EG Redesign - Ideas and Suggestions?

[Drashner1]

Hello all,

Trond and I had a meeting last night and the consensus was that things have reached the point where we can start the ball rolling on the redesign of the Encyclopaedia Galactica.

As part of this process, we would like to get your thoughts and input on what features and functionality you would like to see in a redesigned EG.

Please post your ideas to this thread (which I will be making sticky) for consideration. Please note that we can't guarantee that every suggestion will be implemented, but we are certainly willing to consider them.

Speaking on general principles, we are looking at having the new EG be based on the same basic design as the new website, but with various differences in terms of appearance/color scheme, and how information is presented (Details TBD - and open to suggestions/ideas in this area). This to make it simpler to both maintain the EG and also modify it over time in terms of appearance or related features.

Also - for our more artistically inclined members - Trond would like to develop a logo or equivalent for the EG, separate from the OA logo. We haven't worked out exactly where and how this would be used yet, but the main EG page is a virtual certainty, plus wherever else seems to work well.

Finally, for those members who have been/are/might be itching to do something with the OA timeline pages to make them work better (in general or editorially) there is a plan for a 'Phase III' to the OA redesign project that will focus on the timeline specifically. It is still very early days on the details of this part of the project, but if this is something you're specifically interested in, feel free to PM me and we can discuss.

Ok - I think that about covers things for now. If you have any questions or concerns about any of the above, please post them here or PM me directly. Otherwise, looking forward to seeing what ideas you post to share.

Thanks!

Todd

[Worldtree]

Honestly i like the EG the way it is, graphically speaking
Though open to suggestions

But I’m sure there’s some features that could help improve it

Expand/contraction for blocks of text
Definitely some features for adding certain kinds of tables / spreadsheets

But personally I think the back end interface needs an overhaul much more

[Drashner1]

But personally I think the back end interface needs an overhaul much more

Please feel free to post ideas/suggestions about that too, then. Although as I think of it, perhaps it would be better to do that on the Editor's sub-forum, just to keep things tidy.

Will generate a sticky thread over there momentarily.

Thanks!

Todd

[selden]

A selectable “night mode” (white or light text on black or dark background) would be nice.

For the forum, too.

[sandcastles]

My only problem with it is the text in the images is often illegible.  Everything else is fine.

[radtech497]

Just a thought, so take it for what you think it's worth.

What if, when opening a section of the EG (Culture and Society, History, Sophonts, &c.), a "splash page" opened, showing the section title and full-screen graphic backgrounds illustrating the content of the section? This would bring the section pages into line with the main site's page format, and alleviate the (possibly) jarring shift from the new site design to the retro look of the section pages as now exists. Anyway, just an errant notion.

Radtech497

[Drashner1]

My only problem with it is the text in the images is often illegible.  Everything else is fine.

Can you please explain what you mean by this a bit more?

Are you saying a given image may include text within itself that is illegible or that the captions for images are often illegible?

Thanks!

Todd

[Drashner1]

Just a thought, so take it for what you think it's worth.

What if, when opening a section of the EG (Culture and Society, History, Sophonts, &c.), a "splash page" opened, showing the section title and full-screen graphic backgrounds illustrating the content of the section? This would bring the section pages into line with the main site's page format, and alleviate the (possibly) jarring shift from the new site design to the retro look of the section pages as now exists. Anyway, just an errant notion.

Radtech497

Just so I'm building a correct mental picture here - Are you suggesting that the major section pages (such as what you mention above) would look something like the new main page, with a single large background image and then some sort of text and/or navigation controls sitting on top of that? Or that the background would have something like a 'collage' of smaller images relating to the subject matter? Or something else?

On a related note - Our current plan is to retire the current retro look of the EG across the board, although we are also thinking to preserve (or at least give a nod to) some specific design elements of the current EG. Not sure exactly what that might look like yet, though.

Thanks!

Todd

[Drashner1]

So - Here are some ideas/suggestions for the EG redesign. Some are original to me, some have come up from other members over the years, sometimes repeatedly.

Random Article window or button on main EG screen

Replace EG main page buttons with image+text thumbs (images can be changed by the Editors when desired)

Article TOCs - either like Wikipedia (collapsible - displays in center of screen) or Britannica (on left side of screen)

Thumbnail/pop-up in-text links if possible

Make picture boxes mini-galleries able to display multiple images

Add ‘internal text boxes’ possibly able to cycle through multiple sub-articles

Table/database embedding (Glossary terms, portions of the timeline, etc.)

Links that jump to a specific location on a page rather than just to the top of the page

Possibly have in text hyperlinks open in a new tab or window rather than jumping to the new page

Just some thoughts,

Todd

[stevebowers]

Currently image boxes can only display one caption per box, so if you add multiple images to any particular box, that box can only display one caption.

On another note, it should be possible to add images into a data panel, so you can add both images and text to data panels.

A scrollable map option would be nice too, but that would be a much bigger change.

We don't have an option in the CMS to add links that jump to a specific location on a page rather than just to the top of the page, but this can be achieved using HTML code. Indeed, most HTML code works in the CMS, but it is a bit awkward to use sometimes.