INTRO In this thread I would like to point out a few flaws our beloved Halo website has. Some are of technical nature, some do have issues on the user experience side of things. I will be discussing design, functionality and usability only, I'm not going to talk about something like the map rating system, etc. Might be outdated information, however is WyvernZu or someone else still working on the backend? A few months back I was told that the design of the site is being worked on. I don't know anything about the current situation. In the last couple of months, the only noticable changes to me personally were a different background picture and the addition of two extra tabs called Streams and Wiki. There might a couple more things going on in the background, of course, and this is in no way a depreciation towards Wyvern or anyone, who's worked on this website. I simply want to share my look on what has changed, that's it. With all that being said, let's get started. FRONT PAGE The first look counts. While the front page definitely offers an inviting style, it barely states anything about ForgeHub. "What's going on here? What kind of purpose does this website fulfill? Why should I stay here?" Now, I don't think, a big wall of text is needed in order to introduce the unfamiliar audience to ForgeHub. However, a simple, short introduction would help people to understand, where they're at with this website. The articles with cool pictures don't need to go anywhere for this to be added. They actually help, since text only would be horrible for a front page. Next on... Blank space, unused. Despite the fact that there are still a few tournaments/events going on in "Halo", this space is used for nothing. Solution could be to make both sections (Twitter/Halo Events) horizontal, so they wouldn't take that much space vertically. Furthermore, for a better user experience, I would move the page numbers/links from the bottom to the middle between those two sections and the featured maps section, so people don't need to scroll downwards too much everytime they want to check out highlights/events/etc. of the site. RESPONSIVENESS The number of mobile phone internet users increases immensely. In these days, it is absolutely necessary to make a new website with a responsive design in mind. Making it appeal to mobile phone users is almost a standard nowadays. Responsive design is one of the biggest issues of this website. Some things don't even show up on a mobile phone, while others simply look bad. A difference of information between the small scaled and large scaled version of the same website is a serious issue. Let's dive in... The first article picture needs to be fixed to go with the screen size, obviously. I would structure the top a bit different, too, but that's for another day. The featured map section needs to be fixed. It could be a problem with the columns in CSS, since the server definitely is familiar with the pictures, just displays them as thin lines. The verticality of the two sections I already talked about now works with a smaller screen. A good ratio is needed, which let's the sections "jump" to a horizontal/vertical state according to screen size. When clicking on the Menu stack, a side window comes in from the left listing all of the menus. I would rather make it appear in front of the site with a slightly transparent plane. Same thing with the right side (when you click on your profile). With that, it would feel more compact and practical. Right now, it feels like the site wants to break out of something by expanding to the left and right; which is not needed. The pop-ups on the left and right also seem a bit weird, inctroducing a brighter background and once again, blank space. I've never seen such a design, could be offputting for audience (unfamiliar things make uncomfortable). Here's the other side: Sidenote: Redundancy of profile name, readability not optimal due to blue font colour matching background You see the featured maps section not working here either. Now, the pictures of the maps need to be added or otherwise a mobile phone user is not going to visit this site very often to look through some new maps, etc. He would always have to click on the map first to actually see it, then go back again after moving on. I think, I don't need to tell you about the user experience in this regard. The tabs on top should be centered or maybe replaced with fitting symbols horizontally. To incorporate the whole aspect of responsiveness, the site would need a complete redesign. Centered content with two columns on the left and right is outdated nowadays and basically a no-go for modern websites. TOP MENU BAR The top menu should always be fixed at the top of the screen making it more comfortable to go somewhere inside ForgeHub. Currently, the constant scrolling to the top makes for a tedious and onforgiving user experience. The more you go to the bottom the longer you need to scroll to get to the top. A fixed top menu bar is definitely needed for this site. Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for reading through all this! Excuse me for any typos. Discuss!
No, No. He should post it here. https://www.forgehub.com/threads/religious-occult-newsletters.156882/
It's a new forum that came into existence last week I've read through it and we totally agree on many points that you've brought up. I have been doing some of the work regarding features to the site, navigation, readability, etc. There are ton of things that I hope to fix before a redesign of the site is anywhere from announced, talked about, or even hyped. Simply, we know the current site's design is old and it needs to be refreshed. So things like the Event's calendar is SOMETHING that I am actively trying to get done, and with the mobile scaling, that's something that might be held off until the redesign. But good points either way. Thanks again for taking the time with all this @Buddy Jumps, it's very much appreciated.
No problems, man. I would be always down to help with the backend. Just a little wink, in case you're in the need of someone at some point in the future.
why does it seem like search results don't work? Please look into it. Searching for words i just typed in a thread, turns up nothing but stuff at least 2016 or earlier. Mostly reach stuff... thanks,
This is not design feedback but it something I have been having a major issue with. The requirements for screenshots of maps. Most maps that are submitted here on the site rarely show the layout or much of any gameplay elements that are there. This leaves a user only with the aesthetic value of the map to base their opinion on which will give some maps more downloads than they deserve and others less downloads than they deserve. Solutions: Require an overhead shot. Pictures of all the main areas of the map. And a picture that displays as much of the map as possible that is not an overhead.
Only just discovered this so here's my suggestion. Move the feedback and suggestions forum to the top of the forums page.