First Look at Our LA Website

This is shaping up very nicely! You did a great job with it. It really looks like this is all actually coming together into something that could work.

Also fyi, it looks like legends.gamehiker.com/ will start working as well if you want to use that! At least until we get it moved to its final destination. 

It looks fantastic Lena! I don't honestly know much about web design, so I don't really have anything useful to add, although I am looking forward to seeing how the member directory will look. I suppose the only other thing would maybe be implementing a custom LA logo, although we already have a thread dedicated to creating one of those.

Also, I love that Adulting is a section.  XD

I figured the "Adulting" section could be for domestic/life stuff. I thought it might be cool for LA members to do guest columns about various real-life skills. Like, Fish or Chik could give advice on investments. Those of you who have houses could give points on buying your first home. Tips on not how to break your new infant. Cooking, especially if it has a nerdy twist to it. I know Lesta likes to bake themed cakes. Showcase our custom nerd caves. Budgeting help for the young folks. Real talk about mental health / domestic troubles. Stuff like that.

Part of what sets LA apart from other groups is how we help each other out with real-life problems, so I thought that'd be a natural addition to a website. Especially since not everyone will want to write about gaming or movies.

I want Lesta to write about cakes, because I want to see ALL the pictures of pretty confections! XD

Oooh. I like. I like it a lot.


Two notes:

First, using both margins crams the content into the middle. Even when you scroll down past the margins, they still hem the content in, limiting how much screen space the page can use. My gut says we should have all the widgets on the left or all on the right, and probably one fewer widget all around. Which one to cut is a hard call. At the moment we don't need a search bar or social media, but we will eventually. The Join the Alliance widget, however, while a great call to action, just collects emails. Could it be folded into the Technical Stuff section and send people to the forum registration page?

Second (and this is more of an eventual goal than an immediate one) I think when we have 2-3 member or member groups established at making content, we should make tabs for them. Web traffic follows personalities. That said, an "Adulting" collaborative content stream sounds like a blast.

But it looks amazing.


Off topic, but I have been working on my RPG content stream, and in fact I've recorded a few sessions of my IRL group. I've been holding them back because (1) I'm not the GM, so this isn't in the slightest optimized for audio, (2) the audio quality isn't bad, but it's not great, and I don't have a place to keep a good microphone yet, and (3) because on playback...we sound like a bunch of assholes.

This looks great so far, even without the finishing touches


Thanks Lena and Masa for putting all the work into this!


Yes please.

I thought the same thing about the two-column layout and managed to eliminate the left sidebar with CSS adjustments, but that just generated other layout issues. The entire theme is structured around the three-columns, so it'll take a robust adjustment of the entire CSS sheet to make that feasible.

I haven't managed to find another theme that has a decent layout and manages to work well with all our color themes/purpose, but I'm still searching through the options. I might find a better one in the coming days.



There's a secondary display setting for just the homepage -- bigger featured images and articles up top and a static welcome text box below the featured content. Just not sure what I'd put in that box other than a super generic "hey there" thing. That setting might be more useful if we're really active / have lots of stuff.



edit:


Also, this would be a good time to ask if anyone is interested in regular contributions. I know Green Goblin was on board with doing movie reviews. Game reviews are good, as are spotlights on vintage games. Or, if you're interested in doing just a one-time or occasional guest column about your life skills or professions, we could always use content in the "Adulting" section.

We should probably fill the site with a decent amount of stuff before we switch over to permanent domain name.

Yeah, I would also love it if Chik and/or Fish had the time and inclination to write some about things like 401k's. I mean, I have one but I only use it on the most basic of levels because trying to figure out anything more complicated makes my eyes glaze over. I can't stand boring financial type things.

I have been looking into Mental Health Advocacy (and becoming an advocate for others like me), and would be interested in doing an occasional contribution of my own experiences analysed with the things I learn. Or just share some of the experiences that stand out most. Like the difficulties of parenting when Mental Illness is involved, especially when other people have undermined you so often in front of your child.

But yeah, long story short. I would like to be an occasional guest contributor. And if in the future there is a section made for creative contributions, I'd be interested there as well.

It all looks pretty good so far! We're really doing it, aren't we?

And I am totally in for doing a random article here and there - that is, the topic of it will be random, but I could submit something on a regular basis. Actually, I've been writing my "Re-Watching every Gundam Ever" articles for the last month or so and I've got a few in the can, from The Origin to Thunderbolt, and it's coming in at a decent clip as I work my way through the different shows, though that's all dependent on exactly how long the individual series/OVA's are.

I'm....actually really interested in doing toy reviews now and then for stuff I'm digging or find notable to myself, but I don't know if there are enough people who care. And you know what, it's not exactly creative, but I'd like to actually review episodes of current shows as they air as well, I'm thinking I could do one or two of the superhero shows. Super duper optimistic me would say all of the DCW-verse and Shield, but realistically, it'll probably just be The Flash, maybe Arrow. That'd be something short and sweet I can do, and I definitely have opinions on those as thy air, good and bad.

Good job so far guys. Also kudos to GG's scathing review of Suicide Squad hehe.

Since my Let's Play series (and other big projects) will take time and only be occasional, I thought about doing a column, too. I thought I might do something on women in gaming -- more along the lines of "good shit, check this game out and follow its example" rather than biting criticism. Since the criticism aspect is more frequently covered around the net.

Would anyone be interested?

I'd read that! Especially now that I have a Wii U and Xbone and can play some of the newer games. I read the criticism too sometimes, but I prefer to read positive things about games that are doing things right.