Future Marathon Front Page Design Ideas

2012-05-29 08:41:58 am

sda loyalist

So I was fed up with all the people whining about how the video display is too small or they can't see the chat or whatever and decided that it would be a good idea to redesign our frontpage for use during marathons. The key features of my design are movable and resizable windows - the user is free to arrange as they see fit, though there are also some presets of more common setups.

Here's my design

The 'Auxiliary Stream' wasn't even used this marathon and I don't think it SHOULD ever be used again... it should instead be something which interacts with the donation tracker and/or schedule. This way people will be able to browse donations while still watching. And it would be cool.

So yeah, comments please.

Thread title:

HiipFire

2012-05-29 08:56:00 am

That design is as close to perfect it's gonna get for me.

Augora

2012-05-29 09:05:09 am

dat jerk

I like it, Lag.

I don't know if it's just me or not, but I like to have the chat box right next to the stream so I don't have to keep scrolling down to chat and end up missing something on the stream. But then again, I can have another window open for chat next to the stream.

I do like having the donation tracker next to the stream though.

Good job Lag!

mocliamtoh

2012-05-29 09:19:14 am

My name is unpronounceable

Quote from Augora:

I don't know if it's just me or not, but I like to have the chat box right next to the stream so I don't have to keep scrolling down to chat and end up missing something on the stream. But then again, I can have another window open for chat next to the stream.

I'm the same way. For people with a crappy screen resolution, 768 vertical pixels is really frustrating. With my browser in full-screen mode, I can't see all of the chat and stream at the same time. The only thing I can think of to mitigate this somewhat is to put the chat beside the stream, but for a reasonable size for each, it'd be too wide for the way the page is set up. I like the changes you've proposed, though, and I'll try to think of alternatives.

Lag.Com

2012-05-29 09:20:51 am

sda loyalist

Well like I said it's all user-editable so you can make your own layout. Wink

What I should really have is a preset for each common desktop size. People are free to submit good layout ideas here, just attach them as a screenshot.

mocliamtoh

2012-05-29 09:55:24 am

My name is unpronounceable

I missed the part where the layout is user configurable :-X.

I like the layout of the Big Chat preset with the auxiliary stream and donation widget side by side, but I think the main stream should be more prominently featured than the chat. I attached a couple screenshots. One is of the big chat preset, and the other is a similar setup, but with the stream more prominently featured. FWIW, my monitor resolution is 1366x768.

Attachments:

SDA marathon layout2.png

SDA marathon layout.png

Alko

2012-05-29 09:58:20 am

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

I think I would very much stick with your design, as it is almost perfect for me, too Wink

I own pretty much square monitors (my laptop is 4 by 3, my desktop 5 by 4), so widescreen layouts are no good for me, and I wouldn't make a widescreen default, unless it is triggered only by a wide browser window, because people like me would be very much irritated Wink

Keeping everything moveable is of course great, as long as it doesn't take forever to load the possible dynamics, if I don't want to use them.

Yeah, good job ^^

Trekhaak

2012-05-29 10:03:26 am

Everybody's favorite monster

This is some sexy stuff, liking this a lot! Nice work Lag!

Pootrain

2012-05-29 10:45:35 am

train kept rollin

Quote from Trekhaak:

This is some sexy stuff, liking this a lot! Nice work Lag!

Kryal

2012-05-29 10:50:15 am

from red to blue

lag you are the best <3

Grogman

2012-05-29 10:51:46 am

The only thing I can think of at the moment for this is to maybe have an option in the dropdown menu for user preference, which would arrange the windows either how they were last or a layout the user has saved.

Here's my personal preference to the screen layout, 1366 x 768 resolution:

PJ

2012-05-29 10:54:12 am

Is PJ

I'd use Grogman's layout. I like the chat next to the stream. Smiley

RoboSparkle

2012-05-29 12:26:06 pm

Magical. Flying. Bathtub

I agree with what grogman was saying in using some kind of magic internet thingy to save the set up the way you like it. My internet broke a couple of times and when that happened I had to refresh the whole page. It would be really annoying if I then had to readjust everything again. Also the only two things I cared about was the chat and the stream, so mostly it's a far more convenient way to have both on screen at once. Nice work Lag!

holydiver42

2012-05-29 01:11:58 pm

Everybody DANCE!

Holy shnikes, that's awesome.

dunnius

2012-05-29 01:19:08 pm

Intruding N313 and F014

Yes, that is very nice. The ability to customize will remove any complaints.

trdef

2012-05-29 01:21:23 pm

ActRaiser is Da Best!

Your design eh lag? :p

Looks good, the 3 presets pretty much cover everything I would say

sinister1

2012-05-29 02:17:30 pm

sinister1

so pro u don't even know

glad someone brought this up, I have comments, will edit this post when I have time.

Miles

2012-05-29 02:28:08 pm

Guess it's a good topic to bring up something I've always wondered: Why isn't there a link to the schedule on the front page? >_>

And I really like the customization idea, not that I would ever use it since I just pop out the main stream and use IRC. Tongue

Worn_Traveler

2012-05-29 03:23:49 pm

Formerly known as Skullboy

Looks good Lag. The only change I would make would be to include the links on the main page (forum, game list, kb, etc) so people can use those if needed/wanted. I like the idea of the various items being movable.

Lag.Com

Edit history:

Lag.Com: 2012-05-29 03:53:30 pm

2012-05-29 03:52:06 pm

sda loyalist

Oh sure, I wasn't going to get rid of the other things. I just didn't duplicate those bits into my design yet. Rest assured the rest of the front page would be as normal, with the links and news reel

I thought of the 'saving your last layout' thing as well, but I'm unsure how to do it right now. I'll think about it and see if there's a good way later.

mocliamtoh

2012-05-29 04:49:46 pm

My name is unpronounceable

Quote from Grogman:

The only thing I can think of at the moment for this is to maybe have an option in the dropdown menu for user preference, which would arrange the windows either how they were last or a layout the user has saved.

Here's my personal preference to the screen layout, 1366 x 768 resolution:
http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af153/Grogman32/SDA.png

I like the layout you made. It's similar to mine, but it wouldn't work for people with a resolution of 1280x800 (i.e. People with macs books). Some variation on it, though, could make for a good preset layout.

dballin

2012-05-29 04:52:48 pm

Balls jerky

I have multiple monitors and use irc client instead of the page chat, but this is still pretty awesome. Way to take some initiative and kick ass with it. e-highfive for Lag!

duckfist

2012-05-29 05:06:51 pm

I love this idea. Well done!

Rakuen

2012-05-29 05:11:11 pm

Weegee Time

I see things like this and all I can do is wonder why we never thought to do it sooner. Make this happen, it's so slick.

Oh, not that a lot of people view this on smartphones, but it might be nice to make a preset with them in mind.

Lawyer Dog

2012-05-30 01:33:24 am

This is super sexy, movable and resizable windows are great.