I’ve posted some of the lead story presentation challenges and solutions that I’ve been working on. Basically what I came up with was incorporating all of those ideas into a default design and structure that can be skinned for each product. The base will contain all of the code, css styles, jquery, grid structure and page layout necessary to have a niche product site already built ready to go. This is an extension of the magazine lead story presentation that I was working on and could be used not only for magazines but other products and niche sites as well. I’ve coded and tested the base design and to create a new site all we have to do is move these files into the new root folder and presto, a working site. It has all of the homepage, article page, gallery page and video page layouts designed and built. I’ve tested for cross browser support and the base works from ie6 to ie8 and all standards based browsers.
What this does is significantly reduce the amount of time we have to spend to create a new site like “Moms” or “Pets” or even a “Golf” site. Think of it as a working wireframe. I like to think of it as a framework. Also all of our magazines that we bring online will be built on this framework. We can now present the structure of the site separate from the design. All of the sites will use the lead story presentation on the homepage and will have three columns beneath that with flexible content types. These content types (e.g. blogs, forums, calendar) can be moved around within reason but the basic look of them is set. The thumbnails will be a certain size. Headlines and time-stamps are already placed and styled. I think this will help in the presentation of the design as everyone will know this is the base.
As far as designing for the sites goes. This is a flexible solution. Again it’s like a working wireframe so the design can fit the product but it must adhere to the structure of the base. I can add any visual style or element to the design I want to make it as clean or artsy as needed. I’ve posted an example below. It’s a quick mockup for “Living Here”. Keep in mind this is quick and it’s not the real logo or final design it just shows the flexibility of this structure.
The lead story and ad block are flexible enough to fit the genre. The structure still has the solution of the carousel but it has a completely different feel that the base. I’m hopeful we can implement the new framework soon and build the next niche site on it. I am concerned about putting constraints on the design and structure of the site but since the majority of our products are print related I think this addresses many of the issues we’ve been faced with.
magazine site skins
I’ve posted some of the lead story presentation challenges and solutions that I’ve been working on. Basically what I came up with was incorporating all of those ideas into a default design and structure that can be skinned for each product. The base will contain all of the code, css styles, jquery, grid structure and page layout necessary to have a niche product site already built ready to go. This is an extension of the magazine lead story presentation that I was working on and could be used not only for magazines but other products and niche sites as well. I’ve coded and tested the base design and to create a new site all we have to do is move these files into the new root folder and presto, a working site. It has all of the homepage, article page, gallery page and video page layouts designed and built. I’ve tested for cross browser support and the base works from ie6 to ie8 and all standards based browsers.
What this does is significantly reduce the amount of time we have to spend to create a new site like “Moms” or “Pets” or even a “Golf” site. Think of it as a working wireframe. I like to think of it as a framework. Also all of our magazines that we bring online will be built on this framework. We can now present the structure of the site separate from the design. All of the sites will use the lead story presentation on the homepage and will have three columns beneath that with flexible content types. These content types (e.g. blogs, forums, calendar) can be moved around within reason but the basic look of them is set. The thumbnails will be a certain size. Headlines and time-stamps are already placed and styled. I think this will help in the presentation of the design as everyone will know this is the base.
As far as designing for the sites goes. This is a flexible solution. Again it’s like a working wireframe so the design can fit the product but it must adhere to the structure of the base. I can add any visual style or element to the design I want to make it as clean or artsy as needed. I’ve posted an example below. It’s a quick mockup for “Living Here”. Keep in mind this is quick and it’s not the real logo or final design it just shows the flexibility of this structure.
The lead story and ad block are flexible enough to fit the genre. The structure still has the solution of the carousel but it has a completely different feel that the base. I’m hopeful we can implement the new framework soon and build the next niche site on it. I am concerned about putting constraints on the design and structure of the site but since the majority of our products are print related I think this addresses many of the issues we’ve been faced with.
Lead Story Examples
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