Posted by Jim Erhardt on September 6, 2008 at 5:57 AM
Over the next 30 to 60 days, the NPN website will be undergoing some noteworthy updates - many of which are long over due. Now that I have my weekends back, the work can begin!
The first and most obvious update will be a major improvement in site navigation. The assortment of navigation menus currently used throughout the site will be replaced with a single row of drop-down menus in an identical header section on every page, with the exception of the regional forums, which will retain their own header graphics. The new header will also include a member log-in link and we will retain the simple text links to major sections of the site on the bottom of every page. The current site map link will also be retained. Since there are thousands of pages on the site, this update will be done incrementally over a period of time and will take the most amount of work. Our goal is to update each and every page on the site, going all the way back to our very first articles of April 2000.
In addition to the new header navigation, the Front Page will undergo a few minor updates, but the look and feel will remain the same. The most notable change will be the inclusion of the latest Weekly Pick thumbnails. And of course, the Cover Page will remain as is - a full size display of the Photo of the Month. Only the actual header graphic will be updated to be consistant with the rest of the site.
The current "look and feel" of the site will most certainly be retained, so it won't feel like you've landed on another planet once the update is complete. Your old bookmarks should remain good too.
There will also be an assortment of minor updates/improvements, all intended to enhance paid member experience on the site. One of the most notable will a series of fields on the Preferences page (to be renamed "User CP") that will allow NPN members to enter information about their personal websites for automatic display on the Links page. This will replace the current tedious process of having to email me the information and then having to manually update the Links page. There will also be a number of forum/gallery software tweaks to smooth out a few wrinkles.
I hope you are excited as I am about these updates - I will keep you posted on our progress!
Update 9/15
Work is progressing on updating the site, though non of it is obvious at this point. There's still a ton to do, but we're getting close enough to figure out a tentative schedule of what you will be seeing:
1. By next early next week we will begin implementing the new page graphics/navigation on the "top layer" of pages on the site. This means that all of the main pages - with the exception of the forums and galleries - will be updated at that time. From there, it may take a few months to drill all the way down to the less-traveled pages and earliest articles, but by year's end this major task will be complete.
2. The forums and galleries should be updated with the new graphics/navigation by the time the October issue goes online - if not sooner. Additional tweaks and upgrades to the forum software itself will be implemented incrementally over the next few months.
In conclusion, the updates will begin to appear next week, but like road work, will take a few months to fully complete. I will keep you updated on our progress in this thread.
Update 9/17
Most of the "top level" pages have now been updated. We will continue to update the older articles, which will take some time. We expect to have the forums and galleries updated by the end of next week.
Update 9/19
The September '08 articles have been updated. Based on your feedback and requests, the update includes the use of a larger font size to make the articles easier to read.
Update 9/21
The discussion forums have been updated with the new header. We have also added a Log-in/Register link in the new header in all forums/galleries and on the Front Page. The link should be functional in a week or so. The regional group forums will not be changed and will retain their own graphics.
Up next are the IC Galleries, which we plan on having done this week.
Update 10/7
The IC galleries have now been updated with the new header and navigation. The log-in/log-out link in the new header is now also active, including on the Front Page and Forums Index page.
We will continue woring on all the other pages to update them with the new header/navigation.
If you encounter any problems with the upoates, please let us know!
Update 10/13
This phase of forum updates is now complete. The next phase will begin in a few weeks and include the following:
1. The automated member website link listing function mentioned above
2. A new "View Larger Photo" upload function that will allow members to upload a second larger file, sized up to 1200 pixels/500kb. The larger photo will open in a separate screen. The "regular" 720 pixel/200kb max file will still function and display as it does now.
3. There will be a few other minor tweaks to the forum software.
Thanks again to all for your patience while we implement these updates!
Update 10/27
Two new features are now online;
1. Members can now upload a larger version of their photo - 1200 pixels/500kb maximum. The larger photo opens in a new window with an appropriate copyright warning and a right-click disable script that also contains the copyright warning. Of course, none of that guarantees your photo will not be used without your authorization, so a prominent watermark is suggested if you are concerned about this.
2. The Preferences page has been updated to include new fields for your personal website and blog listing. Be sure to review and update your website information!
Posted by Steve Foss on September 6, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Cool deal, Jim! Thanks much for your hard work!
Posted by Alex Mody on September 6, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Posted by Bill Chambers on September 6, 2008 at 6:01 PM
Sounds great Jim. As always, thanks for your consistent efforts.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on September 7, 2008 at 8:42 AM
Looking forward to the changes, Jim...thanks for all the work you do in order to keep NPN the best nature site!
Posted by John Mumaw on September 7, 2008 at 7:15 PM
Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into making this a premiere photography site!
Posted by Jim Erhardt on September 7, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Thanks to all for your kind words and encouragement!
I thought I'd share with you the first draft of the new header & navigation design. Again, this is the template that will be used on all pages on this site - including the forums, galleries and articles pages - with the exception of the regional forums (who use their own graphics).
Along the top is a row of drop-down menus - these should make navigating the many sections and pages of NPN much easier. The familiar Site Map is still there in the same spot - the site map uses simple text links. Finally, along the bottom of each page is a row of simple text links to major sections of the site. Using this format on every page should make navigation easy for everyone.
I have tested this template with IE 6.0, Netscape 7.1, Firefox 1.5.0.12 and Opera 7.11. Feel free to test the menus and see if they look correct and work properly for you (note that the new Log In link is not yet functional) and let me know what you think.
Posted by Ed Cordes on September 8, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Jim, I can't imagine the amount of work that this is going to take. We all thank you for all you and Donna do to keep this site the best.
BTW the new header looks good.
Posted by David Prichard on September 8, 2008 at 11:19 PM
Jim,
Seems to work well in Chrome too!
Posted by Jim Erhardt on September 9, 2008 at 6:37 AM
David, good to hear it works in Chrome! The more browsers we can test it with right now, the better.
The new Front Page is pretty well complete and IMO, it's a nice improvement. Take a look and let me know your thoughts. Also based on user feedback, we have also increased the font size on articles pages - Vermont Color Kingdom of the Northeast.
The real work will begin soon as we make these changes to all pages on the site - a long, tedious but worthy task!
Posted by Pam Colander on September 9, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Thank you Jim I like the front page. It takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication to make a site like this work. The talent you draw, and retain, here is a testament to your success.
It looks great, and I really Iike the structire of the navigation. I didn't see a menu item under 'IC Galleries' or 'Forums' for the regional groups, though. The feel, overall, is much more friendly. Good Job!
The template appears to work nicely on IE7.
Thanks as always for everything you do!
-P
Posted by Bill Stice on September 10, 2008 at 10:44 AM
Jim, thanks for the update and for all of the work going into the changes and improvements. You and Donna have always done an outstanding job in making this site so useful and informing. I really appreciate all of your work. I happen to know what it takes because I oversee my organization's web site (a total of 50,000 files, that's files not pages). Again thanks!
Thanks so much, Jim! Hooray for the larger font; I'm all for that wherever possible! The navigation template looks great. And I join with everyone else in a tip of the cap to you for all your hard work to make NPN the best!
Posted by Walter Rowe on September 14, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Looking good Jim. Can't wait to see the rest of the refinements. By the way, the new navigation works fine on all the Mac in Safari and FireFox 3. Opera isn't displaying it wide enough so it wraps. You may consider specifying a minimum width in the stylesheet to force enough area to prevent the top and bottom nav menus from wrapping.
Posted by Jim Erhardt on September 14, 2008 at 8:06 PM
Walter, is sounds like the Opera browser is not supporting style sheets (any chance of posting a screen shot?). My PC version of the older Opera 7.11 is working fine.
Good to hear the other Mac browsers are rendering it correctly!
Posted by Toni Lankerd on September 15, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Looking good, Jim....thanks for all the hard work you and Donna do to continually keep the site fresh and up-to-date!
Posted by Andre Joanisse on September 17, 2008 at 7:20 AM
Looks great Jim, thanks for the hard work
Posted by beth summer on September 17, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Love the new navigation header Awesome work, Jim and thanks
Posted by Jim Erhardt on September 21, 2008 at 2:18 PM
Paul, thanks for testing it in those browsers!
Posted by Carol Hyman on November 10, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Jim, Things are looking pretty good. The idea of posting larger images is great with one small exception...
When you click on larger image, the HTML brings up a new window which is go; however, that new window appears to have set margins that are very wide. Therefore the new window opens up a gigantic window with very wide margins. Royal P-I-T-A to have to re-size windows. Haven't checked this in any browser other than firefox 3.0.3 so I don't know if this is consistent across all browsers.
Could you please have David check into it.
Thanks,
Carol
Posted by Jim Erhardt on November 11, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Carol, the new window opens full screen large enough to cover a 1200 pixel-wide photo. If a smaller photo is uploaded, it will appear to have "wide margins." As expected with hi-res images, scrolling is needed with screen resolutions under 1280 X 1024.
Discussion
25 repliesThe first and most obvious update will be a major improvement in site navigation. The assortment of navigation menus currently used throughout the site will be replaced with a single row of drop-down menus in an identical header section on every page, with the exception of the regional forums, which will retain their own header graphics. The new header will also include a member log-in link and we will retain the simple text links to major sections of the site on the bottom of every page. The current site map link will also be retained. Since there are thousands of pages on the site, this update will be done incrementally over a period of time and will take the most amount of work. Our goal is to update each and every page on the site, going all the way back to our very first articles of April 2000.
In addition to the new header navigation, the Front Page will undergo a few minor updates, but the look and feel will remain the same. The most notable change will be the inclusion of the latest Weekly Pick thumbnails. And of course, the Cover Page will remain as is - a full size display of the Photo of the Month. Only the actual header graphic will be updated to be consistant with the rest of the site.
The current "look and feel" of the site will most certainly be retained, so it won't feel like you've landed on another planet once the update is complete. Your old bookmarks should remain good too.
There will also be an assortment of minor updates/improvements, all intended to enhance paid member experience on the site. One of the most notable will a series of fields on the Preferences page (to be renamed "User CP") that will allow NPN members to enter information about their personal websites for automatic display on the Links page. This will replace the current tedious process of having to email me the information and then having to manually update the Links page. There will also be a number of forum/gallery software tweaks to smooth out a few wrinkles.
I hope you are excited as I am about these updates - I will keep you posted on our progress!
Update 9/15
Work is progressing on updating the site, though non of it is obvious at this point. There's still a ton to do, but we're getting close enough to figure out a tentative schedule of what you will be seeing:
1. By next early next week we will begin implementing the new page graphics/navigation on the "top layer" of pages on the site. This means that all of the main pages - with the exception of the forums and galleries - will be updated at that time. From there, it may take a few months to drill all the way down to the less-traveled pages and earliest articles, but by year's end this major task will be complete.
2. The forums and galleries should be updated with the new graphics/navigation by the time the October issue goes online - if not sooner. Additional tweaks and upgrades to the forum software itself will be implemented incrementally over the next few months.
In conclusion, the updates will begin to appear next week, but like road work, will take a few months to fully complete. I will keep you updated on our progress in this thread.
Update 9/17
Most of the "top level" pages have now been updated. We will continue to update the older articles, which will take some time. We expect to have the forums and galleries updated by the end of next week.
Update 9/19
The September '08 articles have been updated. Based on your feedback and requests, the update includes the use of a larger font size to make the articles easier to read.
Update 9/21
The discussion forums have been updated with the new header. We have also added a Log-in/Register link in the new header in all forums/galleries and on the Front Page. The link should be functional in a week or so. The regional group forums will not be changed and will retain their own graphics.
Up next are the IC Galleries, which we plan on having done this week.
Update 10/7
The IC galleries have now been updated with the new header and navigation. The log-in/log-out link in the new header is now also active, including on the Front Page and Forums Index page.
We will continue woring on all the other pages to update them with the new header/navigation.
If you encounter any problems with the upoates, please let us know!
Update 10/13
This phase of forum updates is now complete. The next phase will begin in a few weeks and include the following:
1. The automated member website link listing function mentioned above
2. A new "View Larger Photo" upload function that will allow members to upload a second larger file, sized up to 1200 pixels/500kb. The larger photo will open in a separate screen. The "regular" 720 pixel/200kb max file will still function and display as it does now.
3. There will be a few other minor tweaks to the forum software.
Thanks again to all for your patience while we implement these updates!
Update 10/27
Two new features are now online;
1. Members can now upload a larger version of their photo - 1200 pixels/500kb maximum. The larger photo opens in a new window with an appropriate copyright warning and a right-click disable script that also contains the copyright warning. Of course, none of that guarantees your photo will not be used without your authorization, so a prominent watermark is suggested if you are concerned about this.
2. The Preferences page has been updated to include new fields for your personal website and blog listing. Be sure to review and update your website information!
I thought I'd share with you the first draft of the new header & navigation design. Again, this is the template that will be used on all pages on this site - including the forums, galleries and articles pages - with the exception of the regional forums (who use their own graphics).
Along the top is a row of drop-down menus - these should make navigating the many sections and pages of NPN much easier. The familiar Site Map is still there in the same spot - the site map uses simple text links. Finally, along the bottom of each page is a row of simple text links to major sections of the site. Using this format on every page should make navigation easy for everyone.
I have tested this template with IE 6.0, Netscape 7.1, Firefox 1.5.0.12 and Opera 7.11. Feel free to test the menus and see if they look correct and work properly for you (note that the new Log In link is not yet functional) and let me know what you think.
New Page Template
Thanks for taking a look!
BTW the new header looks good.
Seems to work well in Chrome too!
The new Front Page is pretty well complete and IMO, it's a nice improvement. Take a look and let me know your thoughts. Also based on user feedback, we have also increased the font size on articles pages - Vermont Color Kingdom of the Northeast.
The real work will begin soon as we make these changes to all pages on the site - a long, tedious but worthy task!
Pam
It looks great, and I really Iike the structire of the navigation. I didn't see a menu item under 'IC Galleries' or 'Forums' for the regional groups, though. The feel, overall, is much more friendly. Good Job!
The template appears to work nicely on IE7.
Thanks as always for everything you do!
-P
Good to hear the other Mac browsers are rendering it correctly!
The new site and navigation is starting to look good. It works for me in the following browsers;
Opera 9.52 (latest version)
IE7
IE8
Firefox 3.0.1
Safari 3.1.2 (PC Version)
Looks like a major, major update!
When you click on larger image, the HTML brings up a new window which is go; however, that new window appears to have set margins that are very wide. Therefore the new window opens up a gigantic window with very wide margins. Royal P-I-T-A to have to re-size windows. Haven't checked this in any browser other than firefox 3.0.3 so I don't know if this is consistent across all browsers.
Could you please have David check into it.
Thanks,
Carol