Hey there! There's been a lot of talk since the dawn of the first QB site about so many sites being alike. I decided to write an article about making a new QB/FB site,

Pritchard

PS: Here's the link to the original thread

http://forum.qbasicnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=11694



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Making a New QB/FB Site (Version ., By Pritchard:)


Hey there! Pritchard here! As you may or may not know, I have absolutely no experience in making a QB/FB site or a forum, so bear with me here.

   * Plan Out Your Intended Audience
   * Think of What Attracts That Audience
   * Plan Out Your Site Features and Scheme





Plan Out Your Intended Audience

This has to be the most important part of making a new site. Whether it's a C site, an animal site, or the oh so famous around here (for whatever reason ^_~) QB/FB site!

Why is this important? Well think about this, if the official Microsoft site was full of Java Games and had Theme Music in the Background from a Java Game, who do you think would come? Java Programmers? Interested Microsoft Developers with years of experience? Nope! Teenagers! - and people wanting a few quick jokes and a place to talk l33t.

You have to, have to, have to figure out what your intended audience for the site is. Now, I'm not saying that your intended audience is just an age group, I'm saying not everyone likes the Professional Setup a site like "FB.net/forums" has who's over 25. No Avatars, Simple Color Scheme, and very serious posts expected at times. Not. For. Everyone.

A site like QBasicnews.com though - Avatars, cool black background, more forums to hang out with and discuss things other than the main language, and a smiley that's throwing up feces. . .Now that attracts the audience that's generally not coding QB/FB to put food on the table, or maybe they are. Right now though, they just want to have fun ^_^;; - Or maybe one of the largest QB forums around hahah.

There's other sites. Other Features. More things you can have that attract your audience. Think right now before we go on. . . Do you want to make a site that attracts mainly and almost always, the people who want to work in the most professional manner, or do you want a place where fun comes first? I know there's a lot of in betweeners and I can't put all programmers in just two groups, but that's something to think about.




Think of What Attracts That Audience

Now we are kicking it! Whoot! Alright, what attracts the audience you would like on your site? You decided on a "feeling" you want the site to have? Wild and Crazy!? Strict and Intelligent? Mellow, simple yet flexible? I hope you've made up your mind, because now you have to think of what attracts the audience you want.


What Makes a Site "Fun-Based":
Example: http://forum.qbasicnews.com/index.php

   * Games - Or links to game sites, cool music, etc
   * Users of the Site being Featured Someplace - It makes users very interested in the site
   * Changable Background Schemes
   * Avatars
   * Interesting Smileys - Think Qbasicnews.com!
   * Forums that allow as much Chatterbox-type talk as needed



Anything else for "Fun-Based" sites? Yup! Lots! I just can't think of all of it right now! But you're the site designer, or interested person, not me. You have to think for yourself sometimes. Just make sure that with a "Fun" Site, the environment's free and optimistic. Personally I think later on, we need an FB-site that's Fun-Based that links to the Official Site (Just to be Polite).

Remember, Fun sites are about the information, but more about the community and the people there than the hard-work we do to keep up with the community. It's one big party!


What Makes a Site "Professional Work Based":
Example: http://www.freebasic.net/forum/index.php

   * In-Depth information on the product - FB.net/wiki anyone?
   * Simple Scheme, can be changed but coloring is always neat and clean
   * Limited user freedom with graphics and other arts - Some users abuse this and/or post art which is offensive, this also takes away some focus on the importance of the information to be found on the site
   * Focus on Learning about the Product - Does not normally have large links off to sites such as Newgrounds.com, everything highly visible is based on the product
   * Rules - Not seen on many sites, but rules and modding is important to keep even the slightest play-talk on the site in the off-topic/chatterbox forum



We all know that there's a lot more that could go in a Professional site. It all depends on how far the project the forum/site is about is. But you have to make sure not to attract a bunch of teenagers looking for "l33t h4x1ng t0015" on your professional based site. People don't like having people like that respond to their well-written posts with detailed information on the problem they're having.



Plan Out Your Site Features and Scheme

Alright! Now you should have some idea, with a little thought, on what kind of site you want to make and what you want to put in it. Now how do you put it all together though? Simple.

Each and every place on the computer screen that people use to view your site is of great importance. You must use a complex algorithm to figure out the placing of each and every link, image. . .

Wait no!!! What the heck are you thinking!? Oh wait, I typed that...

Yes the placing of everything is important, but it's not that hard! Your site should have a basic home-page stating what the site is about with links to the forum, downloads, links to other sites, and depending on your site theme, maybe a jokes section or technical information page. Or both? XD!

The Home Page can be very serious, or maybe an update from the Webmaster to all his friends, "Yo guys what's up? Think I might add avatars today, so I'm preparing myself for a visit to the hospital. Who know what nonesense people will put for images as their avi".

See? Isn't that different from "Version .8 is out today. Basic new Features include File Paging, G-code asm support, and big-endian support. Read the changelog for full changes."?

Very different sites you can tell, just from the introduction to the site. You should build each and every page this way. Get serious when you need to for humor sites, but make sure that you're sticking with the general theme.

Contact information could be on a technical support page for a professional site, or maybe on the forum or larger on the games section for a fun site. I don't know. Webmasters tend to build their sites different ways once they get going, so prepare to fool around a little.

For Scheme Color and Layout, here's some basic coloring info:

Fun Colors - Orange, Black, Yellow, Blue, more than one color
Professional Colors - Gray, White, Something Simple - Can still be very beautiful though
Wicked Colors - Green, Purple, Red, Black

And those are just a few examples. Imaes of skulls, butterflies, or none at all - Maybe just plain backgrounds, start plotting it all around and in no-time you'll have the basic feel for your site.



Conclusion

Well I kinda dozed off near the end of writing this article, but haha...It was fun! I was able to have so much fun because I'm currently on a fun site.

Your audience should be unique. That's important. If you want to make a site just to have a forum for you and your little buddies, don't spend 5 months planning it out, and of course, have a good time with it.

If you want a big site where you have a lot of features, you want your word to be spread everywhere, take your time, and make sure your site isn't a clone of the rest out there. If it is, change it.

Hope you don't have too much trouble,
Pritchard