[Raveneye]

I'm pinning up this topic b/c I think we can always use new volunteers pertaining to the following:

Hey, everybody!

It seems we got our Header Project off the ground just in time for us to upgrade and make things difficult. If you've been around for any length of time, you will have noticed the changes we've undergone lately and the stink raised when our lovely skin was suddenly no longer available. We've provided new skins since then, with lots of variety for members to choose from.

That variety also means that the Header Project, which was rather cut and dry, took on a new level of complexity. At least it seems that way to someone rather new to the whole field of graphic design and Photoshop programs.

In other words, each skin now has different specifications that work best for it. Which means that we're going to have to do things a little bit differently. Originally, everyone who volunteered their skills received the same set of specifications. Now, anyone who is interested in taking up the challenge will need to do the following:

Send me a PM telling me which skin you would like to make a header for, be that the Medieval skin, the Parchment, the LegendFire, the Lightskin (default), or the Homepage.

We will then discuss specifications.

Once you turn in a header to me, I'll review it, test it, and see how it works out. Editing may be necessary.

So that's the best and most definitive I can come up with at present.
___

This announcement will remain pinned up from now until Doomsday, so you may at any time submit a new header. Therefore, feel free to take your time and make the header(s) as attractive as possible. I will be happy to put them in line with the rest and rotate them monthly or bimonthly, depending on how many new headers I receive. If you want your name to appear on your header(s) (small, please), like an artist's signature, please note the placement of the page tabs, dropdown menus, and/or logos and adjust accordingly.

I will make it a point to review every header submitted. I may make suggestions about content or color or let you know if something just won't work. Please work with me on this. As far as I know, there is no other community that allows its members to contribute to its very face, and I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous as to how it will turn out. But I also think it's a unique, exciting idea to allow you, the members, affect the way LF is seen by the world. (No pressure now )

I look forward to seeing what your vision and your talent comes up with!

~Raveneye

This post has been edited by Raveneye: 14 May 2010 - 10:40 AM
Reason for edit: to update message after upgrade

[Raveneye]

Okay! Now that we have tabs that link to our old Homepage and the other information and rules pages, I've applied demifugue's header. I didn't think we'd get the chance to use it unless I altered it some to make it fit the new skins, but it still works just fine on those old pages.

As I told demifugue, I'll get the specs together for our new skins soon, in case anyone wants to contribute. Good thing is, the specs for these new skins are much simpler, as the whole header is the logo, so I'll only need one file instead of a header file and a logo file. Those of you who asked for the specs know what I mean.

Anyway, when I have them, I'll post them here for anyone to use.

[Bird]

Hey Raveneye, are you still posting header's every month? And if you are, for what skin? I've been using the medieval and that hasn't changed at all, so was just wondering if you were still doing this ongoing header project.

[Raveneye]

For the Medieval skin, Bird, are you seeing the header with the gray lady on the horse?

In any case, I've been wondering what to do about the headers. The specifications for the homepage, rules page, about us page, etc. remain the same as before the upgrade. So if anyone wants to contribute to that, PM me and I'll send you the specifications.

But after the upgrade, the skins function differently. They have unfixed margins, which means it's been difficult to decide what dimensions work best for the headers. There is a way to fix the margin of the site, but I'd worry that one set of dimensions won't work for everyone's monitors, so I've decided for now to leave the margins as they are.

Each skin appears to work best with different sizes of headers. Meaning the Parchment skin has a nice pretty boxed in window that could dictate the length of a header, but the medieval skin doesn't. When I tried to fill all that gray space off to the right of the Medieval skin, the header forced the skin to be widescreen, which obviously won't work for everyone. Also, that new addition of the member's photo and dropdown menu in the top right corner throws a new kink into things. It floats over whatever pretty header is up there, so designers will have to take that into account.

So it's a conundrum. Likely someone with more design experience can offer a solution, or we could just go with smaller headers that take up less space. But I had a file full of headers already, and I've been forcing them to work. Right now I'm playing with the following dimensions:

For Medieval skin: 950x195 px

For Parchment: 850x195

For LegendFire: 995x230

For Lightskin: 390x72

The Lightskin, our default, is the only one without a fancy header, which I was hoping to remedy soon. So if someone wants to create a header for it in the meantime, PM me and we can discuss dimensions and other specifications. As for changing headers monthly, I should probably edit my initial post. Changing five headers every month (the four skins plus the Homepage) would be insanely confusing and hectic. Once I find something that works, I've been simply relieved to leave it alone. But I still hope people will want to contribute from time to time and give us a change of atmosphere.

If anyone has an idea for a header you're dying to try out for whichever skin, PM me, show me, whatever. We'll get it to work.

[Bird]

Yup, gray lady on a horse is the header for the Medieval skin.

That does sound incredibly complicated with all the different skins.

[Dee]

I had put the project aside, but I can try one for the lightskin since its the lamest right now. If you wanna PM me with specs, I'll give it a try next month when summer holidays roll in.

[Raveneye]

Okay, I'm starting to learn the dimensions necessary for the LightSkin header, if anyone is interested. It's an easy one. It can't be higher than 82 pixels, but doesn't really have a limit on length. Wish I had figured that out sooner.

.