[Emma]

Hey-ho!

We're very sorry for the down time you'll all have been experiencing over the past day or two. Hopefully, as you look around, you'll understand why it was necessary...

DING DING - yes! Sweatdrop now has a shiny new website, thanks to the tireless efforts of Fred and the fantastic work that's been done on the foundations by the likes of Dock and Selina; plus a ton of help in editing, blurb writing and..oh, you know - loads of stuff!

The result is a slick and shiny new site that takes Sweatdrop into a new era in time for the release of our new baby, Telling Tales. Sweatdrop HQ has confirmed that the books have landed and that they look fantastic, so we're all stupidly excited about them!

It's no secret that many of you forumners out there may not have even looked around the main site, as obviously the forum is the central hub of the Sweatdrop Community, but we really hope that you'll take a little time to check out what's happened beyond the realms of the forum. Some highlights that are already live include:

The HOME screen! - sounds silly, but if you tend to link straight to the forums, you may not have checked out the home screen before, but look at it now. Keep the page bookmarked for news on new titles in the shop!

All new SD profiles - Still awaiting a couple, but there are plenty to check out, with pretty carousels of images and everything. Get to know who the actual Sweatdrop team are. ^_^

The all new Shop! - your online SD shopping experience will never be the same again Check it out!

Podcasts - ever missed an ep of our podcast, or want to go back and listen to a favourite? Well, now you can! It's almost like a chibi SD radio station

The work's not done yet and there's more to come, but we hope you enjoy perusing the new site and getting familiar with how it all works. The forums are very important to us as a group and we're so proud of you, the community, but we are still at heart a publishing group, and this site is our home. We hope you enjoy wandering around it.

Lots of love,
Sweatdrop

[ice climber]

Got to say everything looks really nice.

[Dasai]

Awesome, I really like the changes . Great work everyone ^^.

[Wayne]

I like it. Most of it anyway, It looks like a good piece of web design.

Homepage looks very smart indeed. The advertising is nicely done, it's nice to look at if nothing else and it fits the site.


About page: vastly improved artist bios. The whole layout just looks a lot better, even though the other wasn't bad at all.

Events page: Now I have all the info I need to stalk you.

Forums, new improved menu bar. The rest of the forums maintaining that familiar feel. This most important for me. Even if I don't post here that much these days, I'm still here a lot. I'm like the force or an eggy fart, you can't see me but I'm with you.

I'm not overly impressed with the adverts on the main forum page though. It makes the main template look lop sided.

To be fair, it doesn't interfere at all with the rest of the forum templates, I dunno just my personal niggle with that one. If they were somewhere else, and the forum could maintain it's regular width I think it would look better.

Moving on.

Podcasts: Nice to have those where they are easy to find.

Shop: Again a major improvement in the layout. The chibi box should have a nice smiley face when you buy something though. The replacement of the sad smiley with just a description is a bit of an anticlimax. I was just dying to torment it.

Make it so it throws a wobbler when fill your box and then take something out. That would be classic.

Overall I'd say the changes made look pretty good. I also notice a more commercial ethos, definitely more business like. I hope it works out for you.

[Laura]

I laughed so hard at the eggy fart analogy.

The comments you gave, Wayne, are interesting! I had jack to do with the layout or design, but I think the "hmm not sure" of the first page of the forum will grow on folks who are unsure about it in the beginning, and after a while you will barely notice the change. 'Course it's unfamiliar right now, and don't forget it's only on the forum main page

Originally Posted by Wayne

I'm not overly impressed with the adverts on the main forum page though. It makes the main template look lop sided.

To be fair, it doesn't interfere at all with the rest of the forum templates, I dunno just my personal niggle with that one. If they were somewhere else, and the forum could maintain it's regular width I think it would look better.

PS also, I reckon people come straight to SD from Google, usually, via the forums... rarely by our front page. It's no wonder folks do not realise who we are. So a little awareness-raising about what we do is only fair on the front page of our own forums IMO.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by Laura

PS also, I reckon people come straight to SD from Google, usually, via the forums... rarely by our front page. It's no wonder folks do not realise who we are. So a little awareness-raising about what we do is only fair on the front page of our own forums IMO.

No that's fair enough, I wasn't saying it would be better without adverts, I have them on my own site too.

More like a different layout. I was thinking more at the top of the page. You can fit bigger ads up there, and the main template can maintain its balanced appearance. But I mean it's just an opinion.

I'll stick an photo-shopped example. It's rough but you get the idea.

[Mimi]

KYAAAAH!! Soooooo shiney!!!

I literally thought the "update" was just gonna be moving servers or changing the copyright dates or something as Subi said

But no! Sweatyland has to pull it out the bag again! It looks awesome! All the funky fading slideshows and floaty boxes on the "About Us" page (ooh look at it float!) its like "Website-Prism-Power!!"

And the product flicker at the top goes through all the Sweatdrop products now instead of just the new ones! Tres Kewl

I'll really rather intrigued by the "Comics" section. Hmmm, looks interesting it does

And the poddle-casts have a home of their on now! Now there's no more excuses for not updating *cough*not-since-january*cough*

Congratulations Sweatdrop!!

EDIT!!!!: OMG!! HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CLICK EDIT!! The Mind Boggles!!

[Monkipi]

Awesome! I'm liking the new format a lot. It's sleeker than before, magnificent!

[Squiddley]

I like it, maybe because I hadn't yet formed an emotional attachment to the old layout.

The bios and the shop are much much better. I like Wayne's layout suggestion too, but I don't think it matters too much. Having adverts there is the most important thing.

In summary, it's hawt! Even if it is still beige

[Ushio-kun]

It's all clean and shiny! Do I need to take my shoes off? It's lovely stuff. I didn't really think an overhaul of the site was needed, but seeing this new version changes my mind totally, lol!

(It might be just me, but it looks as though some attachments from a few threads have disappeared. Is this bad?)

[Mimi]

Originally Posted by Ushio-kun

(It might be just me, but it looks as though some attachments from a few threads have disappeared. Is this bad?)

I had that problem yesterday! Back to normal now though

[Britt7094]

Ooooh, it's all shiny and new! Just in time for the new surge of users appearing after the expo. Yay!

*so excited*

[Fehed]

I'm afraid that during the move some of the more recent attachments went *POOF* we apologise for any trouble this may cause. It shouldn't take too long for people to start uploading new attachments and start new threads and move on though

Also... @Ushio-kun, see attachment

[Quarklette]

TT_TT I'll miss the old layout, but this is super slick and shiny. Well done peeps

EDIT: Went to the shop: "Your shopping Cart is Empty and Sad "

LMAO. Can't wait for the new book to be online. I want to fill my sad shopping basket with goodies!

[Ushio-kun]

Originally Posted by Fehed

I'm afraid that during the move some of the more recent attachments went *POOF* we apologise for any trouble this may cause. It shouldn't take too long for people to start uploading new attachments and start new threads and move on though

Also... @Ushio-kun, see attachment

Cool beans, and a big LOL at being preempted. *tears shoes off*

[Mimi]

Originally Posted by Quarklette

EDIT: Went to the shop: "Your shopping Cart is Empty and Sad "

Chibi shopping cart....... literally dies of squee

[Dock]

On the main forum page, the idea is that people don't have to scroll past all the adverts and such in order to see the threads and forums. We want to show people the new stuff, but we don't want to get in the way either. Give it time, but the feedback is appreciated!

We tried to keep the new design similar to the old design, just newer and more shiny - it's mostly Fred's hard work, there's a lot of new tech to help us keep the site up to date I hope you enjoy the new site! :3

[tigerangel]

I think it looks super shiney ~ the adverts on the side of the forum frontpage are a little jarring at first, but it’s probably because people are too used to the old design and they kinda go SURPRISE! at you every time you load the page because you're not expecting them to be there XD They’re so colourful and eyecatching and.....er.... adverts are supposed to do that so I’d say they’re doing their job extremely well at the moment But I reckon over time you probably won’t even notice they’re there anymore and will blend in seamlessly with your forum browsing experience.

Overall, yes I approve.

[Hunter]

It looks really nice, but I do agree that the adds on the forum front page are a bit startling in their size and placement. If you're looking for suggestions, I'd suggest making them slimmer.

But yeah, pretty and shiney!

[DESTRAUDO]

Woo. New site finally got here for me. XD

Ohhh. It's cool how the shopping cart thing in the shop slides down the page when you scroll. Nicccceeee. I like the side ad layout. And the overall look of the new site. It's slick. XD


I have noticed what may be a bug but i don't know.
While the shop reads perfectly, a bizarre thing happened when i switched the shop currency to euro.

For each title down the page the text got smaller and smaller. The two don't seem related so i thought it was worth taking a pic. Image is at resolution of monitor.