Site Modes
Hey, despault, I've made some minor adjustments to the member page you've got up.
1 - Lowered the side bar, putting the logo on white. It looked too blue before, and also, the logo should always be on white.
2 - Rounded edges... is it possible to have the top corners on the sidebar and each mini-profile rounded? It think it looks a bit better.
3 - Subtle gradient on the sidebar. I can give you graphics for this
Also, let me know what image files you need from me, I'll hook you up.
Attention, Crew
Hey guys. Sorry I've been so absent lately. I know it's been a long time since I've contributed anything substantial, but I'd like to reaffirm that I am fully committed to getting this site up an running. Despault, I'm going to be looking to you for direction. What do you need me to do next? What files do you require? What areas would you like me to start working on/which areas are you ready to code?
I'm back, baby, and I'm gonna rock the casbah!
Also, we should arrange a Skype Conference call.
My schedule is posted
here: Let me know when is convenient for you guys.
Forums
I like the style of these forums.
http://www.defaultware.com/forums/viewforum.php?id=18
It's a free, open source code, too, which mean we can fuck it up as much as we want to, adding whatever features we want.
It's called PunBB, and more info can be found here:
http://www.punbb.org/
Getting back to business
Ok, folks. Works started to quiet down lately, so I thought I'd take a stab at the member profile set up. Basically, I'm seeing it as a list of names, fully searchable/filterable form the sidebar. You can click a name to expand it, to get a glance at some details, then click a second link to see the full person. You will also be presented with two other little tools, Send Message and Mark as Friend. Evan, we should be able to this using some fancy Ajax web GUI goodness. Check out www.netvibes.com to see expandable boxes.
I'm also proposing a colour-coded networking solution. Basically, people you mark, or people who have marked you as a "Friend" show up in green, friends of your friends are blue, and people to whom you have no connection are purple. Eventually, there prbly wont be any purple left, keeping blue and green in the spotlight.
Here it is. What do you think?
PSD file available
here.
Announcing the Triumphant Return of Zach the Maniac
Hey guys, sorry I've been MIA for the last while! I've been crazy busy at work, plus my trial edition of Photoshop ended, so I had to get around that, but now I'm back, and I'm hard at work figuring out the media section. For the sake of simplicity, I really think it'd be best if we kept it pictures only for a while, untill we can get everything worked out. Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem, since I've got a .Mac account (FREE web hosting! WOOT) so all we'll need to pay for is a domain name.
Arun, I want more direction from you in terms of how you think the media section will work, how people will interact with it, and Evan, I'm going to need a small list of features you're planning to implement so that I can design around them.
Speaking of design, I gotta say something. I like what we've got, and I don't plan on tweaking it too much more. Details will kills us if we spend to much time on them. That said, I have one last gripe: Color. I understand perfectly well that we need to create a unified look throughout the site, but two colors on a webpage is BORING. Its dull and corporate, and I'm going to have to play the "I'm the designer" card on this one, and say that we need more color in the design. I know for a fact I can maintain the graphic unity of the site and still make it fun to look at (I did learn a FEW tricks while I was away at that school ;-P
Trust me. Let me run with it, and you'll be surprised.
In the meantime, I've got something to satiate your desire for design while I fiddle away with the media page.
Introducing the new, improved, French Immersion Crew Logo
It's slick, streamlined, and comes in three sporty colours, which will be the three main colours for the site, incidentally. It conforms more or less to a simple square shape, which makes it a bit more versatile in terms of where we can put it. Also, It avoids any copyright infringement on
dotMac's logo, which is always a good thing.
It is available in
PSD, if you want a closer look.
UPDATE: Also, Despault, coult you look into the Century Gothic issue? I've checked a few friend's PC's and they all have CG on it, so it might be common enough that we run with it as the primary font, then set something like arial as the backup.
End transmission.
Hey
Hey, sorry i've been so quiet lately.. i just started an awesome new job, and its taking up a lot of time.
I promise to get some more work done on the site by the weekend, so bear with me.
Evan, this is what the site looks like in Safari
Not sure why it's purple, but it looks pretty good. Is it possible to make the text a little bit thinner/smaller? Also, tit should be white all the time unless it for the rollover. looking good, though.
The logo is bugging me, in general, so I'm going to modify it some more. And I'll get to work on the rest of the site designs.
Evan, you should take a look at this guys site http://www.skyy.0nyx.com/Blog.html it's pretty awesome. Plus I think it's doing what you want our to do with the fixed elements. It wont work in I.E. though, but fuck it, people really, really shouldn't be using it anyways.
Anyways, thats it for now. More later.
We should do another skype conference soon
Revision C
I took some your points, tossed em together, and this is what I came up with. Arun, I didnt follow your wording precisely, but I feel this still works. Evan, I like the rounded corners, and I'll play more with them tomorow when I have more time. Also, I'll flip the logo around and make it big. Whadya think?
Also, the site should still fit easily in a single window.
New, design, with 78% more FUN!!
Well, I like this new stuff a lot. I was able to bring back larger buttons, and actually GAINED space for content. Also, I set it up so that on topbar links rollovers only change the TEXT colour, so this should make evans job a bit easier. I really like 6a. Lemme know what you think
6a
6b
A different approach...
Okay, I was sort of playing with the new site design, trying to get it looking a bit slicker, and a bit more unified, cause with 4a+b, the plasticy topbar really wasnt meshing with the smooth, soft grey sidebar. SO I came up with this, which is a bit different from what we've seen before, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Yes, on one hand, it is slick ad professional looking, but it doesnt look as fun. It looks like an office, not a playroom, you know? So I guess my point is, do we want this thing to look professional or do we want it to be enjoyable? I find myself liking the older designs more and more. i liked the big toolbars and bright colors http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5702/681/1600/Homepage%201b.0.jpg
i think, that we could make a really fun website if we dont worry too much about white space and screen real estate.
Take a look at http://www.odeo.com/listen it's a really fun site to use, and it was always in the back of my head for the first few designs.
Anywyas, thats my two cents.
Here's a screenshot of the new design.
Logo update
Heres 1b.. the refined logo. I've found a map thats more north american-centric, added a few connection lines, and intersected them all over land. I didnt change the icons hair, since im not sure how it would actually make it appear more unisex. Perhaps I should use a more iconic character, similar to MSN's buddies or something like that. Let me know what you think.
New Designs: 3a and 4a
Hey. For 3a, I was trying to implement some of the things we'd talked about earlier; the thinner topbar, better colouring on the sidebar, etc, etc.
Then I had an idea radical enough to warrent a whole new build number. For 4a I decided it mightb e interesting to switch things up a bit. I tried to make it as space efficient as possible, and I kinda like it. It's a bit different, what do you think?
UPDATE
THe flipped 4a, called 4b, as requested
new logo
forum
http://peerlounge.com/index.php?showforum=22
Two more layout designs
Ok, ive busted out two more design mockups for your perusal. The first meets most of Arun's requests, and I quite like it. It's more streamlined, and more efficiently spaced. I didn't add the lines dividing the links, as he requested, however. Reason being for this, is that as the user browses the green nav. bar, the link will be highlighted with black, as illustrated. This should clearly distinguish word groups. I think lines or seperators would detract from the overall design. Anywyas, here it is.
For the second desing, I've introduced new concept: the sidebar. The sidebar, which I've tentatively named the "Navigator," will be a place for specific information that the user may want accesss to regardless of what page they're on... things like, most recent forum posts, external links, contact information for us, etc, etc. It should be fully functional and auto-updating, so that if a new post is made while the user is looking through the media section, for instance, they will be notified of that, and be givin the option to respond. It should be present on every page, except, I think, the forum page, since it would be redundant, but that really depends on what content we agree to put into it.
Let me know what you think.
New Layout
You prbly noticed this site looks different. I changed it.... that green was getting to me, sorry.
Site redesign
k.. i haven't fixed the logo yet, but i have made it smaller... also, i think that pink bar up there makes things a bit more interesting, visually... so big changes are pink bar + smaller logo area
Also, for the login/signup... i think it'll just say login all the time, and when click on it you are offered to either login or register. When you are logged in, it could just change to log out, if we want, or something else.
Discussions
Okay, so, lets try and keep all discussion of the site on blogger... no personal emails, they get too complicated, if you want, you can tell blogger to email you every time there is a new comme posted, or if you use RSS, there is a feed you can subscribe to, which is how i like to do it. for live group discusions, if we want to bother planning something like that, we have a few options, but the most obvious is a group chat in MSN, though i dont know how reliable that is...
anyways, site revamp comming up, watch out for it...
Also, try to comment on existing posts as its appropriate, like, if you like, say, the site design1a, comment on it, rather than making a new post to say how much you like....
ok, im done now...
Logo
ok guys, tell me what you think.
UPDATE:
I've done a mockup of the about page,
on flickr, tel me what you think
We're Gonna Party Like It's 1999
Listen up, one and all!
This New Year's Eve 2005, party with style with me and my roomies. We've got a nice, big house that we're gonna get decked right out. 3 Kegs. 1 Hot Tub. 100 of your closest friends. Its gonna rock.
Everyone is invited, as long as you know someone who knows someone who lives here.
Here's some handy dandy maps of the area:
For directions, click
here. Then, click on the red pin, and in the balloon that comes up, click "Directions To Here," and enter in your full address. Voila.
My address is
102 Westhampton Dr.
Thornhill, Ontario
L4J 7J7
Phone number is (905) 738-5068
See you in the next year.
Joining Flickr!
Lets get this show on the road by sharing some pictures. Once you receive your Flickr Invitation (let me know if you haven't got one yet) follow the link in the email, then click "Sign In." Since Flickr has been bought out by Yahoo recently, you'r going to have to get a Yahoo ID. If you already have one, just enter it in, if you don't, click "Sign Up."
Enter in all the necessary information. If you don't want to bother getting a Yahoo! Mail account, simply uncheck the option, though really, if you're still using hotmail, it's time to stop. But I digress....
Once you're done with that junk, click "Continue to Yahoo! Flickr" In the bottom corner
Enter in an appropriate Screen Name.
Go to your home page to upload pictures.
You can upload 6 photos at a time directly from the Flickr website, but I suggest trying one of
Flickr's uploading tools to get the job done faster.
Once you've uploaded you're photos to your own private space, you'll probably want to add them to the French Immersion Crew photopool. Do this by clicking "Organize" from Flickr's menubar at the top of the site.
Load all your photos, or find them in the little timeline at the bottom of the Organizr. Click on the "Your Groups" tab and the F.I. Crew should come up. Click the little "M" icon to move images to and from the group.
Then hold down "A" on your keyboard to add an image to the group. Voila, that's it!
Check out the photos
Here.
Blogger With Flickr Now lets say I want to post an image I've got up on Flickr onto Blogger. Well, that's pretty easy, too. Just click on the picture you want to post, and you will get a bunch of tools pop up above your picture, one which will be "Blog This." Click it, the follow the instructions. It's easy.
To get the URL of an image you want to add as your Blogger profile, simply click on "All Sizes" next to the "Blog This" button, then scroll down the page till you're shown "This Photos URL." Copy and paste the URL into your Blogger profile, and your set! Be careful, though, since Blogger will only accept images of a certain size. If you'r having any problems, just let me know, I"ll help you out.
That's about it, guys, you're ready to start contributing! Talk to you later!
Editing Your Profile
I bet you're wondering how to edit your profile, aren't you? Well, pay attention, then, it's easy.
When you log in to
Blogger, you're brought to the
Dashboard where you'll find a list of blogs you're on, as well as you're profile infromation. Click "Edit Profile."
Privacy I've got all these checked on, and I haven't had a hard time with it, so you may as well also.
Identity Make sure to enter in your full name as your display name, cause if you say you're "Watson" how're we gonna know if it's Pete or Paul? Full names. It's easy
Photograph If you already have a picture of yourself up on the internet somewhere, just drop the URL into Blogger, and a nice picture will pop up next to your name. If you don't have a picture online yet, don't worry, I'll show you how when we talk about Flickr. Also, I know Photoshop, so if you're ugly, I can make you beautiful. In pictures, at least.
Audio Clip You can add a bit of sound here, if you want. I'm not really interested, though.
General, Location, Work, Extended Info Fill out as much of this as you can, or want to. The more the better. I don't know WTF that Random Question is about, so don't ask.
Thats it, folks. Easy as pie! Didn't I tell ya!?
Blog, a silly word
What is this blasphemy that is blog?
World Domination
In the sidebar I've added a link to Frappr, which is based off of Google Maps. We're gonna use it to stamp all the various places we've been in the world. Follow the link to add yourself!
Getting Started
Alright! Hello, Frenchies. I bet a lot of you are wondering what's going on with this here thinganamabing, so let me explain it to you: This is the
internet. The "internet" allows people (like you) to stay in contact with other people (like me.) Ok, those of you haven't already figured that bit out, can just give up right now, 'cause if you can't handle that much, you're in trouble. But I digress.
Arun and i figured that it might be a cool idea if we could have a nice, easy way for everyone from back home to stay in touch, and keep up to date with each others various achievements or failures. Hence, this website was born. Basically, the idea is, anytime you get an idea in your head, you can post a message up here for everyone to read, and comment on. We've also got an online photo album you can see
here. The way we're gonna do all this is by combining two great, free services
Blogger and
Flickr. These are by far the easiest and most robust web apps of their kind, and they're actually pretty fun to use.
Blogger is where we add text messages, and
Flickr is for photosharing.
Lets start with
Blogger.
First off, if you haven't received an email invitation from me too join Blogger, let me know, and I'll send you one right away. If you've got one, good stuff, keep reading.
1. Getting Signed Up Follow the link in the email, and, assuming you don't already have a Blogger account, click the "Create an Account" button at the bottom of the screen.
Fill in your desired user name and password, and enter in your email address. For your display name, make sure you enter in your
FULL NAME, not just some random nick name or something. For example, "Lizzlefoshizzle" becomes "Lisl Baker." That way everything looks nice and organized. Lisl.
2. Say Something, Damnit! Once you've successfully completed that, you'll be brought to what Blogger calls the
Dashboard. From here, you can edit your profile, find other blogs and do all sorts of other shit we'll deal with later. For now, you should see a list of your blogs, including French Immersion Crew. Click on it.
Now you are presented with a list of posts. Creating a new post is easy as pie. All you gotta do is click "Create New Post," enter in a title, then type in whatever mumbo jumbo you've thought up. You can save the post to publish it later, of you can just publish it instantly by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.
Wait for it to be published, then you click on "View Blog" to see what your post looks like to the rest of the world.
You can also comment on yours of other peoples' posts.
3. Step 3 There is no step 3. It really is that simple. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you how to add pictures to your post and use Flickr!
Untill then, keep your stick on the ice.
