Ideas for the Next IceCaves Design

My screen is at a width of 1280px -- and at first I thought a full-width layout could be overwhelming, but as long as the new layout isn't cramming as much information and updates as possible onto the front page, it could work.

If the new layout would be based off of the current one - less "important" boxes, such as the tags, could be moved down below all the newest content updates.

More space would be made available if there wasn't a sidebar, correct? So I think padding between updates should be increased. (Also padding between sidebar -if any- and content area)
With space in between, you can display a large amount of different sections, but not in a way that would make IC look cluttered or confusing.

If the sidebar went *poof*, maybe a 'create account' link could be added to the top navigation? Or something like that? I really hate it when I go to a website, and I actually have to HUNT for the link to create my own account x)

I'm just thinking these up as I go along. Will post with more suggestions and "if's" :3

I think the side bar should be on the homepage too because first-time visitors might think there's no chatbox, and for for me I know that's kind of a turnoff because it's much easier to post a quick comment in the chatbox than to go to the forums. I know that not having a sidebar give you more space, so maybe you could include the chatbox on the homepage?

You have a point, Anna -- while IC *is* a forum, many people online like being able to chat instantly, and see it as a definite plus.

Also regarding the CSS for the new layout.

One, I think the text-size needs to be bigger and easier to read especially as we start to add more articles which brings be on to my second point. About the articles, at the moment they're not very structured (CSS-wise again) and each one looks kind of all over the place. I think there needs to be more structure to it: say like, for numbering the steps in a PS tutorial, the steps could be named "1, 2, 3" or "step 1, step 2.." in bold text or in header text and so on. The point is we should define what each element of an article should look like. Naming the steps, adding images, etc.

That sounds all over the place.

Yeah, I think we could add more images to the articles. It makes them easier to understand and more appealing to the eye.

True. There's nothing more daunting than a wall of text :S
Also -- it's easier to go back to a certain part of an article when it's broken up into sections, and have accompanying images.

I like the last idea, Haily. At the moment the featured news images when placed in the Full Story (or whatever it is) article looks weird because it doesn't have the text or any styling on it. However, I like the size it is now. It looks sleek.

I used to browse rev.iew.me like a hawk (on my old account, haha!) and what people usually said about sidebar was that it should be at least 200px. So 200px + padding sounds good : D

With the sidebar, I think it should be at least 200px because the current sidebar is quite thin. Padding will make it look nice and neat. I would keep the sidebar as it contains important information & more can be added to it. Under the first box, Your Account, perhaps there could be some statistics such as how many posts you've made, points, etc.

I like the menu style as it makes it easier to navigate within IC.

Rebuilding Germany...
This sounds fine as long as nobody turns into some kind of nazi.

I think the "tags" box is a bit unnecessary and if removed, could give you more space so that everything isn't quite so close together.

These are some great ideas. A wider chatbox is definitely a good idea. And it's true that your homepage needs a some work to make it look less cluttered.

As for font work, serif fonts are the most legible. In fact, as I'm typing this now, I'm wondering why I'm writing in a font that's clearly different from the one in which my post will be displayed in. And now I'm thinking that this could be a good font for the rest of the site (I think it's Courier). This idea could be worth experimenting with.

I guess the most important decision to go behind a new site design would be what content you want to focus on. I don't really come to IceCaves that much, but it seems to me that this is a place where webmasters come and talk to each other and share ideas and resources and stuff. However, the kind of content you have on this site isn't really coherent: web design, photoshop/design tutorials, free graphics, coding tutorials and scripts, stock photos, a top-sites, intriguing blog posts, and the rest of the community stuff.

I think a flaw of your current design is that you present it all as if it has equal value. And it's most apparent on the homepage where you try to show a sample from all of these sections, and you end up making it all look more cluttered while overwhelming visitors. You need to focus on what's most important, and then everything else the user will hopefully find on their own and it'll be just more extra good stuff on an already-great site.

I'm not sure I'm qualified to guess (or suggest) what IceCaves' main purpose is, but I think it's mainly a community for webmasters, where people can showcase their site in hopes of getting more traffic, but also where they can learn how to make their individual sites better and come across new ideas. Right now all the site's features are quite fragmented and feel unrelated to each other, but it would all make more sense if they all served a higher purpose of being specifically for webmasters. You could always argue that they already do, but for me, they really don't present themselves like it.

You should also try adding more content on ideas, discussions, and advice, rather than coming up with resources like photoshop tutorials or scripts that you can already find in several other sites. I think the whole community-of-webmasters thing is your greatest strength, and you should really push that forward by doing more things like site reviews/commentaries, spotlighting great ideas/advice, present things that will help everyone's site be more successful, etc. I can see that you already do some/most of that, but now you just need to have the site's design emphasize that, while shoving all the lesser important things to the side.

EDIT: the edit box has a different font than the new-post box? :O

You can have karma for that because one, you didn't have any and two that took me more than a minute to read!

I wouldn't like courier as a font for body text simply because..well, mostly once you have it in a huge amount displayed on a page, it don't look nice. I went around looking at tutorial sites online. Noupe.com uses Helvetica which looks really nice and presentable.

I've not really noticed IC giving a mixed image to new viewers because of the amount of sheer stuff we have. It does all tie in (I think) but at the same time there's a load of stuff we offer that doesn't get used much or has nothing related to the department it's in. Namely many things in the Web-design section. Forum sets, avatars, wallpapers have nothing to do with WEB-design specifically. Although we like our forum sets. Oh and about the PS resources..

These are my thoughts... While using an iPhone... So ya... Lol

You could take the sidebar out of the homepage, but some of the things that we want, like the chatbox or the recent posts on the forum thing right below it (I really like this... It makes the forums easy to use!!!) you can out onto the homepage. You could maybe split the page up into a 60:40 thing, with 60% going to articles etc, and the other 40% going to things like the chatbox, recent stocks etc. You could even split it up into 50:50 and have the latest or two most recent articles/stocks/forum posts etc showing, rather than having the 60 side dedicated to new articles.

I agree with that you should put an account link in the top navigation. That can either be a Create-An-account link, or a Members link... I suggest that you have it as create an account, and if were logged in then it shows members area

the font size needs to be a little bigger... Though I like this font :D

maybe you could make an iPod/iPhone/phones in general part to your CMS where if it's in an iPhone accessing the site, it'll get simpler information or an easier layout to use or something?

I remember talks about a smartphone layout for IC awhile ago and it went on a fictional list of to-do but with very low priority.

Haha. I'm sure there's some JavaScript code haily could use to figure out what is visiting his site, then set up a basic layout for the phones and for computers and laptops

I think the current layout is a good width- any wider and it might be a little overwhelming... My resolution is 1280x1024, on the monitor I connect my laptop to, and my laptop is something like 1280x800... That was a guess :D

I think the homepage needs the sidebar, but perhaps modified. The homepage sidebar could be wider, maybe 25-30% of the main container, and combine content and things like the login and the chatbox, while the sidebar on other pages could be the more 'regular' skinnier one.

I think you should make a forum for Photoshop mockups of new layout ideas. For me, it's a lot easier to express my layout ideas into an image, and it's more fun too :D Just an idea...

I agree that the tag box is completely useless x) At least by me. It just takes up space, in my opinion. I find it pointless? ... :/

Haily, I really like the pixely, varying shades of blue, I find it to be sort of a signature IC kind of thing. It's nice to keep things like that the same.
Obviously, the chat box is necessary, and I like it being in the sidebar, so I think even on the home page there should still be a sidebar.
I've become accustomed to the sidebar, and I think the home page would be weird without it.

To be totally honest, I love the home page ._. It's busy yes, but it's so organized that it's not confusing, at least not to me. I love the newest stock photos, graphics, and scripts boxes and the my account section.
I don't really think you could make it better xP I think it has a very nice balance of neatness and tons of stuff to look at :D
What a rambling post x)))

I agree that it could be a little wider and with other content in it. I like Zaphiie's ideas for modifying it.

I also think it's a great idea to submit image-based layout ideas, in theory. I'm not sure how many people would be really willing to share their ideas in such a format, though.

Edit: I also think Courier is disgusting and shouldn't be used at large.

Image-based layouts? Could you show us an example of one. I don't quite understand what they are. :/

One thing to keep in mind is the time it takes to load IC. You want to keep this as quick as possible so maybe some boxes on the front page could go or be reorganised.

Image based layout ideas.
As Zaphiie was saying, she likes to express her ideas in a photoshop mock up?
So you could even go in paint or something and draw up what your ideas of sidebar width and such would be.
Kind of like drawing the layout rather than actually making it. :P
I can't explain things to save my life, sorry. x)

lol maybe I shouldn't be thinking about fonts at 2 am

anyway, I'm really interested in making a new design for IceCaves. Maybe I'll start experimenting one of these days and post the design here.

An idea that I talked to Anna about, then Thomas was having more community stats. We currently show most online (which is why i've been online for... 15hrs?), and amount of ice points... i was thinking we could include:

- most online time spent without logging off (wanna show thomas I'm online more than him :P)
- most karma per person (interguild have it i think)
- most karma per post (interguild have it i think)

Maybe we could have a trophy for the top 10 members who have the most Karma.

Also a trophy for top posters. This is icecaves design topic.... this should be the trophy for most karma:

(Inside joke from interguild.)

@jules - great idea

@Thomas - O_o