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The Snarkpit Relaunch
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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by larchy on Wed Oct 15th at 12:50pm 2008

Its not really a big deal, you can use whatever you want... I was just playing around and wanted to find something that looked modernish but was still legible.

The one i used was just a free one called Bauer, but as I say feel free to experiment.

The logo and navbar vectors are here:

http://www.pc-t.co.uk/nav_links.png

http://www.pc-t.co.uk/header_logo.png

...in case you want to copy the fill gradients/effects settings

The navigation bar is a big single graphic and each link shows a section of it for its background. On mouseover the background gets moved up a few pixel to show the bottom half... thats how you get the rollover effect using css, just so you realise why its done the way it is.

I've been working this morning on some new stuff which I hope to get implemented soon because its really cool smiley



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by Gwil on Wed Oct 15th at 1:44pm 2008

larchy, I tried this afternoon to sort a request I had from Flynn whereby he wanted his reg date revised to Oct 2004 to reflect an earlier username. I assumed it would be the "regdate" and the timestamp needed changing accordingly, but no such luck.

My feeble attempt has fallen flat!



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by larchy on Wed Oct 15th at 2:18pm 2008

No you've done it right m8, its just that to ease the load on the database info like that gets cached - so you won't see it change until you close your web browser and then revisit the site smiley



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by Flynn on Wed Oct 15th at 4:48pm 2008

Thanks, it was a month earlier though (sept) which I asked to be reflected but I am not going to ask you to go back because I know what databases are like smiley


Just Kidding

Just Kidding



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Wed Oct 15th at 9:26pm 2008

So I would need to copy the format for the buttons like you have there? Also the part where you log on can that be a different BG than the header.. the reason I ask is because I have an idea for the long bar.. all the way across.

Do you want to remain flat.. no raised areas on the interface?

[ Edited by Muhnay on Wed Oct 15th 2008 at 2:28pm - total edits: 1]




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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by larchy on Thu Oct 16th at 7:47am 2008

If you've got some ideas its probably best just to produce a 1200xwhatever mock-up of the page and see how everything fits together.

It doesn't have to be exact and I should be able to write the code for whatever layout you want - so don't feel constrained by anything that I've posted. Start with a blank canvas if you like smiley

Elements can be moved around/added/changed, so just whizz something up and if it works and looks good we can work on the code & final graphics formats.



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by larchy on Thu Oct 16th at 4:04pm 2008

OK, big update. You may have to refresh your stylesheets (CTRL+F5) or you may experience weird layout issues - sorry!

A couple of months ago after the new site went live there was a bit of discussion about map screenshots being pixellated.

I explained that this was down to a mish-mash of different existing screenshot & thumbnail sizes, as well as the new sizes used by the new site. I had a good think about how to improve the situation as people seemed to be throwing up the issue of poor screenshot quality quite a bit.

I have been working since then on some new backend code which takes the fullsize screenshot images of a map and dynamically generates a resized thumbnail of whatever dimensions are required.

If you now look at any part of the site with map screen shots - ie any of the maps pages or front page spotlight - you should now be seeing perfectly sized, good quality screenshots.

I also had a good think about how to improve the layout, and have removed the old jumble of tiny thumbnails alongside larger thumbs. There is now an inline backwards/forwards menu next to all thumbnails, allowing you to cycle through all screenshots a map has. I have had to resort to javascript to do this (I generally don't like using it if I can avoid it as it can restrict access to content for those who block it/don't run it or when it goes wrong), but I really think that it is worth sacrifice and shouldn't really affect anyone.

Clicking a map thumbnail on the main page of a map will pop up a new window gallery which will allow you to cycle through all images at full size.

I have also taken the opportunity to improve the layout code for the front page, all the map pages and in particular the layout of map info pages.

I have only just uploaded all this, and will be actively looking at/fixing any issues I can find this evening (I've already spotted that I've neglected the page showing a specific user's list of maps which is messed up, so that is a priority). Please let me know of any issues/problems - hopefully things should be working ok though.

The blue theme has also been uploaded, but it is very much a work in progress. You cannot yet access it from the normal theme changing button at the top right, but have to manually appen '&ss=sp_blue' to the url, or click here to view it. No IE stylesheets have been done yet, so only non-MS browsers will have a chance of working. A lot needs doing to make this theme complete though, so don't expect it to be useable just yet. You can return to a normal theme by clicking on the normal theme switch button at any time.

Enjoy!



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Fri Oct 17th at 3:25am 2008

Here is what I was thinking Larchy..



Snark Pit Orange Box Edition.

On the buttons you have now.. use an Orange Glow instead of the white.

The Buttons in the message editor should also be something besides green.



[ Edited by Muhnay on Fri Oct 17th 2008 at 4:06pm - total edits: 10]




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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Fri Oct 17th at 11:04pm 2008

Here is a Light version..



Here is a Blue..



The Buttons..





I want to spruce up the right side.. do you have that section for me to play with Larchy? I need to work on the buttons some.. hummm I like the glow you have.. think I'll try making some gem buttons.

OK I admit not my best work.. I have been away from photoshop for too long.





[ Edited by Muhnay on Sat Oct 18th 2008 at 10:07pm - total edits: 5]




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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by larchy on Sat Oct 18th at 8:41am 2008

You should be able to get everything by switching to the blue theme by clicking on the link I posted above.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the right side" - there are no graphics on that side of the page smiley

I quite like the second set of links you posted above (nav_links_snarkmetal_alt.png)

I was thinking about maybe sticking to a more clear typography though... maybe using something like myriad or garamond alongside little icons... it might not fit in right though.

I think the high contrast orange/blue at the top would be a bit too strong, but I do quite like the curve... how about doing that in gradiated grey/blue glow with a drop shadow?

Maybe something like this...





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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Sat Oct 18th at 10:04am 2008

Thats nice.. I like the idea.. but what is the blue was ribbed like the old green BG was.. and then the SnarkPit logo was under glass.. Let me see if I can work something up. You really did not like the Orange.. wow a talked to a few people and they all dug it.. said it gave the site pop! But ok.. I will try some new ideas.. =)

Ok so everything else was a no go then.. let me try some other ideas.



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by larchy on Sat Oct 18th at 4:24pm 2008

Would be good to get some feedback from other ppl really as something like this is so subjective its tough to know what the best way is to go.

Orange/blue/grey is a pretty standard color combination, and you're right it could maybe do with a bit of orange in there... I just personally thought the contrast was a bit too strong using a big solid block of the colour. I think a bold highlight colour like that should be used a bit more sparingly.. if you did little orange icons on the navbar like that home one I did then it might look quite good. Then again, maybe it would look better using orange for the rollover colour instead of the light blue... but its all subjective really.

Maybe something like this?



I tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to fonts because, honestly, the complaints you get about legibility when you stray from arial or verdana... I'm using Calibri for the main text on the blue theme, dunno if you've noticed that (you may need to download Calibri if you're not running Vista or a modern version of Office), but for the logo/nav I wanted something a bit snazzier but still nice and bold and clear. I think maybe that Bauer is a good tradeoff though...

Its all just ideas though and seeing what works... I'd like to get as much feedback as possible from ppl tbh before making any decisions. It'll be a while before the theme gets more work done anyway so plenty of time to mess around with layout/colors/fonts etc smiley

-----------------------------

Update:

The new dynamically generated thumbnails seem to be working ok (no complaints so I hope thye're ok for everyone!), but browsing through them was a bit laggy so I've developed the code a bit further and all the images now preload, making browsing through the thumbnails quite a lot quicker smiley



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by Le Chief on Sat Oct 18th at 9:05pm 2008

I'm liking this one you posted larchy:



This one:



I feel that the menu is a little difficult to read in this one, maybe due to the background for the menu and the menu's font. Although I probably do like the orange/white fade better than a solid colour.

This one:



works in my opinion but its going to come down to personal preference if they like the colours or not.

As for your menu/logo muhnay, they are good but a little too "80's/90's retro sci-fi" for my liking. In fact I'm not sure if we should be messing with the logo.

I feel we need a more modern interface with nice clear fonts, and a soft colour scheme with low contrast and perhaps smoothed corners, although I know smoothed corners is a huge pain in the ass.



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Sat Oct 18th at 10:45pm 2008

Good Points Aaron.. Yeah I have to admit the new font and logo are spot on and work well. I don't think we need to mess with it at all. I have been using the new blue scheme and it looks great the only problem with it is the green buttons in the text editor and other areas that had the green buttons.

I too like the sharp contrast of the Orange Blue.. it could be an option for people to select. Have 4 small snarks.. like you have the large one up there now.. One Black for a dark theme, one orange for the orange theme, one silver for a lite theme, and one blue for the standard theme.



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by Riven on Sun Oct 19th at 2:48am 2008

I'm not sure if you guys are talking about the original font from the first green style or the new blue style Larchy made for us?:

Quoting aaron_da_killa
As for your menu/logo muhnay, they are good but a little too "80's/90's retro sci-fi" for my liking. In fact I'm not sure if we should be messing with the logo.


Quoting Muhnay
Yeah I have to admit the new font and logo are spot on and work well. I don't think we need to mess with it at all.


Are you guys talking about the same thing here?

Before I speak, I must say I'm a little biased towards the original layout from Leperous and prefer black, so regardless what you make here, I'm probably gonna stick with the new dark layout made by Larchy.

With that being said, I'll have to say, the blue doesn't look half-bad. Although, no matter what you do, I think you should leave the original logo alone. For me, it represents the messy, dirty, artsy side to mapping with its grungy look. It lets people know this is a raw website where they will be able to get passionate feedback from passionate people. + A lot of websites that link here with an image still use the old logo. I think keeping it will allow us to retain our old visitors.
Here's a good description about us: here.

But beyond that, the new colors (orange and blue) do go together well, just don't leave at just blue and orange. There should probably be a transition of some sort. Also, the orange may be a little bright and could be dulled down a bit. The white of course fits in well, but the gray is a little weird to me.

I like the regular font TBH. The snazzy italicized font is a little much and makes it seem like we're trying to be like Mapcore or something else. We lose our uniqueness with that.

So all-in-all I'm saying, the blue looks cool, with a less brighter orange, and smooth transitions with small rounded edges (to mimic the headers of forums and such.) And the white everywhere else will keep it clean.


Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Sun Oct 19th at 3:01am 2008

RIVEN Thank You, I was looking for the old site.. so I could try to modernize it but keep with the old feel.

I did make a new Orange header larchy..



Photobucket keeps compressing the image, so here is a zip you can download and look at it first hand.

http://rapidshare.com/files/155379946/sp_orange.zip.html


[ Edited by Muhnay on Sat Oct 18th 2008 at 8:09pm - total edits: 1]




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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Sun Oct 19th at 4:11am 2008

I think Riven is onto something I think we need to embrace our roots.. so I have started on some old school Snark graphics, but with a updated look. that can embrace the new code.

Here is a logo I think should be used.







[ Edited by Muhnay on Sat Oct 18th 2008 at 9:55pm - total edits: 1]




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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by Le Chief on Sun Oct 19th at 4:55am 2008

Did you make that logo muhnay? That looks really nice!

Edit: You edited your post on meh :P.

Anyway, that third image you posted with the logo, menu and the wireframe image, that looks quite nice smiley. I'd be quite happy if I could use that as part of a continued "black theme".

[ Edited by aaron_da_killa on Sun Oct 19th 2008 at 2:33pm - total edits: 2]



Aaron's Stuff



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by G4MER on Sun Oct 19th at 5:03am 2008

Yes I did thank you Aaron. Every time you ask me that I think your surprised I did it.. lol.



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 Re: The Snarkpit Relaunch
Posted by Crono on Sun Oct 19th at 6:09am 2008

Far Cry font huh?

Personally, I'm a big fan of designing for common font families and using the least number of images as possible.




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