TPR New Front Page In Development!

[jynx242]

For me - Option 1 for the Twitter thing. I never use it on my phone, so it would be nice to see what you guys are tweeting.

[Guy T. Koepp]

 

Jimmy "Can option 3 be a HUGE picture of Robb that says "click here to enter TPR" right on his crotch? I'm sure everyone will enjoy seeing that every day" Bo

 

Can I change my vote to this!

[robbalvey]

For me - Option 1 for the Twitter thing. I never use it on my phone, so it would be nice to see what you guys are tweeting.

The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards the one with the Twitter feed. I actually think that social media IS important and as it grows more and more we will be posting even more to our social media pages.

 

We've also been doing a lot of polish work on the pages this week so if you check them again, you may find small little things tweaked here and there.

[Six Flags Enthuseast]

I really like both setups; each has a few likable things that the other one doesn't have.

 

Layout 1's Twitter feed is a nice addition, and the grey backgrounds of the TPR news and updates provide a nice sense of contrast between the site's black background and the real content.

 

Layout 2's larger news-reel is cool; I personally prefer it to the one on Layout 1. However, the matching background of the TPR news and updates, the lack of extra social media integration, and the fact that updates are crowded down by the news-reel makes it a less attractive option.

 

Overall, I think the look and funcitonality of Layout 1 is a better evolution than that of Layout 2, though both have their own good points. As a whole, I prefer Layout 1 to Layout 2.

[arby]

I don't know if this is a new 'tweak' or if I overlooked it because I was focusing on each page overall, but I absolutely LOVE the announcements ticker (for lack of a better word) that is at the top of both pages. I think that will be very helpful down the road providing lots of little tidbits if info without taking up a lot of screen space.

[Mr Stratosphere]

I love the first option, the inclusion of the tweets is a great addition!

[robbalvey]

Layout 1's Twitter feed is a nice addition, and the grey backgrounds of the TPR news and updates provide a nice sense of contrast between the site's black background and the real content.

 

Layout 2's larger news-reel is cool; I personally prefer it to the one on Layout 1. However, the matching background of the TPR news and updates, the lack of extra social media integration, and the fact that updates are crowded down by the news-reel makes it a less attractive option.

FYi - that Gray background on the TPR news & updates area for layout 1 was a tweak we just made today. It should be done for layout 2 soon as well.

[robbalvey]

Did a little more work on the pages the last couple of days to fix some minor things. Neither of them are "done", but if you're following along you can probably see some of the differences...

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/index_new1.php

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/index_new2.php

[Guy T. Koepp]

I think visually, they both look fantastic and more modern than the existing page. As much as I like #1, neither of them is going to be a bad choice.

[Mrlittle]

I really like the way option 1 is looking more and more. I have a question and it may not even be possible. Would there be a way to make a Random Stuff button. Like something we can click and it takes us to a random update/video or even thread in the forums. I've of course seen the Random Stuff update in the slide show but was just curious if this would be something possible. ( The only example that comes to mind of what I am talking about is the Random Coaster button on RCDB )

[robbalvey]

I really like the way option 1 is looking more and more. I have a question and it may not even be possible. Would there be a way to make a Random Stuff button. Like something we can click and it takes us to a random update/video or even thread in the forums. I've of course seen the Random Stuff update in the slide show but was just curious if this would be something possible. ( The only example that comes to mind of what I am talking about is the Random Coaster button on RCDB )

That is "sort of" already there. Go here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/index_new1.php

 

And click either the left or right arrow on the bigger picture until it gets to "random update" and every time you see "random update" it will be different. The images are still low-res as they pull from our current random update section on our front page, but we'll update that with higher res images before it goes live.

[crl1969]

I voted for choice 1 because of the twitter feed, I am not on twitter yet but I love seeing your updates because you guys are awesome.

[disney4me2001]

I voted for option 1 because of the twitter feed- I like the idea of viewing the tweets from the homepage. This is one feature that I like about multiple theme park sites, so having your site doing the same would be excellent! I feel like doing this saves time- whenever I want updates that are coming specifically from TPR, all I would have to do to see both TPR official updates plus the tweets can be found in one place as opposed to having TPR open in one tab and then opening twitter in another tab and navigating to TPR's feed.

 

In general, what I like about the redesign (on both options) is that the social networking icons are all collected and easily accessible at the top of the page. This is also useful for when I want to check up on one of the social networks! I also like the overall designs of both- the fact that Official TPR Updates and Theme Park News each have their own scrolling feed. It looks much more organized and easier to navigate in my opinion. I also like the scrolling announcements as well since I'd imagine that it will show things like upcoming trips/events and when tickets go on sale. I'm looking forward to the new front page!

[KBrylczyk]

Did a little more work on the pages the last couple of days to fix some minor things. Neither of them are "done", but if you're following along you can probably see some of the differences...

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/index_new1.php

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/index_new2.php

 

With these new tweaks I'm gonna jump onto the Option 1 bandwagon. The gray background REALLY helps guide the eyes around the page. It's the same layout as before but it looks a lot less messy and cluttered now.

[rollin_n_coastin]

These are looking awesome! I really like both but still think Option 2 looks much better overall. Maybe it's just a gut feeling. Now, this is not at all because of Twitter or any social media, which is hugely important to lead an audience to the site. It's just a design, look and feel issue. I just think Option 2 really is a nicer, more professional (but not corporate), welcome that leads an audience to want to click on the links that the site is focussing on and wanting to draw attention to under " Official TPR Updates" and "Theme Park News". Again, they both look great.

 

Personally, I count on Twitter and Facebook to lead me to a fantastic site, not vice versa, especially with notifications from those services already updating me in realtime. For people that don't have social media set up that way, live feeds make sense, especially if your main social media services are updated faster and more often than "Official TPR Updates" and "Theme Park News".

 

As was mentioned, the page can look awesome but if it's a ton of work to update that you can't always get to and results in a lot of idling, that for sure has to figure into it.

Macbook, standard display settings/ no scaling.

Edited January 18, 2014 by rollin_n_coastin

[televisedconfession]

The main photo in option two (don't know technical terms) seems a little too big, and looks nicer with the twitter feed next to it like in Option 1.

 

I'm going with option 1.

[JRice92]

I like the addition of the twitter feed on option 1. Yes, I could live with option 2 but the front pictures just seams to big for me for some reason.

[trj820]

Could we just make the Twitter feed an option in the control panel?

[triggernel]

1, because the slider in 2 takes over my whole screen, lol

[A.J.]

The slight change in color scheme makes option 1 look a lot better than it was before. Though, for some reason, the video/Twitter section and the updates section are not horizontally-centered, which is driving me nuts.

 

Blame the obsessive-compulsiveness I guess.

[robbalvey]

The slight change in color scheme makes option 1 look a lot better than it was before. Though, for some reason, the video/Twitter section and the updates section are not horizontally-centered, which is driving me nuts.

 

Blame the obsessive-compulsiveness I guess.

Explain what you mean. I want to understand your OCD better!

[A.J.]

The two "parts" of the page's content aren't centered relative to each other. In the following image, everything down to "Officlal TPR Updates" and "Theme Park News" follows the red centerline while the updates themselves follow the green centerline.

 

It makes for a weird little step on the right side of the page and then you have empty space in that area as you scroll down. To my eye, it doesn't look very good because I've sort of trained myself on keeping my designs clean, centered and balanced and sometimes I get a little obsessive-compulsive about it.

[robbalvey]

^ Hmm... I'm wondering if what you're seeing is because in Safari the scrolls bars on the bottom part disappear until you start to scroll? I'm not actually sure I can do anything about that.

[cfc]

^^It looks nice and aligned in Firefox.

[A.J.]

^ Hmm... I'm wondering if what you're seeing is because in Safari the scrolls bars on the bottom part disappear until you start to scroll? I'm not actually sure I can do anything about that.

That's exactly why it's happening, actually. Good catch.