Site Redesign

[RolandDeschain]

CAN; yeah, I wouldn't mind a boring, drab theme in white for purposes like that...

 

[Sac]

Appearance wise, I wouldn't change much at all. Although, I wouldn't mind a few new features. Like a rep system for 9er fans and people like Spokane or mikehawks...

 

[hidn]

No offense to the people who have said to make the background darker, but that is a horrible idea. It has been proven over and over again that websites should not incorporate dark backgrounds. They can look cool initially, but almost always lose their appeal after even mediocre use.

The colors you currently have work extremely well together in a website and should probably not be changed.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably leave much the same, but streamline the header bar. Something along the size of the nfl.com team selection bar, with all of the base navigation. I would use a mini seahawks.net logo on the left for the home button and strip out the current (200px?) current logo.

The other change I would probably make is to get rid of the horizontally angled lines background on some of the header bars and replace it with the wing totem pattern that seahawks.com is using.

 

[The Outfield]

I like the current site layout. Changing to a new platform could be a risk because, while a new platform might have some cool new features, it won't have the same layout and functionality that we have become accustomed to.

One thing I would definitely support, if possible, is theme options that are configurable from the user control panel. The current site colors/theme could be an option along with some new themes you design. I'd like to have a theme that has a lighter background color.

Also, a rep system is nice for giving people the "recognition" they deserve for good posts. However, I've been on many forums that have this feature and sometimes I feel like a rep system degrades overall discussion quality. People tend to want to post what other people want to hear so that they can get rep points for it, rather than post their true thoughts. I don't think it's a feature to jump in and add without consideration of its effects.

 

[Axx]

could you make the reply button add on in the same page? Some newer forums implement this and i like it a lot. Instead of going to a different page completely it simply makes a small box under neath the page for you to type in a reply then click submit and automatically adds in the reply without jumping through pages.
It's like magic except it's real.

 

[The Outfield]

could you make the reply button add on in the same page? Some newer forums implement this and i like it a lot. Instead of going to a different page completely it simply makes a small box under neath the page for you to type in a reply then click submit and automatically adds in the reply without jumping through pages.
It's like magic except it's real.

Do you mean like this?

 

[TwistedHusky]

I am dealing a lot with UX with my own applications so you asked for feedback as a graphic designer and I will share what I have learned trying to fix my own items. Funny enough, graphic design is the one part I am clueless about, but I have been immersed in UX for a while so I will share what I know.

1 - the best UX is one you do not have think about. In this respect, you have a solid site. You might make it a bit cleaner but otherwise you are doing well.

2 - I don't agree that darkening the background is going to make things better. Remember there is an effect on mood caused by darkness. You are trying to create contrast to make it easy to see the text, keep with team colors, but still make the site palatable and enjoyable. Darkening the background does not do that. It makes things darker, increasing contrast but also making the site less bright, which is not a good thing. I wouldn't mess too much with it, but if you can get away with making the colors brighter and more appealing without losing the contrast that might work.

3 - given most people are shifting their consumption of the internet to mobile, you should probably be testing (asking?) how the site is showing in various devices. Frankly, that is more important than looks. The best sites are simple but easy to use, your site works well on desktop but if I try to access it from mobile devices I have to do a lot of pinching and zooming to read anything. I will share that so far, when I try to read it on a smartphone that requires some work, and even something like a Nexus 7 requires more pinching and zooming to really use at all. It would be nice if you could make it easy to consume readable text by just scrolling.

So I would suggest looking at some responsive web design before you start focusing on the other stuff.

I really like Bootstrap (the guys from Twitter did it) and it scales well for big sites. You can even use it with Rails if you want.

Simplify the menus. Make the site easier to use with tablets, change the links box (like lists of forums posts) to look more like buttons or at least make it so that if the focus is anywhere in the box you can click on it to go into a link, instead of having to click on the link itself. This will make it more touch friendly and make it easier to read/view posts on tablets/smartphones.

More and more of your traffic is going to come from mobile devices, and it doesn't make sense to build an app for each ecosystem. Just make the site easier to use no matter how your traffic gets here.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Twisted; this site has the Tapatalk plugin, that's better than any mobile site, really. Just sayin'.

 

[BlueTalon]

I really like the idea of user-selectable themes some others have suggested. (I really would like the option of a darker background.)

And I don't have any internet-capable mobile devices, but TwistedHusky seems to make some good points.

 

[FlyingGreg]

No offense to the people who have said to make the background darker, but that is a horrible idea. It has been proven over and over again that websites should not incorporate dark backgrounds. They can look cool initially, but almost always lose their appeal after even mediocre use.

We come here for the appeal of following the Seahawks...not how nice the site looks. Just sayin.

The content is the "appeal".

 

[scutterhawk]

I still want the Hawk on the sleeves dammit, why can't you, er, not a uniform post?......never mind.




OK then, I'm on board with the feathers idea as I think that's one of the major re-design changes that NIKE got right with our new uni's and helmet, it's like no one elses theme in the League, because it takes in a bit of the original NW indian totem design, but other than that Todd, I'd say it's pretty sweet just the way it is.

 

[Uthawk]

White text on a dark background is hard on the eyes? :?: :229031_shrug:

It would seem that I'm in the minority here, but I'm not crazy for having a different opinion. I think it's easier to read. Given, I'm not spending 12 hours a day on here staring at a white background. I'm also usually reading in well-lit environments and not needing a "night reading mode" as some programs will use.

Here is a source. Or here.

Allaboutvision.com says that "The best color combination for your eyes is black text on a white background"

If this had a themed element, I would select the dark text on white background for reading. However, it does lose the Seahawks theme which is cool. Overall, I like the feel of the site (but will continue to use Tapatalk to read your insightful commentary)

 

[RolandDeschain]

Uthawk, I'm very familiar with black text on a white background being the best for reasons stated in those links, I'm just saying that if you don't have vision problems or color blindness or anything, it's basically equally easy to read white text on a black background. Same contrast, more or less.

 

[Hawkfan77]

Please don't change anything. Whenever I go to another Hawk message board, I don't stay long because they all look so dang terrible. .NET is site and not only looks great but is so easy to navigate through.

 

[RolandDeschain]

I think a good synopsis of this thread is "Don't fix what ain't broke, but we'd like some other themes added."

 

[400WattHPSHawk]

I think a good synopsis of this thread is "Don't fix what ain't broke, but we'd like some other themes added."

I agree RD. I'm affraid though Aros may have opened pandoras box by asking for our input, but a noble gesture none the less.

I have a bad feeling this is not going to turn out well.

Btw. I am in the "If it ain't broke" camp.

 

[hidn]

No offense to the people who have said to make the background darker, but that is a horrible idea. It has been proven over and over again that websites should not incorporate dark backgrounds. They can look cool initially, but almost always lose their appeal after even mediocre use.

We come here for the appeal of following the Seahawks...not how nice the site looks. Just sayin.

The content is the "appeal".

I am in agreement that the draw to this website is the content. However, the aesthetic elements associated with a website can and often do play a role in that persons enjoyment.

You, simply put, completely missed the point I was making.

 

[JKent82]

I'd say little tweaks like the feathers, a little gray here and there maybe. The logo could be updated a bit.

However, don't touch the color scheme! It's perfect.

 

[chris98251]

The color scheme as it is allows you to read easily and not get so much eye strain or blinded by contrast which is great considering how many sights use extreme color schemes and makes you want to get sunglasses or lazik surgery after going there, a more subtle scheme also allows for longer reading times since you are able to spend more time looking at threads without getting strained. I'm sure the MODS appreciate it as well. I know that many access this from their phones but if your going to make everything based on smart phones we probably should just shut this place down and everyone get twitter accounts. I think it's fine, the mobile apps should be able to adapt to the site not the site adapt to them in as much as layout.

 

[nategreat]

It wouldn't bother me if the site stayed the same, but I think a little change would be good. Not too much change. I would say that the blue could be a little darker to match the changes with the uniforms. And if this is done, it may look a little better to incorporate a little more "shades of gray" so to speak, and just a little less green. And then I like the idea of incorporating 12th man feathers in the header, as was mentioned. These changes would be subtle, but would still be enough to look new and fresh. One other possibility would be to incorporate some sort of "12" watermark that sits in the overall background. I'm talking VERY subtle, hardly noticeable whatsoever. Just a couple ideas.