Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Welcome => Rules and News => Topic started by: mare on July 08, 2008, 08:58:26 AM
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I thought this might help people who are looking for a good size for banners and summaries.
You all know by now that there are rules for banner sizes but you also want to keep in mind that sometimes when summaries take up half a page they can be just as annoying as a huge banner.
I'm going to post some links to stories that in my opinion have the perfect sized banners and summaries.
This one is a great example:
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=9116&warning=4
The banner is very small but really well made. It draws your attention but for all the right reasons. Then you have the perect length for a summary. It's short, sweet and to the point.
This is another great example:
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=9068
The banner is long which I think makes it easier to load for people. Once again it's not too big or in your face. The summary is a few sentences at the most.
This is another good example:
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=9102
The banner is a little bigger than the other two but because it's long it doesn't feel big and the summary is short, sweet and to the point.
This has to be my favorite though:
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8866
No banner and two sentences to sum up what the story is about.
So, for any new writers to AC out there that are looking for a good gauge for banners and summaries, use those as your guidelines.
Thank you :)
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A good guideline might be this:
If you go to look at your summary on the Most Recent page or wherever, and it's impossible for you to see your whole story entry (from the title to where it says Add Author to Favorites) in the window without scrolling, OR it's impossible for you to see your whole story entry and at least part of the next story's, you're taking up too much room.
I'm not going to post a specific example at the risk of offending someone, but if you're not sure what I'm talking about, I've encountered a couple prime examples in The Tens.
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Another tip: If your summary has multiple PARAGRAPHS (not just sentences... paragraphs), it's probably too long LOL.
Also, I think it's cheating the rules to have multiple banners in a summary if the banners are stacked on top of each other, taking up more than 600 pixels just vertically. Like Mare said, the banners that are long horizontally aren't so bad because you can still scroll by them quickly, but the banners that take up a lot of vertical room and hog the whole page are annoying. Four small banners put together so they make a giant square is no different than one HUGE square banner, in terms of having to scroll past that monstrosity.
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There shouldn't be more than one banner per story. If there is I will remove them so let me know lol
Also no awards links on the front page. If I see those unless you are using it as a banner and it's an okay size, we'll remove them as well.
And I agree about what Julie said concerning summaries. I was going to post examples of what not to do but I dind't want to offend anyone so instead i'll post a link to one of my april fools summaries as an example of what not to do!
Do not do this!
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8923&warning=4 lol
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One more thing and then I promise i'll stop bitching about this lol for now anyway!
Please try not to leave huge spaces in your summaries.
For instance:
Summary: Nick and Dora the Explorer decide to go hiking
see what happens next!
^ there's no need for all that space. All it does is take up room! lol
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I just have to say, go me for being Mare's favorite on the summaries. :)
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LOL yay Kelly!
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Actually you were my favorite banner example Kelly! lol
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That's what I meant. lol
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:) lol
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Yay, I'm glad one of my stories is on the list of example banners! I always worry cause my banners are always around 596 pixels and I know I'm cutting it close! lol. :)
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Well at least knowing that your banner is on the larger side you do keep your summaries from being 2000 words lol
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Yay, I'm glad one of my stories is on the list of example banners! I always worry cause my banners are always around 596 pixels and I know I'm cutting it close! lol. :)
That's why I picked one of your smaller banners as an example. It's the smaller one people should use as a guideline. lol
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That's why I picked one of your smaller banners as an example. It's the smaller one people should use as a guideline. lol
lol, well they're all between 593 and 596. It's just that that one's more stretched out horizontally. I could do all of them like that in the future if you'd prefer...
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I just think they take up less space on the most recent page, but it doesn't matter lol
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You're going to think I'm a dork, but I was looking at my banners and since I have a different model in two of my story banners from my series, I decided to revamp those ones. So I did the first one, but I'm still working on the rest.
Any better from my usual ones? http://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8521
haha... And the answer is YES... I have a lot of time on my hands in the summer! :D
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Tri what do you use to make your banners?
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^ yes! I like that one much better. I like the longer banners. It makes the banner look more lika story banner and less like a poster. Does that make any sense? lol
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Tri what do you use to make your banners?
Adobe Photoshop :)
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^ yes! I like that one much better. I like the longer banners. It makes the banner look more lika story banner and less like a poster. Does that make any sense? lol
Good!
I'm almost done revamping all of them for my series. :) Haha, I'm THAT anal that if I change one, they all have to match.
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LOL i'm the same way but not with banners. Everything else in life though.
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LOL i'm the same way but not with banners. Everything else in life though.
lol. But if you didn't despise banners, you'd probably be that way... Right?
Hrm, now I'm thinking about changing the ones for my other stories, too. :-\
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^ Most definately lol
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Thanks Hun!
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Thanks Hun!
No problemo! :) I know a lot of people prefer Paint Shop Pro, but I'm used to using all of the Macromedia and Adobe programs for other design work, so I figure why not just use what I know.
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^ yes! I like that one much better. I like the longer banners. It makes the banner look more lika story banner and less like a poster. Does that make any sense? lol
I know what you mean; it makes more sense to me to have the longer-across banners. The page is so many pixels wide anyway; might as well fill up that white space going across with a banner. But the taller vertically your banner is, the more people have to scroll to get past it and see the next story.
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You're going to think I'm a dork, but I was looking at my banners and since I have a different model in two of my story banners from my series, I decided to revamp those ones. So I did the first one, but I'm still working on the rest.
Any better from my usual ones? http://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8521
haha... And the answer is YES... I have a lot of time on my hands in the summer! :D
The new banners look really nice, Tri!
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The new banners look really nice, Tri!
Thanks! :) I just finished the last one. Now I need to break for food. lol.
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I have a question about my summaries. I'm usually real good at keeping them short in my stories, but my Backstreet Romance Series consists of five different couples, each with their own situations that blend together in this story. Can anyone tell me if my summaries are too long? Here's my latest one:
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=9110&warning=5
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In a simple word: Yes.
You don't need to tell us the details about each person in the story, just tell us what it's about. What you have in the first paragraph before you start breaking it down is pretty much perfect.
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Yup,
I agree with Julilly.
I would just go with this:
The third book of The Backstreet Romance Series, and the saga continues. This time, the boys are about to embark on a journey of recording the Black & Blue album. In the stress of getting everything in order, the boys experience a little stress in their own personal lives.
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I'm going to third this. The first paragraph that Mare posted would be fine for a summary. The rest of it could go into a prologue, if you want to summarize where your couples stand at the start of the story.
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I agree with you three, too. I know I don't do a ton of reading on the site, but if I see a summary that long, I'm immediately turned off. It's like a movie preview that gives away WAY too much of the movie. I think keeping it short and to the point is going to draw more readers in.
And, like Julie said, I think a prologue can serve as a good place to summarize what's new with each of the individual couples. :)
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Okie dokie guys just letting you know that as of august 1st any banner on the recent stories list that's over 600 pixels wil be removed by moi. I think i've given everyone enough time to make changes but just giving you a final warning.
I really mean it. If you are over by even 1 pixel i'm deleting your banner so check! Sorry i'm being an uber banner nazi but i'm in Rambo Gizmo mode right now!
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One more thing just in case you guys didn't see it on the main AC site front page. Chaos is doing an upgrade tonight so any new submissions or reviews will not be working. Just giving you a heads up so we don't get a ton of "why is the site not working" emails lol
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Yay upgrades! Now if only Chaos would come back and talk with us. :(
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He would be he hates you all! :P
lmao i'm just kidding. Maybe someday soon. Right now he's without internet at home. That's why he's upgrading tonight. He'll be doing it from work.
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Awe, poor Chaos. I know how much that predicament sucks. lol
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okay siggy rules have been revised. I keep posting these for everyone to see:
Revised from before: If you want to have an image in your siggy it must not be more than 300 pixels in size. For instance 150x150 would work (Avatar sized) For text you can't go over 500 characters.
We have the right to delete your images if you do go over the 300 pixel mark.
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600 pixels??? *confused look n goes to check my fics* How do you know what pixels are? My siggy on here is 300 by 243....
~Lenni~
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^ the 300 by 243 are the pixels so if you add 300 to 243 that equals 543. You want your pixels to not be more than 300 which means your siggy picture should be something like 100 x 100 or 150 x 150.
Hope that helped.
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^ the 300 by 243 are the pixels so if you add 300 to 243 that equals 543. You want your pixels to not be more than 300 which means your siggy picture should be something like 100 x 100 or 150 x 150.
Hope that helped.
Oye vey. Lol.
I'll be messing around with concert pix again later, so it should be changed within a few days. 'Till then, Enjoy Brian - lol.
~Lenni~
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Do you know just how small 150 by 150 is??? My avatar is going to be bigger than my freaking siggy!!!!!!!
~Lenni~
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Which it should be lol
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Do you know just how small 150 by 150 is??? My avatar is going to be bigger than my freaking siggy!!!!!!!
~Lenni~
Except that avatars are traditionally 100x100 so it would be about 100 pixels smaller lol
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^lol
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Is my new one good? I'm horrible at sizing them small. Especially when I want everyone to SEE who is in the picture - lol.
~Lenni~
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Yup, you can clearly see who is in the picture.
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Good. That's one of my better pix from the Ottawa show. I still hafta tag them all & I haven't even started editing my Toronto pix...Oye vey. I get waaaay too click happy! Lol. :D
~Lenni~
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Good. That's one of my better pix from the Ottawa show. I still hafta tag them all & I haven't even started editing my Toronto pix...Oye vey. I get waaaay too click happy! Lol. :D
~Lenni~
This thread is for news updates about banners and summaries... if you want to talk about your concert photos keep it in the tour thread!