Topic: Our homepage

Right, I wish to get this topic rolling, now that we have moved the forum to the new URL.

We were discussing a complete website with a forum. But the question is, what should such a website feature, and how should it be presented? Should it be presented as a place for roleplayers to gather online, or for ex-Seed players and friends? Should it be text-light, what should the graphical theme be? And so on.

How about you all post your ideas for such a website? The design will probably be modular, so the entire community can maintain it, but what there will be to maintain and how it will look, is the question. I'll start out with my own suggestions.

I think we should run this as a place where roleplayers gather to have fun/RP in different MMOGS. Layout should be simple and intuitive, no heavy gfx or anything. And as for content. Since we are a community, focused on online RP'ing, I thought to write several articles dealing with online RP. How to create a char, how to interact with others, how to create stories, etc. Basic stuff as such, guides to getting more fun out of RP'ing, and guides for non-RP'ers who want to RP. Because I do hope we'll attract and convert some of these too smile

And then, an official 'rule' set about how we RP as a whole when we are in the games. Well, of course we'd have to agree about that, and it's not as fascistic as it might sound of course, but a guideline for that would be good. And with that I mean, OOC in brackets, always IC on public channels, no LOLBOI language IC, 'simple' things like that. I'd like to write such a guideline, to put in a special place on the website.

So, comments, and other ideas, please smile

Last edited by Darkhawk (2006-11-14 06:26:11)

Re: Our homepage

I had imagined a site for roleplayers, but still a place where we can remember the good old days back in seed. With that I mean that anyone/everyone would of couse be welcome here but lets not throw out the whole "seed community" idea...if that makes sences!

For the content i had also thought of different kinds of guides such as those you suggest dark. Not that I would know how to write them at all wink
I had also thought that we might have a section where we keep track of any interresting new games.

I also believe that we will need a basic set of guidelines (instead of "rules") not only for how we interact while IC and in-game but also the standard behaviour guidelines for a forum.

Re: Our homepage

Definately make it something that welcomes all interested in MMORPG roleplaying. That way we might actually grow in numbers instead of dwindling with time. As a bonus, if we make it more general (and good), we might be able to get some publicity too. The Finnish roleplaying magazine "Roolipelaaja", for instance, might well have us as the link of the month if we manage to make this site more than a chat center for ex-seedlings.

So let's keep Seed there at the graphics and forum themes etc, but continue the current trend of including all possible games and players. As for the content, I'd like to see something anyone can contribute to, but in a controlled way. Meaning someone would have to play the editor, but he or she would accept text from anyone if they're good and relevant to the topic.

Maybe one day we'd even organize to make our own dream game...:)

Re: Our homepage

oh i forgot something... We should also write up a agenda of sorts. So interrested people know what the heck we are trying to do here wink

Re: Our homepage

As most of you know, I've been fiddling with the specifics of a website for a while now. Obviously I have ideas about layout and design. Most of those can be found in the thread I started for the matter. Generally I think we should have a nice-looking site with some graphics (though not to excess) and with a theme that recalls the glories of Seed, but doesn't aim to copy it as such.

As for content, I would say anything that the community creates is welcome, to reasonable degrees. A declaration of purpose and aims would be pretty central. A short history of where the community came from would also be kind of given, as well as some manner of recounting the games we are active in, with details of groups, locations, level of IC and such. Further resources would of course be added as they get written. Perhaps, in the extension, we may actually have dedicated sections for the more popular games.

I think the focus of the site should be the community, realising that our numbers may grow, but focussing on what we are rather than what we could be. That way, we are actually interesting to the newcomer while not losing touch with what drives us, which is to say the intercommunication and expression of the role-playing community. (Man, that sounded way too political.)

I'm really glad to see this thread posted. I've been reluctant to do it, myself, because I don't want to be the sole driving force in a project as large as this one. Cheers for giving me inspiration.

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

Can't add anything. Well, maybe I could make a couple articles for the site - I like writing articles.

RP in MMOG's looks like this when trying to base it on in-game activities:
"Let's go <activity>!"
"Yay, <activity>!"
"<motivation>!"

Re: Our homepage

I agree with people. Yes, I do. And mostly I agree with Kryigerof.

So, guidelines for how we RP. Yes. A description of who we are and what we do. Articles about RP. A section with info about the games we play (and in those, info about how we RP in them. I.e. more info about how we view the world, dying, communication, etc. THings that are specific to that game)).

Layout wise, I'm happy to leave that to other people. It should probably be pretty modular and clean though, which I know Ahnion can and will do (hah, there, pressure's on you).

As for the community. Yes, let us keep what we have, and keep that spirit. But as Kryigerof says, let us look forward, so that we will not just dwindle, but actually grow, and attract more people of a like mind and bent. Not in any crazy, expansionistic way, leaving behind what we have, no. But let's build it so that we are ready to slowly, steadily expand as we draw RP'ers from the games we participate in. And let us have a structure so that our website can handle the needs of giving info about these games and running guilds in them (I.e. when we make our own SoR guild, it should have a subforum and a section on the homepage, for example). All should fit in with the overall design and idea of course, and there should be room for expansion. Especially on the forum perhaps, and the graphical themes.

It is my fond wish to have a graphical theme for each game we play, so that RP'ers can select the one most relevant to them. That however, needs volunteers. That might or might not come to pass. But we should have the fundament in place for that. I also think we have, Ahnion?

Anyway, I want us to grow. But at a slow pace, so we can keep up and integrate people we meet. We need to preserve the feeling of being friends. An influx of 50 people at a time would be a little too much.

Oh, and then I think info (and/or a direct link to some webIRC thingie) about our IRC channels is very important. Because if we get people to join #seed, we get their souls! (insert evil, maniacal laughter going on for some time).

Yep.

Last edited by Darkhawk (2006-11-14 18:44:24)

Re: Our homepage

Darkhawk wrote:

It is my fond wish to have a graphical theme for each game we play, so that RP'ers can select the one most relevant to them. That however, needs volunteers. That might or might not come to pass. But we should have the fundament in place for that. I also think we have, Ahnion?

I shall worry about this when we actually have a basic theme and a site to run it on. wink


Darkhawk wrote:

And let us have a structure so that our website can handle the needs of giving info about these games and running guilds in them (I.e. when we make our own SoR guild, it should have a subforum and a section on the homepage, for example). All should fit in with the overall design and idea of course, and there should be room for expansion. Especially on the forum perhaps, and the graphical themes.

This is actually more of an issue for the forum, since we don't have nested categories. I know Nuala has started looking at it, but it will take some work, so that bit, I leave to her. The site is not a problem. Expandability is at the core of any good concept, and a good concept I intend to make, even if Oluf and I will have ego bruises the size of brahmin when we're done. wink


Generally I think we're all pretty much on the same line when it comes to the content. There seems to be more controversy about the style, but, as wise people have said - if you don't like it, make something better! wink

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

I wonder if you misunderstood me ahnion... so just to make sure you didnt : I like simple sites as well but i dont like sites with only a simple one colored-frame outside all the content... wink
Its just like gameplay vs gfx... the gameplay can be much more enjoyable if the gfxs are good and helps create the setting big_smile

Re: Our homepage

Oluf wrote:

I wonder if you misunderstood me ahnion... so just to make sure you didnt : I like simple sites as well but i dont like sites with only a simple one colored-frame outside all the content... wink
Its just like gameplay vs gfx... the gameplay can be much more enjoyable if the gfxs are good and helps create the setting big_smile

Nah. I just think we have slightly different senses of aesthetics - which is good. I know I'm kind of overbearing. I just want to get this done, and get it done well... and such. wink

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

Nothing like someone who's been absent to come along and shake up posts!

I like the idea of it being for the roleplaying community as a whole, as this is what binds us, not just the fact we all loved Seed. We came from Seed though, so we can easily tie in our memories, feelings etc. of Seed with a where we came from thread.

Seeing as how many of us searched the internet day and night looking for a game we could RP in, it suggests there is a bit of a missing niche out there. wink Why shouldn't we lead the way?

As for examples of RP and stuff - that's a great idea. But a far better way in my opinion is to use RP logs, if we can get them. I don't know if SoR or URU give us that opportunity. I have found a couple of logs back from my old days in PernMUSH on the web, and they always bring a smile. Examples are good, but nothing can replace the originality of improvised RP for me smile
I'd also be happy to write some articles too. I'm sure between us all we can cover all different aspects of RP. And maybe we can start creating a FAQ? Then maybe I'll finally be able to get my husband to understand what it is I spend my time on the pc doing outside work tongue

I would also go with a fairly simple looking site, but definately with eye-catching graphics.

Last edited by Esme (2006-12-06 22:55:53)

Re: Our homepage

URU has an option to log your chat, if that is what you mean?

-Norah/Liath-
"Do not follow! The milk is not ready, and you are not ready for the milk!"
-Psychonauts: Milkman Conspiracy area

Re: Our homepage

I agree with you Esme. Which I think I've expressed here and there. We came from Seed. But we should grow to be more centered around us being RP'ers online, wanting to provide a place for a lot of grat people to meet and launch RP from.

And as for logs, yes that would of course be much better. You can do those in SoR, but of course I didn't, and instead have hundreds of megabytes of screenshots now wink But they'd go very well with an article, to show concretely what you're writing about. Well, we can see about all that when we get closer to having the programming and layout finished smile

Re: Our homepage

I agree, and I am working on it! wink

Sorry for not being around much. I've had a busy time in this Real World game. smile

Addition:
At this point I've switched to a Mambo fork called Joomla!. It's just generally better. I've got maybe half of the design work done. Integration with the forum is visually workable with some slight rework of the forum theme (mainly width.) Logins will have to be separate, since there is a privilege system in the CMS. We're going to need two or three people who learn the system to act as editors and managers, beside the writers. The editors will have the task of making sure the content is formatted well and, possibly, spelled right, as well as granting privileges to users who wish to get aboard with writing articles. I think we should keep membership of the site relatively open, but privileges restricted to those we actually trust.

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

Norah wrote:

URU has an option to log your chat, if that is what you mean?

Yes Norah, exactly smile Nothing better to show how a good piece of RP goes. Graphics are an added bonus.

Re: Our homepage

Ahnion wrote:

I think we should keep membership of the site relatively open, but privileges restricted to those we actually trust.

Totally agree. I'd be interested in helping out as editor, as I started using CMS with Seed which I enjoyed. But I am working full time, so maybe a role share with someone else?

Re: Our homepage

Of couse I am interrested in helping out as well. I have some experinces with CMS as well, having run a few sites(and "guilds") for an other online game

Re: Our homepage

<Web-designer's Hate Interlude> [small]I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE I HATE IE[/small] </Web-designer's Hate Interlude>

Edit:
To give a bit of context: Lately, I've been trying to spend at least a little time each day on fiddling with the template design. It may look simple, but it isn't. Besides the black-box attitude one must adapt towards the page-rendering in different browsers (see above), I have basically had to rewrite Joomla!'s page structure, and the CSS they've used is... not overly well-structured, though infinitely better than that in Mambo and e107. I have a lot of unknown variables to figure out - especially since the layout is dynamic, and that is why it's taking so long. It is coming along, though. I've handled most of the big problems. The only major thing left to finish up is forum* integration and the last restructuring of the CSS. Please be patient. wink
(Oh, and skanx, I know how to solve your request now. It's doable. Pretty easy even. I'll just make a template where the left and right panes are inverted.)

* - forum, not browser. smile

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

Well, I have some articles about MMOGs I'll eventually translate into English. I'm a pretty quick learner, so I think I'll get the hang of an editor's work fast enough if it's needed.

RP in MMOG's looks like this when trying to base it on in-game activities:
"Let's go <activity>!"
"Yay, <activity>!"
"<motivation>!"

Re: Our homepage

As always: I'll be glad to help in any way (that you think I could help).

-Norah/Liath-
"Do not follow! The milk is not ready, and you are not ready for the milk!"
-Psychonauts: Milkman Conspiracy area

Re: Our homepage

All right... it's been long in the making, but it's getting to the point where it's time to toss the site design up on the server as an alpha and start fiddling with it live. I've tested it in Firefox (2.0), IE6 and the latest version of Opera. I still have some minor rendering glitches to work out in the latter two. I have yet to test it in IE7 because... well... if I install IE7, I can't test it in bloody IE6, can I? It's not as if MS would ever dream of letting you have both installed for development purposes. I'm going to have to try to find a way to test it, but that, I can do live. I'll be back on IRC some time in the coming days, so that I can bash heads with skanx over the site setup.

Cheers to those of you who've prodded me on without stressing me. You're great people. wink

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

yay! looking forward to seeing it smile

Feel free to post some sceenshots etc on the forums!

Re: Our homepage

No real point in taking screenshots when you will most likely be able to see it live shortly. smile

I'm still a bit doubtful about the present forum implementation. With the changes I've made (to be uploaded) to the forum layout, it does fit, but it's in an auto-height iframe, and I'm not sure it will resize properly. I can only test that live, so we'll see. It will probably work in Firefox, but I'm suspecting issues with IE and possibly Opera.

http://ahnion.centralen.net/temp/signature-Seed-community-2.gif

Re: Our homepage

Great going Ahnion, looking forward to seeing it and slowly beginning to fill it up with articles and stuff big_smile

Re: Our homepage

I think it is time for a slight *nudge* now, in regards to our homepage. Not so much at Ahnion I think, as the design is ready? But at Skanx maybe. I do get a little nervous when the web and IRC admin drops off the face of the immediate online world, eheh..

Can't the two of you get together, so we can set up the homepage and go from there? We're almost there I believe, at least Ahnion has something ready to be put online, right?