Prototype Site - Calling Web Designers

[Lemming]

I've been working on and off for some time on a new design for the site.

Parts of the site haven't really changed much since I first created it back in 1998. The original design was supposed to adapt to some extent to different screen sizes. Back then it was necessary to support old 640x480 and 800x600 screens, 16 colour palettes and so on. Over the intervening years screens first got bigger and bigger and then shrank again with the advent of smart phones and tablets.

Very large screens are great. Many of us can now view the whole Amsterdam map without horizontal scrollbars. On the other hand, text spread across a wide screen can be slightly awkward to read. I addressed this issue for the forum a few months ago by switching to a new template but the rest of the site still suffers.

Tiny screens on phones and tablets present different problems. To some extent my attempt to handle ancient VGA screens has become relevant again in the modern world but some aspects look quite scruffy on tiny screens.

Another thing that's bugged me for some time is my original attempt to divide Amsterdam into zones. I've long wanted to correct this by using the official districts.

Although I haven't done anything with this yet, an important objective for me is to incorporate the huge collection of pictures I've accumulated into the site. Hopefully the new design will allow me to do this in the future.

This prototype is very much a work in progress. Many parts are unfinished and/or don't work properly but I thought I'd share it with you so you could see the direction I'm looking in.

I know there are several professional web designers amongst the forum membership. My background is programming so the technical aspects of building websites comes more naturally to me than the more artistic elements - especially colour schemes!

OneHighMofo for one, I seem to recall you mentioned being an expert on this stuff. If any of you have any ideas I'll happily send you an html page and stylesheet to play with.

Here's what I've got so far: New Site

There are actually two different designs here. The link leads to the new Directory page. This is part of my latest thinking. The index page is part of an earlier idea I was experimenting with.

[redeyezman]

I will come back to this when I have more time this weekend.

[spidergawd]

It looks nice and neat on my android with Dolphin browser Lem. Cheers.

[OneHighMofo]

Happy to help out Lem, seeing a couple of rendering issues with the 'burger menu' layout in iOS so I'll have a tinker.

I'm away with family at the moment but I'll pm you my email addy, send over the HTML when you get a chance.

[Lemming]

I've done a bit more work on this. See here for an example of the work in progress: Test Site

Still interested in your comments, suggestions, advice, etc.

[macky]

Real nice Lem ...you need to go back to work

[Lemming]

Just knocked up a rough idea for the index page. Not too much left to do now before I can unleash it live.

Test Site

[notsofasteddie]

Obviously a lot of work has gone into this. Nice to see sponsors, but copyrights become more of an issue especially when products and sales prices are involved. I found it a little bright, but was happy to see that the forum looks good. This is a front-end so there shouldn't be any loss of data?

Could you review the moderator privileges? I should have those privileges in the More Countries threads. Also any way to make the default sound off? It's always a pleasure not to hear the "FROG" when people are chatting!

[KrazeUK]

Looks really good! I like the idea of having everything relating to a specific coffeeshop on one page eg. address, opening times, reviews, menu pics, location etc.

Good work Lemming, keep it up!

[spireax]

hi lemming, can't get the site to work over Tor, is that always gonna be the case?

[Willjay]

looks good I have not experienced any problems navigating the new site

[Lemming]

Everyone please please send me screenshots. I'd really like to see what it looks like on your device.

Thanks for the responses but I get the impression that those of you responding here don't generally look at the main site. Seems like you live on the forum and have forgotten about the main site, even though it's probably how you found the forum in the first place. At least that's how most people find it.

Nice to see sponsors

These aren't new. They are the same ones as on the existing site.

copyrights become more of an issue especially when products and sales prices are involved

Sorry, I don't understand what you're getting at.

I found it a little bright

Several people have mentioned this. I suspect that maybe I have the brightness lower on my monitor or something so I'm not seeing it the same way as everyone else. Can you be a bit more specific please?

there shouldn't be any loss of data?

I might retire a few of the old pages. There are a few bits that haven't changed much since I wrote them in 1998! The core content is still generated from the same database so all of the reviews will remain intact. Nothing will be completely lost so if there's something specific you feel should be resurrected then just let me know.

Could you review the moderator privileges?

I haven't changed anything on the forum. What are you finding you can't do?

Also any way to make the default sound off? It's always a pleasure not to hear the "FROG" when people are chatting!

This is not really about the forum but you can change lots of settings like that in the user control panel. Just checked, it's here: UCP > mChat > Enable sound.

I like the idea of having everything relating to a specific coffeeshop on one page eg. address, opening times, reviews, menu pics, location etc.

Again, the content hasn't really changed, just the presentation.

can't get the site to work over Tor, is that always gonna be the case?

I don't know anything about Tor. I assume it's an operating system. What browser are you using? In what way is it not working? Can you send me a screenshot?

[puffpuffgive]

excellent. Much easier to see all relevant coffeeshop info on one page.. acd was always the no1 source for CS info now it will be even more functional

[notsofasteddie]

Everyone please please send me screenshots. I'd really like to see what it looks like on your device.

Thanks for the responses but I get the impression that those of you responding here don't generally look at the main site. Seems like you live on the forum and have forgotten about the main site, even though it's probably how you found the forum in the first place. At least that's how most people find it.

Nice to see sponsors

These aren't new. They are the same ones as on the existing site.

Guess I'm one of those forum residents

copyrights become more of an issue especially when products and sales prices are involved

Sorry, I don't understand what you're getting at.

Fair dealing in United Kingdom law is a doctrine which provides an exception to United Kingdom copyright law, in cases where the copyright infringement is for the purposes of non-commercial research or study, criticism or review, or for the reporting of current events. More limited than the United States doctrine of fair use, fair dealing originates in Sections 29 and 30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and requires the infringer to show not only that their copying falls into one of the three fair dealing categories, but also that it is "fair" and, in some cases, that it contains sufficient acknowledgement for the original author. Factors when deciding the "fairness" of the copying can include the quantity of the work taken, whether or not it was previously published, the motives of the infringer and what the consequences of the infringement on the original author's returns for the copyrighted work will be.

This may not be a big issue, but the Moderator for MedPot.net a Canadian site was very strict about it. He deleted posts that contained products, prices, and sources, e.g., my posts of best Cannabis Xmas Gifts.

I found it a little bright

Several people have mentioned this. I suspect that maybe I have the brightness lower on my monitor or something so I'm not seeing it the same way as everyone else. Can you be a bit more specific please?

there shouldn't be any loss of data?

I might retire a few of the old pages. There are a few bits that haven't changed much since I wrote them in 1998! The core content is still generated from the same database so all of the reviews will remain intact. Nothing will be completely lost so if there's something specific you feel should be resurrected then just let me know.

Could you review the moderator privileges?

I haven't changed anything on the forum. What are you finding you can't do?

In the International Forum under More Countries, even though the individual countries show me as Moderator, I do not have Moderator Privileges. I have been unable to delete or move. I can perform the moderator functions in all the other International subforums.

Also any way to make the default sound off? It's always a pleasure not to hear the "FROG" when people are chatting!

This is not really about the forum but you can change lots of settings like that in the user control panel. Just checked, it's here: UCP > mChat > Enable sound.

Thanks for pointing me to the user control panel.

I like the idea of having everything relating to a specific coffeeshop on one page eg. address, opening times, reviews, menu pics, location etc.

Again, the content hasn't really changed, just the presentation.

can't get the site to work over Tor, is that always gonna be the case?

I don't know anything about Tor. I assume it's an operating system. What browser are you using? In what way is it not working? Can you send me a screenshot?

[Lemming]

Thanks for the replies but I've seen no screenshots yet

I only have a Windows PC and an Android tablet to test with. I have a few different browsers on my PC (Chrome, IE, Edge, Firefox and Opera) but no Apple hardware or software, for instance. So please, please send or post screenshots of how it looks on your device, especially iPhones and suchlike.

If you're having trouble with it, for instance on Tor, please send screenshots or details of error messages or anything you can.

@notsofasteddie - sorry, still don't get your point about copyrights. All of the content on the site is absolutely original. Much has been copied by others but I haven't plagiarised anything. Is this something about the adverts?

Regarding the moderator panel, I haven't changed anything on the forum as part of this project so there's no reason why anything should have gone away. There is a facility whereby I can browse the forum with a specific member's permissions. I've tried this with yours and it did allow me to move a topic within the sub-forums. Can you tell me more - error messages, screenshot or whatever please?