Jay is currently working on a redesign of the entire site, to include a new petition and a closer integration of the forum and fan project wiki. I don't know if he's planning to do anything with the site logo.

Ah, thanks for the info. Moth3r.  If he's keeping the existing logo/'headshots' header, then I hope it's going to be enlarged somewhat.

My two cents in the form of a mock-up.  I went with a simple look using the three original one-sheets because our goal has always been simple - the three original films.  No improvements, no updating, no flashy animations, etc.  I kept the greys that have always been part of the site and went with some simple buttons for the different areas.

News - Jay's statements and updates that are currently scrolled at the bottom of the home page.

Community - The entrance to the forum.

Petition - The history & results of the original petition, as well as any future activity.

Multimedia - Maybe a central location for downloading the DVD covers or wallpapers that some of the members have made over the years. There have been some fantastic pieces, but it can get a little daunting tracking them all down.  Also the screen-grab comparisons of all of George's revisions and the fan attempts at preservation.

I second Anchorhead's mock-up.  The only difference i would make would be to retain the current ot.com logo, and use the same font for the buttons below the posters.

Also, it might be worth considering modifying or adding to the tagline to reflect the desire for a legitimate transfer/proper archiving of the originals (nothing too verbose, though).  You know and I know what's going on, but if someone out of the loop were to see that homepage they might think "It's already on DVD.  This site needs some updating!".

auximenies said:

might be worth considering modifying or adding to the tagline to reflect the desire for a legitimate transfer/proper archiving of the originals (nothing too verbose, though).  You know and I know what's going on, but if someone out of the loop were to see that homepage they might think "It's already on DVD.  This site needs some updating!".

I had a few versions - "...on anamorphic DVD", "...on Blu-ray", ...historical preservation", etc - but I couldn't come up with anything I liked, so I just stuck with our old one for the mock-up.  I agree, it does need a better explained tagline.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

More than anyone else, I recognize the need for changes and fixes around here. The home page isn't even relevant anymore. The design is beyond dated, the forums require fixes/upgrades, and the fan edit wiki needs a complete overhaul.

The issue until now has been time. I started a new job in May, moved, and began a freelance project that is just now winding down. Prior to that, I was scrambling to find a job and do whatever I could to line up freelance work.

Now that my schedule is opening up, I'm free to return to my personal projects, which include ot.com. I've already gotten back to work on finishing the next forum upgrade and will have that completed soon. The thing to keep in mind is that the list of requests/fixes/changes is so long that I can't get to everything immediately. Just as an example, yesterday I rewrote the avatar/photo upload utility so that it can accept images of any size and resize them appropriately. That's one seemingly small thing, but it took about 6 hours of programming and debugging to get it working properly. Consider that I have a list of about 75 "small" things and you can begin to grasp the amount of work involved. I'm not saying I need to finish all 75 things before I post an update, but you get the idea. I've considered putting the redesign first and forum upgrades second, but the phrase "lipstick on a pig" comes to mind :)

There is a new petition coming. I built the engine and had it working months ago. I just need to finish the new site design and skin it. I won't even go into the issues surrounding the fan edit wiki. I built it in such a hurry that I look at it today and wonder what the hell I was thinking. The changes coming to the wiki are substantial.

Right now, the forum is going through its usual summer lull like many online communities. Fewer people are surfing and watching fan edits because they're outside enjoying the weather, so it's a good time to be going through a rebuilding phase. My goal is to have the first in a series of forum updates posted in about two weeks, with the petition soon to follow. The wiki enhancements will take a lot of time, so I'm hesitant to provide a timeframe for that right now. I need to get back into the code, which I haven't looked at in 2 years, and work out a plan.

All your suggestions and recommendations are noted, and I hope you understand that nothing you request is ignored. I will get things in order around here in due time.

I'd also like to extend a personal thanks to Moth3r for keeping this place in line while providing regular nudges to remind me that there's a lot left to be done. His regular posts in the admin section detailing his thoughts on improving the site are very valuable. He really is your biggest advocate and you should be glad he's here to carry the torch for you.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I'll post more updates as I continue working.

Definitely neat, Doubleofive!    If the starfield matched Anchorhead's (or even your image was made transparent save the outline of the text), that would fit great.

I like Anchorhead's outline very much, but if there's one thing I'd recommend it's having the news feed be on the front page.  That's one thing I like about the site now.

Great to hear there seems to be a lot of interesting improvements coming our way in the future Jay.  Your continued efforts on this excellent site are very much appreciated.

Not a bad concept there Anchorhead, but I always preferred this one, seeing as it was the first one I ever saw, and the way it fired up my anticipation for the movie at the time.  Still remains a classic piece of artwork -  http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/actors_films_images/star_wars_movie_poster.jpg

(I've got to get me one of those 'lenticular' poster versions available now!)

Also, I ABSOLUTELY gotta go with doubleofive's ace logo suggestion!  Something like that certainly gets my vote.

I'd also like to see SOMETHING describing the site's aims / contents written up on the initial 'homepage' still, though simplified somewhat, to intrigue newcomers into delving further into any links. 

Oh, and I wouldn't be averse to seeing Ripplin's slogan of 'Blu, not Blue!' being part of whatever mission statement is to be the latest campaign.  If they just dish out some freakish colouration on BluRay like they did with the SE DVD release, then it would be hardly worth it.  My 2 cents.

^Thanks again, I.F. ;) And yes, we should be concerned about the Blu-Ray coloring, too. Who knows what they'll look like?! And I'm guessing it would be FAR harder to do color correction on them, if not nigh impossible at the moment.

I don't remember seeing this thread before. I love the mock-ups that people made. Good stuff!

I know this info is old, but still, the only big change I'm hoping for is concerning the deletion of PMs. Jay is already aware of it. :)

Ripplin said:

I know this info is old, but still, the only big change I'm hoping for is concerning the deletion of PMs. Jay is already aware of it. :)

If this is regarding the ability to delete multiple PMs, that functionality will be in the next update, which is going live by this Sunday if it kills me.

Wow, I didn't know an update was coming that soon. Hope it goes well.

Don't let it kill you, Jay. You're too young to die!*

*I'm assuming... ;)

Jay said:

....will be in the next update, which is going live by this Sunday if it kills me.

I think Jay died cause Sunday came and went :/
(Im sure its for good reason tho)

^Depends on where you live. Still Sunday for an hour and five minutes here. ;)

Nobody died, thankfully.

I finished bug testing and I could've made the update tonight, but it was getting late, and since these things never go as planned, I probably would've been up until 4 in the morning troubleshooting :)

Tomorrow night should be the night. Don't expect major changes, though. This update is more about the admin functionality that will let us update the categories and reorganize things. While you will see some layout, navigation, and functionality changes, it won't be anything earth-shattering.

Jay said:

Don't expect major changes, though. This update will let us update the categories and reorganize things. While you will see some layout, navigation, and functionality changes, it won't be anything earth-shattering.

To me that is a major change!, with new categories and navigation.....cant wait to see what you came up with

Okay, one more day. I found some nonsense tonight while doing one last check. Hopefully this really is the last check.

Can you tell I'm feeling the pressure now? :)

Seems to me you're putting the pressure on yourself. Who's in a rush? ;)

I'm looking forward to cleaning up my inbox, but what's another day? Haha.

Found another big bug. How about one more day just for the hell of it?

Go for it! ;)