Okay the semester is finally finished. Which means now I can focus on the next update for Alt. Biker Mice Site.
FoxFire and I have been tossing around some ideas of changes we want to implement, and now I'm looking for input from all you Freedom Fighters who read and submit. What do you like about the site? What do you dislike (and you can't answer frequency of updates to that one ;) ) about the site? What's a feature you've seen successful on another fan archive site and you think it would work great for Alt Biker Mice Site (include an URL)?
At this point, toss all the options on the table. The web-gurus will sort out what will work.
Thanks for the prompt response, Whipblade.
I've sent this to the reader's group before, but it bears repeating:
The link on Eve's art page going to Feilan's art page is broken. When I click on the "Next" button at the bottom, I get this:
The page cannot be found
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please try the following:
If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.
Open the www.altbikermice.us home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
Click the Back button to try another link.
Click Search to look for information on the Internet.
HTTP 404 - File not found
Internet Explorer
I have to back-track to the Fanart Page and click on the link to Feilan's art page from there.
I've sent this to the reader's group before, but it bears repeating:The link on Eve's art page going to Feilan's art page is broken. When I click on the "Next" button at the bottom, I get this:
The page cannot be found
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please try the following:
If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.
Open the www.altbikermice.us home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
Click the Back button to try another link.
Click Search to look for information on the Internet.HTTP 404 - File not found
Internet ExplorerI have to back-track to the Fanart Page and click on the link to Feilan's art page from there.
Check. Anything bigger picture-wise?
Alright, here's what I personally think could be changed.
General layout
The red background on the front page blends nicely with the logo and the mice/fox head, but the two pictures doesn't fade with the background. It looks like they're just applied above everything. The one with the hotdog and rootbeer looks awful. A white square box on a red background just looks wrong. A suggestion would be to edit the borders of them so that they harmonize better with the background and do something about the white background in the picture I mentioned above. Also the font could be changed into something else and not use standard Times New Roman. To be honest, it looks pretty budget, but it still fulfils its function and that is the main thing. What I'm talking about here is just eyecandy to make the page look more attractive by the first look. The silvery buttons could also be at least re-colored to better bring out the text on them. Overall, the page looks like its adapted for 800x600 resolution. Change it to 1024x768 instead.
Fanart section
Looks fine, the structure is simple and the Foxfire's Pick in the middle is a fun thing. Due to the size of the font and too narrow columns where the artists are listed in, some of their names (i.e. Defender Kaotena) breaks into two words above each other. There is plenty of room on each side of the columns where the artist's are listed in. Use it and make the names in the left one left-aligned and the ones in the right right-aligned for a bit more structure. Same goes with the page you get to when clicking on the artist's name should be re-done. Widen the Comment-column to avoid that the number for the comments ends up on its own row below the text.
Fanfic section
This page doesn't look all too friendly to me. A little picture and HUGE yellow text along with ditto grey ones inside of brackets above it. The combination of mice/fox heads and links below doesn't look very pretty either. This page needs some serious re-structure and my suggestion is to tone things down. Get rid of those mouse/fox heads first, structure up the page in the three parts it is currently divided in - List by author, Recent additions and Explanation of ratings. Also get rid of that disturbing Times new roman font as it doesn't fit into the BMFM theme at all.
The Torture section
This page is the best one of them all. It also shows that a black background works better than a red one. I think that it would do a lot to just change the red background on the other pages to black since it is more comfortable for the eye than red. The structure is perfectly fine here and I find this page easy to navigate on and the black background feels comfortable to the eyes too. The only thing that I dislike is the ugly chain picture used between the blocks of text on the page. Change it and this page is perfect in my opinion.
Submission guidelines section
Red background again, Times New Roman as the font and in the size of 14 or 16pt in black. Suggestions: Black background, 14pt font on the yellow heading (change the color since yellow stings in the eyes) and the rest of the text 12pt - bold or not. It's up to you to experiment which one looks the best. Also pick some suitable color, maybe white or something that isn't too bright for the eyes, but still looks clear on the screen.
Foxfire's Place
Nice section, but the red/yellow theme goes on and even here, just like in the fanfic section, the mouse/fox heads trying to separate the links from each other bloats things down. Structure things up and add the mouse/fox heads later on in a degree where they don't become annoying and fits nicely where they might be placed. Also change the font. A black background here would definitely give more atmosphere to the section.
Conclusion
The page is awesome and the main thing is that it fulfills its purpose with sharing the information on it, but it can be improved. The question is just how far you want to push it. You could easily put more effort in the design, make the page look better and even combine it with its own little forum for people to discuss it. You can add a myriad of various features, i.e. making it possible for the artists to upload their own art there and customize their own pages. The possibilities are nearly endless, but what usually limits them are how much time one has to run such a page, how far one wants to push it andn naturally, personal taste. Some settle with something easier and less attractive while others want to shine and keep things on top-level.
Personally I think a revamp of the current design would do a lot for now since more advanced features can be implemented later on.
Okay. I didn't want to announce plans and squelch discussion. But the fanfiction section is getting overhauled, so what else?
And the whole site was designed at 1024x768 (that's what size my monitor is at).
Well... you wanted to know what I liked about the site and clearly asked to "toss all the options on the table" so I did. :)
Besides, the page doesn't look like it would be adapted 1024x768 to me, but I guess it's the chosen design that makes it look like 800x600. In either case, good luck with the site.
I'm glad about the overhaul to the fanfic section. I too found the way the names are arranged messy.
I also agree that the writing on the buttons at the top of the screen should at least pop out more since it kind of blends in right now.
I don't know how it would be done, but it would be nice if there was somehow a way to draw people's attention to the Readers' Group since there is hardly anybody there (compared to Foxfire's Palace at least - 93 vs. 463) and it would be nice to be able to ask the authors questions about their stories (or have a better chance of it).
I think that the section is under-used because people don't really know it's there (that or most of the authors are really shy recluses). I know that I didn't know about it for a while. Maybe giving the button a new name. "Readers' Group" is kind of vague. It's the place to ask the authors questions, but the title sounds like it's only for the readers, but we need the authors in there too because without them, there'd be no readers! This is blatantly obvious so you'd think that the meaning behind the title "Readers' Group" would be obvious but I think it's one of those things that just slips by you. Maybe call it something like "Ask the Authors" or something that obviously signals that this is where you could get in touch with them (key word: authors, writers or something similar), so that people would be more likely to actually pay attention to (and join) that lonely section.
Or maybe this isn't the problem at all and I'm just whiney. :P
I don't have any major issues with the site, but I do think that the writing on the buttons could pop out more. Otherwise I like it all just fine.
Shasta
Arbiter
I like the thumbnails for the art,
as well as how the Fanart page is organized.
http://www.altbikermice.us/fanart.html ^_^ It's easy to find who you want.
I defantly love the FireFox pick for the Fanart page.
The fanfiction page http://www.altbikermice.us/fanfic.html I find messy, and hard to locate an author quickly.
The New Fics on the same page are great.
I do like the password protected area for the more Mature stuff.
The front page
http://pub4.bravenet.com/passwd/show.php is great too.
From Mars addition was a wonderful idea. as is the menu bars atop.
^_^
W~B
"There are three things you can count on...."
"Your brains, your bros, and your bikes?" Vandal asked.
"No, Hunger, Thirst, and never a bathroom when you need it." Jacket grumbled.