[beta.a-m-v.org] Hey, we're semi-official

[Otohiko]

On this whole subject of sterility:

Wait a sec, isn't the idea that the first thing you see on the page is a featured video that you can immediately start watching/streaming? If so, then that's a huge improvement over what we have currently IMO. I think coming on the page and immediately being presented with the content of what we do rather than a bunch of text is a very good way to get people involved.

[I Fight For The Users]

On this whole subject of sterility:

Wait a sec, isn't the idea that the first thing you see on the page is a featured video that you can immediately start watching/streaming? If so, then that's a huge improvement over what we have currently IMO. I think coming on the page and immediately being presented with the content of what we do rather than a bunch of text is a very good way to get people involved.

That is the idea, yes. My current plan is that the banner turns into a video player when clicked; downloads can be given a similarly prominent position.

[CodeZTM]

Out of curiosity, what is the funcationality of the quick comment and opinion system going to be like? I know it's not the most important thing right now, but it's just something that I'm curious about (as both of them are something that I use frequently).

Leaving them out for now; will probably open up a beta without them. (This doesn't mean that existing QC/opinion data will be deleted; there's no reason to delete it.)

I (with the rest of the Machine) have been tossing around an idea for alternative system that may spur greater activity: https://github.com/amvorg-underground/catalog/issues/31

That issue doesn't really describe the system in that much detail, but that's because I don't have much else concrete to write about it at the moment.

I guess what I really want to know is if there will still be a scored ranking system and area for comments about the videos. Considering the activity of the Announcement Forum, this is really the only way most people can get somewhat valuable critiques. I'd also be sad to see the top 10% gone.

That seems like a great system to replace the broken QC system, but if that's it by itself, I'd be a little sad.

[Nya-chan Production]

On this whole subject of sterility:

Wait a sec, isn't the idea that the first thing you see on the page is a featured video that you can immediately start watching/streaming? If so, then that's a huge improvement over what we have currently IMO. I think coming on the page and immediately being presented with the content of what we do rather than a bunch of text is a very good way to get people involved.

I'd rather not watch a video on something that resembles hospital floor, though :3

[Pwolf]

I'd rather not watch a video on something that resembles hospital floor, though :3

Then don't watch videos in a hospital.

[Nya-chan Production]

I'd rather not watch a video on something that resembles hospital floor, though :3

Then don't watch videos in a hospital.

Or on new Org homepage ;x
Well, there's always fullscreen and forums, I suppose.

[Pwolf]

I don't understand what the problem is with the home page and why you're saying it resembles a hospital floor.

[Nya-chan Production]

I don't understand what the problem is with the home page and why you're saying it resembles a hospital floor.

1) It has no colors, other than the video
2) It is pretty much sterile. Like a floor. Or a beton block. Except the, well, video.
3) The creator has repeatedly said that he would like to keep it this way.

I just represent, like few others, the other pole. I don't want an A**le-style homepage, white and grey, with colors represented by product (or product advertisements) only. I want to show up that we are a lively community that works with art, colors and music. And I believe it can be done more colorful than that (while keeping it not overdone, of course).

That is all ^^

[Pwolf]

First of all, it's not done yet. The home page isn't going to be just a banner and white space with a menu on the bottom. Adding color to the page isn't going to say we're lively, the content on the page will and at the moment there is no content.

[I Fight For The Users]

I don't understand what the problem is with the home page and why you're saying it resembles a hospital floor.

1) It has no colors, other than the video
2) It is pretty much sterile. Like a floor. Or a beton block. Except the, well, video.
3) The creator has repeatedly said that he would like to keep it this way.

1) You are refusing to engage your imagination.
2) You are eliminating a large amount of subtlety with (3) (at this point, I think intentionally so), and I feel that I must counter your poison.

Yes, there's a lot of image placeholders right now. Think of what they can look like once they're filled in. Think of what pages will look like with additional systems not yet built: recommendations and badges (e.g. "featured video for 2012-12-21") are two such things that I'd like to explore.

The sterility of each page depends on two things.

1. The user managing the page (e.g. profile, video pages).
2. For search pages, it is the set of users whose videos/profiles/etc. show up in the results.

The degree to which this new layout appears sterile is therefore entirely up to you.

Content (in the form of video text, supporting images, and the videos themselves) comes first; the design is a shell to organize that content. Even that drop shadow on the main container serves that purpose by separating body from links.

Shaded boxes, colored text, and divider lines are not necessary to implement that goal. They can improve organization when used carefully, but I will not add them just because someone thinks it needs to be kicked up a notch. In many cases this is due to incomplete implementation; however, in some cases (e.g. some video information pages), it is a direct reflection of the sad state of that video catalog data. And I think that's fine; it's honest design.

---

I have said this before, but it probably bears repeating:

If you do not like my design decisions, you are free to fork the codebase, add whatever you want, and deploy. You are free to leverage all the other changes I have made or will make, as I have made the entire codebase available under various free software licenses. You are even free to use the database, as I am committed to keeping it replicable by others.

You don't even need to fork the code, really. You could just start your own.