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Suggested Theme (Mock-Up) for RS 4.0

By: Martin Knight (Diary)  |  December 10th, 2008 at 06:22 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I’ve been moaning and groaning about the site template (or theme) since the move from RS 2.0. Personally, I thought RS 1.0 and 2.0 templates were very good. RS 3.0? Well, it wasn’t just the CMS (I’m sure Neil would agree) that was cr*p.

Let me be honest, I really, really, don’t like the RS 3.0 (and now 4.0) theme.

I think it’s dull, depressing (the {body} gray never fails to p*ss me off) and, with all due respect to the guy who came up with it, it probably turns a lot of curious people away before they figure out that they’ve stumbled upon one of the treasures of the Internet.

Despite the saying, and we should know this especially after this election, people continue to judge the book by its cover. And seriously, when you compare the look and feel of RedState now to that of DailyKos and there’s a lot less to make the random clicker stay.

Either way, the last time I complained about the theme/template, Erick asked me to get in touch and make some suggestions. Since then though, Erick has had a lot more important stuff to deal with so I’m letting y’all take a look while the Dear Leader and Gunnar get acquainted.

The following are gif mock-ups of the front page as conceived by me (and inspired by the template of RS 1.0) over the last two days – I used Photoshop to put it all together, which means it probably would be a nightmare for the guy who’d have to come up with the CSS and code the PHP. {grovel}Sorry!{/grovel}


Yeah … I know; I forgot the “Remember Me” checkbox.

This is when one is logged in (see the Profile) and is hovering over the “Sections” i.e. Categories menu.


I just think an Events calendar “on mouse over” type widget would be cool.


Subscribe …

Anyway; all criticisms welcome. The aim here is to kick-start a collaborative process that would come up with something better than what we’ve got now, even if it looks nothing like what’s above.

Thanks.
Martin A. Knight

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COMMENTS

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  • Martin Knight

    .

    • Caleb (absentee)

      Hope you don’t mind, I made the images clicky to the full size.
      - c

      • John E.

        But can you upsize them. They still end up shurnken in my browser IE

      • Martin Knight

        Wanted to do that … after I posted it.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    “Wow he just made a dark version of RS 1.”

    • Martin Knight

      Why abandon a good thing?

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    I think your sidebars are a step back in usability. The headers all look the same. I’m inclined to make them all even more distinct visually, not less.

    • Martin Knight

      I thought the icons and the text would be enough. Oh well …

      PS: The “More” is supposed to make the sidebars expand downwards to reveal a larger number of entries. i.e. from 8 Member Diaries to 20.

      PPS: No rush, but when is the “Edit Own Diary” functionality coming back, Neil?

      • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

        Look at Red Hot right now, for example.

        As for diary editing: soon. I have a long list I’m working through, plus to be honest while Erick was welcoming Gunnar into the world I had to field emails that ordinarily would have gone to him. :-)

        • Martin Knight

          And yeah … I’m pretty certain Erick would find himself with a lot less time for us online layabouts with Gunnar around than he thought …

          So I guess you’re the interim Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wazabanga (of RedState), eh?

          {bowing head}

          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

            Because even if we end up not using your layout we could always use the graphics!

        • Martin Knight

          I think the icons and text in the headers, especially at full size, work to distinguish it all quite well.

          Besides, sidebar headers usually all follow the same format e.g. RS right now.

        • olsmithie

          Will this return?

          Regards

  • John E.

    I haven’t studied your layouts but I much prefer your color schemes. Redstate ought to be loaded with RED as you have conceived it. This sea of blue or grey-blue is not only depressing, it is contrary.

  • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/ Brian Simpson

    1. Making it so the two side columns raise to the top of the page and slimming down the header is a big part of the improvement. It really does expose far more of the content immediately.

    2. Red! Lots of red needed.

    3. I’m a huge fan of active menus. Hover and the box drops down. Me likey. I would even suggest moving the user functions (“Create New Diary” etc) to this bar after someone is logged in. Heck, even have the log in an active menu item much like what is found on Hulu.com

    4. The “More” tabs that expand fields to show more selection is great. Push that even further to an “Even More” that opens the archives.

    5. I love the prominence of the “Get Local” feature. That’s the future of RedState right there.

    6. I see new comment tracking. [I know. Neil says it isn't likely to come back. But a guy can dream.]

    7. The blogroll is back. People miss that. It’s how I found a whole bunch of the sites that I now read.

    • Martin Knight

      On number (6): I read that somewhere – I’m sorta trying to plant the idea in Neil’s head, y’know? Then maybe one day, in his spare time, he would fire up Dreamweaver and add us a little widget …

      Thanks for the breakdown. Is there anything you don’t like? Can I trouble you for a Reco?

      • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/ Brian Simpson

        Thought I had reco’d.

        Hmm.

        What I don’t like…or more aptly constructive critcism…or maybe suggestions for improvement…or whatever.

        1. I would consider changing the background color to red (but not in the posts, Recent Diaries, etc; only the area that is currently occupied by that dreary blueish gray). Or at least a shade of red. Heck, even a similarly washed out red would look better than the blue that is there.

        2. Make the headers for the side bar stuff graphics. – I liked that suggestion of Neil’s. The RedHot image being the concept that seems to work. It gives the page more flair.

        3. You are mission the Action Alert e-mail sign up (or I’m not seeing it) – part of the future of RedState as a tool for activism

        4. Hmmm…..that’s all I got for now.

        Oh, and here is where Neil said that “New!” comment tracking was unlikely to return.

        • Martin Knight

          On point 2 – I have to be honest, I’m not getting it. But I’ll take it into consideration. I was kinda hoping that someone with some skill would take my stuff up there and work a little magic of their own to improve it.

          Point 3 – I’m aware of it. Just couldn’t fit it in, but it’s there in spirit (-: …

  • Martin Knight

    Was hoping I wouldn’t be the most active commenter on this diary.

    • rcov092

      Content is king, not dull gray. Also the contrast from the gray is not high enough. A darker background will enhance readability and reduce fatigue – IMHO.

  • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/ Brian Simpson

    Someone is actually asking for your input on site design (or possible site design).

    How about giving Martin some likes/dislikes/suggestions. (and even a reco if you like what’s going on, eh?)

  • RetNAV

    and it looks pretty good to me – as long as the gray/bluish background goes away.

  • woodsman

    I was not a member when RS 1.0 was around, so I could not comment on the before. However, I really like the use of Red on White. Perhaps the Darker red could be used for the front page diaries and a softer red used for the sidebars. By using the more vivid red on the front page entries the eye is drawn to that. As it is now, the bright red on the sidebars tends to catch the eye first.

    Another feature I would like to see is not so much for the RS members, but one for recommended charitable organizations. Such as, http://www.specialops.org/ or some others highly recommended by members.

    Any anything that helps with the ease of editing, formatting, or writing of diaries. Is it possible to get a WYSIWYG text editing?

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  • aesthete

    Also, maybe a larger and more prominent “get local” thing. As a bonus, it would be cool yo have a “get local” widget, which highlights the state your mouse hovers over (and maybe the headlines for the latest stories from that state).

    Also, anything that could make the site look less cluttered would be a huge plus for me.

    And, as others have said, more red!

    • aesthete

      “it would be cool to have…”

  • Crowe

    I think the headers on the right-hand columns are fine the way you have them. Red with clear, concise text — plenty readable for the newbie, and bold enough so the one who is used to where things are will know which section they’re in just by the placement of the header, without having to read it…

    Thanks for pushing for a return to the roots

  • SKilroe

    I think this proposed layout is terrific. It appears that it would be easier to navigate also. A very polished and professional appearance. I have very much missed the blogroll and the search field. I am glad to see the comments section shorter ( it could go away for all I care). The member log-in placement looks good as does the get local area – good to have them at the top of the page and easy to get to. I like the calendar pull-down too.

    My thoughts on the color: I like the amount of red in this layout. Agree with many about the blue-gray. Yucchh! However, instead of adding even more red, how about yellow to replace the current blue-gray. Now I don’t mean deep gold or egg yolk yellow but a more subtle shade along the lines of a deep, warm ‘manila folder’ yellow. The red will really pop in a way that it doesn’t with the blue-gray background.

    I prefer the masthead along the entire top on the current layout and would like to see that retained if you go to a new layout. However, the rest of the proposed layout breaks the page up from the current columns which are rather dull. I appreciate the varying widths between the wider blogs on the left and the links on the right. Easier on the eyes.

    I do agree with Martin – this is a treasure on the Internet and appearance does count and makes a huge difference. I have been with Redstate through a couple of different changes but I could never define clearly what was missing or what I preferred. So, Martin, thank you for working on this. I will be interested to see what happens with it all. Whatever you do with the layout, I will still visit Redstate, as I do every day.

    P.S. I tried to look at Caleb’s modifications but got an error page instead so I can’t comment on that yet.

  • Pingback: ChooseTheHero.com » Blog Archive » The Design

  • Jill1066

    I like the greater emphasis on the color red. The gray background looks disturbingly, um, … blue on my monitor. I’m not totally wild about all the red text though. I personally have very scroungy eyesight and favor black text on a very light background for maximum readability. Please don’t shrink the map with all the red states quite so much. California, Washington, Oregon, etc. in red may be a pipe dream, but it’s so nice to see!

    You obviously have great talent at this website design stuff. Thanks for using your talent to explore some interesting alternatives.

  • Pingback: Martin_A_Knight’s blog » My Continuing Quest To Make RS4.0 *Bayooootiful* … ::