Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Welcome => Rules and News => FAQs => Topic started by: nicksgal on December 29, 2006, 09:20:07 PM
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I could not reply to the banners topic, so I had a question.
Supposing a banner were 550 by 220 or 500 by 280, is that still too large?
Thank you. I will be headed off again then.
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Haha, you beat me to it. I was just going to post a thread asking if 484 x 290 was too big. Great minds think alike, I guess! *lol*
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I would have to say yes to that.
I think if you guy 300 by 300 or less you should be good to go. Anything larger than that is a bit too big, at least in my opinion.
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mine are about the same as yours Laura so 481 x 321 or so is too big? yes no maybe?
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LOL we probably need a specific cut-off point, like a height of no more than 200 or 250 pixels or something. Otherwise everyone's going to want to ask, for the banners that are kind of in between.
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I could not reply to the banners topic, so I had a question.
Supposing a banner were 550 by 220 or 500 by 280, is that still too large?
Thank you. I will be headed off again then.
You couldn't reply? That's odd.
As I was typing when Mare replied, yes, 500 pixels either length or width is quite large. If you bring your resolution down to 600x800 you can really see just how big it is. You should be able to bring it down without too much change to its integrity. :)
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I would have to say yes to that.
I think if you guy 300 by 300 or less you should be good to go. Anything larger than that is a bit too big, at least in my opinion.
That sounds good. Mine are like 300 x 150, and I think they look pretty good, not too big. I don't like the HUGE banners that completely take over the whole page either.
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Yup 300 x 300 lol
Not too small but not too big.
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Okay I will try that with my banners, I'll have to redo them because right now any smaller and you wouldn't be able to read them. I just gotta get my desktop up and running to redo them
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Thank you very much for the answer. :)
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you're very welcome. :)
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Okay so some of my are some of the "large" ones though I dont' think they are... but you can't just make them smaller it ruins the image. *sigh* I hate this.
what if they are 450 pixels by 150 pixels? longer and shorter? I could work with that.
300 length isn't quite long enough to make anything pretty. :(
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You can always make a page for your banner separate from the summary, this way when people click on your story they will still see your banner and all your hard work.
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that doesn't work. the idea is to catch the readers eye, that's what they are for! You don't want to make the readers open a separate page to see you image. And don't tell me that people shouldn't judge a book by the cover because they do :p
why is 450 pixels by 150 pixels too large? it's the size of lots of my banners now (More Than That, Amnesia) those are too large??
Besides you contradicted yourself. you said that a banner 400ishX200ish is decent now you are saying absolutely not that big...
I'm not saying these things to start anything I just want to be able to follow the rules but still make a banner that is somewhat longer.... like the one in my signature... is that too big??
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Sorry to ask again... What if the banner is a little taller than 300, but a little shorter than 300. For instance 360 by 236? Most of my banners are boarderline like that. I'll resize them if 300 by 300 is the absolute dimensions, but I was wonderin if practically square was alright.
Here is one of the images I'm asking about:
http://www.absolutechaos.net/stories/396/images/angelsharkies.jpg (http://www.absolutechaos.net/stories/396/images/angelsharkies.jpg)
All the others, I am in the process of resizing.
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See, this is exactly why we need set maximum dimensions to go by... otherwise, it's just going to be the same "Well, is this size okay?" question over and over again. I personally don't have a problem if it needs to be under a certain size, just as long as it's clear exactly what size it has to be equal to or smaller.
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I think it's 300 by 300, I was just wondering if one made made up for the other if that was okay...
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They tried to set max dimensions, and people are arguing.
Personally, I think 300 pixels for the max height is perfect - any bigger than that, and it starts to take up the whole screen and causes more scrolling, especially for people with a smaller screen resolution. But if you keep the height below 300, I don't see why the max width couldn't be a little higher than 300... because then it still wouldn't cause people to have to scroll; it would just fill up more of the horizontal white space.
Nicksgal's siggy banner is 471 pixels wide, and it doesn't look big at all because it's so short. I think the problem is the people who go overboard on the width AND height and end up with these HUGE banners that consume the whole page... and the problem seems to be more with the height than the width, cause that's what's causing the scrolling issues.
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well considering nickgals banner IS one of my banners I definately could do that ... :-D longer and shorter.. I can do that.
by longer I just mean longer then like 300 ... like 450
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well considering nickgals banner IS one of my banners I definately could do that ... :-D longer and shorter.. I can do that.
I'm not a mod, so don't go with me on that LOL, but I think it would be reasonable if they would allow that.
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I'm not a mod, so don't go with me on that LOL, but I think it would be reasonable if they would allow that.
oh I know you aren't, that's why I was asking if I could do that ... because if they allow that then I'm fine... but 300 X 300 is square and doesn't look as good but 450 wide by 150 height looks okay and evens out to about the same ;)
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It is PuraPura's banner...
And I understand the scrolling issue. Since there's already like ten entries per page, it does get kinda long... I already fixed one of my huge ones.
But like that image I was asking about is only 360. I don't think that it's sooo much bigger... But maybe that's just me...
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I will resize mine, when I find the time (which is NOT today..). I hope the mods will give us some time to resize them and not delete/remove them immediately.. :(
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I'll resize mine when I get the chance, I'm also with the "longer and shorter" question. In a reasonable way of course. Cause square just doesn't look as pretty lol
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http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5042/jad2resizeip8.png what about something like this? Its not exactly 300 x 300 (I tried and it just would not work) but its 321 x 275. Just a suggestion, but maybe so people can have leeway with the "shape" (rectangle or square) we can have it so the dimmensions must add up to 600 at max (300 x 300, 250 x 350...etc)? Just an idea :)
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Okay sorry guys I really didn't think this would be such a huge problem for everyone, it's just a banner. Lot's of stories don't even have them.
I think the height 300 is more than fine. It shouldn't go above that no matter what.
I don't think there is a problem with the length being extended like you asked Purpura. I would say the banner in your signature would be fine, but i'll talk to Chaos and Jullily just so we are all in agreement. It's really the height that tends to slow things down and takes forever to get through the pages on AC.
and that's also a good idea Rose about adding up to 600 as a max. We're all just trying to figure out what the best thing possible for everybody would be. We'll keep you updated.
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I will resize mine, when I find the time (which is NOT today..). I hope the mods will give us some time to resize them and not delete/remove them immediately.. :(
Of course we'll give you time lol We're not just going to go on a deleting rampage or anything. The thing is we have been asking this for a really long time now. I posted a request about this at the end of October in the news section of AC and Chaos has mentioned it way before that as well. We just felt like if we posted it on this board more people would actually take it seriously.
We just wanted everyone to be aware that it's a problem.
:)
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I'm going to try to resize mine, at least the height and maybe make it longer. I think the maximum of 600 is a good idea too. That way we don't have banners that do take up the whole page. I have normal screen resolution and some banners are just too big. The look about half my screen. Even on the computer where I made mine (which has a low resolution), mine were still smaller than those. I think the biggest mine is, is 481 by 321 that because the image I was using as my background wouldn't go any smaller in height without drastically reducing the width as well.
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Just so you guys know we have modified the banners rule slightly so you may want to go back and read above or on the news section of the actual AC site.
Thanks a lot guys!
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Yeah, I think there's no way it should be longer than 300 pixels... and if you've got a banner that's 300 and some, you'll only have to resize it a little - it shouldn't mess it up too much. Maybe the max length could be more like 500... then the largest a banner could be is a nice 500 x 300 rectangle, and it wouldn't take up too much of the screen - wouldn't cause scrolling in either direction, even for people with a small screen resolution.
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Alright, I resized them!
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Thank you! ;D
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that doesn't work. the idea is to catch the readers eye, that's what they are for! You don't want to make the readers open a separate page to see you image. And don't tell me that people shouldn't judge a book by the cover because they do :p
why is 450 pixels by 150 pixels too large? it's the size of lots of my banners now (More Than That, Amnesia) those are too large??
Besides you contradicted yourself. you said that a banner 400ishX200ish is decent now you are saying absolutely not that big...
I'm not saying these things to start anything I just want to be able to follow the rules but still make a banner that is somewhat longer.... like the one in my signature... is that too big??
On most screens a 450 pixel height makes any rectangle you had going look like a square. You would need your length to be a LOT longer than 150 to make it look like a "banner", and that's just too large. They really can look decent smaller, if most of us can fit good graphics in 100x100 squares I believe it's possible to do it in a 600 pixel surface.
If your story is well written, and has a good summary people will read it regardless of your PSP or Photoshop skills. You'd probably lose readers (the ones on dial up or with small resolution) because they won't want to open your story page multiple times thus having to load and reload the pictures.
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I do get where you're coming from Purpura, and I'm still brainstorming on a solution.
Here's one idea I have and I'll see what ya'll think before I start trying to program it or get it set up.
The summaries that you set up when posting the fic initially will have the restricted banner size, etc--we really need to insist on that because it's getting to the point where more people are using banners and the loading size of a search page can easily get up to 500kb or even a megabyte pretty fast with those large filesize banners. They look great and if you're on high-speed, not a problem. Unfortunately first rule of webdesign is that you have to account for the lowest speed users; really the size of a page is ideally around 40kb total including the coding and the images. Now that, I agree, is unlikely to happen when you have more than one banner on a page (in fact many of the banners on the site are 100+kb on their own). So having it take several minutes for the search page to come up for dial-up users...just not good. So gotta insist on the smaller sizes on the summaries.
To counter this, what I'm thinking is that there will be a seperate directory where people can go to view the banner links to stories. Those with high-speed internet or who don't mind waiting the extra time can go that way. Those with slow connections or who just don't want to view the banners can go the current way.
I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tie it in to be automated such that you only enter the info once and have it add the banner and link--it might have to be a deal where people email in the banners and links and I manually add them once a week or something (I'll try my hand at automating first, but...no guarantee).
But I'm wondering what people think of that idea. Fair compromise?
Any other suggestions to make both sides happy?
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As I said before 600 is good you can make a great banner with 350 by 250 I'm actually trying to resize mine at the moment so hopefully I'll get them up and resized within the next couple of days. (Computer is being retarded lol)
Teri
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First off, let me say that it's nice to see you all compromise on the issue. Though, my only problem with resizing is that I feel bad altering the graphics others have made on my behalf, because my photoshop skills are.... lacking. A lot. The banners I have made either went straight into a chapter if resizing altered the image, or I altered them up good. ;)
Other than that, all I have to say about the one search engine has banners and one doesn't.... That seems like a lot of work for you, Ash.
*shrugs* But I'm lazy and happy either way, so carry on.
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Ash, I think you should do whatever seems feasible and convenient for you. Don't feel like you have to change the whole site just to accomodate larger banners; you and the mods have given several different options for what authors can choose to do with their banners.
I don't know what it would take to do this, but a lot of sites that have a lot of graphics have a text-only version for people with slow internet connections or who just don't care about all the graphics. Again, I just don't know if that would be a lot of work for you or if it's even possible; just thought I'd mention it.
I really don't think it's necessary though, as long as authors are willing to work with the rules and be considerate of visitors to the site.
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Ash, personally I think the site is fine as it is. You've done a great job getting it to look the way it does and it just seems like a whole lot of work for something that can easily be adjusted by all of us. In the end, do what you feel like you want to do or more importantly, have the time to do.
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I just want to make sure my signature banner is okay (if not i have others to choose from :D). its definitly under 300 height wise, but it is pretty big length wise (508...wowzers!) but i wanna make sure its cool 8)
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It would be too large *if* it were being posted in a story summary. But it's not, so don't worry :)
The good thing about the discussion boards is that there's a built in feature that will allow people on slow-connections to go in and turn off viewing signatures.
(For those who want to know how to do that: Go to your <a href="http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php?action=profile">profile</a>. Click the link on the left-hand side for Look and Layout Preferences. There's an option to check that makes it so that you don't see others' signatures (also another one to block avatars...))
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On most screens a 450 pixel height makes any rectangle you had going look like a square. You would need your length to be a LOT longer than 150 to make it look like a "banner", and that's just too large. They really can look decent smaller, if most of us can fit good graphics in 100x100 squares I believe it's possible to do it in a 600 pixel surface.
If your story is well written, and has a good summary people will read it regardless of your PSP or Photoshop skills. You'd probably lose readers (the ones on dial up or with small resolution) because they won't want to open your story page multiple times thus having to load and reload the pictures.
I had these the wrong way ... I meant 150 X 450 sorry
And I don't mean to say I'm mad that you set the limits I could always try 150 X300 ... and I'm sure I will, I just have some that are already 150 X450 and didn't want to have to trim 150 off ... that's really ...yeah I don't mean to be a pain.
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It would be too large *if* it were being posted in a story summary. But it's not, so don't worry :)
The good thing about the discussion boards is that there's a built in feature that will allow people on slow-connections to go in and turn off viewing signatures.
(For those who want to know how to do that: Go to your <a href="http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php?action=profile">profile</a>. Click the link on the left-hand side for Look and Layout Preferences. There's an option to check that makes it so that you don't see others' signatures (also another one to block avatars...))
awesome :) thanks 8)
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I had these the wrong way ... I meant 150 X 450 sorry
And I don't mean to say I'm mad that you set the limits I could always try 150 X300 ... and I'm sure I will, I just have some that are already 150 X450 and didn't want to have to trim 150 off ... that's really ...yeah I don't mean to be a pain.
No worries. (Actually I'm not sure if it's been modified yet, but essentially we're still adjusting the rules to try and compromise...t he 150 X 450 should be okay. The rule of thumb is going to be that the sum of the 2 sides should equal 600 or less, so your banners should be okay.)
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Thank you!! I will change my HUGE ones (cause I realize I'm part of the problem) but I really have smaller ones and yeah... thanks! I'll make sure they aren't like huge .jpgs too... or yeah I know what I mean but I can't remember the wording
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Yeah, the .png vs. .jpg thing really makes a difference! I saved mine as .png because sometimes the colors look sharper and clearer, but they were like 80 kb! So I saved them as jpgs instead, and now they're under 20 LOL. Much more practical.
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Yeah, the .png vs. .jpg thing really makes a difference! I saved mine as .png because sometimes the colors look sharper and clearer, but they were like 80 kb! So I saved them as jpgs instead, and now they're under 20 LOL. Much more practical.
Mine have ALWAYS been .jpgs. I just want to make sure they aren't super huge .jpgs. shoot I could always change them .gifs too and they would even be smaller.
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Mine have ALWAYS been .jpgs. I just want to make sure they aren't super huge .jpgs. shoot I could always change them .gifs too and they would even be smaller.
You should be okay on the filesize then, once you resize them.
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I always create one as a .png for myself and then if I post the image file anywhere, I use .jpg. It really does make a difference. *nod*
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I always create one as a .png for myself and then if I post the image file anywhere, I use .jpg. It really does make a difference. *nod*
That's a good idea. :)
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I've never used .png... I can't see them most times so I don't use them...
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I've never used .png... I can't see them most times so I don't use them...
A lot of banners were .png. They're typically a higher quality but then they're just a whole lot bigger, so I think for personal graphics .png is the way to go, but if you're trying to get it under a specific size then .jpg is better
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A lot of banners were .png. They're typically a higher quality but then they're just a whole lot bigger, so I think for personal graphics .png is the way to go, but if you're trying to get it under a specific size then .jpg is better
Yep, exactly. And I had mine uploaded to my own webspace, so the filesize didn't make a difference to me - I hadn't even looked at what the filesize is LOL - but just changing it to jpg really did make a difference, and I'm sure if everyone does that, it will help the AC pages load faster for dial-up users. I was stuck on dial-up until just this fall, so I feel their pain!! LOL
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I've always used .jpg or .gif... they are typically smaller.. even for myself they are that. HEH!
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I have one more question about the banners.... When is it that they will start being taken down if they're too large?
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I have one more question about the banners.... When is it that they will start being taken down if they're too large?
Hrmm, no idea lol weve had that notice up for at least a week now I believe but i'm sure we'll give everyone some more time. It looks like the banners are already shrinking which is great! It isn't taking ten years to go through the recent stories page like it normally does.
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I've noticed a significant difference in banner sizes, so people seem to be complying. Plus, like we said before no one will have anything deleted without being notified first. So, I imagine if we happen upon one that is still oversized, we'll contact the author, then follow through. It seems like most everyone is making their banners smaller though.
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I have one more question about the banners.... When is it that they will start being taken down if they're too large?
Well...that didn't last long! lol I just went to AC and I'll be damned if almost every graphic was oversized lol
Authors will be contacted, and given the opportunity to change their graphic :)
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Well...that didn't last long! lol I just went to AC and I'll be damned if almost every graphic was oversized lol
Authors will be contacted, and given the opportunity to change their graphic :)
LOL! Seriously? Awww we jinxed ourselves!
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I hope not all of them are oversized, as the very first story up now is mine. :-[
But yeah, Racch's banner, I noticed was huge, so that's why I asked, figured I ought to while the mods were about. :)
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I hope not all of them are oversized, as the very first story up now is mine. :-[
But yeah, Racch's banner, I noticed was huge, so that's why I asked, figured I ought to while the mods were about. :)
Nope, yours is a-ok!
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Oh good. :) Then I'll be going to bed now.
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LOL! Seriously? Awww we jinxed ourselves!
I sent out happy little mod notices to those who may not have seen the news post on the site, letting them know about the rule...and now we wait lol
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Good luck.