I'm always hesitant to share this kind of stuff because it's always very rough and subject to change, but below is a mock-up of what I'm working toward with the YWS renovation coming this Fall.
Keep in mind that this is a mock-up that I did in Adobe Illustrator. It is not an actual screenshot, and this is not what the final version will look like. Nonetheless, it is an accurate representation of what I am working toward.
Some notes:
- The page is split up into separate panes. The top pane (the black bar) is the user bar. Click on your username to access a menu that links to your profile, notifications, messages, and logging out. The dashboard is what My YWS is currently. Clicking on add new will show a menu from which you can add a new blog post, literary work, or status message. Additional icons will be shown in the black bar when you have a new message or notification.
- Below the black bar you have the start of the main page. That blue rectangle next to the logo is where an ad will be displayed.
- Then you have the start of the main pane. The top of the main pane displays the links to the various sections of the site. The section you are in currently is highlighted. How many other panes there are depends on what section you are in.
- This is a mock-up of what a short story will look like. Notice how the story itself is completely contained within one pane. The only extra stuff is the category information above the title, a star to like to the work in the upper right hand corner, and the reply area. Since all of that stuff is related to the story, there really is nothing extra in the story pane. Poems and other works will be displayed similarly.
- To the right of the story pane is the author information. The top pane is an "About the Author" area. You have the avatar, username, posts, and age displayed. Additionally, a mini-bio will be displayed (not shown here).
- Below the "About the Author" is a section showing the most recent works by the author. However, if this were a chapter in a novel, then the links to the other chapters would be shown here. There would also be a link to the novel overview page.
- Below the story pane is where comments are displayed. Only the comment, the avatar of the poster, the poster's name, a timestamp, and a way to like the post are displayed. Not shown here is that the review stars will continue to appear beneath the avatar of the poster. However, no other information will be shown (except for an edit button if applicable). The idea is to keep things simple.
Overall
Overall, you should notice that your attention is immediately drawn to the story. Everything else can be easily ignored unless needed. There is almost no extraneous text beyond what is absolutely necessary.
The aim is simply to make YWS more accessible to new and old members a like. It's very easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and should be intuitive. Just by a quick glance, you immediately know which area is the most important due to the size of that area. You also know which area displays the sections of the site, and which area to go to in order to edit your account settings.
You can also see just how drastic of a change it is from the current YWS. A lot of information has been removed from the page. I've done this because unless it's necessary for understanding a comment or the story, then it's not necessary to be shown. This does mean no signatures.
By the way, WriterFeed will look almost 100% identical. The only difference will be the sections displayed.
Gender:
Points: 11417
Reviews: 425