Website redesign

[Mofuu]

First of i would like to congratulate the Staff on the Merge and the bunch of improvements we got in the last couple of weeks (Boss timers, cross faction LFRs and other fixes). Now to get to the point of this post.

I think the website if really off-putting the first time you come here and could be a potential issue to new players coming here for the first time. There was talks about the website redesign long time ago, going back from 4.0.6. Whats the state of that, is it ever going to happen?
Theres already some stuff bugging me with the current design:

- Double online counter
- Some stuff is in Romanian even for English version of the website (Ajutor recuperare iteme, Cereri ban, Eventuri active)
- Double buttons for some stuff (e.g. Logout button, Forum button, Database button)
- "Select realm" feature is redundant now that we only have one realm, why not remove it?

Next thing that i find bad and could be easily fixed - when you first come to the website its in Romanian no matter where you're from. Can't it just get an IP filter which will show it in English unless your IP is Romanian?

Finally, in my opinion the website is in a dire need of a total redesign. Compared to other private server websites it just feels like an outdated, Web 1.0 website. Its gray, and "cold", overstuffed with stuff and links (Really confusing for someone coming the first time). It barely has any association with WoW when you open it. No WoW art, no font, no info on which Game its about let alone which patch its on!

My suggestions on how the redesign could look like:

Top:

- WoWFreakz logo redesigned a bit and in the middle, heres the general idea of what i had in mind - http://imgur.com/DRJIeIY . Instead of the Azeroth globe put the WoWFreakz logo in there, could be easily Photoshopped.
- On the left side of the logo have the Online counter and Uptime status, and on the right side of the logo have the login panel.
- Also have the logo be a "Index" button, so when you click it, it takes you to the home page.

Header:

Four to five bigger size buttons maximum with the main features of the site, e.g.
- Button 1: Social - when you mouse over it, it pops up selections for Forums, Guides, Guild recruitment, Vote guide videos, Client download link.
- Button 2: Armory - Obviously would contain armory, Arena rankings, Boss timers
- Button 3: WoW Store - Vote panel, Donation panel and the shops for both.
- Button 4: Database - Item finder, NPC finder, Object finder, Spells, Quest helper
- Button 5: Support and Info - Server info, Server rules, Bug report, Ban appeals, Addons, Item recovery

Body:

- Server news as we have at the moment, but i would suggest a background and box redesign as well, to something more bright, the gray is so cold and unwelcoming.

Side bar:

- Account management

Hope this won't be just an other wall of text that will get ignored, I'm honestly trying to suggest something that could actually help the server grow and improve, and i have put some time into it, so at least give it a thought Zohl and Shockeru. You might be excellent programmers but i think the advertisement of the server is really badly managed.

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[pal0bre]

This is the mess i created for stylish (a firefox extension), i still have to clean it up because of the realm merge.

Spoiler:

[Nevinafreaklol]

Well said

[Hawtydaboss]

I personally rarely see someone posting true and well written texts in forum,basically you got my respect and i always read your posts doesn't matter how long they are,it is just worth it reading.

All the suggestions are just amazing and well detailed.

I,personally,won't suggest some website that is all in flames like some other private servers have which is totally confusing and annoying to watch,but strictly made website so people will always find their aim of information.

Honestly freakz's forum is the only one that i read with desire,but a bit of change in it or mainly website would be amazing.In my opinion alot of information is missing.In A-T there are alot of people streaming and in the description players that stream there add what features the server has.Basically most of my arena mates are streaming too and we could add all that stuff in the description.

-Unique Cross-faction Random Dungeon Finder.

-Unique Custom Made Comfortable for use Raid Finder.

-Unique Cross-faction Raid Finder.

-Unique Wargame Commands.

-Unique 3v3 Announcer.

-Seasonal 2v2 Rewards.

-Unique 3v3 Tournaments.

-Thousands of Players Online.

-Unique Boss Timers.

& more.

There are just tons of lack of information @Website.

Also some updates in Armory would be great.Talent Tree is WotLK-like,Cataclysm stats not visible(Mastery),Changes in gear/stats/ratings are delayed & more.

[sheLby]

Agree, it would be nice to see new, fresh design of the website, also forum could be changed but as I see it's not only WoW related, so it probably won't fit for other parts of forum (cs, gta etc)

Also +1 to the "cata" armory update

[Gudbror]

sheLbyPL wrote:

Agree, it would be nice to see new, fresh design of the website, also forum could be changed but as I see it's not only WoW related, so it probably won't fit for other parts of forum (cs, gta etc) Also +1 to the "cata" armory update

Still, the black/gray colored forum is so boring and dull, it should be changed.

[Shocker]

Mofuu wrote:

- Double online counter - Some stuff is in Romanian even for English version of the website (Ajutor recuperare iteme, Cereri ban, Eventuri active) - Double buttons for some stuff (e.g. Logout button, Forum button, Database button) - "Select realm" feature is redundant now that we only have one realm, why not remove it?

@1st it is/was like this because of multiple realms
@2nd fixed
@3rd ...
@4th I left it there because the staff can see test realms too, removed the select for non-staff

Mofuu wrote:

Next thing that i find bad and could be easily fixed - when you first come to the website its in Romanian no matter where you're from. Can't it just get an IP filter which will show it in English unless your IP is Romanian?

It's already like this, it checks the IP and switches to english automatically if it's your first visit (if no cookies set). Just tested with an online proxy

Overall, yes, it needs a redesign. The other suggestions you made are good, but IMHO should only be done with the occasion of a total redesign

Also, as Hawtydaboss said, we should make freakz unique stuffs even more highlighted somewhere on the site, currently thinking how/where

FREAKZ COMMUNITY @ Facebook
WOW FREAKZ @ Facebook

[Mofuu]

Shocker wrote:

we should make freakz unique stuffs even more highlighted somewhere on the site, currently thinking how/where

One of those banner slideshows that so many websites have maybe could do the trick?

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[Domminus]

Shocker wrote:

should only be done with the occasion of a total redesign

It's time for that.

[Foxeran3]

The Realm Button is still there for a possible character recovery.

[Hawtydaboss]

@Shockeru Removal of this text "Intra cine vrea,iese cine poate" Above the realmlist / under WoW Freakz @home page would also be cool :p

[punkcast]

I believe we could use a new motto.

[Hawtydaboss]

punkcast wrote:

I believe we could use a new motto.

ikr

[Shocker]

Hawtydaboss wrote:

@Shockeru Removal of this text "Intra cine vrea,iese cine poate" Above the realmlist / under WoW Freakz @home page would also be cool :p

Yeah, removed, thanks

FREAKZ COMMUNITY @ Facebook
WOW FREAKZ @ Facebook