Flying Giants Site UI Design

[idealer]

Hey Biff/ Max I'm not one to bitch normally but the UI of the site is a pain in the ass to navigate.

I design websites for a living and I find it very fustrating to browsing this site. On my monitor I cannot see any content that relates to the page without scrolling down a full screen length.

Some of my ideas...

place banner ads to the right of content, like sky scraper ads that way we can see what we want to see without scrolling.

Place announcements to the right or left of core content

Has anyone tried to use the slide show to view gallery pictures?

Try and fit head content and navigation in the first 100 pixels of page that way the rest of the screen can be used for core content.

I really like the site and everything it stands for... just wanted to try and express my opinion.

[idealer]

Here is a quick sample (5min.)
http://comps.idealer1.com/fg/before.jpg
http://comps.idealer1.com/fg/after.jpg

[TheTank]

Thanks for the feedback!

[SleepyC]

Interesting.

Glad your here... good feedback.

[Imac Kiwi]

Just 1 more thing, I have my desktop set at 800x600, and the page width on FG is just a tad bigger. When I bring up the site on my wifes Laptop or the work computer it is smaller than those screens. (i hope this makes sense)

Is it possible to make it fit the 800x600 and not be much different on higher resolution screen settings?

I am very limited in my computer knowledge and am just trying to ask a practical question.

Thanks guys for all the good work on this site.
Alan

[Biff]

idealer,
Being straight up, reading your post what I took away from it initially is "your 5 month old baby has got really big ears, he's not a bad kid just has really really big ears that bug me. If I were you I'd fix those ears. Here's how you can fix your baby's big ears. " I'm not being a wise apple, just being honest. I know that wasn't your intent.

I'm proud to say I don't even know what a UI is! I don't think it's the flexible contraceptive Frisbee. When Max layed the keel for the site he had a master plan. He had me sit at the key board and navigate the site. I'm NOT a computer guy at all. I represent probably the lower 3% of members as it concerns computer aptitude.Then Max took a fellow code programmer and had him do the same. He tracked how we did and modified to be what it is. If a schmuck like me and a guy who types like the sound of 12,000 marbles bouncing off a tin roof can both smile, mission accomplished.

I'm not at all saying you're wrong. Layout isn't wrong or right. Like saying that blue isn't blue enough. It's all subjective. I would suggest you try it a bit more though. Perhaps it's just different ?
Again dude, no offense intended. I FEAR CHANGE!!!

[madmax]

that stands for "user interface" cletus. All this stuff is incredibly important, and this is the first real feedback that I think we've gotten since launch. I'll reply when I gets back from work.. thx dude!

[idealer]

Hey max I noticed the ui changes today, thanks for listening I just wanted to leave a little feedback...

Biff... I was just tring to get your son laid...

[madmax]

Hey mon, sorry I didn't reply earlier last week, stupid busy if you know what I mean. First off --- thanks for taking the time to do the layout. I'm totally with you, skyscrapers are probably the best option and I'll futz with it here soon. There is an announcement feature that I use to throw the "what's goin' on" stuff above the top of the forum page. Agreed - last week it looked freakin' awefull - we had some important follow up stuff from the nall for our crew. The 850x thing -- from experience and hard numbers, this affects aproximately 3%, and that extra 50px buys us quite a bit of room for content. Not that 3% means nothing to us, but we also didn't take safari into consideration as the percentage is even less. Greater good, I know can understand that one. BTW, checked out your work as well, VERY impressive! I could use any offered mentorship if you're up to it, this feedback is totally appreciated. Lunch is on me, I'm a skip from Irvine, pm me if you would like. Any feedback/help is totally appreciated. Thanks again.

MD