The Official Site Redesign Thread

So I was able to quickly throw together this

Is the guide section supposed to be the same or is that also getting a update? It's kinda clumsy as it is, seeing as how you can't filter or search anything in there at all.

Everything looks great but I think either the 'Friend Status' or 'Friend Blog' bar should be removed/Replaced from the Homepage.

It looks good, the front page and the bombcast page especially... but... I am not a fan of the new profile "summary" page. Now that I have linked my Twitter account there are TOO MANY status updates on that page. I would like it if there was a setting that could limit the amount of status updates to maybe a numerical amount, so on my settings page I could enter "5" and only have 5 status updates show.

Second of all I would like to see the friends updates on the summary page. It is kind of cool that they are on the front page, but I'd like them in my profile for easier access once I am there.

I'm sure I will get used to the new layout, but those two things are about the only things I could complain about. Good Work.

I mostly like it, but some things really aren't very good with regards to accessibility. I have good eyesight and a pretty well configured monitor, and I still find it difficult to read the 'Send a PM' text beneath avatars, the 'Posted 5 minutes ago' beneath posts, the 'Topic started by MB... etc', and the 'History' links, etc at the top. Far too dark!

"I mostly like it, but some things really aren't very good with regards to accessibility. I have good eyesight and a pretty well configured monitor, and I still find it difficult to read the 'Send a PM' text beneath avatars, the 'Posted 5 minutes ago' beneath posts, the 'Topic started by MB... etc', and the 'History' links, etc at the top. Far too dark!
"

"I mostly like it, but some things really aren't very good with regards to accessibility. I have good eyesight and a pretty well configured monitor, and I still find it difficult to read the 'Send a PM' text beneath avatars, the 'Posted 5 minutes ago' beneath posts, the 'Topic started by MB... etc', and the 'History' links, etc at the top. Far too dark!
"

Looks sexy at first site. I can't get into it right now because I've got school to prepare for. Awesome job, Whiskeh!

suggestion:
add an internal bookmark/rss funktion for the various pages on the site so I can for example bookmark page for game x and bookmark  thread for subject y, then have a page where all new updates on these pages is combined into a simple to follow feed

I like it all for the most part. What I would like to see is a option for allowing a conventional banner, or having the option not to tile the image. I also think the sub-title text to threads is too faint. I like the fact it's faint, but at my age I simply cannot read it easily as I would like to. *feels old and disabled*

Don't know if someone has mentioned this yet, but status updates don't show up when I move the arrow over an avatar. It just says their name.

Ok not really a bug, not really a suggestion (just quick question)...but is there anyway to minimize this part of someone's profile page? Just curious cause it cuts off part of my noby background.

Snide- you guys made the text for things like "posted 12 minutes ago" or the forum indicator under the topic name and the date posted way too dark again. Brighten up please.

Man I really like the new look, it's much more cohesive and professional looking.

The design itself is nice but I'm not a fan of some of the color changes. I liked the orange color more than the yellow.

Overview
- There are way too many instances where the gray text can't be seen on my screen (I've got it set to full bright / contrast). Example: Left column in Profile stats and Game information.
- Harder to see where part of the site begins and another ends, the shades of black/gray aren't different enough.
Game pages:
- The titles in the main article are way too gray, it should be easy to read the titles. Make them stand out like before.
- The image (box art) is cut off on the bottom.
Profile pages:
- The thumbnails for "My lists" use images from games that have been removed (from lists themselves).

I'll post more if there's something else.. I use Firefox btw.

This is awesome guys! The guys upstairs did a great job! I love it!

How can I get friends' updates and blogs in my profile?

"I don't like it. I thought it was perfect when it started up and this redesign has made things harder to read, harder to find and I don't like the layout. It's gone the same way as the Gamespot redesign. :(
"

"Game pages:
- Images not in the screenshot category appearing on top of the page, may this was meant to be? Doesn't look good at all.

"

I'm really enjoying the smoothness of the site and all the curves. Having the friend stuff on the front page seems a little strange now. It's cool and all to keep you updated with stuff even when on the front page, but it would be nice to have it presented on your own actual profile too. Maybe place that stuff under the lists in the right column. There seems to be enough space.

The user stuff right below images on wiki pages also appears strange. I know snide wanted to float that content, but is it possible to have that within a column too, like above or below the guides section. These pages really need to have the game's (or concept's etc.) general description higher up the page.

"coffeesash said:

"I don't like it. I thought it was perfect when it started up and this redesign has made things harder to read, harder to find and I don't like the layout. It's gone the same way as the Gamespot redesign. :("

*gasp* someone else agrees! i thought i was entirely the only one. Well...i mainly don't agree with some layout choices.

Oh that and the Bombcast page..."

ok I thought about it for a while and I finally think I know what makes the site feel "clumsy" to me.

Too many shades or switchs between grey! I think ive counted about 5 different greys and it switchs too often? Like too many BOXS within more BOXS.

I hope it helps :)

You should keep that wiki table on the front page, the one that said "most visited", "pages that need help", "new entries" or something like that, it encouraged me to see the gemma atkinson image collection a lot of times and thank god it did. Maybe you could implement it as the forum tab, that table could pop up in some way that it does not bothers.

Problem: I can't set a background to my profile, I don't know if I'm not using the correct size and it does not tell me if the image is not convenient

The overall design seems fine to me so far, but there's one big problem.

I can barely make out the grey text here in the forum on my CRT monitor.

Especially on the 'Latest video game topics' page, the forum name below the topic name is almost completely unreadable.  Do you guys have a CRT to test this stuff on?

Your profile name on your page would have been cool if it displayed in your colour of alignment.

I expected that change :(

I love how profiles have been bade narrower. Easier to read blogs somehow.

However:

- I want my friend's updates to be on my profile page, or at least have that option

-The profile "background image" is busted

This redesign is fucking sick (in a 100% good way).

"Death_Burnout said:

"coffeesash said:

"I don't like it. I thought it was perfect when it started up and this redesign has made things harder to read, harder to find and I don't like the layout. It's gone the same way as the Gamespot redesign. :("

*gasp* someone else agrees! i thought i was entirely the only one. Well...i mainly don't agree with some layout choices.

Oh that and the Bombcast page..."

I agree to.

Why are the friend updates in the Homepage anyway???
"

Lovin the new look.  Totally Sexellent!

Besides some hard to read text and the blatant ripoff of NXE, I give it the seal of approval.  Nice!

Since some people on the IRC are too lazy to post in this thread I will do so for them.

Obviously the hard to read text has come up a few times.

and user "Snail" severly hates that the friends (blogs) are no longer on the main profile page.

"and user "Snail" severly hates that the friends (blogs) are no longer on the main profile page."

After using it further, I have some more observations.

It appears that one can no longer post on their own wall. I also can't find a way to see my own status. I don't like that Friends stuff has been removed from profiles; I liked seeing what friends other people had.

EDIT regarding my last sentence: I see that even though there is no longer a link to it for other people, the URL http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/username/network/ still works.

Sorry about the rampant posting.

One thing that I definately do not particularly like is how LONG the profile ACTIVITY is at the moment, like I never found it that useful to be super long and a "read more..." link would be fine.

One thing I DO really like is the new layouts for podcast/videos page and the new dropdown boxs.

Podcast page is b-e-a-utiful. But am I the only one who misses the old gritty background of the front page and header? :P
But yeah, otherwise pretty much all new>old. Awesome work guys!

Likely been mentioned, the greys are hard to read.

Also the sections in the profiles are not very clearly defined, they sort of all run into each other.

I wouldnt mind if the wall was left in the bottom right corner, since there is nothing there anyway. Also im not particularly thrilled with my wiki contributions dominating the right hand column, its not something i focus on and really want to acknowledge or be reminded of on my profile.

Also the option to keep a blog feed on the profile page would be nice.

I like the new functionality, but the presentation of the profiles is kind of  jumbled and unclear. My profile doesnt appear how i would like it to, im sure theres stuff coming in the future to deal with this tho, so keep up the good work guys, its great to see the site moving forward.

"Johnny5 said:

"and user "Snail" severly hates that the friends (blogs) are no longer on the main profile page."

And you no longer get updates of what they are doing like "BoG is moving to new York" on your profile.
Basically, everything friends is now on the Home Page, which means that stuff that was once in only one page is now in two different pages. And there is plenty of free space in the profile pages. Ridiculous amounts of free space.
"

• IT SAYS "CLICK HERE TO CHANGE COLOURS"

  Is that physically possible at the moment?

• The HTML banners are really weird

  they warp like crazy depending what size your monitor is. Could you have a set size for banners please?

• WHERE HAVE ALL THE BLOGS GONE?

  Hiding them in a little corner of the home screen is sucky - nobody is going to write blogs unless they are easily accesible to your friends!! Are we still going to be able to re-arrange and customize the layout of our profiles to sort this out?

POSITIVITY

i think that i liked the last design a little better, but i'm liking this one!! it looks a lot more polished than before, and on the wiki sites you can find news and videos a lot easier.

i also don't like how you took out the forums on the front page of a wiki page.

"Snail said:

"Johnny5 said:

"and user "Snail" severly hates that the friends (blogs) are no longer on the main profile page."

And you no longer get updates of what they are doing like "BoG is moving to new York" on your profile.
Basically, everything friends is now on the Home Page, which means that stuff that was once in only one page is now in two different pages. And there is plenty of free space in the profile pages. Ridiculous amounts of free space.
"

Hell yes, I am not happy with that at all. I found that panel on the left to be excellent for catching up with friends blogs. All that vacant space seems like a total waste to me.

I miss the wall also. The format that was in place before was cool.





"

"I wouldnt mind if the wall was left in the bottom right corner, since there is nothing there anyway. "

"

• WHERE HAVE ALL THE BLOGS GONE?

  Hiding them in a little corner of the home screen is sucky - nobody is going to write blogs unless they are easily accesible to your friends!! Are we still going to be able to re-arrange and customize the layout of our profiles to sort this out?"

"Sweep said:

"

• WHERE HAVE ALL THE BLOGS GONE?

  Hiding them in a little corner of the home screen is sucky - nobody is going to write blogs unless they are easily accesible to your friends!! Are we still going to be able to re-arrange and customize the layout of our profiles to sort this out?"

They are also accessible from the Friends drop-down at the top using Blog Updates.
"

Not good enough, friends blogs should catch your eye like they have always done, there should be no need to pull down a box.

It's amazing my only complaint is that the drop down menus on the top for the forums or your profile or inbox are white. I would of done like a gray with a black outline but I'll get over it

Love the redesign, but I have one problem.  What is the resolution of profile backgrounds?  I can't get an image to fit in without tiling.  Other than that, great job!

Like a few people above, I really think the profile banner needs a rethink. It's just too hard to get it looking decent (tiling? ugh). And there seems to be no easy way to remove the image that you just added there only to find out that it looks hideous. I wound up adding a black square and tiling it ...It's a pity because  home page or profile customisation is something that people really go for; I know I do. Would it be very difficult to make the entire background customisable a la the new Bombcast page?

As for the dark grey text, I swear to God I've only just noticed it. I couldn't understand what everyone was talking about. It's not dimmed, it's camouflaged!

Congrats otherwise. I can only imagine the amount of work involved.

Um don't know where to put this but how do you edit/delete images now?

And yeah I agree with above, I just atempted to add a background and the tiling is annoying. The image doesn't start at the top so it's either cut off or tiled weird.

EDIT: nvm it seems that the "edit page" button is it. I just thought that button was referring to my profile as a whole oops.