Title: Re: PocketMonsters.net Version 5 Suggestion/Changes
Quote From: KaioshinSo, since I was told to better post here what things I really dislike about the current PM-net layout, here they are:
1. Why do i visit a Pokémon page?
90% to look for new news, 10% for information about stuff that's not to be found on the mainpage.
What do i see first? A giant info box about latest episodes and DVD/Blu-Ray releases. And I already have a big 1920x1200 screen.
The site is compatible with all resolutions, but personally i use a 1920 wide screen and snap it in half. That's how I view the site as I never liked websurfing with such a wide screen at that resolution.
Quote From: Kaioshin
Max. ~50% of all fans watch/ the anime, even lessen buy DVDs/Blu-Rays or visit events. So most of them are probably not that interested to read about what comes next. Especially most of the adult fans don't watch the Anime anymore.
Below that box is another box with latest imagoboard stuff, latest news short list and latest forum posts.
I sometimes take a look at the imageboard stuff, latest news short list is ok to have, but not at that place in my opinion, and actually my mind completely ignores the forums stuff. I personally even struggle to find a link somewhere else to the forums (alwas forget it's existence in general) or the imageboard. I always think they are in the "Main" dropdown.
We will add Imageboard, Forums, IRC, buttons at some time in the future to complement the RSS and Twitter ones to make them a bit more prevalent to viewers. I agree that the Anime shouldn't be the main focus of the site, hence the moving down the Upcoming episodes and promoting the Latest News, Imageboard and forum post blocks first.
Quote From: Kaioshin
2. Big, bigger, newsboxes.
To news itself: Nothing is wrong with the information itself, it's great. But: Frigging huge newsboxes! I have seen newsboxes taking up to 4 screens, so up to 4k pixels in heigh because all the informtion with all its - sometimes - big pics is instantly visible. And these huge newsboxes are making the page really long, so a lot of annoying scrolling.
It mostly doesn't need any images to describe the news. Pics/Videos are nice to have left/right/below of the text, rarely above, but are mostly not the important part. I don't need the full size pic of San Francisco or the American Diancie DVD. They would be perfect ok as 200p thumbnail on the right side of the text. Like that the box would just be ~400 pixel heigh or so at the end. Perfect for everyone to have a quick look on a new information.
For additional information, pictures, videos, you can make a "Read more" dropdown thingy or whatever that thing is called for news.
I'll try to add more smaller pictures in news articles with thumbnail links to higher resolutions. News article pictures never go past 700px though but sometimes higher resolution pictures are good on the main article. I agree HQ isn't always the best in news articles as it lowers load times and increases bandwidth use.
Quote From: Kaioshin
4. Color sheme
How to describe it.. I have seem this black/white/grey-yellowish sheme on pages who want to sell me champagne. I.. really dislike that grey-yellowish ^^"
It's not really a color you find on pages that have to do with kids / anime / gaming stuff and fun stuff in general.
The banner is nice, I really like the logo and DNS thingy and the characters next to them.
The Color scheme and logos will change when the new main series game is revealed and we can take some creative ideas from it to promote the games release.
Quote From: Kaioshin
5. Re-sort of some sections
Users / Site updates / Rules / Link to us/ Contact us / About us. - Doesn't really belong into the Main Menu dropdown I think. Should get it's own section on the right side.
Content Database to "Main" or that one mentioned above.
Imageboard / Forum Index to "Main"
Re-name "Content" to "Games"
Give the CD, DVD / Blu-Ray, Songs and maybe Opening/Ending databases their very own section. They are the best parts of the page since there is no other page I know that has such a detailed database about all the media stuff. Maybe name it "Media" or so.
Reorganized most of those links as you suggested. Hopefully its easier, more logical, and streamlined.
Quote From: Kaioshin
6. Brighter Icons in the little bar in the top-right corner. I tend to oversee that little thing and so the icon for the search bar.
Made some brighter and colored icons for the User nav bar. Hopefully they make it easier to distinguish.
Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. They are always welcomed.