ComNet:

The SWG board definitely needs to go, since the game itself will only be around for another two months. Unless we get a large group that wants to play one of the spinoff versions...which I find unlikely.

The other three Skarr mentioned make sense to me as well. Reducing the number of boards there will help clean up the ComNet a bit. And if we don't want to risk losing the contents of, say, the CompetitionNet, there ought to be ways to hide a given board rather than simply deleting it and all of its content.

Main Page:

Updating the main page is definitely a good way to go. Bernie mentioned that he almost didn't join because the main page was unimpressive. I confess, that was me as well. Now that I think about it, I first looked at the VE at least a year before I actually joined. The two things that turned me off that first time was the outdatedness of the main page and difficulties in registering.

One thing I'd really like to see addressed, if possible: Try going straight to www.vastempire.com. It doesn't take you to the main page, and the home page it does go to has no obvious links to get to the main page, the ComNet, or anywhere else. At the very least that main image needs to be a link to the main page or to a page that details a step-by-step of how to register. At best there ought to be an overview paragraph and a clear list of the most relevant links. I imagine we've lost a lot of people because they followed a link to that page rather than the home page, spent a minute getting frustrated as they searched for a link, and left to go find something better.

-Drac

The gaming requirement was a bit awkward as well. i didn't know if this was going to just be a FPS clan, or actually decent role playing      ( which it is ).  Even the intro with the star destroyer launching the interceptors looked a bit awkward, just throwing that out there.

Actually Kadann, it might be a good idea to revise before the release of TOR. Incorporate a bit and ride the wave

We should probably also broaden it to more than just revising the main page. We need an overhaul of a lot of the site. There is a lot of useless, contradictory, and misleading info on this site. We just need a complete work up. And I realize it's a big project, but this site needs some updating alot of it. Visual presentation is important. It's also important to give as much info as needed, but we need to do it in a minimal way. The Wiki can hold all the info we need. We don't need all these splinter sites for each division and squad or squadraon. All of those sites are so out of date, it hurts to look at them. So what I propose is to first find the things we do not need on the site and delete it or transfer the info elsewhere. The next is to look over what is left and decide what can stay and what can go. After that is ascertained, we can then begin overhauling the leftover sites.

So can we get this shiznit going before Christmas rolls in? And please, can we get more people's ideas about this and what can be done? If you have any skills in web design and programming, now would be the chance to say so. If you have an idea on how to make the site look and feel better, say so! This needs to be a group effort. Only then will this ever go into effect. And if we can't get enough responses, perhaps we could move this discussion to the Main Comnet. People might look there more than here.

Good-natured and still-humble bump.

Doing a lot of work getting the Naval Academy updated; it'd be great to have some recruits around to benefit from all the effort.  And I still see a revision of the main page as the most important part of any recruitment drive.

/me bows low to Kadann.

Bump.

*cough*

I'd like to second Raziel's point: the ComNet is the VE, for all intents and purposes... it should have better billing.

On a more minor note, the side menu really needs cleaning up.

For example, we have the VE on Myspace... when really it should instead link to the VE on Facebook, which we actually use.  (Although we do have an ironic hipster badge on myspace, but hey).

Eh, poke him on IRC, stay connected.  He'll eventually get back to you if you give a good reason for him to do so.  Or at least PM him a link here.

If you guys can get me the updated html that will replace what's on that page, that would make things easier.  Then I can get the page updated quicker.

Yay!  I'm technically on leave, and don't have regular internet access this weekend, but let me know if I can help in any way! 

I can try and send one in if I can think of what to say.

Here is what Valthir and I have so far:


Main Page v2.1

Skarr wrote:I assume the buttons at the top would be drop boxes for the different links, yeah?

That's where I was going with it, yeah