ostan-collections.net frontpage

Fedora-Tan · October 27, 2012, 02:55:58 PM

Hello everybody.

I would like to suggest that the main page when someone arrives to ostan-collections.net would be the wiki, and not the forums. The reason is, that for a newcomer (aka someone who comes from google), the first view being the forum is surely not what he wants, and can be a bit repulsive. On the other hand, we have a very decent wiki with lots of infos. Therefore i would suggest those changes to the main page of the wiki :

* Welcome to ostan-collections
* Description of the website (a few lines, 2 or 3 max)
* As icons, links to the main ostans (to be decided), something which is appealing to have infos on for most people
* Links to the other ostan and current links below that
* Two, large, pictures as buttons to go to forums and wiki (in addition to the left links which would stay here)

All that fitting in one page without having to scroll.

If you're interested in doing that, then i can switch the main page.

I don't believe it's any longer for the usual forumers here, as it would be easily reachable from main (wiki) page. And on another hand, the website would look way more cohesive.

Pitkin · October 27, 2012, 03:00:13 PM

In case the idea of prioritising the fantastic information on the site over the discussion catches fire, we could also consider changing the domain name to something cute like ostanpedia.net. x)

Naturally, a change of domain name might be a decent idea in general, as the current ostan-collections.net, while being explicit, is very very long as a name, and especially on a mobile device burdensome to type. We've checked, for example short os-tan.net would be vacant. What do you all think? Any decent, the idea(s) presented? No? Improvements?

Nichi · October 27, 2012, 04:03:19 PM

A shorter URL would be nice; as easy as it is to remember super-long ones like "ostan-collections.net" or "ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com", it's often difficult to type that out on something like a tablet. My vote would likely go to "os-tan.net"; the original site name could still be used in conjunction with that

Also, I like the idea of a frontpage; using the forums as such makes it look like that's all we are, when there's so much more to the site than just that. I could help design menu graphics for the frontpage, if you'd like (Like a button for the forums, the wiki, and the gallery)

Bella · October 27, 2012, 04:57:04 PM

I think it'd be cool to see a minimalistic frontpage with some nice main-page art, a short description or something of the like and links to both the forum and wiki.

I have no design experience but here's a quick layout sketch I made: http://i.imgur.com/U9XCq.png

Pitkin · October 27, 2012, 05:09:11 PM

Very good, B. *nod*

I was thinking that having equally some thumbnails of OS-tans on the front page would allow to give a random visitor examples on the characters, and possibly also highlight some OS-tans made by you guys, not necessarily alone the canon ones. I've felt for a long while that considering the work some of you put into the theories, designs, etc., they could deserve some of the spotlight in the entrance in addition to the original ones.

Chocofreak13 · October 27, 2012, 05:34:03 PM

i'd be willing to help design-wise, too. i've made buttons before. >>;

that said, i don't mind the current name, but i imagine that someone accessing from a mobile device might have trouble. but i remember seeing a site once called os-tan.net, so i think a little research would be needed to make sure we're not taking over an old domain. idk, but it just feels weird to use the name of a now-fallen os-tan site. like we'd be putting on their skin or something, y'know? :\

as long as i can leave the forum page open, i'll be happy. but if i'm gonna have to click the link to get into the forum each time, then i'd get annoyed. it sounds as simple as it being ostan.net/forum, though.

for new short domains, what if we look at the old rename thread from years past? i can't find it, save for one with the current one and "ostan-global.net". that thread mentions an older one, but i can't find it.

that said, off the top of my head, we could have os-tan.net, os-girls.net (sounds a bit porny though), os-love.net (porny again), and.....c'mon, help me out here. =__=;

@bella: there needs to be more there. *attaches example*

Pitkin · October 27, 2012, 05:48:25 PM

Quote from: Chocofreak13 on October 27, 2012, 05:34:03 PM

as long as i can leave the forum page open, i'll be happy. but if i'm gonna have to click the link to get into the forum each time, then i'd get annoyed. it sounds as simple as it being ostan.net/forum, though.

It would naturally be possible to bookmark the forum directly to avoid always going through the Wiki, as the point would not be to force unnecessary traffic either.

For the domain names, ostan-global.net was indeed an option back in time, but I wouldn't consider it at all today as it originally lost to the current title and isn't considerably shorter either. os-girls.net would work, but I personally believe keeping the -tan is still fairly interesting as the phenomenom itself is known as OS-tans. The domain name should of course be vacant as well. I'm not aware of os-tan.net site existing before, but if so then indeed moving to that address might feel a bit like moving into someone else's sarcophagus. ^^;

DustiiWolf · October 27, 2012, 05:55:05 PM

Dont shoot me, but i made a concept image for a home page.
Simple, includes OS-Tan images, and easy to get where you want.

(sorry if the image is a bit big ;w;")
http://i.imgur.com/PrDLF.png

how does os-ta.net sound? (using the n in net for both tan and net)

Bella · October 27, 2012, 07:01:16 PM

Quote from: Pitkin on October 27, 2012, 05:09:11 PM
I was thinking that having equally some thumbnails of OS-tans on the front page would allow to give a random visitor examples on the characters, and possibly also highlight some OS-tans made by you guys, not necessarily alone the canon ones. I've felt for a long while that considering the work some of you put into the theories, designs, etc., they could deserve some of the spotlight in the entrance in addition to the original ones.

That would be really nice.

Any idea how this would be worked into the front-page design? Would the thumbnails be static, or would they be random and change whenever the page is reloaded (sort of like the gallery thumbnails feature we used to have on the frontpage of the forum)? I can imagine the later might be a bit difficult to implement, though...

DustiiWolf · October 27, 2012, 07:02:11 PM

Quote from: DustiiWolf on October 27, 2012, 05:55:05 PM
Dont shoot me, but i made a concept image for a home page.
Simple, includes OS-Tan images, and easy to get where you want.

(sorry if the image is a bit big ;w;")
http://i.imgur.com/PrDLF.png

how does os-ta.net sound? (using the n in net for both tan and net)

Heres a demo site imade as a demonstration of my concept.
http://ostandemo.99k.org/

Chocofreak13 · October 27, 2012, 07:51:31 PM

impressive that you managed to get a demo working. clickable buttons like that are pretty cool. and i like the format of having the information on the buttons rather than the description off to the side (though tbh i don't really mind either way, and since we have 5 buttons to implement, having them on one side might be more balanced). but the design itself, while a prototype, feels too close to windows 8. is everything you do 8-related....? ^^;

@bella: tbh i doubt having a rotating banner for the top page would be too hard. plus, it would be like it used to be with the rotating banners here. ^^ (i would demand we use some of the banners that used to be up. >>; )

@pitkin: hence why i asked for people to brainstorm. ^^; any idea what happened to the older thread? i can bring up the thread it's mentioned in, if it helps. and what about ostan-love.net? os-tannery.net? (i know these are bad. help please.)

EDIT: pitkin, PLEASE tell me you kept the nijikaku download files. that's the only way to get a working copy if you don't speak japanese.

Nichi · October 27, 2012, 08:01:19 PM

@Kari: If she doesn't, I believe I have it stored somewhere. I'll check
EDIT: I have the files :3

@Dustii: Looks nice, but it's a little plain at the moment. Maybe add something as a background image?

Bella · October 27, 2012, 08:21:14 PM

TBH, my favorite names so far are "os-tan.net" (short, simple, to-the-point) and "ostanpedia.net" (if we wanna put more emphasis on the wiki / character documentation and creation aspects of this site, this would work well).

DustiiWolf · October 27, 2012, 09:00:13 PM

Quote from: Chocofreak13 on October 27, 2012, 07:51:31 PM
impressive that you managed to get a demo working. clickable buttons like that are pretty cool. and i like the format of having the information on the buttons rather than the description off to the side (though tbh i don't really mind either way, and since we have 5 buttons to implement, having them on one side might be more balanced). but the design itself, while a prototype, feels too close to windows 8. is everything you do 8-related....? ^^;

Not necessarily, BUT i do find the (Formerly Metro) Modern UI Style very simple and easy to use (as well as implement), as well as it looks good, while being easy on the eyes.

Quote from: PentiumMMX on October 27, 2012, 08:01:19 PM
@Dustii: Looks nice, but it's a little plain at the moment. Maybe add something as a background image?

Check it again: http://ostandemo.99k.org/
(Screenshots attatched)

EDIT: Added favicon to site

Nichi · October 27, 2012, 09:04:29 PM

I do like the sound of "os-tan.net". Maybe "ostan-land.net" could also work...although that sounds like a really lame website from the '90s; like the long-forgotten Nintendoland ^_^;;

Maybe if we could find some shorthand for "collection", or a word meaning the same thing that is a lot shorter

@Dustii: Looks better :3