View Full Version : So I'm completely re-designing my site
I've had it for years, and I've never really fully got it up. I've gone from design to design. I did find some of my old files with one of my more recent designs. I decided I liked it, and am basing my current one off of it, but modifying it and not using any of the original files. Lately I've been piecing it together, trying to form it as I go along and whatnot.
Here's what I've done with it so far (http://codeinsurrection.com)
Once I actually have content up, that footer there with the copyright thing will be at the bottom.
What I'm looking for is some opinons and some ideas. One thing I want to do is integrate some color into it, some blue, so it doesn't look like it's all black in white. I'm not exactly sure how I want to implement that though. Anyone have some ideas of how I should alter it? I also want to know what you guys think of it so far.
Greco101
08-29-2007, 12:58 AM
that's pretty much the only color schemes I do too... Grey, white, black + one color. (hence my sig... and a tiiiny bit of blue)
I like that glassed effect... rounded edges are the hardest to work with for me... I like straight sharp lines. Do you have any ss's of what you had before?
I might, but I'd have to dig through some archives. I do have files backed up from like the past 5 years, from multiple computers. So I might have something somewhere.
Here's something I quickly threw together (http://codeinsurrection.com/sitetest) using the old files (including the html files) from the previous design I based this one off of.
DaveW
08-29-2007, 05:09 AM
That looks pretty good. If you're willing to help me out with some work, I'll be willing to help you out when i'm done. PM me if you're interested.
-Dave
.Maleficus.
08-29-2007, 04:00 PM
Are you using a CMS? Did you make the graphics and layout yourself? I'm using Joomla and I can't find any decent templates, so if you're making those youself, I'd +rep you to infinity if you could give me some pointers on what you're using and all that. Looks pretty good though :up:.
Yes, I am making it all myself. I only like to use things that I do all myself. I just make it all in Photoshop and then cut it up into pieces.
.Maleficus.
08-29-2007, 07:55 PM
Yes, I am making it all myself. I only like to use things that I do all myself. I just make it all in Photoshop and then cut it up into pieces.
Damn dude... I'm the same way, I'd much rather use things that are "mine". You've convinced me to give it a try. +rep to you man.
I was thinking of making the top area blue. Sort of like this, but not exactly like this, this is just an example.
http://codeinsurrection.com/images/testblue.jpg
But then what would I put there? Should I put the banner there, embedded into sme sort of design perhaps? And then should I make the rounded top of the main menu shorter? Or maybe should I put the banner in that rounded top? Should I make the blue area one big header that covers the entire top area? I'm having hard time trying to put my ideas into action. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do.
Elenril
08-30-2007, 02:43 AM
Just a quick suggestion: That blue looks good, but to fit with the overall scheme of things I'd make it a lot more subtle and lighter. And because the 'glass' is on top of it, you might want to put blue reflections in the glass to make it look more realistic.
I say maybe have a very VERY subtle pattern in the blue, to add interest and break any monotony, and put the header in the rounded top.
I do like what the little hint of blue did to the menu bar. I also added a subtle hint of reflection of the rounded top in the glass as well.
I've been working on different ways to modify the blue area, and right now this is what I have
http://codeinsurrection.com/images/bluetop.jpg
Also, I put something on the wrong layer, and came up with an intersting effect that gives me a few ideas.
http://codeinsurrection.com/images/bluedge.jpg
And I was thinking of maybe making the entire background a subtle gradient with blue, and using CSS make it a fixed background, so as you scroll down the background never moves. And a modification of this idea would be to make the entire page have a gradient background such as that, but have the top remain more distance and solid.
http://codeinsurrection.com/images/bluebg.jpg
But mainly the purpose for all of this is just to integrate some color into the design. I was thinking of having it so when you hover over the buttons, they become indented, and light up and glow blue. I could either use that in compliance with the other blues, or use it in place of them, or just not use it at all.
Ronyx
08-30-2007, 04:50 AM
What are you going to do with the top banner you've setup?
Text? Image? Nothing?
It seems to be a little bit too short and too long for it to correctly hold a banner image inside. I'd suggest you increase the size a bit, unless you already know what you're going to put in there and it's the perfect size?
Whatever I put, and wherever I decide to put it, it would be specifically formed to fit in the particular area.
Elenril
08-30-2007, 07:50 AM
That looks really nice, especially with the lighter blue gradient at the top. Do you know how to use flash? You could get some really nice glowing or other fancy effects for the buttons, rather than just rollovers, that'd really add to it.
The CSS non-scrolling background is a good idea, but may be a bit tricky to pull off with the current layout. The blue gradient is focused on the menu bar, right? So if the gradient stays, the menu bar will move as you scroll down the page, and it'd look dodgy. I suggest either an iframe, or to make the background scroll with the white box and the text. Maybe have a gradient at the bottom of the page as well, so when you reach the bottom it's not all just plain white.
Commando
08-30-2007, 11:21 PM
Hey Daje,
No way would I build from scratch. Your a brave man, but must have a boatload of time on your hands.
I would just try a good CMS like Joomla. It's ridiculously easy and you can customize everything. It really is the wave of the future.
www.joomla.org (open source of course)
It what I've been using for all the sites I done lately.
www.AirbrushTricks.com
My new one www.CommandoDesigns.com
.Maleficus.
There are boatloads of templates out there and you can always go in an change the CSS and graphics but most of the templates let you do it through the front end anyway. If you want a really good one you'll probably have to pay a little but you can get club memberships and get boatloads of templates.
Try Rocket Theme (http://www.rockettheme.com/aff/affiliate.php?id=1178&group=1).
Vertigo
08-30-2007, 11:32 PM
Nice work, I really like the glass effect you got there. I've been working on my own again lately, but not much done yet.
http://digitalzoetrope.com/
You're acting like it's some big deal to start from nothing. It's what I've always done for years. There's nothing to it. And as for a stationary background, I was referring to the main background, not the top menu area. Though i could do that whole area and still make it look good.
DaveW
08-31-2007, 05:28 AM
You're acting like it's some big deal to start from nothing. It's what I've always done for years. There's nothing to it. And as for a stationary background, I was referring to the main background, not the top menu area. Though i could do that whole area and still make it look good.
You're being modest. There's a big difference between someone who can start from nothing and a script kiddie. I often make the mistake of thinking that everyone who can work with code can write some from scratch, but the honest truth is, only about 25% of coders actually can.
-Dave
I wouldn't be able to create and implement my own entire version of content management, for something like that I would install something such as Joomla and modify it. But that's not what I'm doing or talking about. I'm not even fully sure if I'm going to have a content managemen system. I know it's good to have, but it's not needed. But aside from that, just designing and coding a page and creating the graphical element to it, that really is just a simple task.
si-skyline
08-31-2007, 11:36 AM
lol sorry, i didnt post im time, I love the blue.. i think the top one looks better but also like the blue line in the second
Commando
08-31-2007, 11:55 PM
You're acting like it's some big deal to start from nothing. It's what I've always done for years. There's nothing to it. And as for a stationary background, I was referring to the main background, not the top menu area. Though i could do that whole area and still make it look good.
Once I realized how much easier it was to go back and change things once the ground work is done I'll never turn back.
I can redo graphics or even build new ones but the framework is the most time consuming part.
Don't get me wrong I love your work it's just that I know that that the graphic art portion is really time consuming. The development is the fun part for me.
Elenril
09-01-2007, 12:24 AM
And as for a stationary background, I was referring to the main background, not the top menu area. Though i could do that whole area and still make it look good.
Sorry, I don't quite get what you mean. So you're going to use frames? Or tables? I just don't really understand which bit you mean, that's all. Quite frankly, I think it looks really great.
I did some minor work on it now (http://codeinsurrection.com)
I need to fix the area where the menu bar and the news area meet. The color doesn't fully match up. I added the sublte blue gradient background to the main area, but not the header area. Using CSS, I made it so the background stays in place. As you scroll down, the background does not move. I also decided to convert a few images to PNG now, mainly for drop shadows. Now that Internet Explorer finally supports partial transparency, I can put all sorts of effects into motion.
A few days ago I made the buttons, and came up witth a nice design for them all. I also fixed any little errors I noticed. Though if you guys notice anything that looks wrong, let me know. And also feel free to give me your suggestions and input.
Tonight, I successfully integrated the forums into the site design. Ignore the posts and such there though. I let someone use it for some things for a little bit before. I'll be deleting some of that and arranging things how I want.
What I still need to do though, is make a banner for the site.
I don't think I'll make it an exact rectangle with defined sides, but this is the size I have to work with.
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/bannersize.jpg
I already have a logo that I made a long ass time ago, that I'll be using and integrating into the banner.
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/insurrection.jpg
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/Copy%20of%20logo.jpg
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/logo2.jpg
Not fully sure how the banner is going to look at all yet, but I'm trying to think on it. I'm open to any ideas as well. So anyways, tell me what you guys think so far, let me know what needs to be fixed, and give me your suggestions on how I could improve things.
Eclecticos
09-16-2007, 04:54 AM
Looks Good to me . .very kleen design.
The logo is nice and simple I'd use the 2d design.
.Maleficus.
09-16-2007, 03:14 PM
Very cool man. I love the forum integration. You're making me want to get back at work at my site (I really should...).
Looks Good to me . .very kleen design.
The logo is nice and simple I'd use the 2d design.
I found a way to use both! I put the second 3D one faded in the background, and the 2D one clearly visable on the right side of the banner, so people will know what the site's logo is.
This is just my first design for this banner. I'm actually starting to get a bunch of ideas for it now, and may change it completely.
http://codeinsurrection.com/images/banner.png
What do you guys think of it so far though?
Also, if anyone has a camera with them, I'm interested to see what the site looks like personally on your monitor. When looking at it on two different computers in my house, on one monitor the subtle blue in the menu bar wasn't there at all, and on the other monitor everything seemed too big.
But, since I designed it all on the monitor I use, it looks alright to me.
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/monitorsite.jpg
.Maleficus.
09-16-2007, 09:24 PM
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l257/andypwnsall/DSCF0102.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l257/andypwnsall/codeinsurrection.jpg
Time to work on my site.
So, I'm guessing that's a 17 inch CRT you have? I have a 17 inch LCD, so I have a different ratio, with more pixels cramemd into the same area, so it's going to appear bigger to you than it does to me. I suppose that'll be alright. That's why I want to see pictures of your monitors taken with cameras, so I can see how it differentiates.
.Maleficus.
09-16-2007, 09:58 PM
I actually think it's 15" :dead:. 1024x786.
Usually a 15" means 800x600, and a 17" means 1024x768
Take a look at it now (http://www.codeinsurrection.com).
I finally got a content management system installed and integrated. I spent last night and today working on skinning it and working it into the system. I ended up using Drupal for the content management because of Dave. He was looking for something to use himself, and thought of using Drupal, so I setup something for him to screw around with. He liked it, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was originally going to try to use Wordpress, just for something simple. It's a complete bitch though. It's a chore just to try to change the main table background image. The image is not actually referenced anywhere. There is not one place in all of the code that actually says "this image will be here". But with Drupal, it didn't take me long to get it all skinned, and it also has a few built in features for managing the layout as well.
Right now I have it all skinned, though I may tweak a few things. I do need to change some configurations still, and also edit things like text size and color.
calumc
10-16-2007, 12:32 PM
Nice work, have some rep!
Well, I've tweaked a few more things, and it's looking better now. Part of what I'm doing is I'm still trying out all of the features of Drupal. I plan on installing a bridge to link the PhpBB users on my forum to the main page, but it's completely ****ing my mind, and I'm not sure how to do it. I have a module for Drupal for just that, but I'm having a bitch of a time trying to figure out how to install it right.
I'm also thinking I may want a second site. I think I just want Code Insurrection to be mine, for all of my stuff and things like that. And then I would want a second site, based around something else and mainly a community site. But I have no idea what to base the site around for content, I mainly want a big community, but it needs something. And then I'd have to think up a name and a design and all of that all over again.
Maybe I should just work on making Code Insurrection a big community, with all of my personal stuff as a side part to it all. But then what would I put on the rest of the site.
I like it dude. Have some rep.
Does anyone here have Internet Explorer 6? I myself use Firefox, and I only have Internet Explorer 7, because it came with Vista. Apparently there's some sort of issue with internet Explorer 6 and my site's layout. Probably because I worked on removing all tables and replacing them with css. I think the problem is that the header doesn't line up with the rest of the content on the site. It could be because I replaced the main section with css while the header is still in an iframe. I plan to use php to replace the iframe though.
As for what to do with the site, Code Insurrection will just be my personal site. But there's this guy I know who wants to do machinima (movies or shows made through a video game, such as Red vs. Blue). One thing is he wants me to do voice acting for it, but mainly what I want to do is the site for him. So what I plan on doing with him is making a site which will have like 3 seperate series on it, and also some general gaming and PC stuff, and most importantly a big community base, and users will be able to submit their own content. We just need to come up with a name first, which is a complete bitch of a job. It's so damn hard to think of something.
We're using IE6 here at work. Here's a screenshot of what's happening.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/ci.jpg
calumc
10-19-2007, 08:53 PM
That would be a perfect place to put an AdSense 'Get firefox' button! :p
That would be a perfect place to put an AdSense 'Get firefox' button! :p
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/getfirefox2.jpg
http://codeinsurrection.com/pics/getfirefox.jpg
calumc
10-19-2007, 09:24 PM
Damn your good...
.Maleficus.
10-19-2007, 09:40 PM
I had that problem with Firefox. I was going to post a screenie but never got around to it.
It isn't doing it anymore though.
It might have been just while I was in the middle of editing the code. If any problems happen in Firefox, I'll see them right away.
Crazy Buddhist
10-21-2007, 04:17 PM
Looks good Daje
.. think a few folk mistook your doing it from scratch to include the coding ... but the graphics are great .. very nicely done.
I liked the darker blue ... and as to what to put there .. how about a flash animation of some clouds floating around in it? It looks like the sky - would look very cool.
:)
Well I did the the coding, I just didn't make the content management system. Other than that, I coded everything. And I had to code the content management system to fit my design. I didn't create the whole system though.
.Maleficus.
10-21-2007, 06:23 PM
Well I did the the coding, I just didn't make the content management system. Other than that, I coded everything. And I had to code the content management system to fit my design. I didn't create the whole system though.
Mambo, right?
Side note: how many vistors are you getting? I really need to find a way to boost my traffic... I've done a few things towards SEO but I'm not very good at it...
Crazy Buddhist
10-21-2007, 07:08 PM
Mambo, right?
Side note: how many vistors are you getting? I really need to find a way to boost my traffic... I've done a few things towards SEO but I'm not very good at it...
Mal
I've been getting 100+ since about day 4. Not sure what now (the counter site I use is broken) but probably 200+ a day or so. EDIT: Just looked - I've had 11,388 page views in the 16 days since launch. Probably 2 -3,000 of that is me and my partner in crime in doing the development work. The rest is genuine traffic.
Some tips I'd suggest (and I've taken a look at your site and source code):
1/ Meta Tags
Write a description tag that succinctly includes all the main search terms you would want people to find you by.
Try and write your your description tag so that the text can also be meaningfully placed near the top of the actual text on your homepage:
"Arcane systems is the place to find out which Linux distro ..." or whatever it is you are offering. My Meta description tag is almost the first text robots read on the actual page: they are looking for coherence and here they find it.
Keyword tag: you could use a longer list of keywords and I also use keyword phrases e.g. "Buddhist, Meditation, Vipassana, Forum, Meditation Forum, Vipassana Forum, Vipassana Meditation Forum ,,, etc" Most of these should ideally be in your description tag too.
2/ Sign up at google and register your site for webmaster tools:
www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/
3/ If you haven't then install a google sitemap generator and register it in your webmaster account at google.
4/ Seed links: in your sig here make a text link. Do the same in any other forums you are in. Join a few related forums, make a half dozen useful posts a week and have a text link to your site in your sig.
5/ Start a google blog (blogger) about developing your website and link from every post.
Coherence and inbound links are what get you ranked high and get you traffic, however complicated the algorithm in use by the engines thats what it comes down to.
Good luck with it.
:)
.Maleficus.
10-23-2007, 08:17 AM
I've done most of those already, though I do need to redo my meta tags.
I also added Google Analytics, since Joomla doesn't really have anything good for tracking page visits/etc.
Crazy Buddhist
10-24-2007, 03:44 AM
I've done most of those already, though I do need to redo my meta tags.
For SEO Meta tags are where its at, Maleficus - and especially the part about the description meta tag contents appearing prominently on the site because this is where crawlers and robots say "YAY COHERENT CONTENT !!!!". You can put what you like in the meta tags and they will ignore them pretty much completely unless they find coherent content - and the higher up the page that coherent content is the better.
So write a description - a tagline - a "marketing pitch" that can appear at the top of your page and is also the content of the description tag and contains all the keywords you want people to find you by and then include all these keywords and combination phrases thereof in your keywords tag (plus any other related keywords in the keywords tag).
As I say I launched my new site and within two weeks it was on the front page (top 10 results) for the google searches I want to bring people to it and for some searches number one. And it's not exactly an oddball site that is easy to get up there.
Generally for every google user the results differ but some examples if I search (without quotes ""):
"vipassana meditation forum" ..... 1st out of about 1,750,000 results
"meditation forum" ................... 8th out of about 2,740,000 results
"Buddhist meditation forum" ....... 5th out of about 1,100,000 results
"meditation forum Sangha" ........ 2nd out of about 126,000 results
That's not by accident, it's by design.
CrazyB
I should take a look at how many visitors I'm getting. I have something that allows me to view every little detail about every little thing. Anyone accesses any file from anywhere via any way from any computer in any browser at any time on any date, I can see every little thing about it. I also see that someone once visited my site on a Dreamcast.
In other news, I just purchased a new domain, Cup Of Pwn.com
I'll use Code Insurrection as my personal site, and together with someone else I'll work on Cup of Pwn.
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