Here’s the second pass at the site redesign, taking into account the feedback from the last time around. Changes include:

• new treatment in the top nav bar, including appropriate images for the three main HM versions;
• different color treatment for the main logo;
• icons for the “get connected” area below the search bar;
• Dateline below the headline for each entry;
• Tag line beneath each entry with links to comments and categories;
• Bottom UGO links area.

(Click to embiggen.)

I’m feeling pretty good about this iteration, I’ll incorporate whatever good suggestions come up in comments, then write it up and send it to UGO for feedback. There’s still an awful lot of bright in-your-face color going on at the top thanks to the ads, but there’s not really a way around that unless I go total grayscale for the top area, and I’m not willing to de-emphasize the links to the other HM versions enough for that.

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So I’ve been unhappy for a while with the design of the site. Originally, when UGO first re-designed it after bringing the application completely in-house, HeroMachine.com was just a landing page, whose only purpose was to give general information about what the program was, and to move people on to the live HeroMachine 2.5 application.

Over the last few years, though, since that time, I launched the interactive blog part of the site and I think the main program has gotten on its legs enough that it doesn’t need to be the main focus any longer. Plus, UGO.com recently relaunched itself with a much cleaner, nicer front-end. Finally, the bright colors the daily panels, the character posts, and some of the other blog content have come to compete with the bright four-color overall blog design and the ads, making a bit of a muddle visually.

I finally sat down over the weekend and put together a first pass at a proposed site redesign. The goals are:

• Make the main points of interest (links to the various HeroMachine versions; the ads; and the blog content) easier to focus on;
• Build the site around the idea that this is an interactive blog site, not just an intermediate landing/launching page;
• Keep the visual interest on the content, not the surrounding design elements;
• Make it obviously part of the UGO family, without looking like just a sub-page.

To that end, here’s the first pass of many. Keeping in mind there are lots of changes and iterations to go through, I wanted to get your feedback on the overall direction and concept. Any comments, positive or negative, are very welcome. I haven’t passed this by UGO yet, I am still in the ideation phase, and wanted to make sure the most important people of all — you guys — had the chance to tear into it from the ground up.

(Click to embiggen.)

The “Follow us” widget just below the Search box needs a lot of changes. The words will probably go away, or at least change drastically, and the icons will be for Facebook, RSS, Forums (looks like a double word balloon), FAQ (question mark), and Contact Us (envelope).

I also have to figure out how to format the date on the posts, as well as the other per-post information like categories and such. I did away with the small banner that says “HeroMachine Blog” because I figured that should be obvious. I also don’t think the big colorful date mini-banner above every post is necessary.

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I’ll be away from any computer access pretty much all day doing my civic duty and working a local election. Be good!

Consider this an open thread to discuss whatever you want, from possible Poll Position questions to HM stuff to the Olympics to, well, whatever you like!

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If you haven’t been over to UGO.com today, check it out — they’ve done a complete site redesign and it’s pretty nifty. Also, if you scroll down on the main page, down in the right-hand column, you’ll see a nice little HeroMachine plug that’ll change every week to feature one of the recent contest winners.

The UGO front page is prime digital real estate, and from now on if your character design wins the bi-weekly contest, your work will be shown to millions of visitors!

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If you would rather get an email with all the posts made here in a given day instead of coming in and checking each time and you don’t like using RSS readers, you can now do so with the Subscribe to HeroMachine Updates by Email link in the right hand navigation bar.

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So here’s the deal — we’re discussing the idea of a new weekly contest, with the winner getting their character image, character name, brief character description, and their screen name (at least that’s what we’re thinking) featured on a UGO.com ad, featured across their sites, saying something like “Make your own hero!” to hopefully drive traffic to the application. That ad will be seen by literally millions of people in the course of a week, so your work would be featured on a major web site. You’d practically be published!

Does that sound appealing? Is that a prize you’d want?

What effect would you want that to have on the current contest cycle of alternating caption contests and character design contests each week? Keep them and make this an additional one, maybe to take the role of the Friday Night Fight?

Setting aside the new thing, is the prize of getting an item or your portrait worthwhile? Or would you be just as happy to not have a formal “prize” and instead just have the honor of winning?

Gene suggested that the hero on the masthead rotate each week as the prize for the winner, what would you think about that?

Basically, let me know what you think about the contests in general, their frequency, if they’re worth doing, if you enjoy them even if you’re not a participant, etc.

Thanks for your feedback, it’s truly invaluable!

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For those of you who use Facebook, I’ve created a HeroMachine Fan Page so you can get your bloggy goodness there instead of checking the site if you prefer. It’s also a way of getting the information via Facebook without having to Friend me, and thus being subjected to my non-HeroMachine idiocy.

Anything posted here automatically gets reposted to the Fan page (except comments). I’m also slowly adding in image archives of all submissions to all the Character Contests, which will be kind of cool to see.

Anyway, check it out if you’re a Facebooker:

HeroMachine

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Thanks to Hammerknight for putting together the first ever “HeroMachine Creator’s Club” poster! Click on it to see it in a much larger version in all its glory, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! And that the floating Jeff heads don’t freak you out.

Nice job Hammerknight and everyone who submitted a self-portrait!

Once again, Happy New Year everyone!

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I just wanted to give you a heads-up that I’ll be back in Louisiana for the holiday, from Wednesday the 23rd to Saturday the 26th. I’ll be checking in periodically via my iPhone to approve moderated comments and such, but not as much as usual. I have also scheduled something to be published each day for your entertainment and (non) edification, with a special tip o the hat to Hammerknight for a fair chunk of that.

And like Batman:

So luckily it’s not goodbye, just “See ya Sunday”! Hopefully I will have not just a successful family gathering to be thankful for, but also a Fantasy Football championship to celebrate. Although since my opponent is my best friend, that would take some of the pleasure out of it.

Anyway, have fun and be good to each other!

(Batman character and image copyright DC Comics, Inc.)

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I just installed a plug-in that allows you to preview your comments before posting if you want. Let me know if it’s wonky for you.

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