Suggestions for front page of the new forum
Hi Friends, I have some suggestions for the front page of the new forum.
Above fold slider/image
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I would Love to see a slide show type of feature on the front page, where we can display the best Inkscape images.
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This is related to #272 (closed), the same slider should be used throughout the website
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If the slide show can't work, let's at least have space to display one image. Maybe we can make up some kind of contest for choosing which image to display. Then we'd change it from time to time. Or maybe an admin can take the responsibility to contact artists and ask for permission to use whatever image they might choose.
I'm not very good at mockups. But I would see the slideshow or single image as taking up the top half to 3/4 of the screen. Maybe 400 to 600 px high?
Below fold Board list
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The Recent Messages list doesn't really need to be on the front page at all. It would be fine to have a link to it on the front page. However, it could go below the slideshow/image space.
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Rethink the forum navigation (Move Recent Messages link to sidebar)
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Typically the forum index has the Categories and Boards on the front page, rather than in the column on the left, as it is now. So possibly the index could go below the slideshow/image space. Then some of the less important links, such as link to Recent Messages could go in the left column. The current bottom part of the left column would fit well there, just like it is now (Who's online, Moderator Log, Comment Purgatory, Ban List). And also, the current top part (My Comments, My Subscriptions, My Topics) would still fit well.
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Display Board index below slideshow
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Having made 2 different suggestions with the 3rd and 4th items, I really don't have a strong preference between them. I probably lean a little bit towards the 4th, because the forum tends to attract some really rank newbies sometimes, who might not be able to navigate the forum, unless it looks like other forums they may have used. But that's just a leaning, and not a strong preference.
- This really isn't specifically a front page type of thing, and it comes a little bit under "extra nice, but not strictly necessary". I'd love to see different "skins" available, which users could individually choose for themselves. At this point, it could be as simple as choosing a different color than black for the...not sure what to call it - accent color?
Thanks for listening :-)