website

[Nik Dow]

OK folks, the first draft of our new website is up!

Please take a look and give your general comments here.

If people think it's a good idea, the content from the getpushy4safety
site could be copied over, all or in part.

http://mbug.cbdweb.net will get you there. I won't switch the
melbourebug.org domain over until we are ready, but how about we do
that before Wednesday's rally?

[Raili Simojoki]

Hi Nik, 

The template looks professional but I think it has too many columns. 

I like the layout at getpushy4bikesafety.wordpress.com - one body of content, widgets on the side, tabs at the top. 

I've BCC'd it to my housemate who's a graphic designer - will get some feedback from him.  

Cheers - Raili 

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[Justin Mansfield]

Hi Nik, brilliant stuff. I love the format which is clean and gives room for highlighted info on the left, blog-style news and social media feed.

My feedback:

* constrain image width in the left hand column so pics & captions don't bleed under the right edge of the column. Not sure if it's just my phone's display but the grattan st pic & caption are getting cropped on the right edge at the moment.

* change the para in the masthead to the right of the logo so that it is in upper & lower case, for legibility. Could be in bold also for emphasis.

* look at including other social media feeds too (squeaky wheel, bnv, bike fun)

But overall it's an awesome job :)

-----

Justin Mansfield
0439 88 00 93

[Raili Simojoki]

I reckon put problem of the week into the tabs, so there is only the main blog roll and the widgets on the side. 

I like the way it looks when you click on the headings, and that's how the whole home page should look I think.

My housemate says he'll give some feedback tomoz. 

[Nik Dow]

Thanks for the feedback. I've fixed that image width (won't bore you
with the details). Changed the text-transform and font-weight of the
masthead text. Not sure I like bold but I'm going to sleep on it (or
await further feedback) but the mixed case is better.

Messed around with styles to get the Problem of the Week entry to
match Latest News in heading size and alignment. Looks right in FF,
Chrome and IE7. Modified the blog to separate the entries a bit more
and added author, date and number of comments (using the plugin
options). Made the heading link in each blog entry bold.

Added links to The Squeaky Wheel and Bikefun.

On Feb 27, 6:56 pm, Justin Mansfield <senis...@me.com> wrote:
> Hi Nik, brilliant stuff. I love the format which is clean and gives room for highlighted info on the left, blog-style news and social media feed.
>
> My feedback:
>
> * constrain image width in the left hand column so pics & captions don't bleed under the right edge of the column. Not sure if it's just my phone's display but the grattan st pic & caption are getting cropped on the right edge at the moment.
>
> * change the para in the masthead to the right of the logo so that it is in upper & lower case, for legibility. Could be in bold also for emphasis.
>
> * look at including other social media feeds too (squeaky wheel, bnv, bike fun)
>
> But overall it's an awesome job :)
>
> -----
>
> Justin Mansfield
> 0439 88 00 93
>
> On 27/02/2012, at 6:13 PM, Nik Dow <nik...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > OK folks, the first draft of our new website is up!
>
> > Please take a look and give your general comments here.
>
> > If people think it's a good idea, the content from the getpushy4safety
> > site could be copied over, all or in part.
>

> >http://mbug.cbdweb.netwill get you there.  I won't switch the

[Raili Simojoki]

Good work Nik. 

What did you think about my feedback re columns? 

Also, I think the bullets and indents on each story need to be moved - they should be left aligned and column should be wide enough be able to accommodate a reasonable length title without wrapping around? 

[Nik Dow]

Well, that's 2 graphic designers who like the 3 column format (plus
me) viz Justin & my consultant designer on the project, Frederick Uran
from Paris (so there). That was a lot of work I'll have you know! If
the "problem of the week" goes into a tab, nobody will ever see it.
Except then it can show up in the home page along with all the other
posts.

Plus its easier to read things in a narrower column, better for
comprehension. That's why the page gets slightly narrower when you
click through to a post, whereas the home page has to be slightly
wider in comparison.

> > >http://mbug.cbdweb.netwill get you there.  I won't switch the

> > > melbourebug.org domain over until we are ready, but how about we do
> > > that before Wednesday's rally?
>
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > > Groups "Melbourne BUG" group.
> > > To post to this group, send email to melbou...@googlegroups.com
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > > melbourne-bu...@googlegroups.com
> > > For more options, visit this group at
> > >http://groups.google.com/group/melbourne-bug?hl=en
>

> > > Visit the Melbourne BUG website athttp://www.melbournebug.org/

[stib]

great work. Good clean layout, but just a couple of things pop out at me: that single tab on the top left is kinda pointless, unless you're planning on adding more tabs. I think the layout of the Problem Of the week page is better, the "latest news" column is so skinny you have to scroll down for ages to read it.

Also just as an æsthetic thing, the logo on the top right doesn't fit well into the design of the header, the text, then the mondrian device, then the lone tab sticking up like a babie's tooth make for a rather messy top right. Here's a simplified suggestion: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13833997/topright.png

-stib

Sent from /dev/tty0

[Raili Simojoki]

Sorry Nik – really appreciate the work you've put in. 

As I've said, it looks really professional. 

I find it hard to read with three columns, but if other people think it's OK, cool. 

[Nik Dow]

Thanks Stib for those excellent observations on the header. Totally
agree. For now I've altered the tabs at the top to a continuous menu,
with a bit more time I can probably figure out how to get rid of the
background there. I'll get our resident graphic designer to
reorganise the logo so the text is on the right - good idea (Justin,
as the author of the logo, do we have your blessing??)

BTW, yes there will probably be more navigation links at the top, such
as "media watch" so it won't look like a "babie's tooth" - so it will
make more sense once we put more links up there. I think a contact us
form will be next, and will have a link up there, for example.

So you and Raili agree that the "Latest News" column is too narrow. I
can see your point. I've got rid of a bit of left margin there and
the bullets to make better use of the space.

Now I'm really looking forward to some articles on things like our
list of capital works suggested for 2012/13, the CoM budget etc etc.
The team that brought us the getpush4safety site are both admins of
the new site so let the articles roll!

On Feb 27, 10:33 pm, stib <s...@pureandapplied.com.au> wrote:
> great work. Good clean layout, but just a couple of things pop out at me:
> that single tab on the top left is kinda pointless, unless you're planning
> on adding more tabs. I think the layout of the Problem Of the week page is
> better, the "latest news" column is so skinny you have to scroll down for
> ages to read it.
>
> Also just as an æsthetic thing, the logo on the top right doesn't fit well
> into the design of the header, the text, then the mondrian device, then the
> lone tab sticking up like a babie's tooth make for a rather messy top
> right. Here's a simplified suggestion:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13833997/topright.png
>
> -stib
>

> On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 9:15 PM, Raili Simojoki <raili.simoj...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I reckon put problem of the week into the tabs, so there is only the main
> > blog roll and the widgets on the side.
>
> > I like the way it looks when you click on the headings, and that's how the
> > whole home page should look I think.
>
> > My housemate says he'll give some feedback tomoz.
>

> > On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 6:56 PM, Justin Mansfield <senis...@me.com> wrote:
>
> >> Hi Nik, brilliant stuff. I love the format which is clean and gives room
> >> for highlighted info on the left, blog-style news and social media feed.
>
> >> My feedback:
>
> >> * constrain image width in the left hand column so pics & captions don't
> >> bleed under the right edge of the column. Not sure if it's just my phone's
> >> display but the grattan st pic & caption are getting cropped on the right
> >> edge at the moment.
>
> >> * change the para in the masthead to the right of the logo so that it is
> >> in upper & lower case, for legibility. Could be in bold also for emphasis.
>
> >> * look at including other social media feeds too (squeaky wheel, bnv,
> >> bike fun)
>
> >> But overall it's an awesome job :)
>
> >> -----
>
> >> Justin Mansfield
> >> 0439 88 00 93
>
> >> On 27/02/2012, at 6:13 PM, Nik Dow <nik...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> > OK folks, the first draft of our new website is up!
>
> >> > Please take a look and give your general comments here.
>
> >> > If people think it's a good idea, the content from the getpushy4safety
> >> > site could be copied over, all or in part.
>

> >> >http://mbug.cbdweb.netwill get you there.  I won't switch the

> >> > melbourebug.org domain over until we are ready, but how about we do
> >> > that before Wednesday's rally?
>
> >> > --
> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >> > Groups "Melbourne BUG" group.
> >> > To post to this group, send email to melbou...@googlegroups.com
> >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> > melbourne-bu...@googlegroups.com
> >> > For more options, visit this group at
> >> >http://groups.google.com/group/melbourne-bug?hl=en
>

> >> > Visit the Melbourne BUG website athttp://www.melbournebug.org/

>
> >> --
> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> >> Groups "Melbourne BUG" group.
> >> To post to this group, send email to melbou...@googlegroups.com
> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> >> melbourne-bu...@googlegroups.com
> >> For more options, visit this group at
> >>http://groups.google.com/group/melbourne-bug?hl=en
>

> >> Visit the Melbourne BUG website athttp://www.melbournebug.org/

>
> >  --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "Melbourne BUG" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to melbou...@googlegroups.com
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > melbourne-bu...@googlegroups.com
> > For more options, visit this group at
> >http://groups.google.com/group/melbourne-bug?hl=en
>

> > Visit the Melbourne BUG website athttp://www.melbournebug.org/
>
> --
> Sent from /dev/tty0

[stib]

The logo should also be a link to the home page BTW.
-stib

Visit the Melbourne BUG website at http://www.melbournebug.org/

--
Sent from /dev/tty0

[Nik Dow]

Spot on, but it isn't at the moment, that's partly why I put the
"home" link into the menu. The reasons are fairly technical and won't
be overcome tonight! Suffice it to say that the logo is a background
image and therefore can't be clicked. It has to do with SEO.

[Justin Mansfield]

Hi Nik, I'd rather make the changes to the logo myself. Happy to move the text but not keen on extending the "Yarra" line as per Stib's mockup. I'll resupply something to you later today.

-----

Justin Mansfield
0439 88 00 93

[Raili Simojoki]

you could put the link up on twitter and see what the populace have to say?

[Justin Mansfield]

Raili, as the logo designer, I claim my moral rights over its use.

-----

Justin Mansfield
0439 88 00 93

[Raili Simojoki]

Sorry - I don't mean the logo! I mean the draft website - see what people think

[stib]

Fair enough, the line was just a random idea. However IMHO the text really doesn't want to be on top of the logo.

Also looking at the block of text on the top right: "Melbourne Bicycle User Group works to get..." etc. – it's a big slab of stuff, that probably belongs on an "about us" page, or in a section below the navigation bar, rather than in the header. A snappy motto would work better there. Something like "Better Safety – more bikes", or somesuch. Apart from anything else it's a bit hard to read being bold and right justified

-stib

Sent from /dev/tty0

[Stephen Bricknell]

Agree with the suggestion about the block of text. Not really a fan of using bold font for an entire paragraph either, but merely an aesthetic quibble.

Overall I think it looks ace. Great job!

Stephen

Sent from my smugPhone

[Elizabeth Hennessy]

Looks really great Nik.

 

Re the heading - maybe "Melbourne BIcycle User Group" could be bold and the rest not..

 

I'm personally not so keen on the logo - even though I like Mondrian's art, it doesn't really have any link to cycling (that I know of).

[Raili Simojoki]

Personally I love the logo.

[Justin Mansfield]

Hi Elizabeth, this was my design rationale for the logo, written when it was first designed some 8 or so years ago. You may not have read this before and it may help explain the Mondrian reference. Yiou might still think iut's rubbish anyway! Hey, that's cool, design is very subjective.

cheers

J :)

The Melbourne BUG logo is a stylised representation of Melbourne's CBD showing the main grid as black lines and highlighting geographic reference points of interest to many different types of cyclist.

The horizontal blue line shows the Yarra River and the Yarra Trail shared paths, while the blue panel at the top left represents Victoria Harbour in Docklands. The red and yellow coloured panels (reading clockwise from the top) are symbolic of:

• The Queen Vic Market (transportational cyclists)
• Federation Square (recreational cyclists)
• Degraves St (funky urbanbicyclists)
• AXA Plaza (bike couriers)

The logo is inspired by the work of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, who is looked upon as one of the founders of abstract art. Horizontal and vertical black lines outlining blocks of pure white, red, blue or yellow express his concept of ultimate harmony and equilibrium. These concepts, I believe, apply well to cycling.

It is fitting to use a Dutch painter as the inspiration for this logo since the Netherlands is synonymous with urban cycling. Rather than choosing to represent bikes, wheels, cogs, etc (as many cycling groups do in their logos), I have chosen to focus on our urban environment. We use our bikes to enhance our lives in the inner city, after all. And cyclists enhance the city unlike any other form of transportation.

[Nik Dow]

The text in the header I believe is important. I'm not wedded to the
exact words, and the wordsmiths might like to work on it and improve
it. But I think our basic aims should be up there in lights, not
tucked away on an about us page. For a first time visitor, we want
them to know straight away what we are about. There is plenty of
room up there and I hate "wasting" space, so long as things stay good-
looking and easy to peruse.

Now we get to the limitations of what I can quickly do with
Wordpress. It's either all bold or none, because the template doesn't
let me put in HTML tags. (I get the bold via editing a supplementary
style sheet, which is great but only goes so far). I haven't
progressed into Wordpress enough yet to edit the template. Don't
really want to either! I've un-bolded it so we can all look at that
and see how we feel.

I'd like to launch the site right now - so it's ready by the time of
the Rally. It takes the Internet (actually the DNS for nerds) up to a
day to wake up to such a change, hence the urgency. Two of the
important things on the site are the "follow us" and "contact us"
pages, so we can harvest as many email addresses as possible, out of
the hard work that went into organising the rally.

I haven't done anything about harvesting email addresses from the old
site, it might be worth doing a final post there, after the BUG's
domain starts showing the new site, to tell people following getpushy
to please take a look at our new site and register there. The final
post can then sit forever on the home page of getpushy with its link
to the BUG website...

On Feb 28, 1:42 pm, Elizabeth Hennessy

<elizabeth.j.henne...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Looks really great Nik.
>
> Re the heading - maybe "Melbourne BIcycle User Group" could be bold and the
> rest not..
>
> I'm personally not so keen on the logo - even though I like Mondrian's
> art, it doesn't really have any link to cycling (that I know of).
>

> On 28 February 2012 12:15, Stephen Bricknell <spiraldi...@bigpond.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >  Agree with the suggestion about the block of text. Not really a fan of
> > using bold font for an entire paragraph either, but merely an aesthetic
> > quibble.
>
> > Overall I think it looks ace. Great job!
>
> > Stephen
>
> > Sent from my smugPhone
>

> > On 28/02/2012, at 11:32 AM, stib <s...@pureandapplied.com.au> wrote:
>
> >  Fair enough, the line was just a random idea. However IMHO the text
> > really doesn't want to be on top of the logo.
>
> > Also looking at the block of text on the top right: "Melbourne Bicycle
> > User Group works to get..." etc. – it's a big slab of stuff, that probably
> > belongs on an "about us" page, or in a section below the navigation bar,
> > rather than in the header. A snappy motto would work better there.
> > Something like "Better Safety – more bikes", or somesuch. Apart from
> > anything else it's a bit hard to read being bold and right justified
>
> > -stib
>

> > On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 7:25 AM, Raili Simojoki <raili.simoj...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >> Sorry - I don't mean the logo! I mean the draft website - see what people
> >> think
>

> >> On 28/02/2012, at 7:33 AM, Justin Mansfield <senis...@me.com> wrote:
>
> >> > Raili, as the logo designer, I claim my moral rights over its use.
>
> >> > -----
>
> >> > Justin Mansfield
> >> > 0439 88 00 93
>

> >> > On 28/02/2012, at 7:20 AM, Raili Simojoki <raili.simoj...@gmail.com>

> >> wrote:
>
> >> >> you could put the link up on twitter and see what the populace have to
> >> say?
>

> >> >>>>>>>>http://mbug.cbdweb.netwillget you there.  I won't switch the

> ...
>
> read more »

[Raili Simojoki]

I agree that short is better. But how about we have that argument later.

I like the unbolded better.

I  alsoreworded it a bit. Feel free to accept or reject:

Melbourne Bicycle User Group campaigns for better cycling conditions in the City of Melbourne. As everyday cyclists, we know getting around on a bike is affordable, convenient and fun. We want to share this with many more people. To look after existing cyclists and get more people riding, we are calling for safer bike lanes and roads, laws and enforcement that protect cyclists, and more driver awareness.

[Justin Mansfield]

An important thing to remember is that a website and its content can easily evolve. If there is a requirement to get website v1.0 up & running for the rally, then it should go live ASAP. 

People's specific feedback could be included in v1.1, which could go live later (the following day? next week? next month?) once thorough consultation has occurred.

J :)

[Stephen Bricknell]

The link to cycling is that it looks like a network. It's the masterpiece we're all seeking to complete. The reality is more like a Rothko.

Sent from my smugPhone

[stib]

Perhaps you could try breaking up the paragraph a bit then, with one point on each line. I've also had a tweak, making the language a bit less passive:

Melbourne Bicycle User Group campaigns for better cycling conditions in the City of Melbourne.

We know that bikes are affordable, convenient and fun – and we want to spread the message.
To protect cyclists and encourage more riding we need safer bike lanes, safer roads, laws designed to protect cyclists, and bike aware drivers.

-stib

Sent from /dev/tty0

[Nik Dow]

Very funny, Mr Adagio.

The new arrangement of the logo is up, the site is live at
http://www.melbournebug.org but that address may not work for you
until tomorrow, try it and see.
Justin, the original logo designer, made the website banner based on
our logo, and he also gave us an icon that you see in the address bar,
or your bookmarks.

On Feb 28, 2:05 pm, Stephen Bricknell <spiraldi...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> The link to cycling is that it looks like a network. It's the masterpiece we're all seeking to complete. The reality is more like a Rothko.
>
> Sent from my smugPhone
>

> On 28/02/2012, at 1:42 PM, Elizabeth Hennessy <elizabeth.j.henne...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Looks really great Nik.
>
> > Re the heading - maybe "Melbourne BIcycle User Group" could be bold and the rest not..
>
> > I'm personally not so keen on the logo - even though I like Mondrian's art, it doesn't really have any link to cycling (that I know of).
>

> > On 28 February 2012 12:15, Stephen Bricknell <spiraldi...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> > Agree with the suggestion about the block of text. Not really a fan of using bold font for an entire paragraph either, but merely an aesthetic quibble.
>
> > Overall I think it looks ace. Great job!
>
> > Stephen
>
> > Sent from my smugPhone
>

> > On 28/02/2012, at 11:32 AM, stib <s...@pureandapplied.com.au> wrote:
>
> >> Fair enough, the line was just a random idea. However IMHO the text really doesn't want to be on top of the logo.
>
> >> Also looking at the block of text on the top right: "Melbourne Bicycle User Group works to get..." etc. – it's a big slab of stuff, that probably belongs on an "about us" page, or in a section below the navigation bar, rather than in the header. A snappy motto would work better there. Something like "Better Safety – more bikes", or somesuch. Apart from anything else it's a bit hard to read being bold and right justified
>
> >> -stib
>

> >> On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 7:25 AM, Raili Simojoki <raili.simoj...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Sorry - I don't mean the logo! I mean the draft website - see what people think
>

> >> On 28/02/2012, at 7:33 AM, Justin Mansfield <senis...@me.com> wrote:
>
> >> > Raili, as the logo designer, I claim my moral rights over its use.
>
> >> > -----
>
> >> > Justin Mansfield
> >> > 0439 88 00 93
>

> >> > On 28/02/2012, at 7:20 AM, Raili Simojoki <raili.simoj...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> >> you could put the link up on twitter and see what the populace have to say?
>

> >> >>>>>>>>http://mbug.cbdweb.netwillget you there.  I won't switch the

> ...
>
> read more »

[stib]

That looks much better!

Just to be finicky, I'd split the top right text into lines: line breaks after "campaigns for" "Melbourne" and "riding". Makes it a bit less ragged, and splits it into logical chunks.

Melbourne Bicycle User Group campaigns for
better cycling conditions in the City of Melbourne.

To protect existing cyclists and get more people riding,
we need proper bike lanes, safer roads, and respect.

-stib

Visit the Melbourne BUG website at http://www.melbournebug.org/

--
Sent from /dev/tty0

[Nik Dow]

I've added a "Got a Gripe" section under the "problem of the week"
inviting suggestions for future posts in this category.
If nobody has anything more interesting, I'd like to do one soon on
Peel Street, and a video would be ace, taken about 5pm, showing
cyclists heading north, out of the City, both approaching and
departing the Queensberry St intersection. I watched this from the
north-west corner one night a few weeks ago with bikes squeezing in
and out of the left lane, and post-intersection where the bike lane
disappears, making their way back into the traffic lane on the way to
the roundabout of death. A video would demonstrate this a lot better
than a few photos. Anyone got a videocam? Maybe my phone might even
be good enough. Will Youtube take it off the phone I wonder?

Helen's paper on road repair dangers would make another good one, if I
can get my hands on the photos in that (they don't show up in my
version for some reason).

So, guest authors all, have a think about topics for the Problem of
the Week. I don't think there will be any shortage of ideas!

On Feb 28, 2:05 pm, Stephen Bricknell <spiraldi...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> The link to cycling is that it looks like a network. It's the masterpiece we're all seeking to complete. The reality is more like a Rothko.
>
> Sent from my smugPhone
>

> On 28/02/2012, at 1:42 PM, Elizabeth Hennessy <elizabeth.j.henne...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Nik Dow]

To Stib: can't break up the text in the top right, limitation of the
template that we are using.

I've made the whole header clickable, takes you back to the home page
as per usual convention. Can't do it just to the logo, so it works
whereever you click in the header. Here's the custom Javascript, for
nerds to ponder:
jQuery(function($){
$('#header').click(goHome);
});
function goHome() {
window.location.href='/';
}

I've instructed Google to re-crawl the site so we show up there
properly (this should remove the links to my Citycyclist site from
Google under the BUG domain name too).

Regards,