2CPU.com » News » November 2004 » Site Redesign: Comments? Suggestions? Help?

I've been kicking the idea of a complete site redesign around for quite some time, and after much frustration and discussion I've decided that the time has come for 2CPU.com to get a facelift. I've been frustrated with the page load times lately due to poor ad server performance. Jim has spent quite a bit of time optimizing the server so that pages load fast and furiously for all of you but due to the table structure of the site, everything is slow waiting on the ads to load. Since the ads have to stay to help cover the costs associated with running the site, and since we have no control over the ad server performance, the best compromise is to redo the structure of the site so that the pages can load quickly and the ads can load in their own time. I may be wrong (please correct me if I am), but I am thinking that we need to move to more current, CSS driven layout to accomplish this. I am also starting to think that 2CPU.com is looking a bit dated. The basic site as it exists today is pretty much a hacked version of the original site I designed 6 years ago. The look has changed, but the structure and code has largely remained the same. If I want to continue to grow the site (Jim and I have plans to do just that), then I need to ensure that the interface is user friendly, intuitive and pleasant to look at. I'd also like to add a few more aspects to the site. We've been promising a DC site for quite a while, and I'd really like to make that happen along with a few other things. I've never claimed to be a web developer, so I am going to ask for some help from you guys. If you have some web development skills and can or would like to help out, drop me an email. I'm also looking for your input. What would you like to see? How would you like it displayed? What do you currently like and/or dislike about the layout, navigation, etc? With our new template driven dynamic site, it's easy to change the look and feel, but not so easy to change the way things are displayed. I'll thank you in advance for your help and/or suggestions. Hopefully as we move into the new year we'll start a new era here at 2CPU.com... A bigger, brighter, more successful era.

mekboy Registered User Posts: 748 Joined: 2001-11-18

#32644 Posted on: 11/09/2004 10:15 PM I actualy like the simple layout of this site. Besides faster page loads i really would like to see more articles and reviews.

Teddy Boom Registered User Posts: 18 Joined: 2004-05-13

#32645 Posted on: 11/09/2004 10:39 PM Please, don't do what Ars did. Keep the visual changes small, driven by improved utility, not fashionable looks.

opus13 misanthrope. Posts: 1628 Joined: 2002-04-05

#32646 Posted on: 11/09/2004 10:43 PM i liked the new ars look. the old one was dour and very 1996. as for new 2cpu layouts, were there are design cues that you were looking at? open for anything at this point?

Hooz Administrator Posts: 2337 Joined: 2000-03-29

#32647 Posted on: 11/09/2004 11:11 PM I'm open to anything at this point, but I must say that I really do like the look of Ars' new site. I've never been a huge fan of high-contrast sites (white text on black/blue/dark grey backgrounds). I'd like to make the ads as unobtrusive as can be, but they have to be there... There's no way around it. Right now that's about the only stipulation. [size=1][url="http://www.2cpu.com"]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! Are you folding? [url="http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=3074"]2CPU.com Folding@Home Team[/url] [url="http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=19979"]My Heatware[/url][/size]

Quimrider SMP Newbie Posts: 3 Joined: 2001-06-29

#32648 Posted on: 11/09/2004 11:24 PM it would be great to see hardware sections that break down available motherboards, their chipsets, processors etc. Reviews could be added to this or in a separate review section. In the motherboard listings it would be nice to see what memory is supported, FSB speeds, available overclocking features, etc.

TobyZ28 Registered User Posts: 12 Joined: 2004-03-04

#32649 Posted on: 11/09/2004 11:29 PM After spending the last 3 years working in visual studio and using .NET, I think you might want to consider it. With page, and session caching, page loads become extremly fast. ASPX pages are nothing like the old (and crappy) asp pages. Dishing out a cached page from IIS uses very little processing, and is as fast as requestion a plain HTM file. The only thing you'd be waiting for would be the ads I agree with everyone else about keeping the look simple and similar to the way it is now. I like it, but I don't mind change either. Definatly use a CSS for all of it, makes life a lot easier when making formatting changes in the future

incognito9 Registered User Posts: 314 Joined: 2002-09-17

#32650 Posted on: 11/09/2004 11:40 PM Originally posted by Quimrider it would be great to see hardware sections that break down available motherboards, their chipsets, processors etc. Reviews could be added to this or in a separate review section. In the motherboard listings it would be nice to see what memory is supported, FSB speeds, available overclocking features, etc. I think that these are good ideas. In terms of layout, I agree with previous posts that simple==good. On the other hand, features are good, too ("I have very strong feelings about ambivalence" -- s Brust) Here is a link to one of the most usable and usefull websites (if you like to play with video) on the web: video help There are a lot of cool features that greet you when you go there-- like how many new articles and forum posts there have been since your last visit, and what the latest flamewar in the forums is. There's also a great part of the website that lets you post your experiences with various video gadgets so you can check compatibility with various media and how well your must-have feature is implemented. If you did something like that here-- say for motherboards-- it might eliminate a lot of posts that some here find irritating and could greatly shorten some of the threads around here -- you asus fans know the ones I mean-- making them a bit less intimidating for people casually scanning for info. Just my two cents.

Lord British Gentoo Folder Posts: 355 Joined: 2004-04-06

#32651 Posted on: 11/09/2004 11:46 PM I don't mind the site at all but if you want to change, I like the design that won the Gentoo redesign contest. It has ads and is easy on the eyes. http://www.gentoo.org/images/wwwcontest/contest1_front.png Just my .02 folding@home name: _ryecoaaron # systems: 4 dual core, 2 quads, 1 dual quad, and a PS3

Mr Bill two by two, hands of blue Posts: 2946 Joined: 2002-02-16

#32652 Posted on: 11/10/2004 12:09 AM I like the appearance of 2CPU as it stands. Page loading speedups would be nice but its not bad as it stands. But if you're set on change... What I like best about the new Ars Technica is that you can toggle the color scheme and fonts with that little toolbar right on the front page. White background for day, dark background for night. A nice compromise. P.S. sorry, I don't have the knack for coding, or I would offer to help. My SMP rig [URL="http://personal.palouse.net/billshan/ghost.htm#A_Merlin"]Merlin[/URL]

Big B Psychic or Psycho? Posts: 3631 Joined: 2001-07-03

#32653 Posted on: 11/10/2004 12:14 AM That Gentoo design does look pretty slick. Also, I don't know if you've looked into it, but vBulletin v3 is pretty slick, especially from an administrative standpoint. It's different, but they re-did the placement of admin/mod controls in the forum itself (not in the admin or mod control panel). Another thing I personally like is a design that allows you to easily navigate between the forum and the website itself. PC Perspective (formerly AMDMB) has this going, as does Zone365, among other sites. From simply a user standpoint, this makes the fourm and website seem more as one entity and just nice in the navigation. The aesthetic part is another plus. Hardware Forums|2CPU|My DVD's|Heatware=BigB Gigabyte NF650SLI|2GB OCZ PC6400|Pentium E 2160|GF7900GS (SLI)...XP SP2 MSI P965 Neo-F|1GB SuperTalent PC2-5300|PentiumD 920|Radeon X1650...XP SP2

AssKoala Anti-Zealot @ GATech Posts: 3309 Joined: 2002-01-02

#32654 Posted on: 11/10/2004 12:14 AM Personally, I like the simple design of the current page, that does not mean it can't be improved upon. What I don't like is the flashy, gimmicky, space wasting style many sites use (no offense, but like that Gentoo redesign, terribly ugly despite being better than what is currently their page -- wastes a lot of space with a stupid banner at the top). The new Ars design is nice, better than the old, by quite a bit. Just avoid the suck designs :/ http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/ Me Webpage | If you always think like an expert, you'll always be a beginner. | "A handful of knowledgeable people is more effective than an army of fools" -Writing Secure Code, 2nd Ed.

HEMI Anti-Zealot @ GATech Posts: 2467 Joined: 2001-12-18

#32655 Posted on: 11/10/2004 12:16 AM I'm a fan of clean and simple. I've liked the "basic" layout of 2cpu.com for a while. However, I also like dark backgrounds, cause I get bleary-eyed after staring at a mostly-white screen for a while. I know a new design wouldn't have a dark background, but here's hoping... Unix is user-friendly; it's just picky about its friends.

Lord British Gentoo Folder Posts: 355 Joined: 2004-04-06

#32656 Posted on: 11/10/2004 12:28 AM AssKoala, you are right about the banner. I think if that was completely removed, it would be a pretty clean page. I just don't like ads mixed in the middle of columns like Ars and Anandtech although it is pretty common nowadays. folding@home name: _ryecoaaron # systems: 4 dual core, 2 quads, 1 dual quad, and a PS3

Sparkhard Registered User Posts: 1207 Joined: 2000-09-25

#32657 Posted on: 11/10/2004 12:28 AM OH GOD!! please don't change to anything like the new Ars' I hate it. I love the site how it is now, but a little facelift is always nice. Maybe a "facelift" and not a complete transformation. just my 0.02 Sparkhard Tyan Tiger 100 @ 112| 2 X P3 1.13Ghz @ 1.23 | Geforce 3 ti200 64MB|FortissimoII|1024 mb PC 133 MICRON|120 GIG's HDD's|Promise FastTrack 100|DVD/CDRW drives|NIC and a IDE ZIP 100|Windows 2000

pastor SMP addict Posts: 278 Joined: 2001-05-04

#32658 Posted on: 11/10/2004 01:39 AM Even if the site is old , I still enjoy the design, it looks good , sober and it is easy to find information on the main page and the loading time don't bother me at all Well, in fact I'm responding here because as soon as yesterday, I was thinking of a good improvement for the forum. 2cpu's forum has become an essential informations source for all the pc power users and they really use it as a tool for decision before buying and for maintenance after the purchase ... I think a nice feature would be to have extra area in the user profile where we can write our rig details with a dedicated case for each parts (motherboard, processor, cooling system, memory, case, etc ... ) So it could generate easily a standardised kind of signature ... because, anyway, most users are already writing there rig details in the signature but the improvement lie in the fact we could find easily with the search engine, people who have the same hardware as us (with dedicated search areas) so we could share our knowledge in a more efficient way. Of course it's easier to say than to do but this is my suggestion [ NCCH-DL rev 1.02 bios 1003 / 2 Xeons 3.0 Ghz nocoma D0 @ 3.2Ghz (215X15) / 2 X Cooler Master E3W-NPTXS-04 + 2 80mm 36 cfm + 2 80mm 26 cfm fans / 2 X 1 Go Crucial PC3200 + 2 X 512 Mo Crucial PC3200 / 6800GT galaxy modded to quadro 4000 / Audigy / Maxtor Maxline III 250 Go sata / Western Digital 120 Go JB / Maxtor 300 GO/ PSU:Tagan 480W / Case: LianLi V1100B ] [ 4 nodes Render Farm : Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9 / Athlon 64 X2 4200+@ 2.5 GHZ / 2 X 1 Go DDR / Enermax CS-10068-MW ]

Mixwell Always Mix Well Posts: 460 Joined: 2003-01-11

#32659 Posted on: 11/10/2004 01:48 AM I really enjoy the cleanness of the site and the way it looks now, especially the forums. I've actually stopped using some forums because their layouts are much too busy and difficult to navigate. If you must upgrade, please keep it simple and functional, much like the dual systems many of us own. Leader of 'Team' Mixwell, Folding @ Home - Member of the 13m Point Club || References: Heatware | Ebay | Beerology

Hooz Administrator Posts: 2337 Joined: 2000-03-29

#32660 Posted on: 11/10/2004 01:55 AM Jim and I have actually been discussing a move to the .NET platform. It would be a MAJOR overhaul though as our current news/article engine and forum software runs on PHP and MySQL. A switch to .NET with ASP and MSSQL wouldn't be a minor change. Software and licensing wouldn't be an issue, but we'd have to start everything over from the ground up, and I'd also have to look at collocation a bit closer to home ($$$). Switching to vBulletin 3 is definitely in our future. Currently our CMS backend shares a database with the forums so we're awaiting an updated version of the CMS that will integrate with the updated forum software. Keep the thoughts and comments coming guys! [size=1][url="http://www.2cpu.com"]2CPU.com[/url] - Because two are always better than one! Are you folding? [url="http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=3074"]2CPU.com Folding@Home Team[/url] [url="http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=19979"]My Heatware[/url][/size]

nater SMP Rower Posts: 1009 Joined: 2002-02-27

#32661 Posted on: 11/10/2004 02:29 AM Do what you want to the code running the site, but please, keep the cosmetics the same! I love the simple look of the site, the forums are something I would HATE to see changed. I admit, the front page looks alittle cobbled together, but the forums are nice, and I love the look. Please dont change! Paragon: Iwill MPX2 | 2x1600MP | 512MB | GF4 4200 | 475W | 15k SCSI | 480 gig Raid 5 Paradigm: Tiger MPX | 2x1700XP(TBred) | 512MB ECC DDR | GF2 GTS | 400W |

oaklandbum surly fustilarian Posts: 763 Joined: 2003-03-29

#32662 Posted on: 11/10/2004 03:02 AM i don't think you need to change any of the background stuff. this site loads faster than most other hardware related websites I frequent, so I don't really think that page load times are a problem. the only thing I'd suggest is changing that ugly salmon color (#FFEAD6) and change it to a slightly brown/greyer color like #CDB8A4, then set the font color inside the boxes to a darker color. And if you need any help with design, I might be able to convince my business partner to mock-up some designs for you. If you want you can [URL=http://www.ilnm.com]check out my company's web site[/URL]. Go Metric

KimVette Corvette Fanatic Posts: 945 Joined: 2002-07-30

#32663 Posted on: 11/10/2004 03:10 AM Originally posted by TobyZ28 After spending the last 3 years working in visual studio and using .NET, I think you might want to consider it. With page, and session caching, page loads become extremly fast. ASPX pages are nothing like the old (and crappy) asp pages. That's very true (my own web site is asp.NET based) however caching takes a LOT of RAM, and if you have dynamic content, well, it's going to be a bit slower than php. My configuration: Many hopelessly outdated SMP boxen. Any system which is shipping is already obsolete! u r lame if u insist on trying 2 b l337 by abbrev evythng u type when asking ppl 4 hlp. kiddie speak is teh sux. ppl. plz stop teh kiddie speak. thx. hint: aol kiddie speak is not cool, it just makes people not want to read your post.

GogetaSSJ4 Registered User Posts: 85 Joined: 2000-05-15

#32664 Posted on: 11/10/2004 03:24 AM Things to consider: * colors: black on white is good, also black on grey (the grey used in some rows of the forums, like the one this textarea is in)....high contrast colors are evil * simple layout: I prefer mostly links instead of images. And the navigation should be easy to use, not just pretty * no flash or blinking images I actually like the current layout/design. But like other people said, faster loading times would be very nice. Moving them around so they are in separate tables might help out. Maybe you (or anyone with an idea) should throw a ketch together and people could vote or choose. Bye GogetaSSJ4 [url="http://not.yet"]DragonWorld[/url] Webmaster

terminalrecluse is home now Posts: 3802 Joined: 2004-08-07

#32665 Posted on: 11/10/2004 06:38 AM Originally posted by Hooz Jim and I have actually been discussing a move to the .NET platform. It would be a MAJOR overhaul though as our current news/article engine and forum software runs on PHP and MySQL. A switch to .NET with ASP and MSSQL wouldn't be a minor change. Software and licensing wouldn't be an issue, but we'd have to start everything over from the ground up, and I'd also have to look at collocation a bit closer to home ($$$). Switching to vBulletin 3 is definitely in our future. Currently our CMS backend shares a database with the forums so we're awaiting an updated version of the CMS that will integrate with the updated forum software. Keep the thoughts and comments coming guys! Switching to a .NET platform wont be a problem financially? Damn these ads must really work. Whatever you do, I am one for the ars look. I like it. This colorscheme at least is not all that exciting. Just I hate sites where I have to call upon my years of Internet browsing experience to FIGURE out how to navigate through the page. This site's strength not only is in the content but in the ease of use. 121 total Ghz, 304GB in total memory... Arch Linux - stable : 3930k @ 4.4Ghz, 64GB DDR3, 120GB Samsung 840, HX850 DAS - Norco 4020 - 20x Seagate 3TB, 1KW PSU FBSD 10 ZFS server - SM Chassis, SM X8DTE, 2x L5520 Xeons, 48GB Reg DDR3 ULP, IBM 5015 w/ 512MB DDR2 cache, RAID-50 - 42TB storage Dell C6100 - 4 nodes, 2 1.1KW psu's, 2x L5520s, 6x e5530s, 192GB reg DDR3 (48GB each), F@H, etc

sAvAgE69 Unregistered

#32666 Posted on: 11/10/2004 06:41 AM Since this site is based on Powerhouse systems how about a fully interactive website driven on Oracle 10g? Just my Two Cents

Mr Bill two by two, hands of blue Posts: 2946 Joined: 2002-02-16

#32667 Posted on: 11/10/2004 07:17 AM My two additional cents, that Gentoo site looks awful. Say it with me "straight lines" not curvy widgets and powerpoint-like shaded gradients. Ahhha! Nooo Nooo Noooooooo!:eek: :eek: My SMP rig [URL="http://personal.palouse.net/billshan/ghost.htm#A_Merlin"]Merlin[/URL]

Occupant Registered User Posts: 2421 Joined: 2002-03-04

#32668 Posted on: 11/10/2004 07:34 AM Originally posted by Hooz Jim and I have actually been discussing a move to the .NET platform. It would be a MAJOR overhaul though as our current news/article engine and forum software runs on PHP and MySQL. A switch to .NET with ASP and MSSQL wouldn't be a minor change. Software and licensing wouldn't be an issue, but we'd have to start everything over from the ground up, and I'd also have to look at collocation a bit closer to home ($$$). Switching to vBulletin 3 is definitely in our future. Currently our CMS backend shares a database with the forums so we're awaiting an updated version of the CMS that will integrate with the updated forum software. Keep the thoughts and comments coming guys! I dont really see a need to change from PHP and MySQL, as these are very flexable tools, and well, cheap. I would like a motherboard selector guide, like this: http://indigo.intel.com/mbsg/ But include AMD cpu's as well...

2CPU.com » News » November 2004 » Site Redesign: Comments? Suggestions? Help?