new site ?

[JPC-Greg]

How many of you would like to see a new site make over for Aletia?

[Zacrifice]

It all depends.

Are you going to go with the same colour theme as the jaguarpc.com site? because if so then i would leave it.

I don't have a liking for that jag site personally i really don't like the light blue and bright orange theme.

How ever i would sugest you make the site demo it (On another section) and then ask us you would prolly get more of a responce on it.

I wont vote .. i'll stay resurved because i don't know what the new site would look like!

[kiwi li]

Not going to bother to vote since it didn't seem like I had a vote anyways.

[jkeller]

I hadn't realized that the Aletia brand identity would be kept long enough for a redesign. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea, but my preference would be for the forums to be merged and redesigned first. I think that you'd get enough comments about the elements (links, color schemes, etc) that you'd be able to translate that to a commercial redesign.

So many people live and breathe the forums that you'd get plenty of feedback, guaranteed. I don't mean to indicate that the redsign process should be democratized -- that's why there are professional designers. But they'd have some solid user feedback before diving into a commercial redesign.

[glo]

I don't see anything wrong with a redo. Change is nice. It reflects that there is actually someone alive behind the website. A good website is changing constantly and that really can be and is a good thing. Like I said, it shows that they are actually there.

Though I was under the assumption that both sites were merging into one? That may have been my mindset though. But if that is the case, then why take the time and go through it until after the merge.

And why are people so concerned about colors and or themes? I just don't get it. I think both sites are well done layout and color wise. Obviously they are professionally done and not like you'd find on a newbie to design site. If the colors were bright, flashing graphics and flaring html, then there's something to talk about. But changing colors isn't the end of the world. Like blue to black isn't really a huge jump on the Hex scale. Like I said, I don't get it, but then again, it's my opinion and well it doesn't weigh much. LOL

[Zacrifice]

Well Glo.
Are you a designer? it sounds to me that you aren't a designer in the more.. larger sence.

A designer understands that having a good face creates a good opinion which in turn creates a happy person which in turn creates sales which makes a happy company.

Lets say you go to a website that has been amaturishly (SP?) done, now it is understandable for a small buisness such as a corner store or perhaps a independent carpet installation which doesn't rely completly on online interest so they can afford to have someone go to there site find it unattractive but retreave information that is critical to there selection of company.

How ever apply that to something like a hosting company which relys completly on online interest and the reaction changes. The person finds it uninteresting, boring and creates a bad impression, such as the person could believe that the Owner/Manager doesn't believe in the company and doesn't want to invest to much in case it doesn't all pan out, or that the owner/manager doesn't want to imput work or money because they are too worried about the bottom line, or that owner/manager couldn't be botherd in going to the trouble of having something like this done!

All these negitive things may start small how ever the person doesn't stop thinking there.. all these things can be related back to the customer and how well they will be treated and how well they will be respected and the service they will get

altho some of you will wonder how on earth this could be coming from just a design but everything comes from first impressions and they design is the first thing they seem, It may be subconciose when they see something that acceptable but you will notice it if it looks bad!

[glo]

Hey. I was voicing my opinion just as everyone else has. Why when those of us who voice opinions suddenly get portrayed differently? Who are you to say that I am not a designer. For your information I've been designing / developing websites for about six years now. So I actually do know what I'm talking about. That is why I've had clients find me and pay money upfront before completion of their website.

I have a right to feel the way I do, just as you do. I also have a right to "not get it" regarding why others tend to nit pick colors/themes etc. And I have a right to admit that I don't get it.

Opinions. You see. That is what makes the world go round. Would be pretty dull without them.

From now on, I'll refrain from my opinions and hold my tongue as I have been every time I read a post. How fun that will be.

Thank You. Have a nice day.

[lookout]

I would like to see a merged Jaguar/Aletia site of some sort, preferably keeping one brand name or the other (but not both). I think the two names must be extremely confusing to new customers, as apparently they have been even to some of the old. The separation splits Jaguar resources, which no doubt means more problems for them, and poorer service for us. The forums could benefit from the infusion of the combined community.

As for the design appearance, I agree with Zac in principle, although neither of the current forums really strike me as works of art. Physical beauty of course being in the eye of the beholder. I don't believe in this case it is quite as critical as having a forum with fully functioning, user-friendly features, and active moderators and lively participants (kind of an internal beauty). Personally I find the forums on the Aletia site more accommodating than those on Jaguar's. A little tweaking could fix that though, and I think Jag is open to suggestion there. It's really just a matter of adapting to change. Most of us find that process a bit unsettling, but after a time become comfortable again.

It would be great if the posts here could be incorporated with those of the other site, or if not, at least be available in some kind of archive form for our reference. I would not throw a hissy fit over the loss of some of the posts, including my own. The forums really could use a good spring-cleaning. Many of the posts here are out of date and simply don't apply anymore.

Appended:

Kiwi, of course your opinion counts. I think we just got into that discussion about server names a bit late. Hopefully Jag will let this one go on for a bit longer before making any final decisions.

[megmond]

I also welcome opinions by glo and kiwi. Opinions will always differ, so there will always be someone arguing the opposite. However, only with all opinions on the table a good decision can be made.

While I agree that designs are not really that important assuming they don't look really bad (i.e. the flashing, bright colors style that glo described), there are some things that I would nitpick on, because of ergonimics (e.g. I asked to change the darkblue color on the jag-forums to black).

I spend so much time behind the screen that some of these issues become really important. So it seems I care more about some details than the design as a whole...

As for the actual topic, I had also assumed the sites would merge. I'd recommend either a merge, or a much clearer explanation of the relationship between JaguarPC and Aletia, especially for new customers.

A new customer will have no way to see that it's really a single company carrying two brandnames. If I just came across Aletia and saw it tied in here and there with JaguarPC without knowing the details, I would probably think twice before signing up.

For that reason, I feel it might be important to make sure the differences and relationship between Aletia and JaguarPC are clear first, before starting on a new design (if at all).

(P.S. I'm definately not a designer. Anyone wants to redo my website - for free? )

[Zacrifice]

Originally posted by glo
Hey. I was voicing my opinion just as everyone else has. Why when those of us who voice opinions suddenly get portrayed differently? Who are you to say that I am not a designer. For your information I've been designing / developing websites for about six years now. So I actually do know what I'm talking about. That is why I've had clients find me and pay money upfront before completion of their website.

I have a right to feel the way I do, just as you do. I also have a right to "not get it" regarding why others tend to nit pick colors/themes etc. And I have a right to admit that I don't get it.

Opinions. You see. That is what makes the world go round. Would be pretty dull without them.

From now on, I'll refrain from my opinions and hold my tongue as I have been every time I read a post. How fun that will be.

Glo that was not a personal attack on you at all.
I am sorry that it may have come accross that way and it wasn't my intentions at all!

From the previous post it had sounded like you wheren't in the designing fild at all and i did actually pose that responce as a question.

Once again i am sorry that it felt as a personal attack to you but It wasn't meant to be that way!

[JPC-Greg]

What about a site design similar to our own new site design coming soon....but with aletias current colors?

forum preview
http://jaguarpc.com/images/design/forum.jpg

[kiwi li]

Lookout, I don't know... just seems like he already made up his mind right at that moment, regardless of the posts afterwards. It didn't make me feel very important... I think I posted pretty fast after that, but it was decided within less than a day.

Even though it was "only naming the server", it still made me feel unimportant and that my opinion didn't matter getting squished and stomped on. Just kinda ruined my experience with the new management... Sorry... I'm just naturally pessimistic... but it would've been nice other than something than dumb elements.

Thanks lookout and megmond for making me feel that at least two people listen to me. ^_^ *hug*

As for the forum picture, I think the heading might be a little too big? Although I feel that my opinion won't matter to Jag anyways. I still rather have the server names as something else. *sigh*

[JPC-Greg]

geez kiwi, cheer up If I didnt care about anyones opinion I wouldnt ask, I would just do what I wanted with the business how I wanted.

[kiwi li]

I don't know what to be cheery about... Stingray's down, I don't like the server name that I'm going to be on, getting closer to October 23, 2001... I was optimistic about things, but just kinda... feel different now. I just feel brushed off after that last thread. *sigh* I'll be quiet now.

[jkeller]

Originally posted by Jag
What about a site design similar to our own new site design coming soon....but with aletias current colors?

forum preview
http://jaguarpc.com/images/design/forum.jpg

I like the idea, but does this mean that Aletia is staying around as a brand? Also, is this still about the commercial site or about a forum redesign? Sorry, I feel a bit lost in this thread.

I do have some comments about the forum design for the upcoming (and hopefully merged) forums. There are things that have bugged me (as I've said elsewhere, it's my job) about vBulletin forums in general so...

The "register" link is always around, even once you're logged in. Any possibility of a separate link from the nav bar (and making it more visible), then getting rid of it when you're logged in?

I like the strong lines, but I have to agree that the header is going to take up a lot of space -- especially once you're logged in. For a content-rich system, I'd like to have more than half of my page visible above the "fold" and that title bar doesn't help.

There are two navigational systems: the commercial site's and the forum's. The first is much more visible, and has a "home" link. Not so great when the forum users see themselves kicked out of the forums. This is a problem with the current Jaguar forums, as well.

As I see it, entering the forums is like entering a new mode; the context doesn't require direct access to every spot on the commercial site. I would either get rid of that navigation and clearly mark a way to get the the commercial site's home page, or reduce the scale of the commercial navigation and clearly indicate that it's for the commercial site. In both cases, I'd make the forum navigation more visible; in the sample screen, it is easily ignored because it's in the "shadows" of the large title area.

I have more comments about the way buttons are arranged around the postings, but I can save that. Suffice to say that I like the design style, but I don't think that it does more than make the default vBulletin configuration look nice. And in trying to make the forums as subsection of the commercial site, the forum content gets a permanent back seat to the overly-large branded title area.