Thread: A Concept

i was bored so i did a little work on the viewforum page (http://www.dreamviews.com/kickass_forum/vi...ewforum.php?f=1).

i based this on the folders from the main page but removed the large tab. i have the same blue bar on top but i don't like it; i think it needs to be replaced by a different style (still blue) with a greater height. i think the grey bar (by aphius) at the bottom would have to be a little taller too (the row housing the 'display topics from previous' listbox). there's still things that need to be fixed, and i can't help but feel that it still needs more blue, but it's better than it was.

All I think it really needs now is a slightly darker text for the guest's topics then it's about done.

So, are we still working on it?

Do you still want another banner?

i'm going to play around with it every now and then, but it's going to take quite a while to finish it given the little time i have. as for the banner, i really don't know what to say, because this is rather far off in the future now.

I personally really like the banner, my only problem with is is the font, it seems too, well sketchy, it may just be the image type doing this, I say sharpen up the font and you're onto a winner.

The image has, for now, been resized in such a way that everything on it looks a little skewed. Rest assured, when (if) we come to changing, that will be fixed...well, it's not exactly broke. But nevermind.

yah, like kaniaz said, just ignore the distorted banner.

i found a little more time so i wrapped up the viewforum_body.tpl template file; you can see the final version here: http://www.dreamviews.com/kickass_forum/vi...ewforum.php?f=1.


it displays properly in IE but unfortunately Firefox and Netscape add a small white border only to the left of the blue header row; Opera, instead, adds that unwanted white border to the right of the blue header (IE properly doesn't display it). i had to change the way the tables and cell boundaries were drawn to prevent the vertical cell-separating lines from cutting up the blue header bar (because it looks better solid); i couldn't use two separate tables because the cell widths can vary (for example, long author names will stretch that cell) and i wanted the headings to line up with the columns. unfortunately although the style sheet clearly states the header cells should not have any borders, the aforementioned browsers seem determined to add one (and only one) for some reason.


anyway, i used aphius's grey bar and made it a little taller, and i stole the blue bar from someplace; i left it the colour in which i found it because i think it works...? anyway, any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Yep, I see that little white box thing. There's also another one just below the last post indicator graphic.

Originally posted by Kaniaz
There's also another one just below the last post indicator graphic.

eh?


anywaywho, i've been playing around with the horizontal-lined background colours because i think the design is too bright and monochrome. i've got it at a dark blue colour right now, which looks better than some of the others i've tried but isn't quite right. it's a little tricky because you'd have to picture some changes made to the other elements that make up the page (e.g. the shadows around the folders and below the menu, and the font colours on top of the horizontal lines, and maybe the tables surrounding the legends and heading text should be a different colour) to really tell if the colours would work. anyway, some help here would be great! the only two pages that are essentially complete thus far are the index page and the viewforum.php page, so just use those when determining what works and what doesn't.

http://www.dreamviews.com/kickass_forum/index.php

http://www.dreamviews.com/kickass_forum/vi...ewforum.php?f=1



peace out g

blue background = uglay

But I liked the blue background...

well it's not the right background, but it's a concept...the idea was to encourage people to help come up with the right background, because i definitely don't like the light white/grey one we had there before.

Originally posted by Eeek
blue background = uglay *

Blue is the way to go - tranquel

No doubt about it !

well i lightened the blue background somewhat, but now the background seems to work better with lomebririon's banner (check it out: http://www.dreamviews.com/kickass_forum/in...ex.php?banner=2). there'd again need to be more changes to get it to fit in (e.g. blue bars in folders), but it's better than what i had. but anyway, come on people! i need people trying different colours and whatnot and figuring out what's going to work.

Well, I'm still a little worried about the banner looking too mystic or dark. We don't want to scare people, or give them the idea that we're promoting some kind of black magic or what-not. Instead, why don't we use an image that shows a sky or landscape with a shift between day and night? Something like this:

Don't like the blue much, but it is just a concept like you said. What sort of background are you looking for? You thinking another colour? Or something completely different.
Yay! Muh banner! It's pretty distorted, but I suppose it can't be perfect in a whole other frameset. I could probably make a longer one if you were so inclined.

Well, absolutely LOVIN' the layout, bars, buttons and all. Perfection in that department!

Originally posted by Tsen
Well, I'm still a little worried about the banner looking too mystic or dark. We don't want to scare people, or give them the idea that we're promoting some kind of black magic or what-not. Instead, why don't we use an image that shows a sky or landscape with a shift between day and night? Something like this:

looks good tsen. and i agree about the banner's darkness.

Don't like the blue much, but it is just a concept like you said. What sort of background are you looking for? You thinking another colour? Or something completely different. [/b]

i was hoping the new lighter blue was a little closer. anyway, i'm not sure what would work best there, i just know the light grey one we had before was too bright and made the theme too monochromatic. i'd suggest that it either be blue or grey, because those are the site's colours, and also i'm pretty much set on the horizontal-lined idea.

Yay! Muh banner! It's pretty distorted, but I suppose it can't be perfect in a whole other frameset. I could probably make a longer one if you were so inclined. [/b]

hehe...don't get too excited just yet! it is unfortunately too dark for our use; the black birds and the shadowy figure (who comes off as more of a warlock-like-figure rather than an explorer) connote a little more evil than i'd like (lucid dreaming already has a stigma rather firmly attached in regards to that, and i'd rather us not aid and abet that perception). if people actually understood lucid dreaming then i wouldn't be so concerned about this.

anyway, i'm at a loss in regards to whether we need to decide on the final banner and then come up with a background that will work, or do the background first and then design a matching banner. i think the background first would work best though, which allows us to make the smaller decisions first, in effect perhaps easing the latter. maybe.

Well, absolutely LOVIN' the layout, bars, buttons and all. Perfection in that department![/b]

thanks. it's getting there.

Originally posted by icedawg+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(icedawg)</div>

hehe...don't get too excited just yet! it is unfortunately too dark for our use[/b]

Well, I wasn't getting my hopes up. It'd have been rude not to offer though.
<!--QuoteBegin-icedawg
anyway, i'm at a loss in regards to whether we need to decide on the final banner and then come up with a background that will work, or do the background first and then design a matching banner.

Background first, definately easier. Banner work is like fumbling in the dark right now.
The layout at this point, like fashion, is rather fickle and could change as easily as the wind. Making any previous designs null and void. That would suck ass.

alright, so, well, what does everyone think of the blue that's there now? i've been looking at it once every day and it's been growing on me, and personally i'm at the point where i really like it. some work woudl be required to get the other elements of the page to blend in--perhaps including changing some colours--and of course a new banner would be required. i'd really like to get a decision made on this though, because i'd like to move forward (and no one has come up with any alternatives other than telling me they didn't like it, which is just loads of help ).

Yeah, I like it. At first I wasn't sure, but it grows on you - like you said
*brushes it away before it grows too big*

I'd like to see what it looks like with a new banner...

I don't like that blue background type thing you got there. It just looks wrong...how to explain it? It's the same sort of "wrong" feeling you get when you use huge flourescent background colours for websites (anything too bright). I did like that silver that was there. Still, I like this theme as it stands. But I guess if you must change it...

Originally posted by Kaniaz
I don't like that blue background type thing you got there. It just looks wrong...how to explain it? It's the same sort of \"wrong\" feeling you get when you use huge flourescent background colours for websites (anything too bright). I did like that silver that was there. Still, I like this theme as it stands. But I guess if you must change it...

alright, well check the blue out tomorrow, and friday, and saturday, then tell me how you feel about it on Sunday. i started to like it after 4 or so days; the light grey just creates too much dullness.


anyway, i don't know whatelse to do and no other suggestions have been made.

Originally posted by icedawg+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(icedawg)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Kaniaz

I don't like that blue background type thing you got there. It just looks wrong...how to explain it? It's the same sort of \"wrong\" feeling you get when you use huge flourescent background colours for websites (anything too bright). I did like that silver that was there. Still, I like this theme as it stands. But I guess if you must change it...

alright, well check the blue out tomorrow, and friday, and saturday, then tell me how you feel about it on Sunday. i started to like it after 4 or so days; the light grey just creates too much dullness.


anyway, i don't know whatelse to do and no other suggestions have been made.[/b]

It's tommorow today (shh) and I still don't like it. It's just, to me at least, "IN YOUR FACE". I mean, it just simply dosen't work. Still, since you made it, you're going to say it's great anyway. I don't think I'd ever grow accustomed to liking that. It doesn't make for easy reading. The theme, to me, uses way too much blue with that. The silver balanced it out more. Blue banner, blue icon, blue buttons, blue drop-down-lists - that looked cool - but then, a blue background. It just dosen't work.

Perhaps a pale grey would work better.