Firefox Welcome Page

Post by **clem** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:03 am

Hi,

I'd like to change the welcome page of Firefox to something a little more interactive.

A simple flash page with the new mint logo and the following links:

- Software Portal (link to http://www.linuxmint.com/software )
- Forum
- Wiki
- Official Website
- Release Notes
- Store
- Support Center

Since our browser comes with Flash preinstalled there's no reason why we shouldn't take advantage of the extra interactivity it gives us.

If somebody wants to work on that, please post here.

Thanks,
Clem .

Post by **clem** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:05 am

New logo:

http://linuxmint.com/pictures/mint-logo.svg

Please don't use the keyphrase (it's not final yet).

Clem

kanishka · Post by **kanishka** » Wed May 16, 2007 6:37 pm

BlahBlah_X wrote:BTW, for some reason the logo displays really wierd on that page you just posted the link to and I can't download it with Firefox.

Yes, there are pieces of the logo scattered in the page...

Post by **clem** » Wed May 16, 2007 6:50 pm

Save the svg file locally and open it with the Gimp.

Clem

NiksaVel · Post by **NiksaVel** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:02 am

yeah right-click and save as

also inkscape is a great app for editing svgs... for gimp you gotta install a svg plugin (available in repos)

carlos · Post by **carlos** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:11 am

Also to add to that, when you view the svg in a browser its not showing the dark background that is set in the svg. You can see it properly in inkscape.

Have fun!

NiksaVel · Post by **NiksaVel** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:29 pm

yeah that really would be great...

say carlos are you still working on the site? can I help with that if you are?

can we make this flash intro in-theme with the site?

clem, can we coordinate the release of cassandra and the new website? (just for fun)

Post by **clem** » Thu May 17, 2007 2:37 pm

A second beta for cassandra is going to come out. I don't think mintart will be ready in time for the stable Cassandra, but we can have everything ready for Linux Mint 3.1.

Clem

NiksaVel · Post by **NiksaVel** » Thu May 17, 2007 2:49 pm

Oh I think we'll be able to put at least part of the whole theme together... just give us a heads up when you plan to make the release

facade47 · Post by **facade47** » Thu May 17, 2007 9:57 pm

BlahBlah_X! That's really pretty!

Well, here's my no-where-near-finished, feeble attempt =P
http://www.swfup.com/file/10434

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Thu May 17, 2007 11:27 pm

sweet facade47.
It looks really professional, clean, crisp, sweet mate.

AlsaPhil · Post by **AlsaPhil** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:28 am

really interesting

but for me, this logo has a problem in the shadow area. It would be urgent to make it better.
i imagine I am not the only one who see here something unperfect... I fear my eyes catch only that, everytime I open my PC

thank you and sorry, especially because I think all of you make a great job here

Post by **clem** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:54 am

Well done guys, you're on the right track!

BlahBlah_X's version looks more finished but I much prefer Facade47's animation.

Here's my advice:

- Use the vector form of the logo instead of a bitmap so it won't pixelize when scrolled or zoommed out. (that's not 100% English, but you got it right ?

).

- Facade47's animation is really cool. Let's stick to that: logo with "Welcome to Cassandra" under it... then links appear.

- Have a little something moving when you mouse over one of the links.

Thanks to you both for your work on this, we should have something pretty cool soon I guess.

Clem.

Post by **clem** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:55 am

Alsaphil, can you draw on the logo (red circle or something) to show us exactly where there's a problem, and describe the problem also.

We spoke about it on the phone, still I can't see the problem with the "shadow" you mention...

Clem

NiksaVel · Post by **NiksaVel** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:33 am

and maybe carlos could give some final thoughts on the matter as it goes on...

NiksaVel · Post by **NiksaVel** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:36 am

facade:

I prefer this solution but it will need some touch ups of course

1st the logo and the letters are pixelised, just as clem said...
2nd PLEASE do not use Times New Roman or equivalent fonts... give us at least Sans/Arial

It wouldn't hurt to have some kind of a gentle and simple background... maybe a 10% opacity large logo covering some quarter of the image... or something ... just so it's not blank white bg

carlos · Post by **carlos** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:11 pm

Good job guys! I don't think we are quite there yet, but heading in the right direction. Here are my thoughts:

facade's version http://www.swfup.com/file/10434: I like the style, it's super clean and simple. Also very animated.

Issues: Its too slow. Initially most people will think its cool seeing the logo move around and the bullet points drop in. But as you keep using it, it will become annoying.
Right now it take approximately 15 seconds to get to the guide. It should be shortened to 5 sec. The animation isn't interesting enough to hold a user for that length of time.

Recommendations: Instead of motion how about quick fade-ins. Move your hands in the air in a side to side motion, to get a sense of timing. When you move your hand slowly does it feel right? You will see when you move quickly it feels better. You that sense to help how quickly something should move or fade in.
I know your using a slight gray on the background to make the logo stand out, how about doing a darker gradient from the to to white? You be the judge when your trying it out.

blahblahx version http://www.swfup.com/file/10428: its quick and straight to the point, Also he did some nice details on the top with a diagonal lines and sort of a shininess to the whole player. Its uses a colored background.

Issues: The mint leaves on the bottom makes the whole page feel old and almost looks like a salad

. Needs alittle more life to the animation.

Recommendations: The text on the top should fade and drop in instead of dropping in and going over the logo text.
Some people might be turned off by the colored background, so maybe lightening it up might help.
Lastly, spacing out the button links maybe 2 columns instead of one, will make it easier to read. Feel free to fancy them up just a tad.

Issues for both: Also use the the proper logo typeface that is colored that clem provided in the svg. Download and use the new Liberation fonts that Red Hat has so generously donated to the community. sans or serif is just too simple. Use your creativity and sense of style to see what what you like.

All in all, a really good start for both, lets see what you both can come back with.

facade47 · Post by **facade47** » Sat May 19, 2007 4:52 am

Thanks for all the comments!!

clem wrote:- Use the vector form of the logo instead of a bitmap so it won't pixelize when scrolled or zoommed out. (that's not 100% English, but you got it right ? ).

lol I understood it =P ... Unfortuantely, Macromedia was stupid and didn't include an svg import into MX 2004 (by the way, I hate their stupid-bug-filled-no-good-piece-of-junk software ... thank God adobe took it

</rant>:twisted:)
I had to open the svg in Illustrator, fix what it didn't recognize, import the ai file into MX, and then fix what that didn't recognize. I hope the derived logo isn't too far off from the original..

clem wrote:- Have a little something moving when you mouse over one of the links.

Help! I can't think of anything! glowing letters? A little ball that zooms around the text? =P

NiKsaVel wrote:2nd PLEASE do not use Times New Roman or equivalent fonts... give us at least Sans/Arial

Haha! I suppose y'all are worth more than Times New Roman =P .. I used the Liberation font as carlos suggested

carlos wrote:Its too slow. Initially most people will think its cool seeing the logo move around and the bullet points drop in. But as you keep using it, it will become annoying.

I definitely realized this... I added a skip button, because I wasn't sure how to cut it down to five seconds without fading straight from "Welcome" to "Here are the Links!" =P I did cut a lot of frames, though

carlos wrote:I know your using a slight gray on the background to make the logo stand out, how about doing a darker gradient from the to to white? You be the judge when your trying it out.

I wasn't too sure about using gradients, since it might look choppy on a plain background (the web page)... I took niksavel's recommendation and put a faded logo in the background.. It seems to help a lot

The still-unfinished file:
http://swfup.com/file/10504

Post by **clem** » Sat May 19, 2007 2:16 pm

We're getting close

facade47 · Post by **facade47** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:19 am

This time the buttons have animation, and send you to the webpages.. except "Release Notes" takes you to the BETA014 notes..

http://swfup.com/file/10783