Main site redesign?

[flame6753]

Admins, don't take this as an insulting thread. I love the sfghq the way it is, but I was just thinking of a suggestion. Maybe by SAGE 16 or by next summer or something, the main site could get a facelift. The only reason I say so is because really I think everyone skips past the main site and goes straight to the forums, it used to be the other way around back in the day, and it hasn't been updated very frequently.

And plus I think In the next year or so, people will actually be finishing their projects, and maybe having a fresh new modern layout will encourage updating the front page more often or something. You could recompile a list of all the old fangames, and start adding fresh ones, sonic worlds and other engines could have their own content section. Just ideas I'm typing as I go along.

What do you think?

[OverbounD]

I know what you mean that would be nice. However every time it gets talked about nothing gets done. Obviously this requires someone get it done and everyone has a real life. Redesigning the main site would be hard work not to mention the need for modern content.

[flame6753]

I mean I wouldn't mind redesigning the main site, I have time on my hands. Only problem is that I'm not that good at web design, but I could whip up some layout ideas and present them here. Also, the owners might just like it the way it is, which is fine with me too.

What about hrook?

[Ristar]

I'll redesign the site, here's my idea:

[Andrew]

I'll redesign the site, here's my idea:

[qimg]http://ristar.gunsha.com/images/design.png[/qimg]

GENIUS.

[sonicyoda]

I personally would love to see this happen. There are some incredible projects out there now and it's a shame that casual viewers of the site don't get the opportunity to give them a go.

This was the way I was introduced to the community and I think the whole place was a lot better when you could download demos/betas as well. You lost some great stuff when you removed that section!

I would happily create the graphics if this was to ever happen. See my site for some examples of my work: www.segadriven.com

Also, Ristar's layout is very close to the actual site as it stands. Too close for comfort.

[Smidge204]

it used to be the other way around back in the day

No... no it wasn't...

As for redesign; the entire site is AJAX powered, and it really should stay that way since it makes the server load almost nonexistent. I just don't have the time or energy to redo the whole thing again but I won't prevent others from trying their hand at it...

Here's a challenge for you: The entire site runs on just 37KB of graphics, 56KB of Javascript and about 35KB of PHP - minus actual content, of course. Try to beat that.

=Smidge=

[Ollie]

The actual layout of the website is fine and as Smidge204 has just indicated it seems very optimized for speed and server performance. Maybe giving the skin of the site a little touch-up so it matches with the forum theme might not be a bad idea though.

What I would personally like to see is the fan game database updated to display recent fan games such as the entries for this past SAGE. I'd find the resources updated very useful too especially since there has been some great engines made for the more recent versions of Game Maker. I'm not denying that it will be a constant time consuming task but the forum is active and it would be great to see the website as active as the forum!

Heck even a community driven submission system would be a great thing to see on the site. I know there is a similar system on the forum, but it would be great to be able to upload a sprite sheet or whatever, then once it's been moderated and seems acceptable content for the site then it will be viewed for the public's usage.

Well that's my personal opinion anyway, it would be great to see.

[OverbounD]

Interesting. I'd be more than happy work on organizing the game section and adding some of our modern demos and what not. There's so many great demos and even a couple of games that deserve to be on the website.

As far as the sprite and tile section goes I think we need to re rip everything and come up with a standard for doing so. There's Dami's level ripper or whatever its called I think there is also a program called Sonic extractor that could be useful in ripping new tile sets. Most of the sprites and tiles on the site are in MMF game files and a lot of them have messed up colors.

If we kept the main site the way it was and just updated the graphics a bit I think that would be nice. Are you Sonic Yoda capable of doing that? If so I'm willing to do whatever I can to working on bringing the site content up to date. We'd just need approval and access to the tools. In the meantime what sort of resources can we pull out of our asses? Does anyone here have anything they'd like to contribute?

[Duckboy]

Redesigning the main site seems pointless considering like half the sprites and backgrounds and games that used to be on there aren't there anymore. The main site seems pointless now.

[Ollie]

As far as the sprite and tile section goes I think we need to re rip everything and come up with a standard for doing so.

I had that idea a few years ago of archiving all the resources used in the Sonic games. I'd love to continue contributing to that. Also, I think the level ripper made by Damizean you're referring to is gpSonic Level ripper.

I'd also would volunteer as well if the site needs a community contribution to update the website. I'm experienced with HTML/CSS, though I doubt it would be of any help. I'd also like to help out ripping the resources from Sonic Games. The only issue I have is time since I'll be at Uni as of next week, but I'm sure I'll be able to find a quick few minutes to contribute.

[Smidge204]

Redesigning the main site seems pointless considering like half the sprites and backgrounds and games that used to be on there aren't there anymore.

A lot of content was not re-added because it was shit. There were several reviewers who helped sort through the content and decide what went back in. Incomplete sets, duplicates, half-assed custom sprites with only one or two frames... all nixed. Quality not quantity, etc...

Now...

Reskinning the site is by FAR the easiest route, but structural changes to the HTML would still make things difficult. You simply can not use a WYSIWYG editor to make a new site and expect it to work.

=Smidge=

[Ollie]

My SFGHQ new theme Suggestion

Only a few minutes work so it's a bit rough. But hopefully the style sheet looks a bit more up to date with the forum.

[DimensionWarped]

Didn't Smidge redesign the page just a few years ago? That's why everything is all fancy instead of just being a giant sidebar?

If what you want are new visuals, maybe. But the main page is pretty spiffy as it is.

[DJ espeed]

I think what Ollie is trying to get at is somewhat of a universal design for the main site and the forums, a la PreCentral, for example.

TBH, the main site even in its current state looks nice and is functional at the same time, but in my opinion, it just seems out of place with the forums and its defacto theme.

[Asuma]

How about we actually UPDATE the site with content down in the submission forums.

[Ollie]

Well this is the thing, fan developers post releases in the actual "General Fangame Discussion" forum and that's it. It would be great to see those releases displayed on the site itself without the user needing to submit it in another section of the forum.

[OverbounD]

Didn't Smidge redesign the page just a few years ago? That's why everything is all fancy instead of just being a giant sidebar?

If what you want are new visuals, maybe. But the main page is pretty spiffy as it is.

Agreed. But an update like Ollie said would be nice and could be done with just a skin I think.

The real problem is content. No one releases anything useful to the main site simple because its not updated. World, Dash, and other engines could be on the main site for easy access. I know of a tool for Rotating sprites that also works really well and Dami's got his shape tool that speeds up making slopes. All of these things as well as sprites and tile sets should be updated.

The games also need sorted through and most of them should probably be put in some sort of early years of FGing section. Then we could make also made a new section for games that feel more modern. As it stands right now I bet a lot of people surf the net download a few games off the main site think well this place sucks and never come back. As most of the games do suck by todays standards.

Demos should be allowed back on the site. Not that many people release demos anymore so it shouldn't be too hard for a few updaters to keep the flow of demos on the website current.

As I said we need someone willing to organize this reconstruction and we need a place for contributers to put this new content or list content they find on the forums on the site.

The obvious place to start would be maybe to use the submission forum and creating a thread for each Sonic game's tiles and allow willing members of the community to start ripping in a specific levels until we have a sizable quality selection of Sonic rips.

As for the game. That's probably a job left to one or two people. Go through the old games see which ones are of a high enough quality to go in a new modern FG section and put the remainder in an oldbie FGs section. Someone could also search through the forums and SAGE events to look for quality demos to show off on the website.

All just suggestions though. Just know I'm more than willing to help in whatever capacity is required.

[Asuma]

Maybe first we could go through and look for dead links?

[Ollie]

Also to expand your idea, Overbound about creating a standard for rip submissions. It might be a good idea to have 256x256 or 128x128 grid templates for Level chunks for the Megadrive Games, as well as keeping the exact order they are made so Tile 00, Tile 01, Tile 02 and so on.

Using a grid layout for submissions would also give the submitter a basic worksheet so that the rips are in order and consistent with other submitters work. It will also make the actual sprite sheet itself a lot more professional look since there won't be room for a giant fan character with the message of "BLANK SPACE LOL MUST GIVE CREDIT AND ASK FOR PERMISSION OR I WILL KILL YOU LOLOLOLOLOLO" that you see on various sprite sheets on the net. So again, giving the site's content a more professional appearance.

[Smidge204]

@Asuma - There shouldn't be any dead links 'cause the entire site is dynamically generated from a database. The only dead links would be either in the news section or maybe the affiliates.

There ARE tools behind the scenes to update the content. They're rather crude but they work. It includes an upload script that automatically puts the file(s) in the correct locations and updates the DB... the only thing that doesn't update automatically is the "Recent Additions" sidebar. (Which is unfortunate, since that's the most visible...)

=Smidge=

[Ollie]

If it requires manual modification to change the recent uploads, then how about simply changing it to featured uploads? Saves a few minutes if uploading content is fairly regularly.

[Asuma]

@Asuma - There shouldn't be any dead links 'cause the entire site is dynamically generated from a database. The only dead links would be either in the news section or maybe the affiliates.

There ARE tools behind the scenes to update the content. They're rather crude but they work. It includes an upload script that automatically puts the file(s) in the correct locations and updates the DB... the only thing that doesn't update automatically is the "Recent Additions" sidebar. (Which is unfortunate, since that's the most visible...)

=Smidge=

Actually, I meant in the submission section of the forums.

[ila]

I say we go with Ristar's design.

Serious time, I do agree that a lot of stuff should be re ripped. I respect the original work that was done, but some of the libraries are quite messy. Specficially any library that requires that goddamn pop up extension just because of a fraking credit issue. Some of the sprite libraries also need work, one that frequently comes to mind is Water Proof Pop Tart's Sonic Advance rips.

Of course I have little to no time to do this, and while I've mostly been skimming this topic, I have yet to see anyone volunteer with an "I'll do it!" yet.

[OverbounD]

Well I said I'd help in anyway I can. Which I guess means "I'll do it". I just need to know where to start Smidge, you ila, and other admins are the leaders of the forums. So I guess I'm saying "I'll do it where should I start?"