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Just thought I’d give you all a quick update on the new look...  it’s almost there! Well, in theory.

I was able to take the image mock-up and integrate it as a template, but there are a lot of sections that just look very weird. Those will unfortunately take time to get converted/fixed, but at least you can see what the new site looks like, live.

1. /secret/cysid/set-render-mode
2. Click Set Render 2 (this will set a session cookie that goes away if you close the browser)
3. Click around, see what it feels like;
   • this is more-or-less what the new look will be like
   • I'm particularly happy with the new create user and log-in pages; these are "basically complete"
   • check 'em out once you've switched to the new look
4. Set Render 1, or close/open your browser

Oh, and regarding the logo – I’m still not set on it. Work in progress. Well, the whole thing is a work in progress, but at least it feels like we're making progress :-)

Will the old look be removed or will we get the choice of skins? Thanks so much for the work you're putting into the site.

Hard to say now; it's pretty difficult to maintain a multi-skinned site (the things done for the whole MAG vs CYS thing from a ways back is a suuuuch a mess now), especially as there's major layout changes.

I wouldn't be opposed to supporting skinning via CSS, but someone else would need to maintain/create those CSS files.

Damn that looks way better. Who did the graphics?

A woman who does design work for his company. She did the main inedo page as well.

Feels a bit strange, but I guess I just have to get used to the new site. I don't know if it's just me, but the 'my storygames' list seems a bit small, did you scale it down? And it would be nice if the 'saves' button would show up at the 'play' tab instead of the 'create' tab.   

A lot of things are strange b/c it's sort of merging the existing colors with the new layout. And yes, everything is tiny. 

Right now CREATE just goes to "My Stuff", but I think it should to take you to some intermediate page that has like a HOW TO or who knows what. Maybe if you're already logged in, it will take you to My Stuff. I dunno yet.

Good idea: re Saves; I'm going to be working on a completely new listing page, this is where "PLAY"  will take you.

But again, when you go to the play page, there is a fat chunk of blank.  I have gut feeling people want that taken out.

And you still need to work on the actual storygame viewing, because those old colours are still there.

He knows. As he said, the live update is simply an intermediate between what we have now and what we will have. There are many things that will change from the live update before the site goes into it's new skin.

I think I'll really, really miss the bright look but I'm sure I'd get used to it.

I wonder if we can do a preview of a text?

Oddly enough, I'm looking forward to the new look. I usually dislike sudden changes in appearance. I liked this immediately. Not sure about the Logo though. 

Wow, huge difference between the two. I like the change. I don't like the idea of leaving behind this skin, but I like the new look. the rendering kind of made me feel like I'm at the eyedoctor. "Which looks better, number one or number two?"

Its a bit dark for my tastes but other then that it is good.

other than*

Could we monitor traffic before and after the switch in skins and see what effect it has? If people spend less time on the site on average, we should consider switching back, no?

Oh there's no going back, LOL.

But no worries, I installed an analytics tool about a month ago (that one time i just centered the site), so traffic is now being monitored and can be analyzed. I've done a bunch of major site redesigns like this, and you just don't see traffic go the other way.

That works for me. I've done a grand total of 0 major site redesigns so I'm happy to put my faith elsewhere.

I know she's going for a old-timey woodcut look, but it looks really floral -- not really what CYS is about. Does she have any other woodcuts or patterns that would be more suitable?

It's not easy to find suitable quality illustrations, but you're welcome to look. This probably took a few hours to find.

Remember it needs to be royalty-free and free (or inexpensive, like $50 max). Good luck!

This one was found here --- http://killxthexscenexstock.deviantart.com/art/Vintage-Wall-Paper-Texture-70982719

The new site has a very nice feel to it in my opinion. The vintage background is meh, but at least the site isn't obtuse looking now and it has an overall better "feel" to it. Me like.

Mostly it's cool, but the new font SUCKS. Hard. (Edit) Also, when I'm in the preview, part of your post is in white for some reason.

I only just noticed this now but I'm really pleased that the new site layout looks identical on Firefox and Chrome. Since the Rich Text Editor has been available on Chrome, the only thing keeping me from shifting across from Firefox is the current layout's weird appearance on it.