Hello All: I've been thinking ahead to the future my friends, and I've been
thinking that the UFTWWWP needs a bit of a face lift. Also, I'm not going to
be at UWM forever (either I'll eventually graduate or they'll throw me off or
something) so I've signed up for a GeoCities site which will become a GeoPlus
(Mmmmmmm.... 10 Megs for 5 bucks a month.) site as soon as I get my check card
straightend out. The move will not happen over night. I've got to plan out the
page, make graphics, etc.. When the new page is up, I'll keep the old page
running for as long as I can for all of you out there who have older browsers.
In the meantime, I want to know what you, the average FT player, wants to see
in an updated UFTWWWP? What features (realistic ones mind you) would you want
the new page to have? Please post your ideas to the mailing list so we can all
talk about them.
Mark, as some suggestions:
1. Break the page up a little (2-3 pages). Maybe separate pages
for rules & links (the page is currently 6 or 7 screens long). 2. Not sure,
but I'll think of something else eventually.:)
'Neath Southern Skies
> In the meantime, I want to know what you, the average FT player,
I'd like to see the return of the counters by Mike Wikan. I miss them now that
I play B5Wars as well. Apart from that I can't think of anything I want to see
on there that isn't already there.
> Kelvin wrote:
> I'd like to see the return of the counters by Mike Wikan. I miss them
I want them back too. Unfortunetly I'm running out of space a UWM (which is
partially the reason for my moving plans), so I used the copies from other
people sites. When those sites went down, I lost the counters. Hey Mike!!! Can
you send me new copies of the counters if you still got them?
> ROBERTSON,Brendan wrote:
I was thinking of that too. I was going to give the sections cool names too.
Here are some examples:
Shipyard: Ship Designs, Ship Design Programs, etc.
Simulator: Scenarios, Campiagns.
Archieves: New rules, background specific rules.
Communications: Other FT and space gaming links.
Any other ideas?
How about _The Engine Room_ for the backgound conversion rules?
'Neath Southern Skies
Mark, I am quite disapointed, I was totally unaware that there were any
'average' gamers, and certainly didn't think any FT player could be only
'average'.
Your web page does not seem to be excessively long, and it is
sorted out well. On some things it is best to bow to the roar
of the crowd.
Bye for now,
> I want them back too. Unfortunetly I'm running out of space a
Well at least one of those sites (mine) wasn't down for very long, and the
couters linked to ~mkh100 etc... should work fine...
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Mark, Be sure to maintain backward support for web browsers.
Design
======
ALT Someone reciently let me know that my page was unreadable with a text only
web browser. When I redesinged my page, I forgot to place ALT tags so that
text only viewers could know information that was expressed in a graphic.
Frames Frames are OK as long as you ensure that all information is (easily)
accessable without using frames. Frames are best as a navigation tool
(mirroring the links off your main page).
Nested Frames Avoid these. I thought that they were really cool, until I found
out that if you go from a nested framset to a page (inside the main frame) web
browsers tend to forget to draw scrollbars! I am in the process of removing my
nested frames from my site.
Content
For the most part I stand in total agreement with Tim J on his suggestions.
> I don't know if a big monolithic page is that good a design as it will
I really like the suggestion about having a 'front' page with links to
subpages with specific content in them. Look at the B5 Lurker's Guide, for
example. 1 relatively short, main page, with links off to major
sub-topics. You wouldn't necessarily have to structure the UFTWWWP to
be *exactly* like the Lurker's Guide, but the idea is sound.
My $0.02, for what it's worth.
Mk
In message <347CE79D.D17FA34C@csd.uwm.edu>
> "Mark A. Siefert" <cthulhu@csd.uwm.edu> wrote:
> In the meantime, I want to know what you, the average FT player,
No animated GIFs. No frames (I don't think you use them anyway, but just in
case...) Split the content across multiple pages a bit more.
Mark, Suggestions: Combat Archives: scenarios, campaigns. Comm Links: Other
web sites. Beyond the Event Horizon: New rules and game conversions to FT.
Shipyard, Dockyard, Spacedock: for ship designs and such.
Highlight area for new items/reference to where a new item is.
Bye for now,