April 27 News - New Site Layout (Revamp to 1024x768)

[AySz88]

Wow. Check out the new home page. Finally, they moved to take advantage of 1024x768 resolution. And seems like our sidebar themes made it too, more or less.

Oh, and don't forget the new game, Roodoku.

Here's the news:

27th April

* SITE UPDATE! - Okay, so the Meepit from yesterday was just a diversion tactic. Truth is, as you might have already gathered by the new surroundings, Neopets has gotten a HUGE facelift and we didn't want to let the Kadoatie out of the bag too early.

Here's a bit of info on the big changes... as much info as we could fit in New Features, anyway.

Site Layout
Neopets has gotten a whole new look (while keeping our famous eye-popping yellow, of course)! We've cleaned up, re-coded, and generally gotten out of the 90's. Hooray!

We've streamlined the navigation and added short cuts to some of the most visited places in each section. Don't be discouraged if you get lost while looking for your favourite pages or activities. (It took most of us a bit of time to get used to it, too.) If you're ever stuck, look for this graphic: Clicking on this will take you to our FAQ section, and that should help you find your way again!

More Info: (a bunch of links to FAQ sections)

Customise Your Neopets!
Ever since we started Neopets, the requests to dress and accessorise your Neopets have only increased. We've always said we'd never do it because of the work load, but we're allowed to change our minds and work ourselves to death if we want! As such, you can now dress and accessorise your Neopets with items you find around the site!

You can start by visiting Quick Ref and clicking on the "Customise" button. There are too many new features to explain here, so be sure to read the FAQs and the tutorial!

We've had to update some of the Neopets art to make them compatible with the customise system. In cases where we felt the change was very drastic, we've added the option to choose. If you and your Neopet are eligible for that option, you'll see a "Convert this Neopet!" link on Quick Ref. Click that for more information.

We would also like to mention that if you aren't happy with the change to any of your Neopets, don't go hunting for a morphing potion just yet! You may find justice early next week. If in the meantime you need to get out some anger or aggression, may we suggest playing a round or two of Whack-A-Staff-Member?

More Info: (a bunch of links to FAQ sections)

Beta Beta Beta!
To be honest, the site is HUGE and there are many, many more pages to update, so we're not nearly done. Expect more updates, and don't be surprised to see some strange occurances here and there. Please report any bugs so we can get them fixed right away!

All this will take some getting used to, we know... especially if you're a long-time user, but don't be afraid to jump in. We think these changes make Neopets even better, so we really hope you enjoy them, too!

We'll return to our regularly scheduled New Features tomorrow!


* Oh, right... we're also launching a new game today - just in case all this new stuff doesn't cure your boredom. We thought ahead.

Here's the FAQ page they set up about the changes: http://www.neopets.com/s/index.phtml?cat_id=50

A few things that I think they missed:
- If you have to side-scroll, change your resolution to 1024x768. Everything will seem to look smaller, but everyone has been switching to it anyway. See the trends here: http://www.pcpitstop.com/research/vidres.asp
- Premium needs 1280x1024 to get usage of both sidebars in the site-in-portal feature. (As of right now, 1 PM NST April 26, it's still buggy, though.)
- Sidebar themes are now just site themes (or "top-bar" themes, if you'd rather.)
- The primary-colors Games Room has been taken out.
- As was noted in the news, some drastically-changed Neopets have the option of keeping the old look - but only some.

Ready, set, discuss!


[edit 1] +FAQ
[edit 2] shrink edit things, +homepage redesign note
[edit 3] + news
[edit 4] + news formatting (some)
[edit 5] + more news formatting
[edit 6] + some stuff to note
[edit 7,8] + rewords

Submit a PM to Pickles with the subject "Treasure Hunt - Hard - I found it!" and include links to each of the places you found the clues - in the order they came in.

Last edited by AySz88 on Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:00 pm, edited 8 times in total.

[whhattisthiss]

I'm actually shocked. I really like the new layout. It's gonna take some time to get used to though.

[Xerophyte]

I was way too used to the old one.
So I hate the new one, and this time ...I don't think that's likely to change.

[Illyria]

i'm more against them changing the looks of my pets. My usul no longer looks like hannibal the cannibal and my meerca looks YUCK!

[Troggy7]

Wow I really really dont like it at all

[Millywoo]

Oh my.. My lookup is ruined

I kind of like the info on the pet lookup pages, but it's just such a shock at the moment.

My pets look a bit cheap now

[Morningstar]

Oh, I hate it!!!! Now I can't see an entire page without having to use the scrollbar at the bottom. I just filed a report asking to please give us the option of deleting these unnecessary modules on each page.

[evenstar]

They forced my mutant draik to the new customised version even though I had changed it back to normal before because I didn't like it. And for people saying about the sidebars they are there - just at the top and bottom of the page.

[Jiffy]

[vader]NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO![/vader]

I hate it. I hate the new 'paper doll' style of the pets.

[Ginger Harp Seal Pup]

Hate it, hate it, HATE IT! X______X

[Sandmaster]

Yeah I'm going out on a limb here but I like it.

[Pickles]

Anyone have screenies for those of us at work who can't see it? {dying of curiosity}
I hope my pets come through ok....

[AySz88]

*takes a break from formatting the OP* I, for one, think this is going to be great. Everything just feels so smooth so far! I do wonder what they'll do with Premium now, though, since <strike>now an entire Premium sidebar space is gone.</strike>

[edit] My mistake, actually - that sidebar still shows for an additional resolution level up, 1280x1024.

Last edited by AySz88 on Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Illyria]

same happened to me i marked all mine as being the old style and htey still forced the change even though they SAY they wont! now they have a little msg that its irreversible.

[varii]

DO NOT WANT.

Really really you guys, my aishas are awful.

And what crack is going on with our lookups? Argh. I'm going to class just to get away from this mess.

Last edited by varii on Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.