[Freddy]

Yes, a few people have said now that it reminds them of XP.

Your idea about my work in Unity is a good one. I took a screen shot from a hill. I left Jess out of it though as it looked odd with her there.

Everyone try a page refresh to see the new background.

I'll be working on my Unity project again soon, so I will update this image if I find a better vista

I don't like transparent areas that way, because often they make things hard to read. Thanks for the idea though.

I'll have a play with the turquoise things, I still like them personally.

Thanks 8pla.net 

[8pla.net]

I made a mockup theme layout called Dream Theme.
It is a skeleton with no functionality.  However, it has just
enough structure to test how new theme ideas may look.   

Reference: http://elizabot.com/theme

Hit refresh for a unique demo each time.

[Art]

The only unique thing I see are the "postings".
 But still the idea does have some merit! Nice!

[Freddy]

I only see one variation with a graphic background on the little footers. Using Chrome.

[squarebear]

I don't see what AI Dreams has to do with World of Warcraft. The theme seems unrelated.

[Freddy]

Yeah I think that could be potentially confusing. 

It's not the same one that was there earlier SquareBear.

[8pla.net]

The fist demonstration is finished.  It has been archived.
Next, just demonstrating another mockup theme layout.   

Freddy, this next demo loosely correlates to our discussion
about an avatar in the background on the side borders.

It is modded from a freely available phpBB theme.
Try using your imagination. There is a poll to cast a vote.

Same Reference: http://elizabot.com/theme

[Freddy]

Try using your imagination.

Sounds a bit condescending...or I am just reading it wrong.

I've made game sites before for things like LOTRO and Guild Wars 2, I know the style. I agree with Steve, this does not seem suitable for here though even though I am a great fan of gaming site designs.

As I mentioned earlier somewhere - I did try it with my Jess character but it does not look right and people may wonder who she is. Maybe when I have finished making her world it will make more sense, so I may come back to this

Thanks for the input though. I'm going to have a look at making a background changer, so I'll see what develops from that.

[8pla.net]

Try using your imagination.

Sounds a bit condescending...or I am just reading it wrong.

You're just reading it wrong.  I meant some imagination may be needed in this case.

[Freddy]

OK good, thanks for clearing that up.

Maybe we should have a competition or something where people make backgrounds ?

Or just drop in some that can be freely used and we can sift through them perhaps.

[8pla.net]

I wanted to suggest, and this is just a suggestion... Matching the AiDreams width, to the width Chatterbot Collection.  It would double the side borders for the background image.

Also... Another suggestion... The current background image file size is 250K.   I wonder if the same exact visual effect can be accomplished, after optimizing the 90% of the background image which is not visible?  It would reduce the file size to 25K for mobile devices, but look exactly the same as it does now.

[Freddy]

I'll have a play with the width, but I think it's pretty optimal atm - what resolution are you on ?

The idea about the hidden part of the background is a good one - I've used that trick before - in the past I have just cut a chunk out entirely. I will sort that out. 

[8pla.net]

I have nothing bad to say at all.  This site has been up for ten years.  There is no wrong way.  My discussion here merely opens a dialog about designing a consistency between the two sites.  So, when you switch between them it looks smoother.

I think The Chatterbot Collection is the more standard width, and I think AiDreams content will fit very nicely in that more standard width.  There seems to be plenty of extra space in this wider width.  It is easy to do too.

Just make a quick backup of your two theme files via FTP. You can start a simple html table in the header theme file just after the opening body tag, and close that table just before the closing body tag in the footer theme file. The whole forum module will be contained in a table that you can style! Easy to do, and easy to undo. 

There's a lot of cool tricks to do with this idea, but I'll save that for further discussion.  As for resolution, when AiDreams is on one tab, and The Chatterbot Collection is on another tab, and you switch tabs back and forth...  Do you see a difference in the two widths?  It might be eye candy if they matched. Just sayin'

[Freddy]

Yep been doing this a while myself now, I know how it's done

I'm not worried about the two sites matching to be honest.

Some people don't like what they may see as wasted space to the sides. I'll compromise and keep the width the way it is. I can't make everyone happy.

I did crop out the middle of the background image though. Took about 50K off the image.

[8pla.net]

I don't see what AI Dreams has to do with World of Warcraft. The theme seems unrelated.

Least you could've done is voted in the pole, and said hello to the three record chatbot. 




Just kidding!  That was a joke.