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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 4, 2014 16:15:23 GMT -6
Didn't see that coming did you? Version 1 is up and running. Constructive suggestions welcome.
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Post by Sir Chris Cairns on Mar 4, 2014 23:34:32 GMT -6
Front page looks nice. Endless possibilities for presentation. It's the sort of place where you could proudly display "Globalstar of the Month" or "Quote of the Week" or "Billy's Greatest Hits" or any other plethora of things. It would be interesting to see what can be done with it.
I'm enthusiastic so long as it's kept simple and doesn't interfere with how the actual forums function, and with that said...
Three things:
1. Not sure why the Social Networking thread has been moved away from the RP board, but that's not a massive issue. The issue is it takes more navigating to get to now for such a key feature and has its own entire board now for some reason. I'm guessing this has something to do with getting the 'latest twirk' to show up on the front page. Fair enough, but can the actual forum board maybe go somewhere a little less tucked away?
2. Having both this GZG Online Newswire and a HotWire Magazine board... is that something that's going to merge? Aren't they basically the same thing? A curiosity more than a gripe. HotWire has been less of a psychical magazine and more of a digital online editorial thing since... well, since a very long time ago. Always been keen to see those types of regular, short posts (GZG Online Newswire) but unsure why it's considered a new category unless I'm missing something.
3. Easier on the eyes if those GZG Online Newswire reports just stick to one font (the boards default).
Edit:
Polls might be a fun thing to have on the front page.
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 0:58:03 GMT -6
You have no idea how happy that enthusiasm makes me!
1. Spot on. We had to move it in order for it to display. Otherwise it would've been impossible.
2. There will be some crossover, but they are not intended to be the same thing. If you wrote an article on hotwire, the idea is that you would put a short segment of it on the announcements. Otherwise the article would dominate the entire homepage.
For example, the announcement could be "on his latest show Marcellus Jackson interviews Lord Blah about blah blah blah", while the interview itself goes on Hotwire.
3. Are you referring to the link for the Kolic story being bigger or the titles being a different font? The second is easily fixable but I do not know how the first one occurred!
I'll see what I can do re polls... In order for the polls to display independently we may have to have a separate polls sub-board.
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Post by Icon Lord Leon Corbin on Mar 5, 2014 2:08:01 GMT -6
Okay, now I've slept off this headache this isn't quite as bad as I first thought. But there are still some things for me.
Those kinds of front pages look better with proper sites but I suppose we have to make do with what we have.
The "Join Us" page needs a complete rewrite. It's just not enticing enough for anyone thinking of joining and is worded pretty poorly for what it's intended for. Also better if it's posted by someone actually in charge than someone no one even knows. Use the Corzair account for that as well as removing your post, Tate, about MSN lol. One post for it all. Clear, concise. In addition to that, the rules should be there as well with a rewrite. That gives people a chance to see the dos and don'ts from the get go.
The champions link on the front page. Remove the other champions and just keep GZW there. Unless the sister companies are really being used, we really shouldn't highlight them. It's redundant. GZW champs change yet the others mostly stay the same for years.
I also had issue with the Social Networking thread. It's not where fans interact with them at all and therefore has no reason to be in that forum. No need to move it there. Also do we really want that to be one of the first things people would see using the site for the first time? At times it can be like those random post boxes on other forums which is off putting. People of new wouldn't necessarily know whether it's a handler typing crap or the actual Globalstar. On the flip side, with Social Networking as big a thing as it is, I can see why you'd want it there.
There are the odd spelling issues from the last time you swooped in with updates, not sure if they were you or not but while it's forgivable in RPs, the main page should be free of them. Down at the Museum forum, it's there with the word "achievements" misspelled.
"Download the free app" sounds better than "Now available in app form!" Seriously, who says that lol.
Navigation. This gets me because unless I press back, back, back I can't just press the arrow buttons to get back to the forum main page. It now just lands me back to the front page which once I've logged on and seen it the once, I don't need to keep going back there in the same visit. For example, the buttons should be GroundZero Wrestling > Forum > Out of Character Board > The Update Thread. It's missing Forum. It's there when you first get there but the moment you head to another board, it's gone. Can we fix that? And yes, I know on the yellow buttons further up it's there but no one navigates using that part of the page. Streamlining shouldn't make things awkward, it's there to improve.
Events. This means it has to be done carefully to ensure the front page shows the next show and not the shows just posted. For example, once Tate updates the yearly shows, it reckons the next event was the Christmas show this year. Gonna have to keep on the ball with this one
The one thing I am concerned about is all the news feeds etc. I think that's a brilliant idea but will it be sustainable? The last thing we want is a dead and outdated front page so is this something you are going to keep up with? Are you actually sticking around to do this? Or will this fall onto someone else's lap in time?
If there is anything else, I'll post it but that's all for now. My main issue is that these surprises should never be. People who come on this site all the time for years should have their input before any major changes take place by someone who is hardly ever about to be fair. Find out what they think, ask people who also have an eye for these things. This may save on the extra work in the long run. That said, the time and effort you've put in is definitely appreciated as I'm sure it took a while.
Ishy
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 4:39:01 GMT -6
1. Work in Progress. Tate and I have put something together, but I didn't have time to upload it last night
2. Tate? Thoughts?
3. The problem with the social networking thread is that it's good to have on show, but if it stayed where it was it would have shown up as the most recent RP as well. Tate was keen to avoid that as he doesn't want twirker to replace RPs.
As such, a sub board is the only real option. We settled on the fans forum as its location, but there's no reason it has to be there. Ideas as to where it could go?
4. My spellinge is terrible. I apologise for any errors!
5. I'll change that in a minute (a Jon minute)
6. I think that's a ProBoards thing. Not a lot we can do about it. Afraid you're stuck with the yellow button! If I find a way I'll tell you.
7. The upcoming events thing is actually very clever little widget. You can attach posts on the upcoming events thread to particular dates. Prior to 28 Feb AA was on there.
So if Tate were to say post all the PPVs for the rest of the year (cardless for now), and then attach them to the calendar, they would all show up on that list.
8. I intend to stick around for the foreseeable future and use it. However, and I will say this clearly now:
THE ANNOUNCEMENT THREAD IS FOR EVERYONE.
Anyone can post on it, anyone can hype or advertise anything they want. That's the idea of that thread. If you write a Hotwire article, hype it on the news thread.
What makes this fed great is user input. That box is for everyone to show their stuff.
---
As for the surprise element, I totally get what you're saying. But please be reassured this was not a unilateral project. Tate has monitored the progress all the way along (from the test forum to background working) and approved each bit. I've run everything past him stage by stage. Even after it went live he had some pointers and I worked on them.
I also emphasise that this is not the finished article. Think of this as a Beta test, with the final product encompassing everyone's ideas. Someone will have a better way of doing things, we'll discover things that worked well on paper don't work practically and we'll change accordingly. :-)
I've said to Tate several times that I was looking forward to seeing what Ishy could do with it graphically. Don't disappoint me! ;-)
However, that said, Tate and I wanted to do something special to celebrate the Fed's birthday. We wanted people to log in to see AA and have a genuine and happy surprise :-) I hope we achieved that.
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Post by Icon Lord Leon Corbin on Mar 5, 2014 4:49:44 GMT -6
Then I shall be patient. Might have been the headache but I was very displeased last night about it all lol. Could be old age and I'm just a grumpy cow.
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Post by Icon Lord Leon Corbin on Mar 5, 2014 5:03:59 GMT -6
Sub board on the GZG 24/7 forum. Seems appropriate.
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 5:43:41 GMT -6
Moved the discussions to here, otherwise the update thread might get overrun.
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 5:49:30 GMT -6
Tate, okay for me to put the sub-board back in the 24/7 thread?
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Post by Head Booker on Mar 5, 2014 6:45:20 GMT -6
As long as it still works...
Keep RPin'
Tate
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 7:35:15 GMT -6
No reason it shouldn't
*click*
Oh bugger
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 7:44:39 GMT -6
What about the titles?
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 8:29:06 GMT -6
1. I've put social networking back on the 24/7 board, but it's still on its own sub board.
2. Philosophy post added and now linked to "Join Us." The "make your mark" link still needs to go somewhere though. For now its pointed at Mark Dent.
3. Globalstore link added. That page is a good contender for some graphical improvements make it actually look like a shop, but it serves its purpose for now.
Dear god that Prince William action figure is terrifying!
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Post by Icon Lord Leon Corbin on Mar 5, 2014 8:37:54 GMT -6
How could it look more like a shop in your opinion?
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Post by Icon Lord Jon Kellar on Mar 5, 2014 8:41:08 GMT -6
Dunno tbh... checkout buttons maybe? I was just thinking out loud tbh I just like the Globalstore. It's something a little bit extra that draws me in.
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