Plan for Rick Overman
by Rick Overman · 05/09/2005 (3:39 pm) · 30 comments
Where did everything go?
We took the opportunity to make a lot of changes with this hardware/software site update. For those of you who make this site your second home I am sure it is going to feel a bit awkward for a while. Hang in there and make suggestions, (because I ignore whining). I have changed every single one of the 45,000 or so pages we host at GarageGames, I am human and I expect there will be a few things to fix.
Please report bugs and make suggestions on the website forums
We took the opportunity to make a lot of changes with this hardware/software site update. For those of you who make this site your second home I am sure it is going to feel a bit awkward for a while. Hang in there and make suggestions, (because I ignore whining). I have changed every single one of the 45,000 or so pages we host at GarageGames, I am human and I expect there will be a few things to fix.
Please report bugs and make suggestions on the website forums
- What's New in a nutshell:
- A new "skin" for GarageGames
- MyGarage now known as MyAccount/
- Dedicated Community / What's New Page
- Google Search for GarageGames here
- Dropped the right column from the site
- All side menus have been reworked and more intuitive
- Faster! We've profiled the PHP code and cached the rest.
- And hundreds more code changes....
#2
A couple of things bug me though, just my suggestions, the blue color of the links looks too retro (html style links) and kinda flashy in contrast to the rest of the site. Some parts of the site don't fit well now with the yello bar, and some other parts look too flat compared to the 3d'iness of the yellow bar. I think those 2 things could be tweaked a little bit, your call. Other than that, GREAT JOB!
Edit: Another suggesiton, the plan icon is not only old compared to the rest (it's like a 16x16 bitmap stretched) but I also think it would look better right-aligned, right now there's too much stuff on the left and nothing on the right, maybe all the icons for profiles, blogs, etc could be aligned to the right along with the title. Might balance things up a little bit, right now it's too crowded with the plan icon right next to the menu.
Edit2: Oops, hope im not bugging you much, I just remember something i forgot to mention. Clicking on myAccount 'activates' the community link (it's like selected) which gives the idea that you are 'there' but clicking community again takes you to the real link. So I would say nothing should be selected when you go to myAccount. No?
05/09/2005 (4:47 pm)
I think the move was pretty much flawless and the search now even works! :pA couple of things bug me though, just my suggestions, the blue color of the links looks too retro (html style links) and kinda flashy in contrast to the rest of the site. Some parts of the site don't fit well now with the yello bar, and some other parts look too flat compared to the 3d'iness of the yellow bar. I think those 2 things could be tweaked a little bit, your call. Other than that, GREAT JOB!
Edit: Another suggesiton, the plan icon is not only old compared to the rest (it's like a 16x16 bitmap stretched) but I also think it would look better right-aligned, right now there's too much stuff on the left and nothing on the right, maybe all the icons for profiles, blogs, etc could be aligned to the right along with the title. Might balance things up a little bit, right now it's too crowded with the plan icon right next to the menu.
Edit2: Oops, hope im not bugging you much, I just remember something i forgot to mention. Clicking on myAccount 'activates' the community link (it's like selected) which gives the idea that you are 'there' but clicking community again takes you to the real link. So I would say nothing should be selected when you go to myAccount. No?
#3
Very slick.
05/09/2005 (4:51 pm)
Wow, looks really good! I agree with X about the flatness compared to the main bar though. Possibly 'bubble' up main title bars on tables or something like that? I dunno!Very slick.
#4
05/09/2005 (4:55 pm)
Petition is being passed around in the gameinaday channel to get the navbar with the plans and stuff back.... 
#5
Sure, using low contrast text is fine if you have a site that you only have a little bit of text on but here it can get quite annoying when you have to read a long text.
--
Magnus Blikstad
05/09/2005 (4:55 pm)
Would it be possible to reset the main text back to black instead of this gray-on-white thing?Sure, using low contrast text is fine if you have a site that you only have a little bit of text on but here it can get quite annoying when you have to read a long text.
--
Magnus Blikstad
#6
I agree with Xavier that the link color needs to be changed up. It is exactly the old default blue link you would see in the old days of the internet... to me i thought it was a broken stylesheet at first. Also the blue doesn't match the blue in the GG logo... match that it and it would be great.
05/09/2005 (5:16 pm)
The navbar was ok, but it does help unclutter the site not having it.I agree with Xavier that the link color needs to be changed up. It is exactly the old default blue link you would see in the old days of the internet... to me i thought it was a broken stylesheet at first. Also the blue doesn't match the blue in the GG logo... match that it and it would be great.
#7
I'll navigate around before making any suggestions off the cuff.
05/09/2005 (5:49 pm)
I'm liking the change, looks nice. I'm sure a little tweaking will take place here and there.I'll navigate around before making any suggestions off the cuff.
#8
-Ron
05/09/2005 (6:20 pm)
Awsome job Rick!! the site now looks much more polished and profesional!!!-Ron
#9
Entire Site: Top buttons need to be more defined ( as Xavier and others mentioned).
'Welcome...' could be a little larger for people who are trying to read stuff at 3 am in the morning. :)
Along with that, maybe some definition to the left bar, just a little.
Make games page:
Art store and Dev store graphics bars need to line up with the tables.
The News bar and news entries need to be lined up with the top of the page's tables and graphics.
Shopping sections: Payment services button probably doesn't need a bkgrd hover, but I'm just being nit-picky now, though If I'm not mistaken isn't there a verification of security for Garagegames that comes from Verisign, or a secure ssl button or something along those lines?
Play games: needs to have the TT demo image aligned with the products.
Makegames whats new: could have another section, maybe the torque for artists screens or the latest help wanted posts.
Resources box could have 'more...' like blogs do.
News box is cut off on right side by text.
Hope this helps!
05/09/2005 (7:00 pm)
Wow! This is much better than the old website that seemed cluttered. I love the new header bar, along with the clean crisp white background and clean left bar. But, I too have some suggestions, so here goes...Entire Site: Top buttons need to be more defined ( as Xavier and others mentioned).
'Welcome...' could be a little larger for people who are trying to read stuff at 3 am in the morning. :)
Along with that, maybe some definition to the left bar, just a little.
Make games page:
Art store and Dev store graphics bars need to line up with the tables.
The News bar and news entries need to be lined up with the top of the page's tables and graphics.
Shopping sections: Payment services button probably doesn't need a bkgrd hover, but I'm just being nit-picky now, though If I'm not mistaken isn't there a verification of security for Garagegames that comes from Verisign, or a secure ssl button or something along those lines?
Play games: needs to have the TT demo image aligned with the products.
Makegames whats new: could have another section, maybe the torque for artists screens or the latest help wanted posts.
Resources box could have 'more...' like blogs do.
News box is cut off on right side by text.
Hope this helps!
#10
05/09/2005 (7:04 pm)
I like the organizational improvements overall. The first thing I noticed is the site's response time is much much better. Thanks to Rick, et al :)
#11
05/09/2005 (7:41 pm)
hmm this well take a while to get used to not sure what to think yet. 
#13
05/09/2005 (8:59 pm)
Much faster--good job Ric
#14
Here is an example of one of the many that do this: http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=1862
Also, uploaded code files can't be downloaded currently.
You don't have permission to access /uploaded/code/4711.arrayobject.cc on this server.
Also, while the new Google search is pretty nice for finding information, I'm having a hell of a time finding resources that I'm looking for specifically. I've tried searches by the keywords listed in the resource as well as the title itself. No luck. It seems as if not everything got indexed appropriately.
An example.. pull up http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=7515 and then try to find that page via the search engine. I've tried just about every keyword I could think of and nothing matches.
05/09/2005 (9:02 pm)
When trying to view some resources, the server just closes the connection. I tried it from Firefox, IE and Lynx just to make sure it wasn't my system going whacky.Here is an example of one of the many that do this: http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=1862
Also, uploaded code files can't be downloaded currently.
You don't have permission to access /uploaded/code/4711.arrayobject.cc on this server.
Also, while the new Google search is pretty nice for finding information, I'm having a hell of a time finding resources that I'm looking for specifically. I've tried searches by the keywords listed in the resource as well as the title itself. No luck. It seems as if not everything got indexed appropriately.
An example.. pull up http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=7515 and then try to find that page via the search engine. I've tried just about every keyword I could think of and nothing matches.
#15
I also don't like the the plans and resources are together now. I liked just being able to click on the "Resources" link on the right column and seeing a list of the latest resources and code snippets.
I could also see if there was any new resources, code snippets, or plans by checking out the right column.
05/09/2005 (9:41 pm)
I find it much harder to navigate the site with the new interface.I also don't like the the plans and resources are together now. I liked just being able to click on the "Resources" link on the right column and seeing a list of the latest resources and code snippets.
I could also see if there was any new resources, code snippets, or plans by checking out the right column.
#16
I think the new ui is cool, it just need polishing specially with the 'old' part integrated in the new part. For example in my browser there's still wasted space on the right, no nav bar but now white space. It would be nice if the yellow bar expanded to the very very right of the browser window and so did the content (the forum threads, resources, etc).
Also in the main screen for the site (www.garagegames.com) the content and ads are more aligned to the left than anything, I think it would like much tidier and nicer if it was aligned to right with it's right border just below the end of the yellow bar. Not to mention the colors in general, the blue title bars, the blue links, the grey backgrounds and the gray fonts, I don't think they fit nicely with the new 'theme'. If these things got adressed then the new design would be much better than the old one, but as is, I think the old one was more tightly integrated.
05/09/2005 (11:00 pm)
I'm sure the nav bar on the right was removed to ease the load on the database querys and make the page loading faster, before for each page you opened (any) it had to query forums, resources, blogs and code snippets to add them to the right nav bar. It was nice, but probably this is one of the reasons the site loads faster, with lots of users those 4 extra queries can take a lot of load.I think the new ui is cool, it just need polishing specially with the 'old' part integrated in the new part. For example in my browser there's still wasted space on the right, no nav bar but now white space. It would be nice if the yellow bar expanded to the very very right of the browser window and so did the content (the forum threads, resources, etc).
Also in the main screen for the site (www.garagegames.com) the content and ads are more aligned to the left than anything, I think it would like much tidier and nicer if it was aligned to right with it's right border just below the end of the yellow bar. Not to mention the colors in general, the blue title bars, the blue links, the grey backgrounds and the gray fonts, I don't think they fit nicely with the new 'theme'. If these things got adressed then the new design would be much better than the old one, but as is, I think the old one was more tightly integrated.
#17
I am using FireFox
Are you planning on changing the Plans/Blogs too? It doesn't seem to fit...
Also the Forums needs a fresh one.
EDIT: Sometimes when I search, It loads the page 1 once... with a little pause and loads it again with more results.... Is this correct?
05/09/2005 (11:50 pm)
The What's New Looks good... Except it gets cut off on the right of the screen... I am using FireFox
Are you planning on changing the Plans/Blogs too? It doesn't seem to fit...
Also the Forums needs a fresh one.
EDIT: Sometimes when I search, It loads the page 1 once... with a little pause and loads it again with more results.... Is this correct?
#18
:)
Seriously though, site feels rejuvenated. I find it hard to understand whether its nicer or not, but thats understandable- all these years of old design have imprinted in my mind what GG looks like. "Its all in me head" :)
Kinda miss the last five threads box, but lately, with all the posts flow, it hasnt been terribly helpful anyway, so its all good.
One thing kind of makes me uncomfortable, but i dont know yet whether its just because i was so used to old layout - text kinda ends uncomfortably too close to the right side. I sometimes get a feeling as if I`m reading out of my monitor:)
Anyway - cool beans! :)
05/09/2005 (11:56 pm)
Ohmygod, ohmygod! You may not treat your regular visitors like this! I almost got a heart attack, half-asleep and sipping coffee and suddenly realizing that Something Has Changed For Good In My Beloved Site..:)
Seriously though, site feels rejuvenated. I find it hard to understand whether its nicer or not, but thats understandable- all these years of old design have imprinted in my mind what GG looks like. "Its all in me head" :)
Kinda miss the last five threads box, but lately, with all the posts flow, it hasnt been terribly helpful anyway, so its all good.
One thing kind of makes me uncomfortable, but i dont know yet whether its just because i was so used to old layout - text kinda ends uncomfortably too close to the right side. I sometimes get a feeling as if I`m reading out of my monitor:)
Anyway - cool beans! :)
#19
*Exactly*
I keep looking for a horizontal scroll bar on the bottom of the page.
05/10/2005 (12:19 am)
Quote:
One thing kind of makes me uncomfortable, but i dont know yet whether its just because i was so used to old layout - text kinda ends uncomfortably too close to the right side. I sometimes get a feeling as if I`m reading out of my monitor:)
*Exactly*
I keep looking for a horizontal scroll bar on the bottom of the page.
#20
Toby.
05/10/2005 (1:36 am)
I very much like the direction of the new style, but because it feels very much like the new style and old put together, certain things clash, essentially all the previous pages. Forum's look etc, additionally where is the recently posted forum threads?Toby.
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