Website Revamp

[Sanvean]

Here's the deal with the website revamp, which has, I know, been in limbo for a while. I thought we'd have the budget to hire someone to do it, but that's not the case.

So, we're opening it up to players and staff, to see if people would like  to submit designs.

If you want to submit a proposal, here is what we need to see:

the reworked main page
examples for three of the templates for the different kinds of pages listed in the spec: portal page, overview, what you know, walkthrough, log, original submission, FAQ, listings  (each of these is described in the spec)

Submissions must fall within the constraints outlined in the spec.  The deadline for submitting something is September 16th. This gives you roughly a month. Once they're in, I'll be posting the top picks for people to discuss and give feedback on. Either the source code or a link to the pages online should be sent to sanvean@armageddon.org (and cc mud)

I am including the website spec and proposed new structure so you can see what it looks like. This proposal has been gone over pretty thoroughly by staff, so I'd rather the thread not devolve into a lot of "I think there should be a big red eye in the middle of the page" or "we should get rid of all original submissions". While I'm glad to have feedback on the overall structure, grand revisions that alter everything are not the way to go. The spec is at http://www.armageddon.org/~sanvean/website/webspec.html; the overall map is at http://www.armageddon.org/~sanvean/website/webmap.html  It's been about three months since I last looked at these, so if anything has changed significantly that needs to be factored in, let me know.

The obvious question is, what do you get if your design gets picked?

Unfortunately, much as I wish I could, I can't pay you. Instead you get:

A credit for your portfolio or resume that shows your design skills (we will also be glad to provide reference/testimonies if you need them)
Full credit for the website - if you've got a website, we can include an unobtrusive link for that
The thanks and adulation of both the players and the staff
A gift package from me that will include several pieces of Armageddon memorabilia

I've posted this in a thread so people can ask questions and get clarification if necessary.  Please do not clutter the thread with irrelevent stuff.  If you have additional questions that should go in the FAQs, start a separate thread in this forum to include them.

Just to be clear: we are not asking that anyone do the work of converting the entire website over; that's our job, heh.  What you are submitting is the proposed form of the pages on the website, and creating the templates that will be used.

Please submit only one proposal per person - pick the one you like the best and think is the most successful, and go with that.  Both players and staff can submit designs.  We do ask that only active members of the game community submit designs.

[Anonymous]

Can we utilize javascript, or does the design have to be entirely html?

[Sanvean]

I'd suggest sticking to HTML and CSS or if you're using javascript, provide something that will scale down to fit browsers with only HTML+CSS.  Submissions should work correctly on both IE and Mozilla at a minimum.

[Delirium]

<cracks her knuckles and gets to work>

I prefer working with HTML and CSS despite the vast array of options out there, so I'm already familiar with working within those constraints.  I'll be glad to give it a shot.

[facehugger]

I must say that I am a fan of the new style, since it switched from the old one back in 96ish. I'd be very sad to see our Zalanthas desert theme poof and go byebye.

[Sanvean]

If you look at the spec, you can see that's covered in there as one of the top priorities.

4. Keep the original look/feel of the website, including the icon. Desert colors should be employed consistently.

[DrunkenSalarr]

One thing that I did not see is what we have to work with server-side?  PHP? ASP? SQL/mySQL? openLaszlo (though I would never put flash on this site without a warning first)?

[Sanvean]

We'd like to stay away from server-side scripting, due to security issues.

[Raesanos]

Some of the current website does use server-side scripting for some features, usually dynamic content.  However, this is done for functionality only, and there should be no reason you'd need to include this in a design template. Focus on the design, not the functionality.

[Sanvean]

Bumping to remind people that the deadline (September 16th) is approaching.