djpretzel

uh, for the record:

Good catch. Also, update: no happy dance tonight, Yanks got smacked and Cliff Lee was superhuman.

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Can I do a short closing track?

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K peeps, I'm hearing you: I still don't want alpha nav as part of the overall site nav. It's just too ambiguous. BUT, I think when browsing ReMixes by name, an alpha function would make sense. I'm working on it, but give me awhile Dhsu, re:tags... I'm pretty sure we're gonna do something to emphasize them more outside the forums; I agree it's clunky/hidden to go by review threads and then reverse navigate. As for tagging the writeups... hadn't thought of it, really. Probably low priority. Also, imo the google search is sorta clunky, but the quicksearch is awesome. However, it's problematic that the quicksearch isn't ALWAYS visible, but is instead contextually locked away inside each relevant mega-dropdown. My plan is to replace the google search with a quicksearch that defaults to games but also allows searching on mixes, artists, and albums. The way I have it mocked up now, the search bar is really, really long, but the mascot actually ends up on top of the last bit. It looks kinda cool to me, but it still needs polishing and I need the javascript to all work right. Bottom line? Definitely more changes coming. Thanks for all the feedback!

Well, I guess the thread has been derailed a bit, but I think it's a decent enough question. First, there's a difference between a good album and a great album, for me. In either instance, I really think 4-5 songs should be great. On a good album, the rest of the songs can be... alright. On a great album, the rest of the songs are pretty damn good as well. That's my definition, more or less.

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The image map for the header logo now makes the text clickable "shirts" is now "store" donate link added; goes straight to paypal... might need to reconsider and create a Wiki page, but the "directness" of the paypal link might be preferable?

Probably not... BUT... interesting site... I think there's potential there for something OCR-related to encourage xmas charity donations... (not *to* OC ReMix, but to charities... before we just had links to doctors w/out borders, hunger project, child's play, etc.) Also, typo'd "djembe" as "djebme"... which sounds like more of an invitation than an instrument

The forums are max-widthed at 1300 like the rest of the site... at home there should be no change. It does look like vBulletin 4 will be reintroducing sidebars at least on the forum index, and we have been considering using a thing RIGHT column on forums for ads, promoting mixes, albums, etc... we'll see. The whole idea behind the width lock at 1300 is that, while folks with screen supporting larger resolutions shouldn't suffer, reading text that spans the width of the screen can get annoying.

No, no, it's broken... I just don't know exactly how to fix it... yet.

No deep dark SEO, just shorter printed URLs & bookmarks... that simple. Although, I'm also finding the URL more legible now, personally, when I'm switching between windows...

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I've made some modifications based on feedback and my own usage, and will continue to do so over the next couple weeks... Flipped the dropdowns with the secondary nav links to give the drops more emphasis and put them closer to content as well. Made the headphones logo white... it pops out now more, and since I'm usually used to seeing it on black t-shirts, hoodies, and the black bumper stickers, it seems somehow *more* familiar this way... also solves contrast issue imo Changed the wording in the upper-right login box on the forums so that it doesn't get AS obscured at 1024x768... still looking for a better/different solution, but it's something. Widened the latest albums/mixes column on the homepage, removed the H1 and breadcrumb to regain vertical Still definitely need to fix the image map on the OCR logo and add a donate/support link of some kind!

Should be doable now. Also, the default OCR forum theme now has max-width to match the rest of the site, but a dynamic width option is selectable if you prefer.

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Quick updates: All mascots are now back in place; clear your cache to get the new javascript if you're still just seeing the first 50 Regarding alpha nav, what I'm hearing isn't necessarily that it needs to come back, but that SOMETHING needs to be added to make things more user-friendly. I'm thinking this will involve one or more of the following: Changing google search on far right to some version of quicksearch instead, making it clearer that you can search games/mixes that way... Moving the "browse" quickstats navigation smack dab towards the top of the homepage... it's still alive but looks fugly at the moment since it wasn't updated >>> http://ocremix.org/browse/ Adding specific quick search boxes to the list pages, so that when viewing the "remix" list there's a big search box for mixes, ditto games, etc. Other ideas? Again, just trying to get away from the alpha since it's not particularly scalable...

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Thanks for the offer; I can handle them BUT... you've still got wiki access, right? It'd be good to update the images used in each wiki mascot entry. I personally think it'd also be nice to embed official OCR youtube mixes of character theme mixes, one per article, so the mascot pages have some musics Good idea?

I recently implemented a design overhaul intended to streamline the site's navigation and reduce redundant/duplicated links. This is something I've been working a LOT on over the last year and which required a lot of effort, nevertheless design seems to be a subject everyone is convinced of their own expertise on, and many are adverse to change of ANY kind, so we always expect a certain amount of kickback. There will no doubt be some questions and hopefully some (as constructive as possible, please!) suggestions, but let me address some likely issues AND provide some (hopefully helpful) notes: Firstly, this is a purely cosmetic overhaul and is *not* the project we've been working on for the last several years. In fact, no new features or content have been added, it's purely visual. At the moment, only 50 of the site mascots have been converted. I'm now doing alpha-transparent PNGs, which means that plenty of folks will probably rip them off and use them elsewhere, but hey, who cares. Credit for the oft-tedious Photoshop masking involved would be nice... Yes, the sidebar is gone. Depending on the effects on advertising revenue and the features introduced in vBulletin 4 some time in 2010, I can't promise that some form of sidebar won't be reintroduced on the forums, or elsewhere, but for now the mega-dropdowns are serving our navigation needs nicely. The alpha navigation is gone as well, though individual alpha pages still work. As the database has grown, it just seems like this feature has made less and less sense. Why browse 5 pages of mixes or scan 90 games beginning with "S" when you can simply search? We'll monitor site analytics to see how this removal affects traffic; I've already seen a couple people complain so it *might* be something we reinstate, but only if we feel we HAVE to. While it's been worked on and refined significantly up to this point, we're still making some tweaks. In some sense, every web design is a work-in-progress, and based on feedback and our own experience using the site there will likely be changes. That's it. Please let us know what you think. Actually, one LAST thing... everyone has kneejerk reactions when a site they visit frequently changes. We've seen it so many times, and it even caused the Great Sidebar Ban Hammer Massacre of 2006... so please, try using the site for a couple hours, preferably a day or two, before providing too much feedback. Seriously, it's the type of thing where something that doesn't make sense the first 20 seconds you're using it becomes convenient & natural after only a few minutes, in some instances.

Yeah, the release order thing is silly and WILL be fixed; I just felt the improvement to alpha order was worth making the change and then fixing chrono afterwards. Also, a pretty significant design revision is now imminent... it will be more dramatic, so I'll probably create another thread for it and ice this one.