Hi guys,
It's a new year and I think that's always a good time to talk about what we like/dislike most about our much loved Skyrim Blog...
Topics like this help Paul and the hosts come up with new ideas to keep the site moving forward and also ensure content stays fresh so that new visitors continue to arrive! Skyrim has been out for over a year now but remains strong in the gaming charts so efforts must be doubled to ensure this remains 'the place to be'.
What do we think of the current groups? Does anyone have any new group idea's? Have any of the old groups fallen behind and possibly need removing/re-hosting/merging with another group?
Is the front page cluttered? Do we care who's birthday it is? (mine's the 28th of February, don't forget!) Does anyone wear 'The Badge' to work or when they aren't here? Do we care about the other (lesser ) Skyrim sites?
Would people like new stories? What about a monthly competition organised by the story corner hosts to get people being creative again, that would make a great poll and people would have to actually read the stories in order to vote!
One of my massive worries at the moment is that the site doesn't scream "Skyrim" anymore, I can honestly say that if I was a new 'punter' looking for Skyrim information online I would pass this site over during my search. The current theme is vile and looks dated, it actually puts me on a slight downer looking at it everyday (sorry Paul ).
I'd love something that was more thematic of the game we enjoy and instantly shows new members that this site means business and has amazing content...
Give us your ideas people! Let's keep the blog on the map in 2013!
Which is why I proposed that if you want something that "screams Skyrim" a theme that resembles the Skyrim UI would be appropriate.
And also @Paul, you are the owner of this site, if you feel like the current banner and/or theme is inappropriate for the direction you want, you change it as you like. It doesn't matter if it was a contest, especially when it's actually been up there for a while now.
Well, science would dictate that a dark background with a somewhat contrasting text is nicer on the eyes. In my experience black and red works wonderfully, but that doesn't quite fit in with the Skyrim UI thing. A nice Skyrim landscape background with a see-through black page and gray-white borders and text would be nice.
Needs more Celtic stuff. Like this: http://img.techpowerup.org/111116/2011-11-16_00002.jpg
Look at that compass, try to replicate that. It's basically what you've done already, but with more curly shit. Also, if we're going with this theme we kinda need the banner to be more neutral.
I've just finished reading all of the pages here (so far) - such nice ideas, mostly. I am all for 'tidying things up' so the site is more visually appealling, but I have very little talent in that regard (I see it when things look nice, but I am not good at the actual 'doing').
I like the ideas of 'buttons' for links, for both groups and other areas (such as button linking the welcome page - with more 'buttons' there for site rules, navigation, etc.). And I agree that many items, eg. the 'badge', can simply be omitted altogether.
I am 100% against changing the name of the blog - it should forever stay "The Skyrim Blog". Simply put, names are important and changing names is a bad idea - no matter how descriptive and accurate the new name is. People have come to recognize our blog's name, it took a long time to earn that recognition.
As far as text on a page is concerned, the background containing the text must be an opaque single color (no transparency at all) - else I, and others, will have trouble reading it. I have my browser pages set at 150% size to help me read - so please don't go screwing with text and translucent backgrounds. It does not have to be black and white, 'opposite' color combinations are not easy on the eyes anyways - a reason why tournament chess boards are actually green (not black) and white. So please keep any text on an opaque single color background (black and white is ok, but a little less contrasting colors may work better).