Kitmitsu
Jul 14 2008, 07:46 PM
We started updating the layout a few months ago, just making a few visual changes, and we ended up changing more than we originally intended. So here's the result! It's quite drastically different from what we had before and contains many improvements. The new layout is coded differently to the older layout which allows more things to be on the page without adding to load times. It even loads faster than it used to. Apart from the site loading faster in general, we have worked to improve the load times on areas such as the scans page. Before it would take quite a long time to load the whole page, but now you can easily browse the scans by magazine much faster and easier. The optimisation also means that the front page works in all major browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Netfront (Playstation 3) and Opera). All other pages have been tested in Internet Explorer and Firefox and function fully. We plan for the whole site to be completely compatible with the other mentioned browsers in the near future.
We are still in the process of moving all of the content across to the new layout, but this should be completed within the next couple of days. In the meantime, you can still browse our newly designed Final Fantasy XIII section (Which is still being edited and updated with the latest information) until everything else has been moved over.
FinalFantasy-XIII.net and FinalFantasyVersusXIII.net Merged
Even though we've shared the same forums and layout for over a year, we're now one big site with separate domains. That means that FinalFantasy-XIII.net will have the Fabula Nova Crystallis and Final Fantasy XIII content while FinalFantasyVersusXIII.net will have the Final Fantasy Versus XIII content. We also have aquired FinalFantasyAgito-XIII.net which will have the Final Fantasy Agito XIII content on it. No more redundant content being duplicated. There's no point in us competing with ourselves.
Forum Integration
We've tried to integrate the forums into the main site a little more by adding the latest forum threads and stats into a block on the right as well as adding a login feature above. This required the forums directory to be different, so all links containing "forums.finalfantasy-xiii.net" will redirect to "finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums". Logging into the main site will eventually serve more of a purpose than just being able to see how many posts there have been since your last visit. In the future we plan to create content and features exclusive to registered forum members.
Navigation
The navigation is now at the top in tab format. For example, click on "Final Fantasy XIII" and all the links to content for it will appear below the tabs. It does require more clicks but you can also simply click the arrow button below the navigation to see all the links for all the content on the site.
Trailers
All trailers can now be streamed from our server so you can easily view them from the website without having to download them and see them in better quality than YouTube. You now also have the option to download them from two servers, Moogle and Moomba, just in case one is under a lot of stress from a large amount of users downloading at the same time. The Final Fantasy XIII E3 2006 trailer (http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums/../final-fantasy-xiii/e3-2006-trailer.php) is the only one currently available but the others will be up shortly.
That's pretty much everything that isn't self explanatory. This post will be updated as we update the content sections. We have had the layout in testing for a while (for specific things like the login box), but if you notice any problems with the site after a few days then please let us know. When the site is put up one of the last things we can do is convert the news, so we are aware of the few symbol and text errors on earlier news posts and are working to fix them and they should be corrected shortly.
~ Kitmitsu and Nero
We are still in the process of moving all of the content across to the new layout, but this should be completed within the next couple of days. In the meantime, you can still browse our newly designed Final Fantasy XIII section (Which is still being edited and updated with the latest information) until everything else has been moved over.
FinalFantasy-XIII.net and FinalFantasyVersusXIII.net Merged
Even though we've shared the same forums and layout for over a year, we're now one big site with separate domains. That means that FinalFantasy-XIII.net will have the Fabula Nova Crystallis and Final Fantasy XIII content while FinalFantasyVersusXIII.net will have the Final Fantasy Versus XIII content. We also have aquired FinalFantasyAgito-XIII.net which will have the Final Fantasy Agito XIII content on it. No more redundant content being duplicated. There's no point in us competing with ourselves.
Forum Integration
We've tried to integrate the forums into the main site a little more by adding the latest forum threads and stats into a block on the right as well as adding a login feature above. This required the forums directory to be different, so all links containing "forums.finalfantasy-xiii.net" will redirect to "finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums". Logging into the main site will eventually serve more of a purpose than just being able to see how many posts there have been since your last visit. In the future we plan to create content and features exclusive to registered forum members.
Navigation
The navigation is now at the top in tab format. For example, click on "Final Fantasy XIII" and all the links to content for it will appear below the tabs. It does require more clicks but you can also simply click the arrow button below the navigation to see all the links for all the content on the site.
Trailers
All trailers can now be streamed from our server so you can easily view them from the website without having to download them and see them in better quality than YouTube. You now also have the option to download them from two servers, Moogle and Moomba, just in case one is under a lot of stress from a large amount of users downloading at the same time. The Final Fantasy XIII E3 2006 trailer (http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums/../final-fantasy-xiii/e3-2006-trailer.php) is the only one currently available but the others will be up shortly.
That's pretty much everything that isn't self explanatory. This post will be updated as we update the content sections. We have had the layout in testing for a while (for specific things like the login box), but if you notice any problems with the site after a few days then please let us know. When the site is put up one of the last things we can do is convert the news, so we are aware of the few symbol and text errors on earlier news posts and are working to fix them and they should be corrected shortly.
~ Kitmitsu and Nero