New Homepage (Official Dev Feedback) - updated 4/5/09

[Uh-oh Its Arroyo]

I think it would look better if everything was a bit centered. The advertisement kind of throws off the appeal of the setup, but the design is great!

Yes, it does show more about the community and the Cash items but eh, It's alright to me : 3

[starlightlynn30]

I have to agree it needs to be centered and less grey. I do like the layout though

[Nyadriel]

I like it. And as long as it does NOT look like a bill board, I am all for it.


Very nice, very organized, very more informatory... Tweak the fun a bit more - just a tad. Other than that, very nice.

(also need to make that large advert area much smaller. Its over-bearing)

[Yen Quest]

I agree with some points made by those before me, criticizing wise... But for my suggestions:

-I assume it's a glitch on popular items the (icon not matching text name), but anyway... I would like the "Popular item" list to feature items that Gaia staff think is worth featuring for its type (like MC, CS/EI, zOMG recipe or game items, goldshop, etc). Kind of like "Suggested items" from the dress up page. I rather call this "Featured Items" or "Item Spotlight" instead.

-Rename "Keep the lights on" to "Sponser links" because that's what I think it's mainly used for. Remove "Popular Topics" because it's already under the Community landing page (and the topics are somewhat voted/decided by the community anyway).

-Split "Announcement" section into 2 sections: featured, and community. Featured could be about new releases on Gaia (like MC/CS/features/etc) while Community will be things like Community Spotlight, Item Contests, Bug fixes. Have one of those two sections take place of "Popular Topics".

-I'm hoping featured avatar is something Gaia (staff) picked themselves, rather than arena winners. If it's arena based, then that's already redundant since we have such feature under the Community tab. If Gaia staff picked the avatar themselves, I'm hoping this is something have to do with that thread in GCD where people nominate themselves (and are aware of preparing themselves for such event).

-I don't see the difference between "What's Hot" and "Spotlight" (Barrett). I find "Spotlight" to be redundant and really unnecessary. Remove the "Spotlight" and replace it with "featured profile" from Community tab. Rename "What's Hot" to "Spotlight" since that's what it really is (to me). And since we're moving the "featured profile" from Community tab, have "Popular Items" go under Community tab to make up the "featured profile". The "Popular Items" will show the most traded items in the MP/trades/talked-in-forums/etc.

Mainly... Cut down on the redundancy or have it separated to different types of section. Have the Homepage mainly feature/spotlight something Gaia staff choose themselves for featuring, while the Community page be based on userbase's (more on the line of votes/participation) like top arena winners, vote up popular topics, items actively bought in MP, etc.

*edits*
Lol, I'm going way too deep into this. Do not take it to heart, kay? I mean, I barely use the homepage anyway. xD

[Kairi Rora]

I really like the new design, it's a lot easier on the eyes. My one idea was that since you wanted to make it less ad-like, you could put the announcements on top of gaia cinemas and the advertisement. Just to make it a bit less in your face. But otherwise I think it's lookin' good smile

[Chocobo Princess]

Link to "Admin Panel"? Is this that new area where the devs write about bug fixes and whatnot? If so, that's the best change I see on this page. I can hardly wait for that. whee

[Pulse La Cie]

LOVE IT!

[Haunts Pain]

I like the layout overal but mabey you can move the cinema thing somewhere...it looks really out of place O_O

[Mindset]

Chocobo Princess

Link to "Admin Panel"? Is this that new area where the devs write about bug fixes and whatnot? If so, that's the best change I see on this page. I can hardly wait for that. whee

No, that's, well, an administration area, something the screencapper has access to because they're a dev. They probably should have taken the 'cap on a non-dev mule, really.

Feedback:
I rarely spend much time on the logged-in homepage, but this is definitely more streamlined and less busy. Anything else you can do to make it actually interesting is a plus.

I generally like what's going on here, though I agree with the feeling that the "Keeping the Lights On" is meh, and hopefully was just filler text like the popular items section. Its redundancy with the announcements section right next to it is bothersome... though if you do start separating announcements, maybe less so.

I do like the fact that this includes the popular topics from the community page, and probably should include a sample of all the main pages. Is that part of "What's Hot", stuff like games, etc.?

I'm assuming that big central image will cycle like the current one... hopefully events will be a big part of it. smile

[Danzavare]

I like it a lot more. 3nodding Brings colour and energy to the site our current homepage is lacking. I'm actually kind of hoping the feature avatar is randomly chosen from the whole active userbase (if it's possible to limit it like that) or simply out of people currently online. It would avoid having too many people hassled by strange users (Call me pessimistic, but I believe that's an issue for arena and profile winners. Correct me if I'm wrong) and keep it interesting.

Also, to be honest I couldn't care less if the popular items were random too, it ensures that the user attention goes over a variety of items although I can see why some may want a more accurate system. I agree with others on relabeling "Keeping the lights on" to "Sponsors", only for the sake that it's less confusing. Overall I'm pleased with what they've come up with. 3nodding

On a somewhat related note, I wonder if we can ever have the tab buttons on top along with most of the purple bars on the site optional in colour. I'd love the option of changing the purple to red or something that keeps me awake a little more. Doesn't have to be too drastic, but a little change goes a long way.

[dreamsk]

NO on the "Whats Hot". We get pounded at least twice a week with CS advertisements, we dont need anymore. Another one is just going to piss me off. It also doesnt agree with point two, having to do with the community.

I liked seeing what friends were online. Is it possible to put that back?

[Carbon Soul]

Quote:

1) We wanted to make the homepage less busy and less ad-like by streamlining the layout

I don't think this goal was achieved while there's redundancy in the Announcements section and the "Keeping the Lights On" section. If the sponsorship announcements were filtered out of the announcements section, it would make more sense. (It's worth noting that most of the page looks like various advertisements for things anyways)

Having a link to the Featured Avatar's profile seems like a bad move that will end with relentless spamming of said profile. Perhaps a link to their arena entry instead?

I'm not sure how the "Spotlight" section is different from the "What's Hot" section. Seem to be promoting the same content.

I think a "New Items" area in place of the "Popular Items" would be more interesting to a greater number of people. I mean recently introduced items and not just cash shop garbage, since there's little known items that pop up like the Verizon Group and the Mischief Makers sign.

I can see any topic showing up in the popular topics area getting an unholy amount of spam, but I can understand why it's added.

Last, but not least, I like the footer in that picture. It's simplified and centered and would look so much better than the current one.

Ultimately, there's not much interesting information on there that will make me look at it any more than I do the current one. Maybe merging the logged in page with the My Gaia page and tying it all together will happen in a future revamp.

[snufflypoo]

i have no problem with the phrase 'keeping the lights on' - i thought it was funny. i really like the new page layout, it looks less cluttered.

[Sun Charm]

It's a bit more roganized, and easier to read, because it's simpler. I like it.

[lescirques]

I like it, although I think I would much rather want the announcements to be above the other two boxes. Just my opinion though.

It's nice and simple. C: