Aurasoft3d.com

[Ryzon]

Added a better menu system. Doesn't look much different but its actually completely different, thanks to an awesome plugin I found its better than it was. I also redone some layouts and colors throughout the site. Got the facebook like box on the sidebars on the pages. Redone the header background, needs tweaked a bit but looks good.

What needs done,

-Forums -Media Page -Finish the about us page -Finish the homepage slider -Set up all the support emails -Gallery Page -Teams Page

-Anything else you guys suggest. Sorry it is taking me this long its just me. Plus I want it to look good.

Well I am off for a while guys I am tired and kids will be up soon. Peace! ++++

[Ryzon]

BTW: Site menu looks even more awesome in Google Chrome.

[SolarPortal]

sites looking better each day lol!

one thing to note, i am not a big fan of the large menu dropdown of rowed options, a single column of options is fine, unless you are taking it further and in which case, we will see where it leads.



also we prefer to have larger widths to the pages, normally with no right sidebar, this is great for images and for centralising content, but it is good to display the facebook content.
current SDN website page width: 1250px;
i am sure you will come up with something better!

[Ryzon]

Easy fix. I been researching the best methods for the forum and should be getting that started today.

Is there anymore Information you would like to provide for the site to add to any pages or like any other pages added?

[StarFire]

Dont worry about other pages unless you can think of others that would be needed. There is still a long way before it can be ready but I will have to have a skype chat with you about this in the not too distant future.

[Ryzon]

Ran into a snag on the forums process, I had some css clashes so stay tuned lol! Fixed the dropdown menu as well, and most pages now are full width.

[Ryzon]

With the help of some plugins, mods, and tweaking the header/footer css, I have successfully got a phpbb forum inside the website. Now to do some research on tweaking some minor things then can start themeing it more.

http://aurasoft3d.com/forums/index.php

[StarFire]

Good to see it embedded in the page. I thought you were going to use another forum system as we already use phpBB?

We spent many hours with css to get the current forums legible. The main thing is that it has to be easy to read for long periods of time, this is the reason it is gray + off-white. If colors are too contracting the eyes can get sore after long periods of reading. Each post has to be distinguishable from the next, professionally this is one area that text is king and art comes second. Just some thing to bear in mind

[StarFire]

On the home page I think it would look better if there was some image background behind the video+title so that it matches the images that follow.

[Ryzon]

The forum is not embedded. That is the actual phpbb page. I have redone the css of both the header and footer to match up perfectly. The same trick Unity uses for their vbulletin.

[Ryzon]

Since it was the weekend I didn't do much work on the site. I will be back at it Monday morning though. I just been busy with the family this weekend.

[StarFire]

Time for the family is very important

[Ryzon]

Yah! Found out I will have more of it too. I was laid off. Some one sued the company for sexual herassement now they had to lay off 20 workers.

[StarFire]

Ouch sorry to hear that. Bad news for the wallet but on the bright side the children + your wife will get to see more of you

[Ryzon]

I need the forum files still though to proceed with the forums. I need to transfer the database over so all the posts and threads carry over. I am working on some custom forum icons right now but besides that not much else to do. Some more themeing maybe but that is it. All logins to the site and forums are linked so you can post a comment on site and use the forums with just one user account.

[StarFire]

We can not pass over the forum files due to data protection!. But as you are only using the same forum as we currently using, we can re-theme if your design has any improvements and develop on a fake forum/multi users etc. But is has to be easy to read and text on a dark background for lots of text is not good for the eyes etc I am sure you are aware of UI design

[Ryzon]

So you want two forums? I am a bit lost. If so we can just use this forum as a private developer hangout? Otherwise I am really lost lol. I am building the new forum inside the website like the big dogs of the industry do it, easier on customers and any user for that matter. I can attempt to use vbulletin as it is the best but must first speak with a friend that owns several licenses and see if he is willing to part with one for me to use for some design work.

[StarFire]

No there is no reason for 2 forums lol as we already have one that is working fine
We don't have a problem with our current system but there is always room for improvement. The visual make over is only if you can make it better.

With the forum and main website we would integrate any changes onto to our server.

The forum being inside the page like the "big dogs" as you say can work if done correctly but this does not mean it is correct. But you can not lose too much space to the main site as forum users need to be able to see more posts on the screen and are generally aware of what the parent site is offering. How many people need to go to the current SDN once they have seen it. Again the idea is good but needs a lot of thought on ergonomics.

Linking user registration: We don't need users to be able to register with the main site but once they purchase Skyline, their account login will need to provide access to the forums, purchased downloads, shopping basket of asset store and advanced tech support. This is a little while off yet so no need to worry there.

vbulletin : We can not use someone elses licence lol this is not the thing to do, so I don't think we will go there.

Website: Some of the ideas you have developed in your website design I think we can add to the current site as they will be an improvement. I did like some of the earlier versions you made ( a week or so ago), the current one just has too many strong contrasting colors ( text and lines most notably). We should hook up on skype so we can chat to you easier about this and how to progress.

aurasoft logo: Looks great I think we can use this.

Skyline logo: This is moving in the right direction, like the "Y" idea and how it separates the text. It does need to be polished more though before we can use it.

I think that all for now, thank you for your contributions so far keep it up