Tay

*Sigh*
Well, back to the drawing board, I suppose.

New front site is live! Note: logins are restricted to a closed beta, but you can go through the site, now. Please see this blog post: http://fuwanovel.net/2016/07/new-fuwanovel-site/
 
Feedback Survey
If you have a second, I would really appreciate your feedback on the new site. You can find a quick survey here.
 
7/10 Updates
Fixed/Addressed:
@Nosebleed - Change the rounded sort-by-release-type section on http://fuwanovel.net/visual-novels-browse/ - Um. No. But thanks. I'd prefer to see you suffer.  @Silvz- "New releases are showing stuff from 2014" - I mentioned this in my post. Right now I've only uploaded a handful of games to see how the site does under load. @Silvz - Moving twitter up - I'll definitely play around with this over time. Right now the twitter widget isn't working very well, anyway, so I'm going to eventually scope out other options. @Kenshin_sama - Strange options in the feedback survey - If it was perfectly implemented at-launch, it just wouldn't have that buggy Fuwanovel goodness. ; P  @Silvz - Search bars for custom post types (reviews, VNs, etc.) - Excellent point. Should be coming later today. @kingdomcome - Fixed with a crappy, temp fix. Thanks! @Decay - Forums VNTS menu item broken - Fixed! @Decay - One Small Fire Review is missing - Restored! @Decay - VNs retain odd information - Yep. Post time is actually useful: it'll be used to mark the game's or patch's release, so that'll stay. Author, however, is something a bit more complicated. It'll either be removed, or it'll be switched to represent the patch or publisher of the game. @Decay - SonoHana games reviews section oddities - Yep. I've already addressed that in each of the Sono Hana games' description section. It'll be specific to the SonoHana games, and isn't something I expect to do with any other games or series. @Decay - Game page layout with possible sidebar - I agree with you, and that's been my plan for the games pages: having an integrated sidebar with those bits that runs down the right side of the page, while removing the true sidebars. That's why the individual VN pages' sidebar is empty atm. In-Progress:
@Amuzie - Request Desktop Site - Hm. You can do this on your phone's browser, but you're looking for a link/button on the site itself to do that, right? That's something I'll need to look into. Right now the site is set up to be responsive by design. @Decay - Review Header Images Problem - I'll get them all straightened out today. I have to edit some stuff about each review, anyway @Decay - Limitations of WP games pages vs database - Well-said, and exactly right. A fuller database implementation IS coming, but it's something we're going to need to save up for. I collected a grand total of 22 bids to do the front site coding, and for what we wanted, the bill was going to be between $7000 for a relatively inexperienced coder to $25,000 for a mid-to-top-ish tier developer. (Just going to stop and point out that @Nayleen would absolutely qualify as top-tier, and consistently donates an unbelievable amount of time to help us out. We're very, very lucky to have you, Nay. Thank you for all you do.) I'm scoping out custom coding to get a custom plugin to pull from a custom games DB and feed into a design template we can modify at any time. So that's where we're headed. At some point when things settle down and I can publish an updated site financial report, I'll try and put all of this down on paper. But, yeah, we're saving up for that. This is not the final solution.  

 
7/12 Updates
More Updates:
Back-end permissions are all set up Email system is up and working. (Well. Probably working. Updated sidebar game picks and July's Game of the Month Rough-ish and prob temp fix for front page slider Some limited updates to VNTL-Moon Some aesthetic fixes Went through and fixed all FuwaReviews. If @solidbatman or @Decay want me to re-do a few banners to 16:9s (or so), just let me know which ones. I think the long banners are mostly okay. Some of Ryechu's are ugly, now, but they're part of the nukige series and I didn't feel like looking around for alternatives. The other one I can remember, Decay's Euphoria, actually looks kinda cool. But just let me know. Updated reviews back-end Minor emotional breakdown Figured out the problem with the Twitter section on homepage (Answer: Twitter sucks) Fixed and updated some podcast issues Fixed reviews hub display bug on really, really old android devices Tweaked some settings to improve performance Sat despondently in a near-empty room, pondering the Academy section VNTS podcast now has almost 700 downloads! (link)  
Next Up:
Import email subscriber lists Customize and add search options Take a look at Decay's game page stuff Set up alternate layout options for custom post types to remove authors (etc.) from game pages and the like

*Sigh*
Well, back to the drawing board, I suppose.

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

You have always been such a good influence, Rooke.
*Deletes all backups*

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

*Sigh*
Well, back to the drawing board, I suppose.

*Sigh*
Well, back to the drawing board, I suppose.

No, no, no, no. Server meltdowns and FuwApocalypses are like fine wines. You need to savor them.

Ya'll is some picky ass mofos. I for one, just want the damn thing up already. Aesthetics can be altered later. Lets hurry up and get the server meltdown over with. 

You have always been such a good influence, Rooke.
*Deletes all backups*

But 'backing up' is for chickens, Tay. Real men throw caution to the wind and live with the consequences.  
... (*copy* *paste* *saved forever*)

*Sigh*
Well, back to the drawing board, I suppose.

Weekly update.
 

I like it. Its bright and vibrant which makes it inviting to newcomers and old timers alike  .
Everything is sectioned off cleanly. I don't mind the big header picture. A big,nice and clear header picture could make people curious about the Vns that are on display. 
Good job getting it done, Tay Admin-san!

RIP "Front site never" memes. 1999 - 2016

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

*Sigh*
Well, back to the drawing board, I suppose.

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

This looks a lot better than before.
The header image might be on the slightly big side. Although having a big nicely drawn picture is nice.
You could have a highly detailed background image with vn/anime characters. Instead of having it white I think? Old theme currently has yellow as background. Having a nice background justifies having smaller header imo.

Hey everybody,
Here's a preview screenshot of the new front site. If you have a sec and want to share your off-the-cuff impression, that would be helpful! Otherwise, there will be a closed beta that starts once the new front site is successfully re-deployed on the server. I hope to launch the site for-reals next week.
Thanks!

Yep. Everything on one site and interconnected. For example: posting a review on the hub will make it appear on the relevant game's page. Game pages now also allow guest reviews. Etc.
Not all my plans are going up right now: the Academy/Articles suite is still a WIP, but the back end has been totally built and I've made dedicated permissions sets for those who would want to participate in building and curating it (note: the initial academy/articles landing page will be a bit rough, but I've got everything we need to bedazzle it). Additionally, I should note that the team-builder, public profiles, and classifieds systems you and I chatted about are still only in the planning stages. 

The top of it is kinda an image overload, might partly be owed to the size of the header, but I think it more has to do with one row of images after another. It might look cleaner if the recently released section was either moved down or reworked in some way.
Anyway, that's just my mediocre observation coming from my questionable sense of aesthetics.