Trenchwars Needs Web Designer For New Website

[Twenty Four]

I'm the head web programmer in charge of TW. I've been told to let you know about our needs for our new website.


First of all, we want to use the same colors of our current website (trenchwars.org) which is black, grey, orange. For the background, grey/darker instead of red, this will make the website less reddish.


About the layout. This is where our current website is bad at. We need something a la Web 2.0 if you know what I mean. Here is a good example of what we want in term of layout/content for the main page : http://shaiya.aeriagames.com/. A new player will immediately hit the "download" button and this is what we want. The main page is also simple, with sub-menu hidden.


We want this new website to be community-driven. It means that there will be a lot of content generated by our users : comments, pictures, videos, news. Also, since it's a game, we will have a couple of panel showing the latest matches played, last squad/team created, real-time stats about the game, etc. The main page should be designed to show these informations but without displaying everything at once, think about a design with tabs for this part. Important, the website should fit for 1024x768 screens, let's say a width of 980px for the design, but the background image can be wider (like my example http://shaiya.aeriagames.com).


For the sub pages, the design should change a little bit from the main page, the top should be way shorter to give us more space for our content. Some pages may need a sidebar for the menu (maybe a design with and without a sidebar).


If you want some 3D model to design the top, this thread is full of images but here is 1 reply with 1 render for each ship : http://forums.ssgn.net/topic/12003-3...ost__p__266271


We need something at least as good as our current website for the design quality.


That's pretty much about it. If you have any question, don't hesitate.


Thank you!


Arobas+

This was the criteria given by Arobas+ before he retired. Zazu will be taking his place as far as programming the new changes.

If you're a WEB designer or know one that is willing to help the TW Community, please post a reply here offering your services.

I'll post after this, I'll post some ideas/functionality for the new TW Website (on top of the ones that Kthx has been mentioning inside other post).

-24

[Twenty Four]

MAIN SITE:

Simplistic Page Setup
1. Easy to Navigate
2. Easily find the DOWNLOAD button
3. Have the DONATE link easily accessible and viewable
4. If you login, site changes to a more 'player friendly' version that's customizable to what the player wants to see. 'widgets'
5. Google Friendly - Key word usage in meta tags, site title.
6. Outline that you can WIN MONEY by playing. (Might have this in the banner)

SUB SITES:

SubSites Overview:
1. Have different sections where you can grant access to specific people to make changes to the page designated to their cause.
a. Examples Being: Chaos Zone, Hockey Zone, etc.,

TWM
1. (They should have their own section where they can update a News Letter, potentially have it where players can signup for news updates on TW stuff and have it sent to their emails)
2. They want the ability to add access to the news letter, instead of needing to wait for a web-dev to make changes.

Bot Dev
1. Wants SubSite section where Bot Members can login and view TW Bot Statistics.

Partners
1. This will be where we recognize the people/organizations that we work side by side with. This would include any of the foundations that donate towards our cash events as well as organizations we are trying to promote. We want organizations to work to get onto this page. This will be one of the big ways we'll bring in income. Potentially have SubSites under this SubSite designated to each organization on the list.

SITE ACCESS:

Site Access
1. Each SubSite should have the ability to add/remove access to different people, as well as include the ability to have multiple levels of access.

SPEND THOSE PUB BUCKS:

Mini Games
1. This should give TW players the ability to play games to spend/earn pub bucks. (see points version below)
a. Potentially have them earn "Points" that they can turn into pub bucks on the website, and visa versa. We can then use those points for other things, such as unlocking other games, accessing different parts of the site, unlocking new site features, etc.

Host My Event - Bidding System
1. This should give the TW players the ability to pay pub cash (or points) for the ability to claim an event and have it hosted in the specified time slot. Unlike using ?help please host my event, this would ensure that their event was hosted if it was claimed by a host.
2. The player can put X pub dollars to host their event at a specific time. There is then an alert that is put on staff chat stating that a bid was setup and for someone to type "host it" to claim it (or they can use the website to claim it). It is NOT mandatory for a host to claim one of these events, but should increase player/host interaction and ensure that hosts are hosting what the players actually want.
3. We can potentially put a time-gap where the "bidding" will take place, after someone submits their bid, if someone else wants that time-slot they can enter a higher amount and knock the other event out. After the time-gap is up, the last standing bid wins it.
4. The host has the ability to use 50% the money that was collected from the bid as prize incentives for the hosted event. The other 50% will disappear to help reduce inflation. The host doesn't get to keep any of the proceeds, but it will count towards their host count. (Potentially worth more?)

GAME/SITE CHAT INTERACTION:

Live Support
1. Have a section to where a player can as a ?help question. This question would then be sent to staff chat where a moderator can answer it using the 'on it' feature.

Chat Application:
1. A simple chat interface where a user can talk to players in-game, from the website, and visa versa.

Instant Message:
1. Ability for users to IM each other on the website. You should be able to see who is logged in and send that person a message which they will instantly get. (Much like FaceBook does).
Text Message Alerts:
http://forums.trenchwars.net/showthr...hlight=website

POTENTIAL WIDGETS:

Status Of Game Report:
1. Ability for users to see what is going on inside the game, without actually pulling it up.
a. How many people are online, how many people are in pub, how many people in my squad are online, etc.

Polls:
1. This would give the user the ability to vote on "The Poll of The Week" (or something like that). We would be able to ascertain specific information from our player base to help us improve the zone going forward.
2. Give the ability for a user to submit a Poll question. We'll obviously get a lot of stupid ones, but some good ones will get through. This will keep us from having to come up with new polls every week and make the player feel they are contributing.

Copy/Pasted Suggestions from Kthx:
1. Forums 5 latest threads (and if you have any forum pm's)
2. Current TWD Matches (red highlighted if its your squad currently in a match)
3. TWL upcoming matches (with comment boxes)
4. In Game ?messages
5. Last 10 TWD Games played
6. TW news box with all news in it
7. Real News (maybe like drudgereport or whatever site people want)
8. Weather in your area (weather.com)
9. How many people are playing in pub at the time
10. latest 10 players from "on the move" section on twd
11. Latest draft news from TWDT (trades, pickups from waiver wire)
12. Latest 10 events hosted and if there are any current events being hosted
13. Upcoming scheduled games for TWL/TWDT/TWHT
14. Upcoming scheduled weekend events/special hosted events

TWL INTEGRATION:

Integrate TWL Website:
1. This should allow the players to login to TWL via this new website, setup their matches, and see past match information. (And any normal features you can currently do on the TWL website)

TWL Cash System
1. This will keep track of the TWL Cash Payouts in each division and show how much each team/player could potentially get paid out. (Similar to how excel spreadsheet is laid out)
2. Gives detailed information in every division and can calculate what each player could win based on time played. Calculator that allows player to figure out what they could be paid out.

UPDATE EXISTING FEATUERS:

Medals:
1. Have medals automatically update. The most important being donations.

[Cambia]

I can do it. If you PM me what kind of budget you have for the design aspect I'm sure we can work something out.

[Jason]

budget? you kidding me?

this is strictly pro bono.

for shame... asking for money!


p.s. i might do it, but i gotta see if i'll have the time. i just finished pumping a bunch of my free time into this forum skin, and i'm still wrapping up minor usability tweaks here and there. not sure i'm ready to jump into another project right away. summer's pretty much here and i wanna be outside a lot!

[Jason]

hah, so my girlfriend tells me:

if they pay you, sure.

if you think you're gonna do it for free and waste weekends like you did with that forum shit, hell no.

:laugh:

[Turban]

i think it would be fine paying for a graphical web designer if the quality is good enough. in the long run, it'd be worth it after all.

why be so cheap?

[Jason]

i've never charged for anything i've ever done for this game, and i've had my hands in several large projects, plus all the countless hours of in-game staffing. (you know they should totally pay a wage for that shit, turb!) i dunno, it just seems wrong to ask for money when i've obtained sooo many hours of entertainment from this game and the community.

i'm a sucker, though.

[M_M God]

Well this won't be something you just do on the side..we need someone to work on it fulltime so it will be finished asap, that's why there's probably a budget to accomplish this (donations or whatnot). Anyway, 24/Zazu are your men to talk to right now if you're interested.

[Jason]

i can't work on a website full-time. already have a day job. but this talk of budget really has piqued my interest.

and i'm used to moonlighting as a freelance web designer. helped me pay for quite a bit of college.

[Star Fox]

I would love do anything and everything I can as a labor of love, just to keep the dream alive. This is the game that started it all as far as gaming for me when I was only 8 (now 22). I started doing HTML when I was 10, though I have had limited experience since then. Maybe I could help out with a portion of coding/java aspect for free?

[M_M God]

Yeah star we welcome all the help we can get from experienced coders/designers. Please contact Dezmond in game, since he's our TWDev Head.
And Jason..just talk to 24..I will be helping out as well again.

[Cambia]

Lol Jason, I have been doing graphic design and websites going on 7 years now and I got out of the habit of doing free work awhile ago. I love the game and all but let's be real. I'll work inside of the budget for the new website and will deliver the same quality I would with any other client. I also have a full-time day job but nights + weekends should get the job done quickly as long as the developer will be available as well. Anyway, PMed 24 and Zazu.

[Jason]

will do, m_m.

i just got a thunderbolt, and i'm rooting it and playing around with custom roms and kernels. fuck me i love this thing.

[Twenty Four]

I'm thinking of getting the thunderbolt as well...really awesome?

Anyways, cambia. Jason has already been asked by Pluck to put a few rough draft design ideas together. If you would, using the information above as guidelines, please put together some design examples. If you're willing to give us a professional design (Jason too), then we would be willing to compensate you somewhat. Feel free to email your design ideas to web_designs24@yahoo.com. Also send me a message in-game or on here to let me know you've sent something.

Thanks, and I hope one of you are fking awesome. We really need a great foundation (design), to build this really great website on.

-24

[Jason]

I'm thinking of getting the thunderbolt as well...really awesome?

yes and no.

i live just outside of philly and 4g hasn't quite gotten here yet. if i drive a mile and a half down the road i have 4g, but i don't have it at my apartment. with the phone at stock i was getting totally crap-ass battery life because it was always searching for a 4g signal.

i've since rooted the phone and loaded a custom rom and kernel. i completely turn off 4g unless i know i'm in a good coverage area, and while at my apartment i use wifi. between the power sipping kernel and the tweaks i've been able to do with the custom rom, i'm getting about 14 hours or so to a single charge, and this is with the stock battery. i'll probably be able to get even better battery life as i have the time to play around some more. i've only had the phone for four days.

you can avoid going through the "hassle" of all that i've just described (personally i find playing around with android to be a shit ton of fun!) by just buying an extended battery, but then you have to live with your phone having a hump hanging off the back of it.

oh, and 4g is sweet! i actually sometimes get faster speeds with 4g than i do with my wifi and my home network is 25Mbps/25Mbps FiOS plugged into a wireless N router.