[DEV] Feathercoin Web Site Development & Artwork
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Given this some more thought.
The illusion I had was we wanted something future proof… for example giving Chris a platform for his newsletters and a possible blog. This means filtering that information out to the front page in snippets. Content rich. A menu item to render the content by user or category too… for examples ChrisJ’s blog to be taken to said content. This would also allow for any other member to create content and be hosted on the site by category or user.
This would also facilitate sections for guides and merchant resources. Imagination is the limiting factor here.
I was also under the illusion that we needed a stronger framework to make use of other tools that are available now. Take the ‘Local Map’ for example. We could have that up and running and in days we had the right framework, with auto submission and themed with the site. But we had to create a bespoke one off page, faff around trying to bridge the user database with an external single html page and then create a brand new menu with the bootstrap css base. We then rely on 3 separate handlers to mail out submissions to community members to manually add, edit or remove entries.
It was what we needed then… it was created and deployed.
But! Do you want to go down this route again? The framework I have deployed has all the nuts and bolts you require to have the above fully automated. No need of an API hack to get user details, have the process completed with no member wading through submission emails, have the theme change automatically when the site theme does in the future, add new functions as required…
What will the next idea bring to the website… are we really going to do this all over again? and again?
You see I get the idea that we are getting closer to designing a front page design and leaving it simple at that.
Have you considered theming the Forums? The Blog? Custom Page Articles? The Local Page? Contact Pages? Chat Box?
Speaking of Forums, has anyone considered how you are going to cross this bridge? Not only from a theme/inclusion point of view? There are 3 options in my opinion. 1- Keep the existing forum but re-skin it. 2- Use a new forum and archive the old one. 3- Use a new forum and import all the current users and content in to it.
I have sourced a strong forum, one that ties into the WP framework, will match the skin of the whole site and allow us to attempt to export all the users and current content in to it. This ultimately boils down to Bush in giving the nod to move in this direction… Personally I think this is the route to go, if a decent translation/export of data can be achieved.
I’m just concerned we are getting wrapped up in designing the front page and not looking at the big picture.
From the current situation and reading this thread…
My suggestion is to use the current theme… and custom edit the front page to achieve the chosen theme. With some Jquery and CSS I think it can be achieved.
I’m proactive to what we want as a community. The current theme is strong with ability to edit all aspects. Want to change the colours then use a wysiwig editor in the back end to do so. Want to remove the slider click the button that turns it off. Want to remove the top menu on the front page then it can be done.
If we can decide on the front page theme from the examples in this thread I can attempt to theme the whole site to those colours and create a custom front page to match it as closely as possible with Jquery and CSS.
Bottom line is this… we have a incredibly strong site, ignore the theme, use your imagination and create it in the framework that is there.
The other option is wasting a minimum of 1k to achieve the same results.
My few pennies worth.
Peace n Love.
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The first step in getting the job done is deciding what the job is. Which is why I created the functional specification. It is much easier to be creative if you know what people need.
Long term flexibility can be taken into account if we know how that might be acheive. It is completely amazing and enlightening to start to hear everyone thought patern. Especially as a technical scientist with an interest in art, but no training.
It has been an eye opener to me to learn the current state and capability of web tools without having to do hours of research.
Thank you, Thank you, thank you…
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These were the High level requirements for the project, perhaps now is a good time to re read them and add any comments? They are in the perceived order of priority.
Updating of the front page is a quick fix that covers 80% of Feathercoins immediate urgent requirements / web site bug fixes. It is as a major step forward for little effort and a chance for all to contribute, even the less technical. Particularly, reducing the strain on moderators by being clearer.
[b]Feathercoin Website Development v3 - Statement of Requirements.
[/b]
1. Control development and enhancement of Feathercoin Web Site and Forum
2. Encourage and facilitate member input to the website development3. Facilitate member Technical development of Wallet and Feathercoind
4. Support Feathercoin Mining and Mining pools
5. Develop and implement methods of maximise members to operation of the forum, if possible, automatically.
With the least necessity for moderation. -
Sorry to drag this back to the design, but the most friendly way to implement mobile and tablet suitable websites is with a scalable ‘responsive’ design, it results in a page which feels familiar regardless of which device you browse via.
I stumbled upon this example the other day [url=http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/]http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/[/url]. To see what I mean, if you restore the window out of maximise mode and drag the window frame to reduce the width of the page you can see how it will work on narrower devices. In this example the page adjusts to suit, when an element is too small to be used effectively it’s dropped in favour of a condensed version.
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Re: [url=http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/.]http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/.[/url]
I don’t like the colour! Orange? so 1966.
Is it a Wordpress theme?
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[quote name=“wrapper0feather” post=“52973” timestamp=“1389978289”]
Re: [url=http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/.]http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/.[/url]I don’t like the colour! Orange? so 1966.
Is it a Wordpress theme?
[/quote]Haha, I’m not keen on the colour either, but it’s a good example of a website being ‘responsive’ to get around the need for separate mobile and tablet versions of the website.
I don’t think it will be wordpress Lancaster Uni will be using, but there are many examples of responsive wordpress designs. That way, you can feed more information to the people who have room for the clutter, whilst still looking minimal and clean.
*edit* A wordpress example, [url=http://demo.athemes.com/hiero/]http://demo.athemes.com/hiero/[/url]
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So what art work are we going with?
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[quote name=“Entimp” post=“52978” timestamp=“1389979826”]
So what art work are we going with?
[/quote]In response to your earlier post, I very much want to bring Sev’s design (if we are agreeable) together with the power of your WP theme that you installed. This is going to have to cost money, producing anything of quality will and I think we deserve it.
The problem with overloading the home page with content is that it actually hides the content because people don’t stick around and read it. The front page needs to be focussed. People don’t come to yoru website through the front door anymore, they come in via Twitter and Google etc. So their first experience may often be a forum post or a blog entry.
The overall design theme will be applied across the website at large and the social media once we are happy with it.
Things like the local map will be put under tools. As I said Sev is making variations on this design to see how it would work across the site on the forum etc.
I am up for hard work, I want a site we can be proud of and that does us justice.
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I beg to differ with the financial input, but that is your call. Saying it can only be done with money is to negate the skills the community has.
The design has to be a single unifying theme across all pages. Each page should not be created individually unless you are prepared to invest more money to cross future bridges. This goes against the point of making use of a strong CMS to manage the site as a whole. I’m sure you will not get a front end dev to fully create a responsive wp theme with everything we need for less than £1000, that is a bargain basement price.
If we plan to make use of a paid external commission to bring fruition to the design is the point that I’m out.
So to ask again, what theme or artwork have you finally decided on?
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[quote name=“chrisj” post=“53000” timestamp=“1389986820”]
[quote author=Entimp link=topic=6616.msg52978#msg52978 date=1389979826]
So what art work are we going with?
[/quote]In response to your earlier post, I very much want to bring Sev’s design (if we are agreeable) together with the power of your WP theme that you installed. This is going to have to cost money, producing anything of quality will and I think we deserve it.
[b]The problem with overloading the home page with content is that it actually hides the content because people don’t stick around and read it. The front page needs to be focussed. [/b]People don’t come to yoru website through the front door anymore, they come in via Twitter and Google etc. So their first experience may often be a forum post or a blog entry.
The overall design theme will be applied across the website at large and the social media once we are happy with it.
Things like the local map will be put under tools. As I said Sev is making variations on this design to see how it would work across the site on the forum etc.
I am up for hard work, I want a site we can be proud of and that does us justice.
[/quote]The point is void, as it is a CMS site… you can have whatever you want on the front page or equally as little as you want. In creating the example we have on the reboot site, I have used a pre-written page as an example. The mock ups that have been done can be recreated in the current CMS with ease.
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I just wanted to go a little bit more into what I meant by defining the FeatherTipper.
A travelling food blogger or photographer can tweet about their work, if it’s popular enough and they have enough followers who tip, essentially that pays for them to visit new places to blog about and take wonderful pictures of.
A new way of funding series and episodes. Something like an ongoing kickstarter within itself.
After each episode, if people tip enough they can make a new one. If they don’t reach their budget for a new episode, they still keep their earnings. I don’t think anybody would mind. Those tips were sent because they liked the last episode anyway. It’s only fair, and all done directly. That’s a sweet deal.
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[quote name=“Entimp” post=“53022” timestamp=“1389992235”]
So to ask again, what theme or artwork have you finally decided on?
[/quote]We haven’t, it’s still evolving.
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In today’s - Techsnap 145 “The” internet security Podcast - The expert and owner of Scale Engine and a contributer to BSD and the host of BSD Now -
Alan Jude, explains how we can update the web site. The rest of the show tells you why.
@ 20 mins Background - 24:30 to 26:00 safe updates - Explanation.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k3e2AhuNMM#ws]Target XPoSed | TechSNAP 145[/url]
P.S. If you never saw this Podcast, you got about 200 hours of catching up to do! Brilliant show.
I think we should have more than one site running anyway, Stable and Test and Experimental.
Before I was ill, the company I worked for charged £1000 day for me, perhaps I should start charging?
And as an open source development we must at least try to do without proprietary systems, I try not to use them, if I know about it.
e.g. Could we contact KDE for advice on open systems to run the Web site?
If there any open source facilities we could move it to so it isn’t a burden on Peter’s or ChrisJ personal finances. What are the open source systems available to do our job, i.e how does Gnome do it?
and giving everyone a chance to donate is fairer and removes a potential long term criticism, based on our community ideal.
Are we making a video of it evolving?
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[quote name=“Calem” post=“51719” timestamp=“1389602646”]
[quote author=chrisj link=topic=6616.msg51712#msg51712 date=1389600341]
I would like is a Friends list where you could subscribe to feeds from people that you want to follow and a better notification system. Also the ability to tag threads would also be good.
[/quote]This.
+1
[/quote]+10
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[quote] Friends list where you could subscribe to feeds from people that you want to follow [/quote]
Cool idea, don’t we have buddies?. What do they? do I never tried it.
Was anything similar on the list of currently available functions for simple machine SMF forums?
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[quote name=“Tuck Fheman” post=“53229” timestamp=“1390063990”]
[quote author=Calem link=topic=6616.msg51719#msg51719 date=1389602646]
[quote author=chrisj link=topic=6616.msg51712#msg51712 date=1389600341]
I would like is a Friends list where you could subscribe to feeds from people that you want to follow and a better notification system. Also the ability to tag threads would also be good.
[/quote]This.
+1
[/quote]+10
[/quote]
The forum I opted for has this plus about 150 other plugins. It will also has a migration script to export this complete forum and the whole user base. Bush needs to give the nod on this. -
[quote name=“Kevlar” post=“52759” timestamp=“1389905470”]
[quote author=Severino link=topic=6616.msg52757#msg52757 date=1389905306]
[quote author=Kevlar link=topic=6616.msg52744#msg52744 date=1389903431]
Presenting people with the download button before explaining what it is they’re downloading and why doesn’t seem nearly as newbie friendly.[/quote]
Hm, maybe have it a bit further down? Or at least have it after the blurb or [i]“why FTC, where get FTC, where spend FTC” [/i]section? [/quote]
Yes, I think you have it exactly right. The 3 blurbs first, then the downloads.
[/quote]Could the download section be improved to be “Get a wallet” section? Introduce different options… also mobile, paper, web? I personally like how different options are introduced on bitcoin’s web page.
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Can we part of this? Scrub that, something similar, can’t afford $40.
[url=http://opensource.org/affiliates]http://opensource.org/affiliates[/url]
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I have moved Severino’s work on the ‘Merchant Guide’ to Development. It is related to the web site development, can members have a look?.
[url=http://forum.feathercoin.com/index.php/topic,6686.msg50338.html#msg50338]http://forum.feathercoin.com/index.php/topic,6686.msg50338.html#msg50338[/url]
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I have stewed over these thoughts for a few days now, and I’m not 100% keen on the direction we are taking. I’ll try to post my thoughts as lucidly as possible, bit tired.
What I think the goals are:
1: A modern looking website that stands head and shoulders with our peers. If we can looking down on them.
2: A CMS system that makes content creation simple and professional for all wishing to be involved.
3: A CMS system that publishes all content into a common unifying theme. Forums, tools, blogs, pages, guides, maps and anything else you care to imagine.
4: A CMS built around strong web standards that are supported by good CSS, functional responsive design and has access to hundreds of class act plugins.
5: A future proof infrastructure that will allow fast deployment of future ideas and technologies so that we don’t have to do this all again in the not too distant future.I don’t think there is anything to disagree with in those points, although some may wish to add to them.
I also don’t think we would disagree that a well supported CMS is key to the success to this endeavor. There are 3 that I would choose from. It seems WordPress is the current favourite.
That said we need to focus the design concepts around how they fit in to a responsive (desktop, mobile, tablet, web tv etc) model and how all pages will render.
I’ve not seen any great examples of this.
The current best choice (from what I can tell from reading comments in this thread) is okay from a mock up.
The black/dark background with light text is the wrong direction imho. I would like to see how a forum or article is going to fit into that style? Light text on a dark background is a big no for content rich pages. Do you plan to flip the colours when there is a need? That option would be daft and create contrast issues with an overall theme. It would also lend it self to needing two themes created and a plugin created or installed to style each page as needed.
My suggestion is we use the current theme on the reboot site.
Don’t look at it in it’s current form. At all. Every single aspect of the page can be edited from colours to fonts. It can be made to look like any creation you care to dream of. It can be done without sliders or with sliders. The theme will then transfer to every page you create, every plugin you install, every tool we hard code via custom pages.
It has a wealth of content rich and jquery enabled shortcodes.
It is built with Mailchimp and Twitter in mind.
I have researched using it with a new fully automated version of our local maps… allowing users to fully submit, edit and remove their own pins with unlimited categories. No longer a need to have an email sent in order for someone to physically add a pin.
I stress again, it can look like any theme you care to imagine without the need of paying someone to do this who will only provide a tiny fraction of the functionality at an exuberant cost.
It has a well supported forum that has 150 specific plugins for this alone. It also has a migration tool specific to the current forum we use to the new potential forum.
The shortcodes are rich and diverse, allowing users to create professional pages and articles with ease.
I really don’t understand why we are re-creating the wheel here. I very honestly feel that any commission we farm out will fall far short of what the current framework offers. In fact I know it will fall far short.
I am a little concerned that the site redesign is going to move on without considering anything other than how the front page looks. I’d like to see some more research and suggestions on the overall site theme and what tools we use to make them work.
Has the template been decided on and farmed out already? Or are we still working on this?
