Forum:MegaProject: Arise - Main Page Revamp

Examples/Tests
I've got this and this as tests of the ideas we've thrown in here. And of course, the draft. 04:41, 25 June 2014 (UTC)


 * 15's suggestion on the portals sounds fine to me. On the portal information, in general: We don't have to have every single category or topic known to mankind about the game. Just a brief/general list of noteworthy things. If we make the portals too complex/full not only are they redundant as 15 said, but we'll be throwing a lot of information at the viewer. As for the mobile device: All things considered? I'd say that is minor. Most people won't be looking at it from their phones- though some definitely will. I say we aim for as many fronts as we can, without compromising the main front [computers]. Also, wherever we can place a vote, I vote for a colored background. 23:52, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

I'll do what I can to limit the information. See, I don't think its redundant because the portals remain on the main page. It acts more like a gateway to the game page and all its related pages. But I will do what I can to get to a compromise. As far as mobile. To be honest, the page does very poorly on mobile currently, and I don't think there should be too much a difference. However, I'm really inspired from watching Google I/O, so I might look into developing a dedicated and better mobile page (and perhaps an app?). Regardless, I feel we should not worry too much about the mobile version, because for the most part it shouldn't be too different from how it appears now.

More examples, this time the portal in practice. here and here 00:18, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

I'm liking the portals so far. I actually do use my phone fairly often, but not usually to visit the main page, so the three columns won't be a big impact, practically speaking, but it's not nice to see like that. At some point we should fix that. -- 14:49, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
 * I like the portals too. I think we should have two rows of portals, one of main releases and the other of remasters so "newbies" can comprehend the series quicker. Also, on each hover menu, we should say which game it is chronologically. Like always, the problem comes with CoM and Days since CoM is sandwiched between two halves of Days. We should release the main page after the portals are fixed; there's no rush to have it out there. The mobile problem can be fixed with the potential app that will happen. 15:15, 2 July 2014 (UTC)


 * I'll definitely split them into two rows. I was going to list them chronologically, actually, but, as you noted, it gets complicated with KHCOM and KH358, since they happen simultaneously. Again, a timeline would be great. 17:14, 2 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Looks like it's ready for release. 18:34, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Known Issues
UPDATED: July 6, 2014


 * Game portals do not work in Vector and RoundedBlue. Reason: CSS for Portals is missing in MediaWiki:Vector.css and MediaWiki:Roundedblue.css
 * Mobile version does not look good with the three columns. The hope right now is that the mobile extension Porplemontage will install will fix this issue.

Further Feedback
If I might offer my two cents, I would like to comment specifically on the color. The solid gray seems a bit flat, as there are really no breaks in it. Additionally, it makes the borders of the boxes faint. The Bublbapedia main page, for instance, breaks it up nicely with multiple neutral colors. It seems as if we are trying to emphasize the middle column especially, so, perhaps, a more emphasizing color there would be a good start?

Also, if I might make another suggestion, I feel it would be useful for organizational purposes to make the content of the content-heavy boxes into templates (like Featured User or Featured Article currently have) so that each part of the page can be identified and modified more quickly if needed. Given that it is not updated super-often, this might not be necessary, but it wouldn't be bad either way.  Lord Obitus   20:52, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

I currently haven't experimented with the colors yet, but I have played with the SEIWA template. On smaller monitors, the triple columns significantly compressed the look (as seen here, making it look broken and awkward. After a little modification, I got this look on the same scale monitor.  It both keeps continuity and reduces space consumption.  The downside, I suppose, would be that it makes the appearance more "vertical," if that makes sense, which makes it blend a little too much.  More or less, I think this version or one similar should be implemented.  Additionally, I think coloring the logo image itself red would be of benefit to the page, as the grey brushstroke on the gray background is very flat-looking.   06:02, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Edit: 06:47, 9 July 2014 (UTC) So, my color testing is done. The version I would like to put forth is here. I added a lighter background to each content area to make them pop more and gave a three-point gradient to the portal area so it stands out even more. The gradient seems like a bit much, though.

For the sake of easy comparison, here is the current page versus my current revision (with or without the gradient). Highlighting the backgrounds makes the content pop more, methinks, though, again, I don't know about the gradient.

The unevenness in the example images is due mainly to modifications I made in the templates for the sake of space saving. 06:47, 9 July 2014 (UTC)