WinCustomize 2007 Sneak Peak - Part 1

A quick glance at the slick new look-and-feel of WC

Friday, October 20, 2006 by Zoomba | Discussion: Virtual Communities

A little while ago, Brad started talking up the upcoming refresh to WinCustomize.  He mostly talked about features and some cool stuff you could expect from the new site, but so far, all you've had are lines of text, nothing to really sink your teeth into.  Seeing as how we're all about the visual aspects of our computers, I thought it might be nice to give you a little taste of what the site is looking like at the moment.  Overall, better usability, and a slicker look and feel.

This is part one of the article series.  Today we're looking at the front page and the gallery views.  The next article will look at submitting work, and some of the personal page and account views.

Disclaimer:
This article won't even begin to address features or functionality since the site is still being worked on.  Even the visual elements and layout you will see in the screenshots below are considered to be under development still and are NOT FINAL.  Something you see here in a shot may not actually be on the site when it goes live.  These screenshots are based off of our internal test build of the new site and you shouldn't take anything you see here as a promise of functionality or features.

In a few places, I'll put up a side-by-side comparison of the new site with the old site to give you an idea of how drastic the improvements are.  For the most part you'll only be getting slices of the page at a time.  Eventually we'll be posting full screenshots as things become finalized and our web devs sign-off on pages as "done"  But until then, enjoy the little snippits below.

The Front Page

The first thing everyone sees typically when they come to WinCustomize is the main page.  A lot has been changed in how the information is presented.  Some people felt that the left and right navigation menus in addition to the header navigation links was just too much to keep track of.  The new design does a lot to streamline the main page to make it as easy to scan and navigate as possible.


The current WinCustomize header navigation space.  There are a lot of tabs to click through


The new and improved header navigation space.  A lot cleaner, and fewer sections to have to navigate through

 

Current Popular/Featured space on the main page The new Popular/Featured space.  A lot more information is accessible but it manages to look less cluttered
   
Current News Listing New News Listing


Gallery Views

Navigating the galleries on the site has always been a bit overwhelming.  There's a lot of information to scroll through and some times you need to dig through multiple pages to find what you're looking for.  The new gallery pages are designed to make it easier to quickly scan through what's available.

Current WindowBlinds Gallery view.  Notice how much space is taken up to show each skin, and how much information is tossed at you right off the bat The new WindowBlinds Gallery view.  In less space than the old view, you see several times the number of skin previews.  Much better for quickly browsing a library

 

   
Current Detailed view for an item in the library.  A lot of whitespace and a blocky layout. The new Detailed view.  Cleaner, uses screen space better, makes it easier to spot the rating and the download link.  Also puts comments on the detail view so you don't have to click a second link to view them like on the current site.

 

So there you have it, your first glimpse at the new WinCustomize.  Check back next week for another look at what nifty new things we're putting in. 

First Previous Page 2 of 3 Next Last
_02
Reply #21 Saturday, October 21, 2006 12:47 AM
Wow! So far I really like what I see. Can't wait till it's ready. Keep up the great work!
Beesley
Reply #22 Saturday, October 21, 2006 2:02 AM
wow, wow, wow. Can't wait!
lmgppag
Reply #23 Saturday, October 21, 2006 3:59 AM
... .... Excellent
PurrBall
Reply #24 Saturday, October 21, 2006 7:44 AM
Just noticed the camera image on Featured Skin is my camera.
Tominated
Reply #25 Saturday, October 21, 2006 7:45 AM
OH MY GOD! THAT IS FULLY SICK!!!
whiterabbit007
Reply #26 Saturday, October 21, 2006 11:21 AM
The new design looks really great! Much cleaner and more appealing. For some reason though I don't see the screenshot for the new gallery view is it only me?
Robert_Snyder
Reply #27 Saturday, October 21, 2006 12:44 PM
Lookin' Great! Keep it coming, guys!
Corky_O
Reply #28 Saturday, October 21, 2006 11:06 PM

For some reason though I don't see the screenshot for the new gallery view

It is the lower section of images. The lower two images of each column. The third image in the right column should be the new 'WindowBlinds Gallery' image.

Badly Drawn Duck
Reply #29 Sunday, October 22, 2006 7:14 PM
Simply put... WOW! Very clean, streamlined design. I love what I see so far. Can't wait for the full launch!
Jeff Gamble
Reply #30 Monday, October 23, 2006 3:53 PM
All I have to say is
skinz2nice
Reply #31 Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:09 AM
One Word. Nice!! The Home and Gallery with the wincustomize logo is my favorite picture. I can't wait for the new look!!
aufisch
Reply #32 Wednesday, October 25, 2006 1:28 AM
Excellent improvements. I love that the comments-button disappears and I am also looking forward to the bigger thumbnails in the "detailed"-view.

Is it possible to implement a feature on the new site, which allows the subscriber to choose which galleries will be included in the "newest" section? I would looove to see such a thing, that way all the non-bootskin and non-"insert program of your choosing" users won't have to do as much sifting to get to the interesting stuff.
PurrBall
Reply #33 Wednesday, October 25, 2006 6:47 AM
Is it possible to implement a feature on the new site, which allows the subscriber to choose which galleries will be included in the "newest" section? I would looove to see such a thing, that way all the non-bootskin and non-"insert program of your choosing" users won't have to do as much sifting to get to the interesting stuff.


Hmm that's a great idea!
paul.stern@live.com
Reply #34 Thursday, October 26, 2006 5:23 AM
Forgive me if I missed this, but would it be possible to separate the WB5 skins from the WB4 skins.
Darnell0216
Reply #35 Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:29 PM
The new site is looking awesome! I can't wait to see it implemented.

I hope with the use of CSS, some color schemes might be added. Or at the least have a dark and light color scheme. It's kinda hard to surf WinCustomize at 3am with the blinding white .
mccraig69
Reply #36 Thursday, October 26, 2006 9:56 PM
WOW, I LOVE THOSE WINCUSTOMIZE 2007. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT NEW BRAND WEBSITE. I SECOND YOUR VOTE....
PurrBall
Reply #37 Saturday, October 28, 2006 8:57 PM
Will there be a way to put the gallery back to how it was before?
ZubaZ
Reply #38 Saturday, October 28, 2006 9:51 PM
Will there be a way to put the gallery back to how it was before?


Define "before" LOL
PurrBall
Reply #39 Tuesday, November 7, 2006 8:26 PM
Define "before" LOL


The current descriptive view by default.
ZubaZ
Reply #40 Tuesday, November 7, 2006 9:52 PM
The current descriptive view by default.


Post me a screenie and I'll try to see if there's an equivalent.   

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