NEW TEMPLATE (v6)

[inspireme]

New Design : http://indexu.co.uk/v6theme1/

Completely version 6 ready with all hooks entered (let me know if i missed one though!)

The great news is, this theme is free! You just need to keep the footer links. Members of indexu.co.uk can remove the footer links and use it on as many sites as they would like.

Membership of indexu.co.uk is just $100, and you get unlimited usage of this first template (others soon)

Link removal without being a site member is $50, and good for one site ONLY.

Psd, Instructions and the packaged theme are all here : http://indexu.co.uk/main/content/view/27/41/

Let me know what style the next theme should be.

[inspireme]

I forgot to mention that this theme is designed for speed, the load time is just over 1/3rd of what the load time for Kosmos.

[richrf]

Hi there,

It is very fast. Congratulations.

The colors just don't hit me in the right way. I am not sure why, but they don't seem "classy", if you know what I mean. It would be nice to see the theme with a different color set. What do you think?

Cya,
Rich

[inspireme]

Im going to do a few more with different looks, it really depends what your site is about, i wouldnt suggest anyone just used a theme without adjusting it to what they wanted - to change the colour of this one would only require about an hours work so i may release a different version. What colours would you like to see? I think green and yellow is a bit of a personal thing, i do a lot in those colors.

im working on the second theme now, its more of a business style in shades of blue - i wanted to do some broad themes with completely different looks.

Thanks for the comments!

[richrf]

Content visible to License Owner only.

The model for the directory that I am going to put up is OVGuide.com. It is a mixture of business and fun (representing entertainment). My son thinks it is a bit too busy and others have called it overload, but they are successful as a directory. I also think that Metalizesolid is a good mix though possibly a bit to bold for me. I prefer it quiet myself, sort of like what Google does.

Nice job with the performance optimization!

BTW, do you find Smarty generally a plus or a minus. I always hated it because it added an additional layer of learning and additional layer of complexity when it comes to debugging. What has been your experiences? If you built a system, would you use it?

Cya,
Rich

[richrf]

Also, this was another script that I was considering at one time. It is based upon Joomla. Their demo looks pretty good. I think that they are pretty successful. The problem I had with the script was that there were way too many layers of technology and I judged it almost impossible to debug.

Rich

[inspireme]

i love smarty from a users perspective, as a designer you tend to need to know both sides of things - but it makes it easier for peopel who dont want to make changes and dont know any php.

I wouldnt design either of the 2 links you gave me, i guess when you design its impossible not to put your own preferences on things. I love web2.0 stuff - really simple and clean, loads of white space, it lets peopel focus ont he content... to be honest i looked at ovguide.com and just closed it because i just dont know what to do with it - information overlaod... which is also the biggest problem with indexu - too much stuff that people dont care about. Next theme is going to minimize all the blocks and only display content on click - a bit like i did on www.theleisureguide.co.uk

[richrf]

Yes, Leisure Guide is a good color set for a travel site. For an entertainment, I like your Places2B colorset. A good Campsites also works very well for a fun site, but there is something about the Bold and the font that seems a bit off, though I think it is very similar to OVGuide, though OVGuide does it in a light shade of blue.

I am not sure why OVGuide is so successful. They made their site like a playground almost forcing people to look around for things. Sort of like coupon mailers. The idea is to engage the audience. They also have the video search capability at the top of their page that is popular. I am pretty sure it uses a Google Custom Search Engine (CSE), but interestingly they do have the Google logo anywhere. Maybe they worked out a private deal.

Maybe others will chime in with their latest color schemes. Of course, a nice Yahoo-like scheme would always work. They are pretty successful. :-) OVGuide copied it somewhat.

Rich

[richrf]

Here is another color scheme that I think looks pretty classy:

JoomlaChicago

[inspireme]

Content visible to License Owner only.

Thats nice, interesting having 2 right columns. the design im doing now is like this, similar colours anyway.

[richrf]

Content visible to License Owner only.

Looking forward to seeing it. A Yahoo scheme would also never hurt. I wonder why directory scripts don't use it for a baseline? It is pretty good.

Rich

[CEC]

www.yelp.com is great.

[richrf]

I agree. Yelp fashioned itself after a yellow pages directory and did a darn good job at it.

Rich

[inspireme]

okay i will finish the one im on now then do something like yelp/yahoo.

[user_not_found]

very good theme Keep up...good work