Monday, March 12. 2007
Warming up the new design
A global change is always difficult to make because it usually affects everyone at once and a small defect can easily cause a storm of annoyed messages at my message box. 
Yes, I am talking about the announced new design of the BrainKing game site which is still under development and hasn't been officially released yet, but anybody can already test it. It is always the best practice to throw an unfinished product to the customers and observe their reactions.
Yes, I know that the bright orange headers are too bright!
I am sure it will be better in the final version.
You might have noticed that several BrainKing pages are already changed to the new design. I have deliberately chosen the less frequent ones which are not vitally important for playing games or posting to discussion boards:
It would be cool if we can get as many reactions and comments as possible, preferably here on this blog site. By the way, I have also implemented an automatic WebTV detection system, so if you are using this device, you should see the new design with almost no new graphics, in order to make it better displayed for you. It's a pity that we have to spend our time to create alternative (and bad looking) skins for devices which are not meant to browse the web seriously due to their awfully big amount of limitations and bugs.
One more improvement of the day - the Bug Tracker page now shows tooltips with the bug description previews when a mouse cursor is hovered over the bug number link.
Yes, I am talking about the announced new design of the BrainKing game site which is still under development and hasn't been officially released yet, but anybody can already test it. It is always the best practice to throw an unfinished product to the customers and observe their reactions.Yes, I know that the bright orange headers are too bright!
I am sure it will be better in the final version.
You might have noticed that several BrainKing pages are already changed to the new design. I have deliberately chosen the less frequent ones which are not vitally important for playing games or posting to discussion boards:
- Bug tracker
- Links
- The Translator Tool (available for the translators only)
- The Main Admin Page (but it is accessible only for Liquid and me so it would make no sense to link to it from here)
It would be cool if we can get as many reactions and comments as possible, preferably here on this blog site. By the way, I have also implemented an automatic WebTV detection system, so if you are using this device, you should see the new design with almost no new graphics, in order to make it better displayed for you. It's a pity that we have to spend our time to create alternative (and bad looking) skins for devices which are not meant to browse the web seriously due to their awfully big amount of limitations and bugs.
One more improvement of the day - the Bug Tracker page now shows tooltips with the bug description previews when a mouse cursor is hovered over the bug number link.
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is this redesign really necessary? i find the colors ugly and the graphics distracting, whereas i don't have either of those problems with the current design.
Comments (7)
Well, I was expecting something more descriptive than "ugly" or "distracting". Yes, it is necessary and it will be done. No design can be good enough for *everyone*.
Comments (10)
just out of curiosity, why is it necessary?
and i'll go back and try to be "more descriptive" of what i find distracting about the design (i know the brick-wall motif is part of it - too many little lines all over the place - text is far easier to read against a solid-color background), and of the colors i guess i could say i'm no fan of orange, orange against beige is even worse, and the indescribable color of that wide bar at the right that's kind of a mix of orange and beige and salmon is...let's see...a nice descriptive term...putrid?
and i'll go back and try to be "more descriptive" of what i find distracting about the design (i know the brick-wall motif is part of it - too many little lines all over the place - text is far easier to read against a solid-color background), and of the colors i guess i could say i'm no fan of orange, orange against beige is even worse, and the indescribable color of that wide bar at the right that's kind of a mix of orange and beige and salmon is...let's see...a nice descriptive term...putrid?
Comments (7)
It is necessary because the current "design" cannot be called a design - it's just a chaotic HTML code created by a programmer who is not capable to draw the simplest image (me). I know many people who have seen BrainKing for the first time and said "Phew, what is it? A couple of amateur web pages, it simply looks like it was created 20 years ago and the first visual impression is TERRIBLE, no matter what technology is hidden behind the facade."
And it's true. A time has come to change it.
Good news - the "castle theme" is just the first available skin. The new BrainKing's visual technology can support any number of alternative skins and when we have more of them to select from, everyone can be satisfied. Of course, someone has to create the first.
And it's true. A time has come to change it.
Good news - the "castle theme" is just the first available skin. The new BrainKing's visual technology can support any number of alternative skins and when we have more of them to select from, everyone can be satisfied. Of course, someone has to create the first.
Comments (10)
Hehe, that's what I thought when I first saw BrainKing
Over time I learned to like the interface though, because it is very simple and calm. Something that definitely cannot be said about the castle theme in full mode
But in simple mode and with another color than orange, this is a friendly and calm theme too.
I am looking forward to a skinnable BrainKing
Over time I learned to like the interface though, because it is very simple and calm. Something that definitely cannot be said about the castle theme in full mode
But in simple mode and with another color than orange, this is a friendly and calm theme too.
I am looking forward to a skinnable BrainKing
Comments (4)
ah, hmm. well, on the one hand, my experience was the same as that of Gordon Shumway: "eegads, this is one primitive-looking site" followed not long after by my adjustment and acclimation and finally my becoming completely comfortable with the UI. and on the one hand i'm not sure i think the first impressions of first-time visitors to the site should be regarded as more important than the opinions of long-time (and lifetime ) members. the site has come a long way and been much refined since Gordon and i first looked at it and said, "ew." but on the other hand, the skins thing does sound promising indeed. i hope someone will start out by designing a skin that looks and functions in a way identical to that of the existing site. 
i personally don't feel any UI overhaul is necessary. Gordon nailed it when he said it's "calm." and that's a very good thing for the site to be...especially when its denizens aren't.
whatever...you've done such a great job so far, i'm sure you can be trusted to take the site to the next level without making us old-timers jump ship. best of luck and skill, ma man. looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labors (especially with some other skin on them.
) members. the site has come a long way and been much refined since Gordon and i first looked at it and said, "ew." but on the other hand, the skins thing does sound promising indeed. i hope someone will start out by designing a skin that looks and functions in a way identical to that of the existing site. i personally don't feel any UI overhaul is necessary. Gordon nailed it when he said it's "calm." and that's a very good thing for the site to be...especially when its denizens aren't. whatever...you've done such a great job so far, i'm sure you can be trusted to take the site to the next level without making us old-timers jump ship.
best of luck and skill, ma man. looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labors (especially with some other skin on them. Comments (7)
Well, if you want a skin which would be almost identical to the current one, that's what I could make myself because there is no graphics at all. But it will take some time.
But it will take some time.Comments (10)
okay: the "simple" style is far better than the "castle" style, wherein the uneven bricks down the sides of the turrets provide, at best, a distraction from the text they border, and at worst, a background against which the text cannot be read - in Safari 2.0.4, the names of my fellowships and favorite boards overlap the uneven bricks on the left and the right, making the affected letters almost impossible to read.
whether the text overlaps the bricks or not, that uneven, "broken wall" look down the sides of the turrets is a distraction from the text. too many angles, too many lines - too many graphic elements vying for the eye's attention at once, and all the while competing with the text. it's just bad design. i'm surprised that anyone would be unable to see that, but i don't think i or anyone would be able to make someone see it who can't see it on their own.
whether the text overlaps the bricks or not, that uneven, "broken wall" look down the sides of the turrets is a distraction from the text. too many angles, too many lines - too many graphic elements vying for the eye's attention at once, and all the while competing with the text. it's just bad design. i'm surprised that anyone would be unable to see that, but i don't think i or anyone would be able to make someone see it who can't see it on their own.
Comments (7)
Ah, the Safari. The problem is that I cannot test it with Safari since I don't have a Mac. Can you try another browser?
Comments (10)
yes - i can try Firefox. but tomorrow. i'se sleepy. zzzzzzzz...
Comments (7)
k - i'm having the same problem - the broken bricks along the sides of the turrets in the castle style overlapping the letters in my lists of fellowships and favorite boards - in Firefox 2.0.0.2 for Mac, if that's any help...
it's not a practical issue for me because you bet your booties i'm using the simple style (with the new, more brainkingy colors - thank you! ...but if someone wants to use the castle style this might be an issue for them.
it's not a practical issue for me because you bet your booties i'm using the simple style (with the new, more brainkingy colors - thank you!
...but if someone wants to use the castle style this might be an issue for them.Comments (7)
It would be much more helpful if you could send me a screenshot, otherwise I can hardly solve it.
Comments (10)
done.
Comments (7)
I've just seen it and the problem is, obviously, in the too big font size you have set in your Firefox. The castle images are not elastic, so they cannot be extended to reflect the font settings. If you really need such big letters, try to use the simple style instead.
Comments (10)
By the way, if you go to the http://brainking.com/en/NewGameList page, there is a link "to simple style" which switches the design to a much simpler version. This alternative one is very similar to the current BrainKing look and feel (if you ignore the orange headers) and I don't see a reason why anybody should have a big problem with both of them at once.
Comments (10)
I like the new design, but would like it even more if the menu headers were in a warm brown instead of (even a darker) orange
But there is one thing I really dislike: the colors of visited and not-visited links are not really distinguishable.
But there is one thing I really dislike: the colors of visited and not-visited links are not really distinguishable.
Comments (4)
That's what I have told to the graphic guy today in the morning. The orange color will be definitely replaced by a better (possibly brown) one.
About the visited links, it's a good point. Which color would be the best choice for the visited ones?
The orange color will be definitely replaced by a better (possibly brown) one.About the visited links, it's a good point. Which color would be the best choice for the visited ones?
Comments (10)
Hm, that's hard. I played around a bit, but everything I tried looked digusting It's not easy, because the color of the links is not very "strong" and lightening it up makes it badly readable against the background. Perhaps if the unvisited links would be darker?
It's not easy, because the color of the links is not very "strong" and lightening it up makes it badly readable against the background. Perhaps if the unvisited links would be darker?Comments (4)
Try the alternative style ("to simple style" link on the new Main Page), it is very similar to the former one now.
Comments (10)
That's great now!
It has all the good sides of the old design, including its simplicity and the focus on functionality - it just looks much more polished and leaves a warmer, more comfortable impression. I instantly feel home with the new version and can't wait to have all pages converted
It has all the good sides of the old design, including its simplicity and the focus on functionality - it just looks much more polished and leaves a warmer, more comfortable impression. I instantly feel home with the new version and can't wait to have all pages converted
Comments (4)
The design is ready for any number of another skins because almost all graphic aspects have been moved to the CSS file.
Comments (10)
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Thanks Fencer, i will mention us on the spreadfirefox websit e later
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