ARWZ :: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Discussion Forums

Magus · **Something's Definately... Blue...** Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:34 pm

Yeah... I'm not quite sure what it is, or even if it's all in my head, but something about the site just seems... different. Something's changed since I've been here last... but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Does anybody have an idea of what it could possibly be?

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"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

Welcome to my weekend!

We've been meaning to redesign the site for some time, now. The old decor, in my opinion, started looking at little tired after a few months. But for a long time, we published the magazine with individual HTML files and the thought of a redesign was particularly daunting.

Recently, I managed to convert the magazine to a php-based site, where the headers and footers of all the page are editable through a single file.

So, we decided to do a redesign. We wanted something more modern, a little splashy. More visual interest. After experimenting with red and blue together on the ARWZ Editor's Desk, we decided to do a red and blue motif here.

And thus, you're looking at the product of my weekend's labors.
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction

pyanfaruk · Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:36 pm

I like it......very subtle.
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Absenen mistatengwar!

Magus · Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 6:37 pm

Definately... blue...

Azul.
_________________
"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

Saundra Kane · Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:34 pm

I think it looks great..very zingy

librarylover · Moderator Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 277

It's beautiful! Thanks for the lighter side!

Magus · Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:53 pm

I think I preferred the older one, but that's just because I really love parchment (shame that it's so expensive).

Rolling Eyes

But, still, it looks real nice, I must say. You did a good job on it.
_________________
"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

The older decor had its charms. Parchment was what I was going for. We just wanted something a little more eye-catching and evocative since we're an SF&F page and not a general fiction page.
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction

Magus · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:25 pm

I can see how it can become rather dull after a while, though (the old one, I mean). It did have rather muted, erathy tones and colors... and I used to go to two other sites with the exact same formatting for the background. And the blue, I must admit, is beginning to grow on me. I guess I'm just a sucker for something a little more formal (and people who know me personally will probably say the same).
_________________
"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

pecooper · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:46 pm

I'm with Magus about preferring the older parchment design. Don't get me wrong, I think the current layout is very attractive, but it's hard on the eyes for long text lines.

It's the way you go from lighter blue to darker in the text box. The text on the far right is harder to distinguish from the background and causes eye-strain after prolonged reading. Not a problem for those who are just doing a quick browse, but imagine trying to read long pages formatted like that It could put off people who want to do long-term investigative reading.

Just an observation.

Magus · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:51 pm

That actually doesn't bother me. I don't seem to have any problem with reading it. Try highlighting the sections you can't read, if that's the case. That might help you.
_________________
"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

ecgordon · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 12:01 pm

Something I just noticed this morning is that the darker blue on the right of the text field makes it appear like the text curves a little, as in the inner margins of a hardbound book. Was that intentional in the design, or just coincidence?

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

Not intentional. I just wanted to give the center text box more intrigue than just a plain color.

We're still tweaking the design and the color, so suggestions are welcome. I believe we may try to minimize the darker blue along the edge with the next revision, because a lighter and more uniform color does make for easier reading. The problem is that we have to redo all the individual page titles every time we change the background color image for the center text box - which we've already done twice. Once because we thought the shade of blue was too purple (too much like a little girl's jewelry shop) and then because we over compensated toward the green side of the blue color scale (looks a little Christmasy with the red).
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

Okay, I took a moment to change the center text area background here on the forums (It's not changed yet on the magazine).

Let me know if this makes for easier reading.
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction

Saundra Kane · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:51 pm

I have a pretty easy time reading it