New LJP website address

[_Em]

Here's an example of a Wiki I currently contribute to:
www.emuscene.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

From experience, I've found that new users don't look at the Wiki until forced to... however, for more in-depth content (and the basic "What are ROMs" content to refer new users to), they work quite well. A Wiki is especially a good way to maintain compatibility lists for multiple versions of an emulator.

[Tinnus]

Oh well. Started contributing to the Wiki since everyone seems to like the idea

[hansschmucker]

Be honest, you like it too, otherwise you wouldn't do it And I see you've also started using the bugtracker. I think Mantis is pretty straight-forward (at least when compared to Bugzilla) and not a total overkill

Of course, if you and Henk want to work together on this then we'll need SVN, CVS or something like that...

[Tinnus]

AFAIK he just wants to fix the old LJP and I just want to develop LJX. I only changed the status of that bug to "aknowledged" so people can see my response.

It's a given fact that all bugs in the old LJP will not be fixed by me, so, Henk, feel free

[hansschmucker]

I've messed around with the design some more.... is this more to your liking?
little-john.net/demo/screenie.2.png

(Tinnus: was messing up layout)

[hansschmucker]

Another thing worth thinking about is moving the menu to the left... What do you think, better or worse?

little-john.net/demo/screenie.3.png

[Tinnus]

Left seems better. I still dislike the excessive use of gradients though

How about a combo box to toggle gradients on/off? ;D

Also, having a wider width for the news makes it better to write frequent (and longer) updates.

Don't forget the Wiki link though! Also, I'd rather put the final app name ("Little John Emulator Collection" possibly) in the title rather than the URL (after all, if the user wants to find THAT out, he can just check the address bar) and maybe change that subtitle. Yeha, I know I was the one that made it up, but that's just the least bad thing I could think of

Basically, get rid of the gradients, get some more slick-looking buttons and icons for the buttons and I'm liking it a lot better

[hansschmucker]

"Little John Emulator Collection" is a little long, don't you think?

I'm trying my think of a less-gradiant-centric version, but Gradiants are simply my favourites so it's a bit hard for me.

The Docs link is meant for the Wiki and finally about the icons... any suggestions? I like simple and clear icons and these fit the requirement (and they still look quite stylish).

Anyway, good night... maybe I can dream up something new

[hansschmucker]

I've just spoken with Henk and he's gone on vacation the next week, but he generally likes the new site... Tinnus, would you mind having Henk onboard with his own donation button and link to his webpage? Also, he has an ad banner on his page so, I think it would be fair to add at least a small banner for him on little-john.net too, of course then you should have one too

Using adsense is really quite easy (I'm using it on an iGoogle module myself), so give it some thought...

[hansschmucker]

Here's a no-gradiant attempt... I like the other one better but maybe it's something you can agree on (keep in mind you're not talking to a design major, just an interested amateur)
little-john.net/demo/screenie.4.png

[countbuggula]

Meh...I still like the gradients better. The buttons on this one look really plain. Then again, I'm just a lowly software tester, not a mighty programming god, so I'm sure they have final say.

[needhelp]

I also think the gradients look better. It makes it seems more 3D because gradients show some depth.

[tgwaste]

hansschmucker said:

Here's a no-gradiant attempt... I like the other one better but maybe it's something you can agree on (keep in mind you're not talking to a design major, just an interested amateur)
little-john.net/demo/screenie.4.png

This is the best one yet by far.

[_Em]

Here's an idea; use minimal drop shadows instead of gradients... and when you mouse over, the shadow raises further; when you click, the shadow drops.

I'm with Tinnus that the gradients are a bit harsh; however, the white round rects are a bit blah.

Oh, and the Title gradient is fine with me... just the buttons were a bit disconcerting (kind of like a railroad track up the side).

Also, I preferred the white lettering

[hansschmucker]

OK, so now let's focus on the buttons... this would be my idea for a fair compromise. It basically has it all. Strong outline, soft gradiant, soft shadow:

[tgwaste]

hansschmucker said:

OK, so now let's focus on the buttons... this would be my idea for a fair compromise. It basically has it all. Strong outline, soft gradiant, soft shadow:

Looks good.

[hansschmucker]

That's how it look on the page:

little-john.net/demo/screenie.6.png

[countbuggula]

Much better! I hope Tinnus likes it!

[tgwaste]

Ya, that looks _really_ good... only two things I don't like are the Little John's title.. that could use some pizaz(sp?).. and 'Is there anything better than mario on a Palm?'.. thats kind of.. ya..

[Tinnus]

OK, I like it I just don't like the "Metaview helps, go to his website"-thing-stamped-all-over idea. I''m giving him due credit, website and donation plead in the newspost, and his name in the Download page, and I don't tink it needs more. If he continues releasing more versions, I'll keep posting them in the website with more URLs and donation pleads, don't worry

I don't like the subtitle though, since LJX is not Palm-only. How about "rotating quotes"?

- "Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to play Mario?" (the best)
- "Your retro emuation on the go" (serious)
- "Get a plumber inside your pants" (funny)
- "The best of the old with the best of the mobile" (cool)

Oh, and what about just "Little John" for the title?

edit: tgwaste, fixed those for you

[countbuggula]

tinnus said:

- "Get a plumber inside your pants" (funny)

YES!!!!! I love it! ;D

[tgwaste]

countbuggula said:

tinnus said:

- "Get a plumber inside your pants" (funny)

YES!!!!! I love it! ;D

ya, thats the best one!

[_Em]

tinnus said:

- "Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to play Mario?" (the best)
- "Your retro emuation on the go" (serious)
- "Get a plumber inside your pants" (funny)
- "The best of the old with the best of the mobile" (cool)

Oh, and what about just "Little John" for the title?

How about "Little John: Portable Emulation" for the title? The pun's intentional

RE: your first byline... shouldn't that be... "Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to play Donkey Kong?"

[hansschmucker]

That was actually just a stand in sentence for whatever we'd decide on... I like the rotating quotes idea... I'll build a demo in the next few hours, OK?

[_Em]

One other thing: seems to me that the graphics should represent more of the platforms being emulated. Mario and Sonic represent everything by Nintendo and Sega... what about Atari, SNK, Bandai and NEC (and for that matter, the ones making an appearance in LJX)?

[tgwaste]

I kind of like that image the way it is.. it embodies all of emulation in its own way.

[hansschmucker]

I agree... the Gameboy was the first system that was emulated by mainstream emulation software. And Mario was the game on the Gameboy (aside from Tetris). Genecyst was the next mainstream emulator and Sonic is clearly the most prominent Sega character. We don't have to feature every single character in the logo, we just want to show what it's about in general.

[hansschmucker]

Takes some time to get it to work in MSIE (why can't they support even the most basic CSS???). My best guess is about an hour.

And for the record: F*CK YOU, CHRIS (If you're a webdeveloper you know which Chris I mean [It's not Chrilith, god forbid]).

[Tinnus]

Well, I'm not called Chris either so all's good ;D

[hansschmucker]

Sorry for the outbreak, but sometimes it's really quite frustrating... CSS2 isn't perfect and one of its imperfections is that it's pretty hard to do a layout with multiple columns... in this case I did it by positioning and sizing the left column absolute (which means that it is a) positioned at an absolute offset and b) not taken into account when calculating the dimensions of the parent element) and creating the space for it by adding an outer offset to the right column so that those two don't overlap. Problem is that since the left column is not taken into account when calculating the size of the content box, it could end up so small that the left column doesn't fit anymore. So I have to set a minimum height for the content box, which means simply setting the min-height CSS property. Well, it would be simple if MSIE supported that property. But no, instead I have to create an invisible area in the right column that forces it to be at least 400 pixel high... however this moves the "cursor" down to below that area, so I have to move it up again by 400 pixel...GRRRR