The "ATS 2010" Project: The Creative Look & Feel of ATS.

Hello all.

2010 will be an ambitious year on several fronts for us here at the "ATS Front Office." Several projects are planned with lots of interesting potential. One of them is the "ATS 2010" initiative.


What is ATS 2010?

In short, we're seeking to re-imagine the structure, technology, and functionality of a discussion board in this third decade of text-based user-generated content on the Internet. In my mind, no legacy attribute of ATS, and discussion boards in general, is sacred as we look back at what works, what doesn't, and what will carry compelling participation into this decade and beyond.

This will be no simple cosmetic upgrade... we're looking to accomplish a comprehensive relaunch and set the standard that others will emulate.


What ATS 2010 isn't

It won't be in a vacuum. Since this will likely be a huge effort that ends up effecting your daily interaction with the site, your input will be critical to the success. In fact, I doubt it can be successful without.



Getting started: Creative design

The first step is to ask our members which sites posses a creative look and feel that you admire. For now, don't consider functionality, features, performance, or even usability -- among all the web sites you've encountered, what two or three sites struck you as having a great creative design?

Post a link to the site's home page (or well-designed interior page), and a brief explanation about why you like it.

Just want to add that, for now, we're not looking for any commentary specific to the current and/or future design of ATS... just show us the sites you admire.

The Xbox 360 site has a type of admirable layout, www.xbox.com...

More of eye candy and dazzle than functionality but it's pretty cool.

Also, the Facebook site and it's features seem really smooth and I like the way it's user friendly the most.

Hope this helps better the site

What might look cool is a BIG 2010 logo beside the ats logo... and maybe a few ufos buzzing around.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


IF: you change there must be some kind of complete new feel put in to it. Like me jumping from platform, and let me give you a hint, define all pages using css it's much more skalable than html templates.

THEN: echo: we may hope it's a good one. All programmers on ATS: code-shells & functions.source-out: spark *\




....

[edit on 4/1/2010 by Neo Christian Mystic]



[edit on 4/1/2010 by Neo Christian Mystic]

And make sure to click by [url=http://212.125.247.45/marius/ruthlaila/]Jewelry by Ruth Laila S.

I have to admit, I do like the Myspace layout and look a lot. Theres a lot of really nice looking sites out there although I have to admit, ATS is one of my favorites for looks.

here's another look I really like

BorderlandsWiki

I think its because I am partial to the dark background and light font. For me its easier on the eyes when reading.

heres a couple of more I really like looks wise.

another dark layout

SWOR


Maybe its just because I am getting old and the old peepers dont work so well. I also find I am less likely to get a headache looking at sites with the darker look to them.

I personally like ATS as it is but if its time for a change then give us CHANGE WE CAN BELIVE IN
EDIT to add not the Obama kind of change on a series note ATS looks ok as is for me anyway.

THANKYOU

[edit on 043131p://2010-01-04T16:17:50-06:00041 by mars1]

Reddit, i implore you to emulate Reddit.

Bill, I'm afraid I can't help you...... On my favorites list of sites(which I call The Morning Run) I vist every single day are 24 websites. I know I'm going to sound like a polished buttkisser, but ATS shines better than any of them as far as being user-friendly and easy to navigate. Truly, that's the primary reason why I moved (spend most of my online time) from my previous home-base to here........ that and the overall excellent thread quality.

The only site that even comes close, IMO is wunderground.. At Wunderground, of course, the user-generated blogs are the analogue to our threads, except the protocols and moderating are very different -- there is no off-topic post within a blog, and the moderating is not as hands-on as ATS, which I believe has lead to various problems.

when i was in my early teens this site used to creep me out. It's got a countdown logging the hours, seconds, and minutes since the collapse of the tangent universe. Parts of the website can only be unlocked by interacting with lower levels.

www.donniedarkofilm.com...

www.fileplanet.com...

I love the menus and subcategories on the left of the page. Makes it pretty easy to drill down. Maybe also replace the larger icons on the ATS pages?

SkepticOverlord, you either move into the realm of autostereoscopic/stereoscopic 3D or you get left behind. 3D is THE big thing of 2010, and if you're still thinking flat 2D to enhance the user experience you'll be wasting time, money and effort. If you would like to go this route send me a U2U.



[edit on 4-1-2010 by EMPIRE]

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

just show us the sites you admire

I quite like this website I came across a while back called Above Top Secret .com, check it out ... www.abovetopsecret.com...

SkepticOverlord, you should have your avatar mug wearing '2010' sunglasses and mardigra beads

Scooby Doo...

I am glad the site is moving forward, the one thing I think should be added is an alert when someone has responded to a post. I am sure there are a lot of members like me that discuss nearly everything on the site and I am sure I have missed a lot of comments by members. Facebook emails you, perhaps a U2U could be sent, members could turn this function off if they want however I think it would drive debate.

I also think that rating system like youtube would be handy where we could like/dislike posts instead of just starring. This could be a very good tool in order to rid the site of trolls.

Hmm,ATS 2010?
I cant off the top of my head think of any sites really as i like this one,but could it involve a monolith?

yeah same here, i kinda like how it is, i think text based is most reliable however i do think ats could make it easier to post videos and pictures.. i know how to post youtube vids but thats it. maybe the front page could look like a newspaper... and ATS news could be more... interactive, with perhaps a reporter interviewing folk from a story or going some place to view the object of a story themselves or whatever. like an "ATS News Investigative Team" thatd be sweet...

[edit on 4-1-2010 by TheCoffinman]

reply to post by TortoiseKweek


Another one of my favorites just for the color scheme alone

My advice?

Think "Google Wave" meets ATS.

Google Wave is the answer you seek.

-x

MSM notwithstanding, I don't think many can fault the BBC Website. Most people I know use their news page as their browser homepage, so I guess they're doing something right.

www.bbc.co.uk...

I like the way you can tailor local content ("set your location"), you can adjust the colour scheme to suit yourself, you can tab from a British to an International version. The graphics don't task older pc's too hard, video on demand "just works", you can access it easily through a variety of devices with few problems ... my laptop & PC run fine on it, but so does my netbook & mobile phone (cellphone).

And for the Brits they've got iPlayer, which is a "last 7 day" repository of tv shows you may have missed. So successful is the BBC site that it's causing the ISP's major headaches.

I think ATS is just too cluttered, I mainly surf on my laptop and these blue bars at the side with clickable links are causing me minor brainache, as I keep clicking on them accidentally as I use the mousepad thingy on my laptop.

I like the Apple, Inc. web site. It always feels clean and fresh. www.apple.com

The web site redesign should be sure everything is PDA aware. An iPhone App would be cool, too.



[edit on 4-1-2010 by mike_trivisonno]