Re-organized Navigation Links

[Deleted]

With the new front page, I think it would be easy, and also beneficial, to try and unify the top navigation links (and perhaps the wrapping CSS too) of all different places, so they all are easily accessible from anywhere on the whole mash-up of sites from this same community.

In my opinion, the link structure should be very simple, as follows:
[Header link: Home]
[Home][Forums][Wiki][Chat][Search in _Section_][Account]

Explanation:

• Header link - The giant moon image, which should link to the front page.
  
• Home - Links to the front page.
  
• Forums - Links to the forums' front page.
  
• Wiki - Links to the Wiki's front page.
  
• Chat - Links to the chat page, which should be updated so not only it has the mibbit embedded chat but also details for connecting manually on IRC, Skype and any other alternative currently known.
  
• Search in [Section] - Available only on the places which need search (or universally using a Google Custom Search under the label "Search"), it wold provide a link to the proper search page for a person to find what matters. This could also be replaced with a search field to the right of the navigation.
  
• Account - would actually be a drop-down menu, which would provide all things related to accounts in Forums and Wiki, by providing links to "Register", "Login", "Profile", "Logout", etc.

Besides these, perhaps some specific links would be necessary in certain areas, nonetheless, having in account that all systems being used have a (more or less) versatile template system, it is not hard to change the navigation, either in a deep or simple way.

At last, this would allow a bigger coherence between the entire site's navigation, with a deeper integration between each part of the site, bringing a more cohesive appearance to it.

Update:
How would it look on...
Home:

• Home
  
• Forums
  
• Wiki
  
• Chat
  
• Help

Wiki:

• Home
  
• Forums
  
• Wiki
  
• Chat
  
• Search
  
• Help
  
• Account
  • Log in / Register
  • ----------
  • ...
  • Logout
  
  

Forums:

• Home
  
• Forums
  
• Wiki
  
• Chat
  
• Search
  
• Help
  
• Account
  • Log in
  • Register
    
  • ----------
  • View Profile
  • Bookmarks
  • Active Threads
  • Members
  • Mark All Boards Read
  • Logout
  
  
• Quick Links
  • ...
  
  
• Forum Jump
  • ...

[Insane_Zang]

My only complaint is that the logo should take you to the forum frog page. I use that all the time and would be annoyed if it takes me to the landing page and the would have to click to the forums

[Ferrrrrre]

Feb 3, 2011 15:02:05 GMT -5 Insane_Zang said:

My only complaint is that the logo should take you to the forum frog page. I use that all the time and would be annoyed if it takes me to the landing page and the would have to click to the forums

^that..

plus I dunno how editable the lay-out of the wiki is, but maybe we could make it a more SPOTM-ish layout?

[Insane_Zang]

Wasn't there a wiki skin submited months ago?

[Deleted]

An alternative would having the banner link only to the root of the section it is in, that is, the banner in the forums would link to the forum's base, the banner in the wiki would link to the wiki's base, etc. And regarding the theme of the wiki, even if it is hard to make, making a small wrapper around that theme isn't hard at all, usually requiring only a little bit of HTML and CSS.

[Insane_Zang]

pogotribe.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=2&thread=2112&page=1#38136

[Deleted]

I've made a quick re-factoring of the default MonoBook skin, and so, here is, the PogoSexy skin!!!! I decided to use the normal logo instead of the wiki logo, and the wiki will look in everything the same, with the exception of being wrapped in exactly the same theme the home page, forums and chat are in, thus providing unity. It also features an awesome re-factored navigation bar, in all purposes similar to what I proposed here, with all account related stuff in a sub-menu. I propose the mods to apply it as soon as they understand the changes, as it brings the entire site even closer together.

EDIT: Here is a screenshot:

Attachments:

[Freddy]

It looks awesome!

Although I think the wiki logo shouldn't have been removed.

[Ferrrrrre]

I like it =)

[Deleted]

With this reply comes attached an alternative to the current navigation on the forums. It comes with the changes I proposed, and is able to work without JavaScript. The CSS for the navigation should also be replaced with the following:
#nav { text-align: center; margin: 0 0 25px; padding: 0; }

#nav > li { font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; list-style: none; display: inline-block; }

#nav > li > a, #nav > li > span { background: #fff; color: #000; border: 1px solid #CACACA; text-decoration: none; list-style: none;

display: inline-block; margin: 0 5px 0 0; padding: 5px 10px; }

#nav > li > a:hover,  #nav > li > span:hover, #nav > li > .active {

background: #C3C3C3; color: #fff;

}

#nav li .dropdown:after {
content: "\00a0"; display: inline-block;
background: url("http://karsonenns.com/southpole/arrow-down.gif") no-repeat center center; margin-left: 7px; width: 16px;
}

#nav li ul {
background: #3F3F3F; border: 3px solid #545454;
text-align: left; margin: 0; padding: 0;
visibility: hidden; position: absolute; z-index: 10;
}
#nav li:hover ul, #nav li:focus ul {
visibility: visible;
}

#nav li ul li {
list-style: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;
}

#nav li ul a {
background-position: 5px center; color: #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #717171;
font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding: 8px 10px 8px 26px;
}
#nav li ul a:hover, #nav li ul a:focus {
background-color: #f5f5f5; color: #000; text-decoration: none;
}

#nav li ul h6 {
background: #f2f2f2; color: #444444; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; margin: 0; padding: 1px 3px;
}

#nav li ul hr {
border: none; border-top: 3px solid #545454; margin: 0;
}

This way the navigation in both the home page, the wiki, and the forums in entirely consistent between itself.

Freddy, I removed the wiki logo to keep consistency. We could have the wiki logo instead of the default one, but that way, the site integration is lessened, while this way all of the pieces seems to belong and interact properly. Another alternative would be to have the wiki logo in addition to the main logo, but that would be redundant, as we would have 2 elements with the same function (both the main logo and the wiki logo try to say users in which site they are, while also providing a link to the home page of the section).

EDIT: On a side note, the redundancy of the Quick Links menu is increasing rapidly. With my changes, most of the link on it are moved to Account, and the few remaining are the Wiki link (which now also has a privileged position on the navigation), the Archives link (which is partially malfunctioning, as it is no longer possible to reach the index, even if other posts are accessible), the Twitter link (for which there is already a list of the most recent tweets on the front page's footer) and a Vimeo link (which is no longer used as far as I know). I think we could drop everything on the Quick Links menu without loosing anything valuable, that is, if my navbar implementation is applied.

Attachments:

[Insane_Zang]

I do not disagree with anything

[Deleted]

And here is the final piece of art, a completely renewed chat page, with a chat widget, instructions for connecting to IRC and with instructions to connect to Skype chat (although those need to be urgently updated).

This includes is all wrapped in a good looking interface which conforms with the rest of the site, providing unity. All of the sidebar links work with fake Ajax, so in theory, clicking any of the links on the sidebar should not take you away from the chat.

If the moderators and admins choose to apply this, 2 things need to be taken into account:

• 1. The /style folder needs to be updated with the files inside of the style folder on the archive so as things work at their best.
  
• 2. I have no idea if the original page had more dynamic php content behind the scenes, but it seemed pretty static to me. If there is dynamic content, take that into account.
  
• 3. There is no #3.

Here is a screenshot:

Attachments:

[Deleted]

Obviously, me being the person I am, I forgot to include the style.css which was supposed to be inside the style folder to be updated, and also forgot to make some of the paths to certain links relative.

In attachment is the style.css file to update.

Attachments:

[Camoon]

You are just full of awesome.

[Rob]

I will do my best to figure out how to implement these changes within the week.