Regarding the Code::Blocks homepage design contest

[danuvius]

The previous post (with the tutorials) was mine. For some reason I was signed out...

[Anonymous]

why would you want a frontpage? when i build my site most users complained they had to click through the flashintro before getting to the content. www visitors are the most impatient customers you'll ever see, so make sure they get to the content asap.

anyway, i really love the site as it is...

[rickg22]

by "front page" i mean a main page with menus where you can click to know more about codeblocks, go to the manuals, download... without having all these forum thingies around.

Hint: "Front page" != "splash page"

[per_eckerdal]

Well, my previous posts seem to be gone. Anyways..

I had some more time than I thought, so I've begun creating a new design. It isn't finished yet, but there isn't much work left either. (It's quite plain, based around rounded blocks (as in Code::Blocks..) with some discreet fades)

I could maybe create a drupal theme out of it, but personally (as I said in a previous post) I wouldn't use a cms, but a custom PHP system.

What do you think?

You asked if there was any suggestions about web hosting if you're going to change. I would look for PHP 5, because of its far superiour XML and OO features compared to PHP 4.

With PHP 5, I could create a powerful yet simple system based on XML/XSLT, but that would be almost impossible with PHP 4 because of its poor XML functionality.

But of course, it depends on what you want. I can just give you the design and let you use it however you want if you wish.
/Per Eckerdal (per [dot] eckerdal [at] gmail [dot] com)

[mandrav]

I could maybe create a drupal theme out of it, but personally (as I said in a previous post) I wouldn't use a cms, but a custom PHP system.

No problem. We 're not after a CMS anyway. It's just easier for people to contribute, if we use a CMS. If you think you can make a PHP site without a CMS, that's fine with us.

Thanks a lot,
Yiannis.

[per_eckerdal]

Now I've done the main work on the design, it's just the details left. (But that uses to take the most time, though. :wink:)

I've put it up on http://www.shell.linux.se/edev/design/codeblocks0/. Things to note:
1. I haven't optimized the images yet, so the final result will be smaller (and my webhosting is awfully slow)
2. As of now, it does only work on Firefox. That's the next thing to do..
3. It's quite boring colors. I might change that. (Any suggestions?)
4. The navigation: As this page doesn't have good navigation, I redesigned it. Take a look at the menu and see if you think the new structure is ok.
5. The design is currently designed for 1024x768; i will probably add a JavaScript so you can switch between floating and fixed layout. (A la http://www.simplebits.com/)
6. For some reason, the rounded corners aren't 100% symmetric, I'll see what I can do about it.
7. I know the class and id names aren't 100% semantically properly chosen, but in reality that doesn't matter; the content will not have these flaws and the search engines doesn't care.

As you can see, the design isn't ready yet, but if you think the entire thing is just from beginning to end bad, I think I have another idea for a different design.
/Per Eckerdal (per [dot] eckerdal [at] gmail [dot] com)

[mandrav]

Design-wise I like it a lot
But I think I 'd like it better with a different (more vivid perhaps) color scheme. Especially the top part with the logo looks very dark to me...
Don't get me wrong. I like the dark appearence, I just feel that the logo should stand-out more...

Anyway, Rick is the "artistic eye" here so let's hear his view on this

Great work Per!

Yiannis.

[per_eckerdal]

Well, the logo was just a careless move from me. :oops:

I just took gimp's color to alpha and didn't care to exclude the logo..

I've put up the new logo at http://www.shell.linux.se/edev/design/codeblocks1/.

Or do you think the entire thing should get brighter?
/Per Eckerdal (per [dot] eckerdal [at] gmail [dot] com)

[mandrav]

Ahh, this is better

Personally, I 'd like brighter colors but it's not just my call
Let's wait Rick's response for more.

Thanks,
Yiannis.

[David Perfors]

I like the second one (logo I mean), but I don't like the black background, in my opinion it should be lighter. ofcourse there should be a difference between the background and the blocks..

[rickg22]

The design looks good. However:

a) I prefer white background better
b) For some reason scrolling in Firefox is AWFULLY SLOW

I'd rather have a table-based layout that scrolls ok.

But you're doing very well

[per_eckerdal]

I need to know how much brighter you want it. Here are two samples (one of them is the previous colors, but fixed to work with Opera and IE and some other changes:
http://www.shell.linux.se/edev/design/codeblocks2a/
http://www.shell.linux.se/edev/design/codeblocks2b/
/Per Eckerdal (per [dot] eckerdal [at] gmail [dot] com)

[per_eckerdal]

About the scrolling, it's probably because of the semi-transparent things on top and bottom. I'll remove them. (But not in the above links)

[mandrav]

I like the second one
Oh, and I don't have any problem scrolling...

Yiannis.

[per_eckerdal]

.. And here is one like 2b, but with borders (doesn't work with IE, though)
http://www.shell.linux.se/edev/design/codeblocks2c/