Does panda3d.org need a new layout?

General Discussion
121

I just tried to paint the logo one in green and one in orange.
The blue one looks better, but is cold.

Here they are:
http://filip.hasecke.com/stuff/panda-orange/image_view_fullscreen
http://filip.hasecke.com/stuff/panda-green/image_view_fullscreen

The colors are changed manually without any connection to the current layout.

I need to say, that the blue one is better.

122

I prefer blue one, i find it having somehow calming effect.
And i like your design, i just wouldnt use that purplish for navigation, it kinda doesnt fit (but you go with whatever you like, i am no artist :smiley:)

And you should stick to that your easy to use design, to me it’s very important that a site has a clear and neat design, especially if i am going to learn something on that site.

123

I like the green best.

I think the current green/brown/base color scheme fits nicely.

124

personally i think the toon models downgrade the level of this engine, when you are doing a great progress with serious fixed to it that actual game are using those techniques… come on friends !!!, fix the sample is too poor for what this engine can do really at least, add some lights and normal maps to it…, many peoples that see the panda sample ran away and go back to ogre or other engine, when never has give a chance to panda. Panda is simply the best engine never seen… happy new year in advance…

:stuck_out_tongue:

Cheers… !

125

I have not had time to read the whole thread, so forgive any repetition please…

The look of the site.
Meh. I don’t mind it. Function needs work, but form is okay I think. Anything is better than the Blender wiki/forums :smiley:

Forum Function

  1. Visited link colour does not change: this makes it hard to see what threads have already been visited.
  2. blenderartists.org is very nice, but it’s vbulletin. I like the quick search over there.
  3. When you hover over a thread title it should show the first paragraph of the actual page – that really helps in the decision to click or no.
  4. Posting editor: It needs to be resizable (down at least). At the moment I edit in vim or kate and paste into the little textarea and then preview.
  5. Code formatting css. It’s in the manual, but not in the forum. Code is hard to read.

General Function
Those cool screenshots down the right hand side… Nice, they show promise. You click one. There’s no where to download the project. Huh? It would be nice to actually run those things.

Hey don’t look at me like that! Put down that pitchfork, okay? :smiley:
\d

126

Hi. We won’t use forks… following the (geeky) Panda way, we would slap you with eukalyptus trees. :mrgreen:

But to your suggestions:

  1. Visited links do change for me. Visited ones gray out a bit. New-posted-on-threads do have that fancy blinking paper-thing at the side. :wink:
  2. Don’t discuss about our search function! Its marvellous! Its beautifull! Its… not done by us. sniff - its the default phpbb-search and it lacks some functionality. We know it. But google is our friend. And somehow the search is working too. :smiley:
  3. Thats why we want to have titles that say whats going to be supposed in there. With the current phpbb-system as forum its not so easy to implement it. Does phpBB3 support that? If no, then there won’t be an easy fix for it. :neutral_face:
  4. I can live quite good with this limited Text window. We are running on a pre-set-up forum based on debian. This makes sure that security fixes are there, but it prevents us from making too many changes to the software itself. Its hard enough to re-integrate the forum itself to this website once updates were made… :wink:
  5. Note that the Manual and the Forums are 2 completely different software systems. One is a wiki, the other one a forum software. both have nothing in common except the fact that they are running on the same machine. Modifications there would be unstable (updates, see 4.) and hard to do because its CMU hosting this server. Except for one maintainer we have no access to the host machine. At P3DP we could do such things. But thats an projects page only. ^^ - It would never be powerfull enough to host the whole P3D website. (at least not for free as it is donated by a single guy atm - with work from pro-rsoft/rdb)
  6. (general function) Yap. Or better: Yes and No. On the one hand you are right. It would be GOOD to link to the projects and the source or at least the running code. On the other hand: Many of these pictures are taken from the CMU class for rapid 3D world development (kinda). And these pictures are are all whats freely available of that. The code is property of the students mostly.

Regards, Bigfoot29

127

I like the current color-style but if you want to change stuff you should maybe take a look at Origo which could be an inspiration (good/bad example).
I have a project on origo - its quite good for that.

128

Cut paste into Kate. Ahhhh. :slight_smile:

Sheesh you guys don’t muck about! I better beware. Heh heh.

I hate it when I go to the repairman and demonstrate my broken toaster and out pops the most perfect toast… You are right. It is a soft green. Maybe my eyes are worse than I thought.

It’s not at all bad. Forget I mentioned it. Move along, nothing to see here :slight_smile:

I have never deployed forum software, but I imagine it’s as tricksy as anything webby.

I see what you are saying. I have my own web server and I also struggle to update software. OTOH, it can be an excuse never to change anything. Watch where you swing that Eukalyptus, your liable to shed Koalas! I only mean that keeping an eye on the css (at least) and some kind of system to flip it back into action after an update wouldn’t be that hard to suss.

I gathered. I know the formatting of code online is a fickle beast full of pitfalls and phpbb may not give the necc. hooks to do it. I just mentioned it in case you had a flaming genius shooting about the place with nothing to do but refuel his rocket pack.

I see. Yeah, politics and tight budgets sure cramp style. :slight_smile:

I get the overall picture of a small crowd of people from a mixed bag of University and other backgrounds doing Panda3D as a passion with almost no support.
I don’t know how Disney fits/tted into this picture, but I assume it’s foolish to think money would be no problem. I admire the work you have done, indeed most floss projects leave me gobsmacked, and solutions to this kind of problem are not clear.

I can only say: if Blender could go from NaN to Grand then so can Panda. I dunno; call Jono Bacon, call Ton Roosendaal and get some blood pumping!

Best,
\d