Don't forget the MetaFilter (Re)Design Contest.

December 22, 2004 8:24 AM

Don't forget the MetaFilter (Re)Design Contest. Time for a front-page reminder?
posted by gleuschk to MetaFilter-Related at 8:24 AM (27 comments total)

Gah! I wanted to have a go but, er, a trio of wild badgers has made off with my slippers!

Front page of MetaFilter? I don't think so. Front page of MetaTalk? Absolutely (and well done)! I'll be interested to see the designs.
posted by nthdegx at 8:55 AM on December 22, 2004

I was thinking sidebar.
posted by gleuschk at 9:02 AM on December 22, 2004

Silly me. Good point.
posted by nthdegx at 9:03 AM on December 22, 2004

Q for Matt: What's the minimum resolution at which the design is expected to be usable? I'm guessing 1024 x 768?
posted by Gyan at 9:11 AM on December 22, 2004

About half the web's still at 800x600, and even though MeFi probably skews higher, that's still the golden standard as far as I'm concerned. But, like the minimum requirements for any design, it would probably have to scale gracefully anywhere between 800x600 and 1280x1024.
posted by jefgodesky at 9:43 AM on December 22, 2004

Let me just say that - excited as I am to see the results - MetaFilter's clean design continues to be an inspiration. I've just been realizing lately that's probably one of the things that continues to bring me back to MeFi.

With the crappy stuff people dangle all over their sites these days, and standard layouts copied off Blogspot, the simple readability of piles of text make MetaFilter's design itself "The Best of the Web".
posted by freebird at 10:15 AM on December 22, 2004

It'll all be CSS so, any resolution should collapse/stack as needed, but I typically run windows around 900px floating on my desktop, so stuff that still works in 800x600 works for me.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:22 AM on December 22, 2004

I'm making a really slick flash-only layout with really cool techno music that loads automatically and a really obtuse menu structure where each menu item is a fish that jumps in and out of a pair of pants, and you have to click on the fish before it jumps back into the pants. I hope I win.
posted by puke & cry at 10:23 AM on December 22, 2004

I know who has my vote, vomit sobber.
posted by Kleptophoria! at 10:44 AM on December 22, 2004

could the colour of the fish be customizable?
posted by andrew cooke at 11:43 AM on December 22, 2004

I'm voting for pike & cry ONLY if the main page is preceded by an animated intro page.
posted by Robot Johnny at 11:46 AM on December 22, 2004

puke & cry -- can you add "long pause with spinning beachball for Safari users" to your feature list?
posted by birdherder at 11:49 AM on December 22, 2004

I was thinking blue links on white background, and deleted threads remain visible.

It came to me in a dream.
posted by cortex at 1:23 PM on December 22, 2004

pssh. I finished my design well over a month ago, losers.

good luck competing with that.
posted by fishfucker at 2:25 PM on December 22, 2004

I like puke & cry's idea, but only if it has teeny-weeny-tiny-itty-bitty text, that of course you can't increase because it's Flash. It should also resize the browser window.
posted by taz at 4:53 PM on December 22, 2004

I just hope whoever wins has a better name for the link to the most recently archived posts. "current archives" is just too oxymoronic for my taste. Just sayin'.
posted by Doohickie at 5:01 PM on December 22, 2004

And this:



should be the background on the Feature Requests page.
posted by Doohickie at 5:04 PM on December 22, 2004

Does the logo have to be the same one in use now?
posted by thebabelfish at 7:08 PM on December 22, 2004

fishfucker, I love it, really I do, but you left off the current archives link. How could you?
posted by billsaysthis at 8:16 PM on December 22, 2004

Can we have a guess-the-trajectory-of-the-MeTa-thread-after-the-redesign contest? Can the winners get lifetime memberships too? My prediction would be: a) 20-25 first posts along the lines of, "Wow, this looks awesome, congrats to the winners, and I really like the other designs too." b) 60-75 posts where the inevitable backlash kicks in. c) Circa post 57, someone posts the first new-design parody jpg. d) Discussion continues on parallel tracks, with copious image links and snarky commentary running along one track, while the enthusiastic first-posters duke it out with the backlash squad along the other. e) Post 168: Newbie flameout. MetaTalk thread.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 9:22 PM on December 22, 2004

Is a popup JS menu too trendy?
posted by abcde at 10:24 PM on December 22, 2004

Do CSS dropdowns/popups, not javascript (search for "suckerfish dropdowns"; I can't be bothered to link). But I don't know if mefi has enough subsections to justify popups.
posted by Tlogmer at 4:40 AM on December 23, 2004

from #1's original announcement: -- need to squeeze in an ad bar for non-logged in folks

does this have to be vertical like the current one, or is a horizontal more-bannerlike version an option?
posted by danOstuporStar at 7:25 AM on December 23, 2004

Is there a sitemap of MeFi anywhere?
posted by Alt F4 at 10:42 AM on December 23, 2004

For those of you who care, I just made one. Please add to it if you know of anything I missed.
posted by Alt F4 at 1:53 PM on December 23, 2004

i just want to say that andrew and Alt F4 did a great job. peace, you bastards.
posted by poopy at 9:52 PM on December 24, 2004

Thanks, poopy.
posted by Alt F4 at 10:51 AM on December 31, 2004