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WinCustomize 2K9 concepts

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WinCustomize 2K9 concepts

from JoeUser Forums

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The new WinCustomize is going to be a radical departure from what we have today.

In the web 2.0 age, we can do a lot of interesting things that should greatly improve the navigation of the site. The days of clicking, waiting for the page to load, clicking, waiting for the page to load and so forth will go away.

Instead, the site will feel more akin to a desktop application. Want to see the most popular skinners, click on tab and it'll expand to show it.

The site will end up being far cleaner, far faster, and far easier to use than what we have today.

93,610 views 94 replies
Reply #76 from WinCustomize Forums Top

So are you saying that the forums site it's self is going to remain basically the same with all of it's current problematic issues?

Reply #77 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting angus1949, reply 1
So are you saying that the forums site it's self is going to remain basically the same with all of it's current problematic issues?
End of angus1949's quote

If time permits, we may be able to address some forum issues.  But the only thing we can really say for sure is that the visuals of the forum will be changed to match the site itself (headers, colors, footers, links etc).

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #78 from WinCustomize Forums Top

looking good..

 

I would LOVE to see the "watchlist" come back and send me email again.

Reply #79 from JoeUser Forums Top

@Zoomba -

Thanks for the clarification.  Please re-file my comments in the 'Forums' suggestion box. ;)

Reply #80 from Stardock Forums Top

A follow-up, since there seems to be some confusion over how the whole wincustomize site is broken  apart and what is actually part of the main site and what isn't...

WinCustomize as users experience it has three components:

  • WinCustomize Main (www, skin galleries, uploading, downloading, skin pages, skin comments)
  • Personal Pages (i.e. zoomba.wincustomize.com, has photo galleries, guestbook features, stats etc)
  • Forums (forums.wincustomize.com)

The forums, due to their cross-site nature (every Stardock site shares the same core forum code, with each site having it's own forum "skin") need to generally be worked on as a separate project.

WinCustomize Main and the Personal Pages are where this project comes in.  A complete update of those systems to make them perform better, look better and provide a much better user experience than the site we have today (which is difficult to navigate to say the least).  This is a massive undertaking given the complexity of the site and the volume of content we work with.

The obscured preview at the start of this thread is only the beginning.  Like I said, the mockups I saw last week were impressive and far-reaching. 

Now, does this mean no forum love is upcoming?  Not necessarily.  We have been rolling out fixes and updates to the forums continually over the last year that have added considerable functionality and speed improvements.  When we have spare dev time, we take a crack at the forums again.  My earlier point was just that this major rework is focused first and foremost on the main site (and personal pages) and not the forums.  I apologize if it came across as anything else.

Reply #81 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks Mike for the clarification. I think this explaination should clarify things for many users as to how the site is actually broken down. I can't wait to see the final results. Thanks again!
Reply #82 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I like this idea a lot. It is great to keep up with Web Standards and Technologies for sure. Frogboy, part of your article ("Instead, the site will feel more akin to a desktop application.") says to me that you plan to make use of Silverlight 2. I don't want to assume anything, so I will ask you, "Is that true?" If so, way to go! I really think that Silverlight is an important platform in terms of the future of the web. Keep up the great work guys.
Reply #84 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I think the concept looks great.  Everything is there and not confusing at all, to me at least. :)  I do think that there should be some indication that clicking on the product name itself goes to its skin gallery (if that is indeed what it does).  After all, that's one of the most important parts of the site!

Reply #85 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting VistaCustomizer, reply 8
If they use Silverlight, themes would be very easy to implement! Here is hoping! lol.
End of VistaCustomizer's quote

and a microsoft employee perhaps??

Reply #86 from WinCustomize Forums Top

what I hope is that someone has sense enough to follow the KISS principle when they make these changes.

Reply #87 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can't wait to see the final results. It looks a lot like your desktop apps. I hope the site functions just like your apps! :HOT: What would cooler than that is if registered users can skin their personal sites with their favorite skins. That would be SO Awesome!!!
Reply #88 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The site will end up being far cleaner, far faster, and far easier to use than what we have today
End of quote
As far as it will be at least accessible ...  :d 
Reply #89 from WinCustomize Forums Top

A DA style personal page would massively increase the desirability and potential of the site.

Reply #90 from WinCustomize Forums Top

A DA style personal page would massively increase the desirability and potential of the site.
End of quote

i have to agree with vStyler.., right now DA has a really cool personal site futures., i was able to try it while i was subscribed and it was awsome., now that my subscription run out the personal site is just great..., bah., i goin back to my inloved DA personal site :smitten:

Reply #91 from WinCustomize Forums Top

DA style personal page
End of quote

and, what is this exactly???

Reply #93 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Web 2.0 age?  I'm still trying to get used to the Web .009 one...   :)

Really, though, the new look sounds interesting to say the least and I'm sure StarDock will keep us peons in mind while they're developing things...

Reply #94 from WinCustomize Forums Top

thank you John and congrats on being smoke free. I sort of wish I was but regardless, it's tough to quit.