WebSite Mockups

[blurymind]

I made a mockup of basically how i think the main website should look like.

bare in mind that this is a WIP and there are buttons to be added,links and other things that are not on their proper places. Also I am adding more white,where i can...When I am ready with the icons,i will upload them somewhere else..

here is ver 0.1
http://blurymind.googlepages.com/vectorlinux-main2

here is mockup ver 0.2
http://blurymind.googlepages.com/vectorlinux-main2.html

[easuter]

That looks pretty good blurymind!
I like the colors and the layout, though it would be cool if it fit then entire width of the browser window. The RSS feeds for the posts and latest packages is also a very neat idea

[|nic|]

Nice Blurrymind !!

I'm also a little bit into webdesign, if you want some help...

greetz

[rbistolfi]

That is great blury! Let me know if I can help too 
I agree with Easuter about the width. It will make more space useful for a bigger screenshot.
Do you think about which content manager could be used? I tryed to install the current on my xampp server with no success  .

[blurymind]

Thank you guys, I'm trying to make it blend with the scheme of the forum,while bringing some glossiness.

I fixed the width and the layout abit.Added the ads too.

rbistolfi and |nic| > why,you are welcome to help indeed. I'm not sure about the content manager. We can learn from other websites i guess.

You can wget the html file and edit it if you wish.Dont forget,that this is only a mockup. I am not sure whether the managers would like to change the color scheme or the design.

I'n not aiming for full functionality in this mockup,altho i can get it with the help of friends    For now,my prime goal is to finish the mockup and make it look the way it does in my head.

ToDo:
add buttons for top navigation
Make more (smaller) stripes
add extra glossiness and darker shades of blue where possible.

Aim for simplicity. Curent VL website is overcrowded with obsolete links,and its hard to navigate. Simple and beautiful is the goal.

Theme inspiration:
Vl forums' scheme
vec's seamonkey's skin

here is mockup ver 0.2
http://blurymind.googlepages.com/vectorlinux-main2.html

cheers

oh, when ready or closer to functionality, you are welcome to upload it (index2.html  ? still needs some code cleanup ) and change its code to suit vec's forum. Its still not ready, today i made some of the graphics ,tomorow i finish them and upload them.

[rbistolfi]

Blury, I just love it. You are doing a great job. I think we could find a content manager flex enough to get a look like your's. Or may be we could develop our own, if there are some php coders avaible  . I think a simple database could suite the vl needs. I am not sure how to make the user info avaible from the forum, I can do some reaserch the next week, I have no time rigth now 
I am not sure about this, but maybe you could add three icons, one for Download, one for "how to get help", and one for "how to help to vl". I would like to see that info clearly accesible  for every visitor; but could be hard to find the space. I agree about keeping it simple. I think we can avoid the Anooncements, and just upload a mini-site for each new release, but only if a clear "download" icon is added.

[blurymind]

well,pclinuxOs is using smf as their forum,and at the main page it shown some information,like "who's online" and "inbox/login/etc"

They are using some nice "rocket" theme,idk...

I think the best announcement way to go is integration with the forum,or a sepparate module,idk.Its up for them to decide,but what I'd love to see is the integration for the user, making the main page usefull will make the users check it more often. Nifty features such as:

*show latest 7-9  posts from the forum are 100% possible to achieve ,using the rss and a web rss reader.The ones at googlepages just suck,so i think we can find one that is GPL 
or maybe...
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=8775.0

*User panel integration with the forum: Just like pclinux Os' , we must find out what are they using and rip it off Show number of users online/and usernames igf possible, show wether user is logged in and if so,show inbox messages. Hey they too are using SMF, im googling it out right now..

*Show latest packages from the repo- I am sure that this is possible to achieve,directly taking the uinformation f4rom the ftp of a repo(s). Wolvix has something like that. If not,its still possible to use the web rss-reader+ rss from the forum's section for the "new packages" (which would be a more dynamic choice )

*Rss for the ANNOUNCEMENTS is a must have. I will add Rss button for the announcements at the forum if not possible otherwise  ,altho vec already has a mailing list.

*Link screenshots to TuxMachines

Just look at their website:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/

its so simple and functional.I'd love to check it out each time before i log into the forum.


I am curently still working on the graphics. Also,i have a friend who can do the integration i think,that shows info on main page. I can ask him to help later.

I might have to move the site from googlepages server later on ,since there are some limitation there.

...and even if vec team doesnt want to use a new design,hey- this will make a great vector-fan site,bringing usefull information about the inner-works of the community at one place.

[M0E-lnx]

That looks really kool... good work blurymind

[rbistolfi]

Looks like the smf integration you like is easy t do  :

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/ssi_examples.php

[vector]

Looks like you guys are serious........... I like the mockup too however, for portability I would like to stay with the same cms that the main site presently uses. With the generosity of Masta we have set up a test site with the phpwebsite cms and it's default theme at http://supergamer.org/vl/testsite
which you are welcome to modify to your hearts content. There are also about 100 different themes available which you can find at http://themes.kiesler.at
that can be used as a starting point. The person or persons that want to do the actual site modifications will need to pm Masta or myself and we will supply you with ftp access so files are accesible. Once the site is completed its just a matter of importing it's database to our main webhost and we have a new site.
For site administration from its administration panel please pm me and I'll set up admin accounts for those that want to participate. I am excited about this and if we get enough interest we will set up a seperate section for it on the board.
cheers,
Vec

[rbistolfi]

I think there is no problem about keeping the current cms. I think this theme has the same structure of blury's one: http://themes.kiesler.at/index.php?theme=Gemini
Just edit the images and it can looks as the mockups. And looks like it already has some SII.php includes, down and rigth you will find a smf window...I would like to see the source and see if more can be added...

[DrCR]

I like the way the packages and posts kinda bleed towards the screen edge in http://blurymind.googlepages.com/vectorlinux-main2. I don't have a clue when it comes to web stuff, but breaking out and coloring such sections with an overalll layout like http://blurymind.googlepages.com/vectorlinux-main2.html would be a joy to summerize at a glance. Not crazy about the zebra stripeing though, just doen't seem to fit the site and forums.

[metvas]

Maybe we could add a theme now that we are on the subject. How would a Vector Linux projects conceived and brought into being as a result of Vector Linux being a part of it. I know several of us do not for profit projects now. We could put an explanation of those projects there, explaining the benefits to the respective Communities It would help VL and help the projects by giving them exposure at the same time. An example would be David Dehls and the Computers for Kidd's program in Reno as well as the computers donated by the Lions Club to the evacuees at the Red Cross Evacuation Center for evacuees from the Angora Fire at South Lake Tahoe.

Regards
Darrell
PS The VL box should be seen when the page loads.
Let me know if I can help know up to DHTML beyond that ?

[blurymind]

Thanks for the interest and support.
I talked a friend into this (who has the experience and skills to do it) and we started working on it. My job now is easier,because i have to make the logo and a bunch of buttons (or finish them). He will do the coding (the thing he is good at). At first he was against csm,but somehow i managed to talk him into doing it.
He too is using vector linux and would love to contribute back to the comunity with this website.

We might take a cms theme and then modificate it to suit our tastes.
It will take a while tho.I will inform you of the progress.

[rbistolfi]

I was looking into the SSI.php file (it is installed by default on the root dir of smf) to do what we want about site-forum integration.
The first thing to do is to link the file, we need to add this on the top of the website page:

Code:

<?php require("/path/SSI.php"); ?>

And then...

*show latest 7-9  posts from the forum are 100% possible to achieve ,using the rss and a web rss reader.The ones at googlepages just suck,so i think we can find one that is GPL  Tongue
or maybe...
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=8775.0

Code:

<?php ssi_boardNews($board = null, $limit = 5, $start = null, $length = null, $output_method = 'echo'); ?>

This will show the last 5 posts of the forum. We can modify the original function to show just the subject.

*User panel integration with the forum: Just like pclinux Os' , we must find out what are they using and rip it off Tongue Show number of users online/and usernames igf possible, show wether user is logged in and if so,show inbox messages. Hey they too are using SMF, im googling it out right now..

For this you can use:

Code:

<?php ssi_login(); ?>
<?php ssi_welcome(); ?>
<?php ssi_whosOnline(); ?>
<?php ssi_logout(); ?>

This will show the login section, your nick and new messages notification, who is online, and the logout link.

*Show latest packages from the repo- I am sure that this is possible to achieve,directly taking the uinformation f4rom the ftp of a repo(s). Wolvix has something like that. If not,its still possible to use the web rss-reader+ rss from the forum's section for the "new packages" (which would be a more dynamic choice )

Here we can use the first function with some mods, setting $board = "whatever_package_news_board" to link to the new packages section from the forum, and once again, we need to find the way to limit the output to the subject of the topic. Hmm, I think that can be done with $output_method = ´array´ instead $output_method = ´echo´...