I am working on a blog / article style template and I would love some design input

By: x0x7

I think it would help improve the sharability of the site if text posts could also be displayed as articles. This is because linking social media sites on social media sites is not as well received as an article. There are a lot of common elements between them. The ability to add comments for instance. So it's really the post score and the side chat that indicate it's a social media post.

I've removed those, but I'd like to nail the aesthetic of it being an article more. So I'd like your input.

Here are a few examples so far:

https://goatmatrix.net/blog/MatrixDev/2gV9Rpo6z1
https://goatmatrix.net/blog/MatrixEvents/AGjU39ioUh
https://goatmatrix.net/blog/MatrixDev/9xWEGyo7xX

Of course it works better with longer form content. Just because it doesn't look good for every kind of content I don't really see as a problem. I really is meant for the long stuff. But the question is is it too wide? Wide can be bad aesthetically and it makes relatively long content look short. We could make it narrow.

https://goatmatrix.net/blog780/MatrixDev/2gV9Rpo6z1
https://goatmatrix.net/blog780/MatrixEvents/AGjU39ioUh
https://goatmatrix.net/blog780/MatrixDev/9xWEGyo7xX

Any other tips would be appreciated.

Edit:

This post as a blog
https://goatmatrix.net/blog/MatrixDev/5AyA5KADzi
https://goatmatrix.net/blog780/MatrixDev/5AyA5KADzi

And a link back to the original in case you are seeing this as an article
https://goatmatrix.net/c/MatrixDev/5AyA5KADzi

Edit:

I also now have embed
https://goatmatrix.net/embed/MatrixEvents/AGjU39ioUh

Comments:

Comment preview
[-]JasonCarswell
1(+1|0)

Cart before the horse.
Doing first is not always better.

Instead, start with reference material and outline goals.

  • What are the general aims you seek to accomplish, what are the critical points that must be achieved, what can simply be wants or wishes, and what is the end result?
  • What is the point to users? (ie. I can muster the energy, take the time, and make a great CSS theme - and apply it to my own GUI, but what's the point if no one else sees is much less uses it? I can't "mod" subs - and don't want/need to. I've made many suggestions, some are implemented, some are noted/discussed, and many seemingly ignored.)
  • How will this make the users feel? (ie. customer satisfaction, attracting users, genre/aesthetics)
  • Will you use implement a universal format so that folks can drop in generic extant templates, or will everything have to be a customization ordeal?
  • Have you got reference material to inspire, analyze, and compare - and figure out how to resolve if there are style conflicts? Again, what are the ultimate goals here?
  • Might you have drop down menu?
    ** basic/advanced/expert GUI
    ** basic/advanced/expert preferences
    ** colour schemes
    ** dark/light
    ** font size small/medium/large/number
    ** custom options
  • Might any of this design spill over to the Img.Gvid.TV and Gvid.TV?
  • I've asked many times about what you want for branding, logo, thematic banners, mascot, etc. A strong logo and/or design could establish the tone for the rest to fall into place. And it would be nice to promote with. I could print up stickers, etc. A vague wish list is at least something to work with, and even if I don't get to it in 6 months, when I'm ready it will still be there.
  • Are there other things that might be higher on the priority list to address than the GUI? (ie. site-wide comments, messages, etc.)

For what it's worth, I prefer narrower. It's easier to read on wide screens, tall screens, and phones (that can easily zoom/scale).

Adding images could complicate things (ie. wiki articles, scalable, with a left margin and right infobox, and simpler GUI for phones), or you could just have images full width in the narrower column like the old Steem posts.

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[-]LarrySwinger
0(+0|0)

This looks fucking great. YES

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[-]LarrySwinger
0(+0|0)

I'd say some kind of menu on the right would be okay. It shouldn't be the same as on the main website. More like some info about the author with a link to his main page, maybe some other articles written by him. No chat. And not all links inside the menu should have their own box. I'm thinking only a box with the author's avatar, name, and about, and anything below that should blend into the background. Same with the comment section: no box for them, just have them blend into the background so that the focus remains on the article itself.

Edit: and no coloured bar for indentation. And yeah, definitely go for the narrow version.

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