Website Redesign

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Incendium
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Website Redesign

#1 Post by Incendium »

As some of you may know, I have been working with PyTom over the past few months to give the Ren'Py website a visual overhaul. This past week we have progressed to a point where we are ready to unveil it to the public.

That said, I would like to present the beta version of the new site which is viewable at Ren'Py website. The site is now live! See it at http://renpy.org/.

Please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions or found a bug that needs quashing. If you would like to check out the complete source code, it is available on Launchpad. I look forward hearing what everyone has to say and to continue to collaborate with PyTom on this in the future.
Last edited by Incendium on Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Website Redesign

#2 Post by PyTom »

I'd just like to thank Incendium for putting together this website.

When he says "working with PyTom", he really means he did the bulk of the work. That freed me up to work on Ren'Py itself, which is great for my sanity. What's more, the end result looks much better than the first hacks that I showed #renpy.

So, thanks again.
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Re: Website Redesign

#3 Post by Sapphi »

It looks awesome! You guys did a great job ^_^
The color scheme is lovely =w=

It does seem a bit redundant that "Documentation" is both a main link and one of the first links on the "Support" page, though.

Also, I've been kinda wondering about this... would it be possible to include a link to the Ren'Py site on the top of this forum where it says "Visit our development blog aggregator and wiki."? I end up having to google Ren'Py every time I need to access the docs.
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Re: Website Redesign

#4 Post by dstarsboy »

Wow, excellent job Incendium. It's a huge improvement and very easy to get around in.
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Re: Website Redesign

#5 Post by Incendium »

Sapphi wrote:It does seem a bit redundant that "Documentation" is both a main link and one of the first links on the "Support" page, though.
The idea is to get the user to look at the documentation first, because most of the time what they want to know will be in there. I tried to order the support page items in order of helpfulness and immediacy.

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Re: Website Redesign

#6 Post by Naeddyr »

Do you have any way for people to report typos and faulty code examples, except just bugging you about it or making a bug report? A bug report would seem a bit overkill for "you forgot a colon in this code snippet".

(http://beta.renpy.org/doc/html/screens.html first example)

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Re: Website Redesign

#7 Post by DaFool »

There's no Ren'Py Shop?

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Re: Website Redesign

#8 Post by PyTom »

Naeddyr>>>

Posting here would be fine.

DaFool>>>

There's no Ren'Py Shop yet.
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Re: Website Redesign

#9 Post by sake-bento »

Ooh, it looks nice. I like the streamlined design. It's much easier to navigate. Will there be some sort of shortcut links to things like the Cookbook and the FAQ? Questions like "how do I make a gallery?" show up fairly frequently on the forums already.

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Re: Website Redesign

#10 Post by jack_norton »

Agree, it looks much better now :) good work!
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Re: Website Redesign

#11 Post by PyTom »

There are links to the FAQ and cookbook on the front page, and on the support page. I'm not sure we want to go much further than that - the previous design was very cluttered with navigation.
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Re: Website Redesign

#12 Post by Aleema »

Yay for new website. Already expressed how I felt about the blue, but I agree that pink and/or yellow would've been sore on the eyes. The use of white/black throws me off (top navigation does not match the bottom), but not as much as the highlight orange does (just use the damn pink already!!). =P And a simple gradient from the top would do magical wonders to the design. The flat logo on the flat BG screams more than just simplicity. Sorry, I'm just ... my webdesigner is taking over. Of course, I'm grateful you donated your lovely time for this. <3 You can ignore this. I have to say it, though, or my eye starts twitching.
PyTom wrote:There are links to the FAQ and cookbook on the front page, and on the support page. I'm not sure we want to go much further than that - the previous design was very cluttered with navigation.
Speaking just in a user-friendly sort of sense, text links are easily ignored by the brain if there is more than three in paragraph form. A button, even if they're smaller than the ones already there, would be way more effective than text links (even bullet points do better) -- no main navigation incorporation necessary. And anything that can be done to lessen your load of support posts, I would think, you would jump at. xD

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Re: Website Redesign

#13 Post by Incendium »

I still have a hefty to-do list to get through, this is just intended to get something out to coincide with the Android release. Keep the suggestions coming, there is always room for improvement. :D

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Re: Website Redesign

#14 Post by Aleema »

... really!? *spasms*
Here are some color scheme suggestions, but again ... just blathering at the mouth because this kind of stuff excites me ...

I would have to say the biggest challenge with the design is the incorporation of the logo. It's primary colors are pink (hair) and yellow (snake). There isn't a trace of blue on her, and if you're going for contrast, I get it (though the opposite would be more green). I think what's the problem is that the blue is desaturated, and the logo is very bright. If you upped the saturation just a bit, the logo and the color would go hand-in-hand:
scheme1.jpg
And it's more reminescent of the default Ren'Py color scheme. Even that color of blue I think would be more appropriate, since we're used to seeing the two together:
scheme3.jpg
I would personally recommend breaking from blue altogether, but I understand it's a neutral color. Still, reds, oranges, and yellows are more friendly towards the logo.
scheme2.jpg
This, again, is all based on the logo. It's kind of important, though, since Pepsi's branding colors aren't green or orange -- it's blue and red, because that's what's in the logo.

I do recommend making the top navigation more like the bottom, because I love the bottom. I think that means making the hover color the same color as the BG. I'd also recommend a color different from orange for the highlight ... I love orange. It's my favorite color, but it's not working for me here.

... and that's the last I'll say. Take what you want, ignore what you don't want. :)

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Re: Website Redesign

#15 Post by backansi »

So.. No one can't edit the new documentation?
Where should I put the translated new doc, then? :? On wiki?

Anyway, new website is neat. Cool.

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