TSS: Mind the Dust / Advance Design Alert!

[Dreadknux]

Hey everyone! In between my real life work, socialising and co-organising the Summer of Sonic with ArchAngelUK of Sonic Wrecks (which went absolutely brilliantly, by the way, despite mishaps – you can check it all out on the official website, or check back on TSS for reposts) I’ve not had a lot of time to dedicate to you guys. The visitors of The Sonic Stadium, where it all begun.

Well don’t worry, I’ve not forgotten about you guys – although some of the editorial is done by some awesome members of the community, I’ve always had my head buried around the back of the site, tinkering with this and that. After ten years, you’d probably know me by now – never sitting on one idea at a time. And with TSS’ 10th Anniversary just around the corner (24th October) I’m making some preparations that will ensure we have an awesome time all over the Network.

First off, this post serves as a heads-up, in more ways than one – I will be doing some rather odd things to the site over the course of the next week or two. And that will occur across the whole TSS Network – TSS, SEGASonic Radio, Sonic Showcase Network and The Sonic Show will all seem a bit odd on occasion. Don’t freak out and think we’re being hijacked or something – we’re not. It’s just me faffing about.

Speaking of the TSS Network, I am able to say that we can proudly add a new site to the fold. Welcome SEGADriven, an awesome fansite dedicated to all that is… well, SEGA. The transition won’t be made until I’m done with my ‘faffing,’ but when it does arrive you should be able to log into SEGADriven with the same login credentials as this very site here. That, in fact, should go for all TSS Network sites, when I’m finished. Nice, eh?

What’s even nicer is that I’m making some priorities clear on The Sonic Stadium itself. We’ve been at the forefront of important Sonic News, we’ve been there for you in terms of thought-provoking features, and we’ve done an awful lot of community promoting. But one area that’s been lacking is what I consider one of the pillars of the site – its information. That will get a major overhaul – as will the site itself. Take a look below.

What you see there is a work-in-progress of The Sonic Stadium. When will it be ready? Can’t really say. In fact, the only reason I’m sharing this image right now is to get some form of advanced feedback – do you think this is a more useful design for this website? Are you more inclined to click links to different sections if the site looked like this? I’ve noticed, when we have had a list of sections running down the sidebar, that a lot of the lower links don’t get a lot of love, despite being just as important as those at the top. In this manner, the sidebar in such a new design would be more context-sensitive – displaying Sonic Show videos and other Network-related updates in the sidebar on the homepage, for example, or listing online users.

It’s food for thought, and I want to make sure that you guys are happy browsing this website for another ten years! So I hope to have most of these plans laid out and in motion by TSS’ 10th! A bit unorthodox of me to reveal some of the surprises for such a big day, but hey – sometimes even I can be a little bit unpredictable.

Please give us feedback on the site in general as well – what would you like to see improved? What sort of sections would you like to see? Are we too tardy with updating various media? Write your thoughts in the comments box below, and I’ll take a good look at them. In the meantime, get excited for some pretty nifty changes!

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[Badnik Mechanic]

I am happy to see a 'meetup' section on the site, I'd love to see more of these spread out during the year, even if it's nothing huge other than "Oh lets all meet up and go for a trip to the beach somewhere"

Although I kinda feel sorry for the community blog section if thats getting pushed down, I have a feeling it won't get as many hits in the future if you can't see it the moment you load up the main page. SegaDriven looks nice, it'll be nice to see them on the site/family circle thingy.

[Shaddix Leto Croft]

Really like that new design while I'm use to the current design more like this one =) but may I ask a question Dread ?

Will you be adding a edit button to the comment section box ? Seeing that I will most likely like to add more to my comment after (like I do on SSMB) to improve it or correct spelling mistakes or does Wordpress not allow to edits normal signed up members to do that and that only the Admins and TSS Staffers can do edits to the comments.

That is the only flaw on the website that I can think off right now [i doubt more flaws than that the site is perfect =)], nice to see SEGA Driven join TSS too only been to the site 2 times and looks really good will have to visit that site more in the future =].

Edited August 12, 2010 by Shaddix

[Saint Nathan]

I am going to start using the word faffing in every possible sentence from now on.

Anyways, the new layout looks nice. It's not as cluttered as the current one makes me feel like sometimes. Though the side navigation bar is really handy, it's kinda weird seeing it gone.

[HelenBaby]

xD Dr Dre =D

[novelty]

Hey Dread, that WIP looks really great. It would be cooler in my opinion if the featured picture (the one with Big the Cat on it) would be a little bigger so that people (guests and members alike) are drawn into the featured topic. Also, it would be nice if an "=SSMB=" forum button was on the extreme right in the navigation :-P.

[bolt7]

The new WIP design is looking great to me- nicely laid out, everything is lovely and tidy. Not that the TSS front page design now is bad, but this seems to me like a huge improvement. This new one moulds much better with the design of the SSMB too. I'm all for the return of Information to the site, and I think the little box at the top featuring the latest games is great.

Dread: I notice whenever I log into the main TSS site it still thinks I'm an admin, even though I don't post news any more. I don't plan on logging in and wrecking the place, mind you, so leaving it like that probably wouldn't make much of a difference. Just letting you know.

[blu3blur]

Dread, that design is great. A fantastic layout of information.