TPR New Front Page In Development!

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I'm thinking that we will either have to "live" with the twitter feed or have the giant image. It can't be both. Not unless we want this to take another two years.

 

I have no problem living with the Twitter feed if it comes to that. It's great that we're able to get these ideas out there and not be told to "deal with it" as you mentioned earlier.

[Extreme]

I voted for option 2.

 

To me it looks a lot cleaner. With the page being designed for a standard size i feel like the twitter / social media feed adds a lot of unnecessary clutter. If the twitter could be moved over to the side under the ads that would be a bit better of an option to number 1 in my opinion.

 

my $0.02

 

Ken

[gisco]

The more I look at it I like option #1. The picture just looks to big in option #2

[CoasterLine]

As a web developer by trade here are a few things I noticed "technically" with the design itself (that really aren't a big deal, but can be noted maybe for consistancy):

 

NOTE: None of these critiques or notes should be taken harshly, or as me saying that something is wrong at all. Just my "oh man, this guy is a douche" disclaimer

 

Option #1:

• The twitter feed actually expands behind the content below, so the scroll bar on it can get lost below the content. I've done some custom work with Twitter API's and maybe using something outside of the "Twitter" standard widgets could be used instead of this to create more of a dynamic feel for the site? I could provide some examples if desired.

 

Both Designs:

• I see you are trying to use "Futura-CondensedLight-Normal" as both the navigation bar font, as well as the "Disclaimer" font. As this isn't a standard font for users, if the user doesn't have the font downloaded and installed, it will show up as "Courier," which is starkly different than Futura (sans-serif, compared to the serif font of Courier). I'd suggest using @font-face kits, or a Google Web Fonts for any "custom" non-"web standard" fonts, so all users see the same fonts in areas of the website.
   
  
• Kind of goes with the above, but I would modify the end of page "These pages are..." statement to not be Times New Roman, as the rest of the site uses sans-serif fonts.
   
  
• I like the social icons being used in the header of the website, a lot. Some of the icons, though, appear outdated, as they are older-style social icons. This is more of a matter of taste, but more flat-icons or using current icons would be more appealing to me personally.
   
  
• The search button and search field seem a bit misaligned to each other, or at least do to me in Chrome.
   
  
• For the sliders, rather than have them hidden/shown, I would design it more than the slides are either moved forward/backwards using z-index, or slide into view with overflows on the blocks hidden, so that when slides contain a YouTube video/embed, the video doesn't flicker or appear after the slide is moved to as it does currently with the slides.
   
  
• My company has been sticking to the moving trend of making sure designs are completely responsive to all screen-sizes, so it appears that site conforms to any device/screen resolution that the person might be viewing on. While this is something we do, another option to do is a viewport tag, so that mobile devices are sized correctly. This isn't anything necessary though.

 

Now that I've listed out my... well, extreme anal critiques of the designs, I have to say that I like both designs a lot. I like this direction towards modernization a lot and both designs look great. I prefer Option #1 over #2, simply because the Twitter feed to me makes the design seem more dynamic, and like there is more activity going on on the homepage than Option #2.

 

Great job!

Edited January 13, 2014 by CoasterLine

[Robocoaster]

I'll echo the sentiment that the Twitter feed is a good idea, and brings the page past the 2004 mark.

[robbalvey]

As a web developer by trade here are a few things I noticed "technically" with the design itself (that really aren't a big deal, but can be noted maybe for consistancy):

I'm gonna be up front with you. I didn't ask for a bug report. We realize there are small technical details that need to be fixed, and this isn't going live "tomorrow." You're entire post is insulting to those people who are working on this as it makes the assumption that you know better that we do about what we are doing.

 

I asked for people to take a look at each one and tell us what they thought overall.

 

I feel like people are just nitpicking this thing to death now and it's making me feel like maybe I shouldn't have asked for input.

 

--Robb "Beginning to understand why other sites just put up a new design without asking their readers first." Alvey

Edited January 13, 2014 by robbalvey

[DJeXeL]

Twitter feed is great so option 1 is my choice.

[CoasterLine]

I'm gonna be up front with you. I didn't ask for a bug report. We realize there are small technical details that need to be fixed, and this isn't going live "tomorrow." You're entire post is insulting to those people who are working on this as it makes the assumption that you know better that we do about what we are doing.

 

I asked for people to take a look at each one and tell us what they thought overall.

 

I feel like people are just nitpicking this thing to death now and it's making me feel like maybe I shouldn't have asked for input.

 

Robb, I apologize. I wasn't trying to insult anyone, and I like both designs a lot. The things I pointed out weren't things I felt that were wrong (in the slightest), just some things I noticed that might have not been noticed by those working on the design (such as the fonts), as using a device with these fonts, you might not know or be able to notice.

 

If I insulted anyone with my notes, I apologize completely. It was not my intention in the slightest, nor was I trying to say that I know any more than anyone else.

 

I love both designs and feel they are a great on an already great website.

[robbalvey]

^ Yes of course we noticed. But we wanted to put this in front of people before it was "done" that's why it says in my original post:

 

- The front pages still have a few bugs. Please report that if you see something, but at the moment we aren't *looking* for bugs, we are more looking for overall design, placement of things to click on, layouts, functionality, etc, and in general if people "like" it.

 

Did you even read that original post?

[better_by_design]

Easy call - Option 1 -

 

With Twitter, it's easy to miss things, and this nicely incorporates all the latest.

 

The only downside is making the main image a bit smaller, and frankly, it's still plenty big enough to capture my attention.

[619fan]

I would choose option 2... I don't need Twitter on the front page...

But I could also deal with the other option if TPR chooses option 1.

[spinning man]

I choose option 1 as it is more social. With all that was originally there, you added something more to it. You could say it is somewhat bonus material.

[AlmereStars]

I voted for 1 because you can see more of the updates below the slider. But i can do without the twitterfeed. I do use twitter, but I already follow TPR so i've already seen the twitter updates.

 

As far as the slider goes. I think it is better with the full width, but I understand the aspect ratio side of things.

 

There are 2 things that I can find on the screen that aren't right. They are not really a big errors, but since i'm studying webdeveloper right know they do stand out to me.

First thing is that the site wrapper/screen doesn't center on my big screen (1920x1080). Weird thing is that it does center on my smaller screen (1440x900).

 

The other thing is that some elements don't align with the grid. The elements I found were the Search button (it's higher than the searchbar), the slider/twitterbox that doesn't allign with the update header below. And the second update column doesn't start at 50% of the page (the images do, but the top border starts before 50%. You can compare it against the border between the update headers)

 

I attached a picture so you can see what I mean.

 

all in all a good job! I think it suits TPR way better then the static front page TPR has right now.

 

picture of the site:

[robbalvey]

^ Look, guys, I appreciate all the "I'm in webdevelopement" people posting their two cents, but PLEASE take note of what we originally posted on the very first post of this thread:

- The front pages still have a few bugs. Please report that if you see something, but at the moment we aren't *looking* for bugs, we are more looking for overall design, placement of things to click on, layouts, functionality, etc, and in general if people "like" it.

We *KNOW* there are little nitpicky things that have to be fixed. We just haven't gotten to the final polish stage yet and when we do, or when the page goes live and if there are things we have missed, that would be a great time to bring it up.

 

But at the moment we are just getting initial feedback "I like this", "I don't like this", because things may still change. So all the little nitpicky things on *slight* alignment issues may not even be relevant as we still have more work to do on the page.

 

In short, what you're looking at is not "done", we just need to know if you like it or not.

 

--Robb "I don't want people wasting time writing up tons of minor comments on things that could change anyway." Alvey

Edited January 13, 2014 by robbalvey

[cmullin]

I think they're both improvements and either would be fine by me, but I do think the twitter feed is a nice touch.

[Barge84]

I voted for option 2, mostly because I don't use Twitter. But, to be honest I think the site would be better off using option 1 because it includes the twitter feed and that's going to be a necessity going forward.

 

Hope my answer makes sense. Honestly, I like both of them and think they're both an improvement over the current home page.

[televisedconfession]

Honestly, I like them both. I prefer the first just slightly, and it's just because it works for the way my eye scans the page naturally. But again, like them both and am excited for the new layout.

[Buckeye_Ben]

I voted for option 2, but either would be an improvement over the current. I thought the twitter feed made the page more cluttered, and I like having a big central image to draw people in.

[battlinbuccos]

Option 1 is better. I love the twitter feed that is show when you pull up the site. Also like the design, it stays the same but at the same time is different.

[loop-de-loop]

I voted for option 2, but either would be an improvement over the current. I thought the twitter feed made the page more cluttered, and I like having a big central image to draw people in.

I agree 100% with this, was just about to post the same thing. I did vote for option 2, although I could easily live with both options.

[scubaski]

option 2 looks a little less cluttered

[CoasterCraze]

I Like Option 1. Well organized and clean.

[JimmyBo]

I really like option 1! I'm not a fan of Twitter and even though I have an account I hardly go on it but I feel that that I'm in the minority here. Having the Tweets on the cover I think would bring in more people because Twitter is so easy to access on phones and when people first visit this site they can be like, "Oh, they have a Twitter account? This website is awesome!"

 

I like option 2 also so if either is chosen I will still visit this site. I just feel that option 1 might reach out to more people.

 

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

[RCjunkie]

I like option #1 better. With the bigger picture it is a cleaner and more 'inviting' look.

 

With the Social Media window at the top right of the page and ALSO the social media icons right above that window seems to be a redundant use of page space. But that is me, I only visit social media sites as my last place to look for information so I am probably biased.

 

I really like they way you separate out the THEME PARK NEWS for quick reference too.

[robbalvey]

I really like they way you separate out the THEME PARK NEWS for quick reference too.

Yeah, we just made that change. We are still very much "in development" on this whole thing and you'll probably see small little changes coming up.