Defending Big D's Holiday Facelift

by Brandon Worley on Dec 21, 2009 8:56 AM CST in General Comment 11 comments

This morning, Defending Big D underwent a bit of a visual overhaul, as we work to streamline the manner in which we present our site and the vast amount of information at our disposal. It had become apparent to me that our front page presentation was cluttered and just wasn't advantageous for navigating our site for all of our readers. Additionally, there was more that I wanted to do secondary pages (more on that below) and we needed to come up with a better way of organization.

Thanks to RyanM, as always, for his design artistry in putting together these graphics for the buttons.

On the left sidebar, you will now find a central location for all of our information here on Defending Big D. Each button will take you to the corresponding page.

Meet the Writers - In depth bios on (most) of our writers here at Defending Big D, as well as contact information.

Organizational Depth Chart - Exactly as it sounds. From the NHL all the way to junior hockey prospects, every player in the organization is here.

Defending Big D LIVE - This is our official page for our weekly podcast and has all of the information you need to listen to our show.

Community Guidelines, FanPost & FanShot tips and the DBD User Guide - Our community rules and a great how-to on how to use all of our great feature here at Defending Big D.

Dallas Stars Tweets - This page has a constantly updated stream of all major Dallas Stars writers and bloggers. (under construction)

Dallas Stars Salary Cap Tracker - When finished, this will be an unofficial salary cap tracker for the Dallas Stars organization. (under construction)

I've also added a much simpler button for our Twitter feed and a link to our Facebook page. Hopefully this new look will help clean up the site a bit more and provide a better method for our readers to access the information available on our site. If you have any suggestions for more features and pages, please let us know.

Once more, I also want to point out our FanPosts and FanShots. Defending Big D is a community, not just a blog, and we want your involvement as well. FanPosts are a great way of having your opinion heard and starting conversations and debates not found in the main threads. For a great example for how FanPosts are utilized, visit Lone Star Ball.

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Comments

awwww… i saw the headline on twitter, and was hoping you’d put up a christmas tree or put a santa hat on the player in your logo.

what a rip-off. this isn’t a holiday facelift at all!

seriously though, all good moves. i like the streamlined look.

by ColeJ. on Dec 21, 2009 9:31 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I thought you guys were going to chip in and get me a facelift for the holidays.

Seriously – like the changes. But where is the L2L/HG section for shenanigans?

I must have this thing for hockey boys from Whitby with the initials JN.

by Happy Girl on Dec 21, 2009 9:37 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I'll get back to the Manager and let you know on that

Defending Big D Free to use and easy to join, as well as easy to use and free to join!
TheStarsFans Like your neighborhood bar, but drunkier
YNWA Because do you really want to root for ManU?

by Brandon Bibb on Dec 21, 2009 10:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Looks great!

Now if you could fix the team’s 2nd period brain-farts, we’ll be all set :-)

**Proof SOME rules are meant to be broken**

by PNLTBX on Dec 21, 2009 10:21 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

My two cents

I still think the site looks cluttered. And for someone who is new to the site, the new sidebar links need to be larger and more prominent. They get lost with all the other stuff around the edges.

by 5PointPuckism on Dec 21, 2009 12:06 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

But I don't want to be all negative...sorry..I love the content on this site!!

by 5PointPuckism on Dec 21, 2009 12:07 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Appreciate the feedback.

Part of it is the inherent template of the SBN blog, which I have no control over. My one question, for everyone here:

Are the injuries, schedule, roster, etc widgets useful? Do you use them at all?

Next thing is, as far as the buttons go. Would they look better if they were larger, in a single column top to bottom on the left?

Defending Big D: A Dallas Stars blog on SBN: easy to use, free to join.

by Brandon Worley on Dec 21, 2009 1:01 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I think even if the buttons were larger it might help. I personally don’t use the injuries, schedule, roster stuff. I just visit for the articles and the live podcasts.

by 5PointPuckism on Dec 21, 2009 1:07 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Game Day Thread Suggestion

I’ve been meaning to bring this up for awhile. Would it be possible to add a “Bottom of page” anchor at the top of game day threads? It would make keeping up with the thread on mobile devices MUCH simpler (iPhone in particular). The Top of page anchor is great for refreshing the page, however you’re often left scrolling down for a few minutes before you get to see the updates. I may be lazy, but it’s just a suggestion :).

I like the new layout and the injuries, roster, etc. widgets are a must for all intense fantasy hockey GM’s. I can’t say I use ours all that much as I keep up to date with the team through regular stories from you guys, however non-Stars fans would find them very helpful. On this same note, what would be the best outlet for me to suggest all SB hockey blogs add a “Current Lineup” widget to their pages? Some blogs (like DBD, and the Hawks blog) often post them in game day threads or preview threads (which is incredibly useful), however many don’t. A widget would be a very useful fantasy hockey tool.

by LilEagle on Dec 21, 2009 3:57 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the suggestion.

The bottom of page button is something I’ll bring up to the tech guys, and it’s a great point. It’s also awesome to know you guys are keeping track of the GDT from your phones.

As far as the widget for current lines, I’ll put one of those up. It’s something each blog does individually and we need to have one up.

Defending Big D: A Dallas Stars blog on SBN: easy to use, free to join.

by Brandon Worley on Dec 21, 2009 4:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs