[Project Complete] $500 template contest

[jcambert]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 8LN785361R)

Ok, guys/gals, let's get to work. I admire all of you very much, and, I just finished a WONDERFUL logo contest and am very pleased with the results. Having said that, the finished product is not yet ready, however, you can get a general idea of what is coming by visiting the logo forum and clicking on my "$200 logo contest." The website is www.fantasysportsnuts.com and is a new site so don't bother visiting it right now, as there is nothing there. It's a fantasy/rotiserie sports website.

Coding should be either PHP or HTML.

Having said that, this template will be a general, 4 page template. However, in terms of actual work, there will really only be two pages, since the three sports pages (fantasy basketball, fantasy football, and fantasy baseball), will all have the same basic includes, except for the custom artwork. The template will include the home page, baseball, football, and basketball pages. Each page should have either a custom graphic or stock photograph (DEFINATELY prefer the custom artwork) depicting that particular sport (baskeball related on the basketball page, etc). For the Home page, something sports related in general or something encompassing all three of the sports. Here is what each page should include in terms of navigation:

The navigation should be tab based. Sites that I like, with this type of navigation are:

www.unlimitedperfumes.com (my own site)
www.amazon.com (classic tabbed navigation structure)

All tabs should have subcategories, as on Amazon. For example, in Books, there are subcategories of Search, Browse Subjects, etc. For my site, the main tabs will include:

Home, Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Football, Fantasy Basketball, About Us (am I missing any other ones?)

I can't think of any subcategories right now for the home tab, so, feel free to leave those blank for now. For each of the others, they will have subcategories such as Player Rankings, My League, etc.

The tabs should be color coded in that they will change color depending on where you are. Look at my site (www.unlimitedperfumes.com) for an example where the active tab is red and the others are grey, for example.

At the top left will be our logo (feel free to use an unfinished
version for right now), and at the top right should be a log-in box. User name and password. This box should somehow disappear if the person is actually logged in.

Feel free to use Royalty Free Photos or Custom graphics, or a
combination of both. I'm trying to be as detailed as possible but, as is usually the case, something will inevitably come to me that I've not yet thought of and, if that happens, I will post it as well.

JP

[JakSmit]

thanks for the invite. I start work upon reply of palmer.

[pod]

Hi
Thanks for invite I will try to make my entry as soon as possible.

Thanks

[Dizski]

Thanks for the invite :) I'll try to have something for you in the next few days.

[jcambert]

Let me add one more tab that I failed to mention above. There should be a tab for "Message Boards" or "Forums"

JP

[jcambert]

Anyone wanna get this party started?
JP

[Palmer]

Designers I have posted the logo files for you to use in this project in the designers forum...
http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=126016#post126016

[jcambert]

Thanks Palmer. I had totally forgotten about the logo files. I apologize. Are those the vector files?

Who wants to kick this off?
JP

[JakSmit]

Are those the vector files?
Yeah


Who wants to kick this off?
I know that you are no doubt concerned about the lack
of entries so far. But it is tough being the first to submit
entry. The contest also hasn't been running that long
and there are many contests on the board. I am sure
that many people are working on something, they
just haven't got to the stage where they have something
to show yet. Well that is what it is like for me at least.
I will try and post something soon.

From Jack

[jcambert]

Thanks Jack. It's no big deal. I figured people will be entering at some point. I know that the template contests usually take a bit longer than the logo ones. I anxiously await your entry, and other's.

JP

[jcambert]

Anyone out there have any preliminary thoughts even? Doesn't have to be a refined, finished product, but any thoughts even?
JP

[pracus]

I'll enter in two days probably.

[KiT10]

Hi, JP!

Will have an entry for you to review in 4-5h! :)

[jcambert]

I really look forward to it, everyone.
JP

[jcambert]

Come on, everyone. I know you have it in you. You are all amazing, and unique, and extremely creative. I can't believe that nobody is willing to kick this off, and that EVERYONE is waiting for someone else to post.

JP

[geofharries]

If I may be perfectly frank, that's not the issue. The template design team is very busy at this time and we're doing our best to keep up with the workload. Your contest has not been forgotten or mislaid, simply prioritzed in the order in which it arrived. People are working on their layouts as I write - and will post their designs when complete.

Best regards,

geof

[KiT10]

Ok... Here is my shot at it!
Hope you like it!

Plese post your comments!

link to template (http://www.kit10designs.com/fantasy.jpg)

[jcambert]

Kit, it's blank. LOL. I hate it when that happens. Like when I email someone with "here's the attachment" and I forget to actually attach it.

JP

[KiT10]

just edited previous post :) sorry about that...

[jcambert]

That's a very good start. A couple of things. Can you put in a log in box (user name and password), on the top right of the screen? Also, can you add a "Forums" tab to the tabs? And, while I like the tab look, I'd like to see also, if you don't mind, how it would look if the greyed out tabs were actual tabs. Do you know what I mean?

Good start, though.

JP

[KiT10]

Sure! I can add a log in box and modify those tabs :D I'll also add a background color while I'm at it...

[jcambert]

Also, if it looks too cluttered, we could probably remove the "Contact Us" tab, and just put the contact information into the "About Us" section.

Also, for search engine optimization purposes, the tabs and the text inside of them, if at all possible, should be text, as opposed to pictures. To see what I mean, go to www.unlimitedperfumes.com and you will see that through the use of CSS, the tabs and text in them are actually text.

Let me know, and, thanks again for taking that big first step.

Anyone wanna follow?

JP

[jcambert]

Question about the picture on the left hand side, with the baseball. Are there pictures that incorporate a basketball and/or football also, for the different seasons?

JP

[KiT10]

OK, I've modified the layout. See attached image or go here (http://www.kit10designs.com/fantasy.htm) to see how it would look full size (with background). You can also go here (http://www.kit10designs.com/fantasy.jpg) to see previous version.

I moved "about us" and "contact us" in the upper right corner to create more space in the tab menu bar.

I can easily create text links for the tabs menu with a css hover effect.

I guess I could find some football or basketball images that would integrate well into this design.

Please let me know your comments on this!

Thanks!

[jcambert]

Thanks, Kit. I appreciate the prompt response.

JP

[cosmic]

Hi JP,

So far I have created the header for the homepage. I'm not sure what content you want on the homepage.

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasy_head1.gif




http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasy_head2.gif




http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasy_head3.gif

[jcambert]

That is excellent as well. No revisions necessarry at this point. Very good start with the first two submissions. Very good.

JP

[KiT10]

Here's another one from me :)

[jcambert]

Wow. We're blown away by the quality of these submissions. Keep em up. We are very, very, very pleased.
JP

[pracus]

as I promised :)

http://republika.pl/airliners2004/fantasy1.png

[jcambert]

Another excellent submission. Can I see how it looks with the sublinks BELOW the tabs, instead of ABOVE them?

JP

[jcambert]

Anyone else care to throw their hat into the game, now that a few ideas have been posted?
JP

[pickadesign]

I'm working on my submission, I'll be posting it tomorrow, so you can expect an entry from me soon.

Thanks :)

[pracus]

Hi, JP!

As you wish..

http://republika.pl/airliners2004/fantasy2.png

If I can ask - it would be fantastic when you say which of our works are your favourites (I hope you guys agree with me). We know that you like every of it but you have some favourite surely.
Why am I asking?
Because if every of us will play around with his design when you already had some favourites, it get his time. I hope you understand what I mean :)

If you're not sure than ok :)

[jcambert]

I like certain aspects of each design submitted so far. I wouldn't really feel comfortable indicating which is my favorite, as this might alienate some people who have not yet posted.

I will tell you that, had you submitted something that was completely different than what we were looking at, I would be sure to mention it, in a nice way, as I did with my logo contest.

JP

[jcambert]

There are a few of you who have asked me about the deadline for this project. I apologize, as I should have posted it in the message, but, instead, I accidentally posted it in the subject.

The deadline is on January 31. So, it's a couple days away.

JP

[cosmic]

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports1.gif

[jcambert]

Cosmic. Excellent work. I am not, however, in love with the graphic in the middle of the page right below the tabs. I like the rest of the submission very much, including the very structured layout, as well as the three bottom sections and the section on the right. I like it all except for that graphic, to be honest. Can you work on that?

JP

[Squad]

Hi JP,
no details about the content yet. This site will be article based? Like
http://cbs.sportsline.com/ for example? You will have articles for each sport, results, facts, etc? I'd like to know, because while the navigations is pretty clear for me, the rest is not.

Thanks.

[jcambert]

It's a fantasy sports site similar to mrsports.com for example. As for content, go with something similar to what has already been submitted.

JP

[jcambert]

Cosmic, when you get the chance, please remember to play with that graphic. As I had mentioned, it's a big too big and/or overwhelming and takes too much attention from the rest of the page.

Anyone else out there care to post?
JP

[pracus]

I'll submit my second soon.

[pracus]

http://republika.pl/airliners2004/fantasy3.png

[jcambert]

Pickadesign? You said you would post yesterday...

Squad? Will? Jak Smit? Anne.

Still waiting on your submissions guys/gals. I'd love to see em.

JP

[Squad]

Tomorrow or monday i can finish your entry i started something, but is very basic. I hope is fine with you.
Thanks for patience.

[jcambert]

Problem is Monday is the deadline and, this one we can't extend so, if you post Monday it won't leave time for any revisions, and, like I said, I can't extend this, as we are under a time crunch so, if at all possible, please submit tomorrow.

JP

[Squad]

I have exam tomorrow so i am not sure if i will be able to finish it. I will try though.

[jcambert]

Completely understandable. Sorry to hear that. I don't know if you wanna waste your time, though, because, to be honest, submitting your first entry on Monday will leave no time for any revisions or tinkering, and, we can't extend the deadline...sorry.

JP

[JakSmit]

JP,

I know that you really wanted me to submit an entry,
I tried to make time to complete one. I managed to do
a logo, all be it a poor one. But I am super busy at this
time with a nightmare client who is pushing me to the limit.

Hopefully in a few weeks/months you may return to more
contests to which I will enter, but at this time I do not think
that I am going to be able to submit one :(

From Jack

[jcambert]

Ok, thanks for the response, Jak. And good luck with the other project you are working on.

JP

[cosmic]

Here are my revisions:


http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports2B.gif




http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports2.gif

[Anne]

Hi.

Here's my entry
Anne

[Anne]

and with a nutural background

[KiT10]

Hi, JP!

Here's a revised version of my first entry.
If you'd like me to modify my second entry too (add more content, etc.), just let me know :)

Thanks!

[Squad]

Here it is. I choosed to make graphic buttons on top. As you can see, i tried to put on the rest your hot keywords. I choosed graphics for consistency. I'm going to enjoy the rest of the day, it's a lot of snow outside!!!

[jcambert]

Cosmic: Thanks for the revisions.

Anne: Very nice. Very structured layout with clearly defined and very readable sections. Good work.

Kit: We liked your second entry the most so far, of all three of your entries. Feel free to tinker with it if you want.

Squad: Very nice. Very different looking tabs. Neat. Again, very clearly defined sections, very neat looking, and easily readable.

JP

[jcambert]

One question to all of you who have posted. Kit, I know you already answered this question.

I am looking for the tabs to be text, similar to my perfume site (www.unlimitedperfumes.com), as opposed to graphic tabs. Is that possible with the design that you each submitted? Please let me know. And, the reason that I'm looking for them to be text is search engine optimization purposes.

Let me know.

JP

[Squad]

Thanks you for your apreciations.

Yeah, it is posible. The graphic button can be set as background, and the text will be overlayed. On my template will need some very small tweaks and font replacement with Verdana. I don't have the layout home, otherwise i would change that, but i think you can imagine how it will look with verdana (left headlines).

[jcambert]

But, is Veranda very different from the look of the fonts that the tabs have right now?
JP

[Anne]

All the links in my design are text links
Anne

[cosmic]

All my links are also text links.

[pracus]

All buttons in my design are text links

[Squad]

I do prefer buttons there(alt tab will work for seo), but verdana will look good also. I will use it like REGISTER NOW is used, maybe a litlle bit higher. Under XP will have antialias, so will look even smoother(like pracus put them). The buttons background will remain the same, only font will be changed.
I hope i explained well.

[KiT10]

Hi, JP!

I've modified the layout a bit for my second entry (see attached). I've also created a html version (http://www.kit10designs.com/DO/fsn/) to see the tabs in action :) The text in the tabs is plain text (no images) - you could verify this by pressing Ctrl+A to select all the text on the page.

Looking forward to your comments! Thanks!

[pracus]

A little revisioned first:

http://republika.pl/airliners2004/fantasy4.png

And the new one :)

http://republika.pl/airliners2004/fantasy5.png

[KiT10]

And here's another version... :)

[jcambert]

Wow. Thank you ALL for the very hard work. You've all made this decision one that we are going to have to really, really ponder on. I thank you all very, very much. We'll have a decision for everyone either later on tonight, or some time tomorrow.

JP

[jcambert]

Anyone still working on a design (Pickadesign...you mentioned you would be working on something), I would suggest you let me know, or we might make the decision before you have had a chance to post. Either way, it's looking like we'll have a decision tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for all the great entries.

JP

[pickadesign]

I was working on something still, got delayed, but you have outstanding entries here, and I wouldn't want to delay you from making your decision. I could have something by tonight, early tomorrow morning (in the wee hours of the morning) but that's the best I can do as it'll take some time to polish up what I have currently.

Thanks

[jcambert]

Ok, we can wait. Thanks for the quick response. Again, I appreciate your advising me of this. We'll go ahead and wait for your entry and those of anyone else still considering entering.

JP

[jcambert]

Just a quick reminder to everyone who entered that, if chosen, and as per the initial instructions, there will be slight modifications to the home page template, as templates will be required for the baseball, basketball and football pages. Now, each of those three pages (baseball, basketball, and football pages) will be essentially the same, with the only differences being any artwork/pictures used, so, it shouldn't be too difficult, but, I wanted to remind everyone.

JP

[will]

JP, deeply sorry but I won't be able to participate. Thanx for the invitation but got too much work to finish, and by the way you have excelent entries here. Great luck to all.

[pickadesign]

I ran out of fire, I was up for the most part of the night trying to finish off, but I was way too tired from being up for almost two days to get it done the way I wanted, I felt too rush, and just couldn't accomplish what I want done, mainly because I was fatigued, and you hardly work well under those circumstances. I am very sorry that I was unable to complete it, but I did try my best to finish it off, but the end result was not coming together like I wanted.

Again, I apologize, but you have nice entries, that could represent your site well.

Best of luck to all involved, I have to head to bed...too tired.

[jcambert]

Let me first thank everyone for all the hard work that they have put into this. This was an extremely difficult decision as every single entry could easily have been fit into our vision. When all was said and done the three of us (the three partners), each had a different favorite....that's how close this contest was.

When all was said and done, we decided to go with Cosmic's design (like in post number 51).

Again, I can't stress enough how close this contest was, but, there MUST be a winner in each of these, unfortunately. Thanks to all of you very, very much.

JP

[jcambert]

Cosmic...now on to the revisions. A couple minor changes:

1) We STILL think that the graphic is too overwhelming, drawing too much attention away from the rest of the page, so, could you somehow shorten the width of it, so that you can move the right hand column (join now graphic, and Active Games Box), up?

2) Can you play around with the tabs and give us a couple of unique options there?

3) Maybe you can make the "About Us" tab a link on the top right, rather than an actual tab? And, make the tab that reads "Forum" read "Fantasy Sports Forum."

4) Can you make the "Active Games" Graphic read "Fantasy Sports News"?

Other than that, we are pretty much set. Once we get these revisions done, we can work on the second page (one of the sports pages). The other two interior pages (for the other two sports) will be exactly the same, with the exception of whatever graphic we decide to go with.

We'd like the "Join Now" graphic on the right, and the "Active Games" box on the right to be a consistent part of the navigation.

Remember also that, most of the links and stuff should be text based.

Thanks,

JP

[jcambert]

One more thing. If at all possible, could you code it in PHP rather than HTML so that some of the persistent navigational things like the Join Now Graphic and the "Fantasy Sports News" box can be put in via includes, rather than changing them on every page each time they change?

JP

[Michael]

Moved to revisions :)

[cosmic]

hi JP,

Thank you for selecting my design.

Here are some of the revisions. I will play around with the tabs later tonight and have something for you by tonight or tomorrow morning.


http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports3.gif

[jcambert]

Excellent. Thank you man. The tabs are a secondary issue, as we can always play with them later. Let me know your thoughts on the secondary pages (fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball, fantasy football).

For the fantasy football one, I thought it might be neat to do something similar to what Squad did in his design, where he incorporated our logo on the side of a white football helmet.

JP

[jcambert]

Go ahead and put back the "About Us" in the tabs section and remove the contact us tab. That way, it's uniform.

JP

[jcambert]

Any update, Cosmic?
JP

[cosmic]

Revisions:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports_Football.gif


http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports_Baseball.gif


http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports_Basketball.gif

Go ahead and put back the "About Us" in the tabs section and remove the contact us tab. That way, it's uniform

Oops, did not see that. I will make the changes right now.

[jcambert]

Cosmic. Wonderful. It looks great, except remember that the tabs need to change colors depending on which page you are on, right? Also remember to remove the "Contact Us" tab and move the "About Us" link back down to the tabs section.

Also, if you get a chance, please remember to give us a couple of different looks for the tabs to choose from. Otherwise, I think we are all set.

A couple questions. Did you get the msg about the PHP? Can you code in PHP instead of HTML so that I can just use includes for some of these things?

JP

[jcambert]

One more question. Are the three section titles at the bottom of each page (New Games, Active Games, Football Rankings), in text? Or is that a graphic? Reason that I ask is that I would like to be able to change that, in case we want something else.

JP

[jcambert]

The Logo on the top left of the home page should be bigger also. In fact, I would like the logo on the secondary pages to be slightly bigger as well but, the home page logo should be bigger still. Not enormous, but, bigger.

JP

[cosmic]

Hi JP,

Can you code in PHP instead of HTML
I am just learning PHP so the HTML would be easier for me.


Are the three section titles at the bottom of each page (New Games, Active Games, Football Rankings), in text? Or is that a graphic?
They are graphics but I will also give you the psd and fonts so you can change this anytime you want.


I am working on the other revisions and the tabs right now.

[cosmic]

Revisions:
Bigger logo
about us tab back.

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports4.gif

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports_Football.gif

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports_Baseball.gif

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports_Basketball.gif

[cosmic]

Same tabs with a gradient

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports4a.gif

[cosmic]

Different Tab:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports4b.gif

[jcambert]

Ok, I think I like the rounded gradient tabs the best. The tabs are each text links, as I had asked for earlier, right?

One more thing, and then I think we are done. In the "Fantasy Sports News" on the right, rather than having the dates there, what I would like to do is have a little graphic arrow pointing to each headline. The arrow should be on the left hand side of the box. And, one arrow should point to one headline...then the next arrow should point to the next headline. Then I think we are done.

JP

[jcambert]

Remember also that the tabs should be marking the page they are on. The way you have it up top, the "Home" tab is always the highlited one. Remember that in the football page, the "Fantasy Football" tab should be highlited, etc.

JP

[cosmic]

Got it.

[jcambert]

Checking in. Anything yet?

[jcambert]

I'd like to finish this today, please. Are you there?

JP

[cosmic]

The HTML files can be downloaded here:

html flies (http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/FantasySports_HTML.zip)

I am organizing the PSD Files and will post a link in a bit.

[jcambert]

Ok, I'll download them when I get home. Were you able to do the little arrow thing as I had mentioned earlier? I can't seem to access that page from work.

JP

[cosmic]

screenshot with arrows:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/fantasySports4c.gif

[jcambert]

Great. Do you mind emailing me the files to:

help@fantasysportsnuts.com

Thanks, man.
JP

[cosmic]

Download PSD Files Here:

psd files (http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/FantasySports_PSD.zip)

[jcambert]

Like I said I can't download that from my computer in the office (blocked)...could you be so kind as to email me the zip files?

JP

[cosmic]

files sent via email

[jcambert]

that's odd. I haven't gotten them. Maybe it's a big file and it'll take a minute or two...either way, I wanted to thank you for all your hard work.

Is the font file in the files you sent me? If you remember from yesterday, I'm going to need to change some of the bottom titles in the sports pages, and you mentioned that you would email me the fonts, and the graphic. Just wanted to make sure that the graphic and fonts are included.
JP

[jcambert]

Ok, I got them. Thanks for everything. I sent you a quick question via email.

JP

[jcambert]

still waiting on a couple of revisions

[cosmic]

Latest revisons complete and files sent.

[jcambert]

Almost there. Waiting on an email from designer with newly modified HTML and then we'll be done.

[cosmic]

the files i sent yesterday are the modified HTML files.

[Palmer]

Most mail servers will not allow large attachments to go through. It's best to send a link to the files in a separate email just in case the client does not recieve them.

Thanks