagram, I was only throwing around ideas. Another idea: How about a navigation tree? Probably at the top, above the information. All this does is show the path through the site the current page is on, with links back to them. So, say a user is on the page for Planet X in System Y of Subsector Z, the navbar would show (Anargo) - (Z) - (Y) - (X). I did this with an old website of mine, it worked quite well.
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Post by Sojourner on Jan 8, 2004 16:48:05 GMT -5
As far as 'fluff' goes, I would suggest that the following approach is taken to posting it on the website:
In essence, its legitimacy must be agreed upon by the System Members as some kind of conscensus before anything is published to the public. That way, we avoid 'doing a GW' and publishing 1) inconsistency and 2) crap.
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Post by Kage2020 on Jan 9, 2004 8:00:04 GMT -5
That's an interesting structure and definitely useable. There is also some discussion on the original threads with regards to the overall structure of the website. I've got the sneaky suspicion that it could be on the main thread which is rather long, but at least with the 'printable' version it should be easy to do a search/find... However, I've also got the idea that it only pertains to how information on the subsectors and worlds would be detailed, not the overall structure. Kage
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Post by CELS on Jan 10, 2004 1:26:17 GMT -5
I should have stated; each of the bits (home, planet, gallery etc) is it's own page, with the menu on the left and related on the bottom (or wherever). They don't open new windows (this is annoying), to get back to the sector map click it's item on the menu. Would it be possible to get back to the last viewed map when clicking it's item on the menu, instead of automatically getting back to the sector map? It's only listed as 'home' because it will be the first page the user sees in the site (beyond an intro or splash screen at least) Yeah, I got that I was thinking of page-bottom for related links too Yep, we're geniuses ;D Another idea: How about a navigation tree? Probably at the top, above the information. All this does is show the path through the site the current page is on, with links back to them. So, say a user is on the page for Planet X in System Y of Subsector Z, the navbar would show (Anargo) - (Z) - (Y) - (X). That's pretty damn clever, actually. Shouldn't take too much space either, just a small line, font 12 or something. Would be very useful for surfing the map, as well as looking at information about the Imperial organisations (which tends to get pretty detailed). What about the top of the 'console'? We have a menu on the left, a 'related links' bar on the bottom, and 'navigation tree' bar on the top. But would it be cool to have the Anargo logo and banner at the top of the page, as part of the 'console'? As far as 'fluff' goes, I would suggest that the following approach is taken to posting it on the website: In essence, its legitimacy must be agreed upon by the System Members as some kind of conscensus before anything is published to the public. That way, we avoid 'doing a GW' and publishing 1) inconsistency and 2) crap. Are you talking about the background for the Anargo sector, or fiction? Either way, I agree (;D), but Kage is already doing a fine job of judging all that will be published as a part of the project.
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Post by ZarkTheDamned on Jan 11, 2004 8:49:55 GMT -5
Would it be possible to get back to the last viewed map when clicking it's item on the menu, instead of automatically getting back to the sector map? Hmm... could be tricky to do that. I'll have to fiddle around and see if it's possible, probably using Cookies or something like that to save the current location when you leave a map page, then load it and change the link on the menu as appropriate. I'll try get a rough picture of a site layout up later today.
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Post by CELS on Jan 11, 2004 9:04:24 GMT -5
It's not absolutely critical, it would just be pretty neat, since our site might easily get confusing enough. Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with.
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Post by ZarkTheDamned on Jan 11, 2004 9:23:19 GMT -5
I finished the first version of my site idea, I'll post this in the artwork section too. You have to imagine the menu items on the left and the Proteus Map in the center
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Post by Sojourner on Jan 11, 2004 12:53:55 GMT -5
Zark, that's awesome. Dodgy font though.
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Post by Minister on Jan 11, 2004 12:56:26 GMT -5
Nice.
Would it be possible to make the "praise the Emperor" a rotating thought for the day rather than fixed text?
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Post by CELS on Jan 11, 2004 13:08:10 GMT -5
We should so definitely have a 'Thought For the Day' which literally changed every day, if that is at all possible. Just write up 365 of them or something. Please tell me this is possible, and I'll write up a load.
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