Forum:Late 2013 theme discussion

In line with the Island Paradise re-theme discussion, I've decided to start the discussion on what theme, if any, should take the IP theme's place.

First and foremost, we should decide how much longer we want to continue using the Island Paradise theme. We pretty much have two options as far as I can see: we keep the IP theme until we have a new theme to take its place, or we return to the standard theme from before. After that decision, we should begin to discuss the direction a late 2013 theme should take, if we even want to have another theme later this year.

For the sake of attempting to kill two birds with one stone, I've split the discussions up below. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:05, July 31, 2013 (UTC)

Should the Island Paradise theme stay or go?
It's worth mentioning that some people in the original discussion felt that we should retire the old theme (more-or-less) by having new themes back-to-back; if we take that route, then we have to plan a new theme to take the IP theme's place, before we can ever get rid of the theme. However, in my personal opinion, we should return to the standard wiki theme. We had the Island Paradise theme up about a month before release, and we are now a month after release, so it seems like a good time to return to normal. Thoughts? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:05, July 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * I do like the IP theme a lot, but going back the regular theme is fine either way. Ѧüя◎ґ (talk) 02:06, July 31, 2013 (UTC)


 * I think that we should revert to the standard theme. Moon  Wing   Blame it on the Rain!  02:10, July 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * Personally, I feel like we should keep the IP theme until the end of summer. Despite it being for an EP, or maybe because of it, it just seems summerish. --Bleeh (talk!) (edits) 04:06, July 31, 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree with Bleeh, I makes a nice summer feeling. I think keeping it would be good. But if we are keeping the background how come we aren't keeping the logo, just wondering. Blue12porcupine   talk  10:14, August 2, 2013 (UTC)
 * I say keep the IP theme until the end of summer then revert to the traditional theme for the time being until we finalise an ItF theme. 13:04, August 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't know when exactly summer will end, but I guess it's not a bad idea to keep IP theme until summer is over. After that, we could revert back to the regular theme if ITF is a month or more from its release, or switch it to ITF theme if otherwise.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  16:48, August 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree with Nikel, keep IP theme until summer ends and then wait for release of ITF and replace traditional teme with ITF one. Mate1234 (talk) 14:47, August 9, 2013 (UTC)

It seems that the consensus here is to wrap up the IP theme closer to the debut of a new theme. -  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 20:29, August 9, 2013 (UTC)

What should a new theme be about?
The way I see it, we have a couple options regarding a late 2013 theme. For one, we could go with an autumnal theme (similar to how our Christmas 2012 was winter-themed, and our current Island Paradise is somewhat summer-y). The Sims 3: Into the Future is also releasing in October, so it could be neat to see what The Sims Wiki would look like with a really sleek, modern look. Or, we can decide to not implement any theme at all. Or, anyone who has any ideas for a theme I didn't list here can suggest it. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:05, July 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * I think that we should start by reverting to the original theme, so we can have some time to start planning for a new one. Then I think it might be a good idea to go for a Into the Future theme, and once that is retired it might be a good idea to get something going for Sims 4, even though it won't be released until late 2014 it might spark some more interest in the game? 02:36, July 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * I like the idea for an Into the Future theme. I was thinking of just starting a slightly TS4-themed theme, but that would depend on when we decide (if ever) to implement a new theme. --Bleeh (talk!) (edits) 04:06, July 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * We could start moving slowly towards a TS4 theme while implementing a ItF theme. For instance, we could make a new wiki logo design based on the TS4 logo, and implement it during a potential ItF theme. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 04:20, July 31, 2013 (UTC)


 * I think we should steer clear of TS4 until we have more imagines of it, because currently we only got pictures of their eys and concept art. The new theme should be ITF and then near christmas we could have a Christmas theme Blue12porcupine   talk  10:17, August 2, 2013 (UTC)
 * TS4 is thought to be coming out in early 2014 (though I personally wouldn't be surprised if it got delayed until Q4 2014 but I digress) so we could go for a new logo sometime soon. I think it would be cool if we went for a futuristic-type theme for Late 2013. 13:02, August 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I'd go with ITF theme rather than autumnal theme, since having a seasonal theme is a little generic, and especially since ITF is the spotlight in this fall. I'm not really into having a TS4 theme too soon... Maybe we could put it off until 2014. I still like our old wiki theme, since it's simple and can be used in any occasion.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  16:56, August 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I actually started thinking and I randomly thought about this: "What if we combine the two?" And I know this has been mentioned before, but what I mean by this is What if we could implement an Into the Future theme, but at the same time use the game's main feature, time travel, to bring us into the future (The Sims 4)? It's like utilizing the time travel feature of the newest expansion pack to bring TSW into the future! Just a suggestion, but I suck at explaining and I feel like it's turning out much better in my head (don't ask me to code it. I will make the wiki into a blob of whatever) 19:04, August 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * Nice suggestion, Pidge. Although, I think the span between ITF and TS4 is a bit long, which means we'll keep the same theme until TS4 is released. That's not always true, though. We can change the theme again in the middle of the time span.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  09:10, August 5, 2013 (UTC)
 * If we go to the ItF theme in late September (about a month prior to release), we can keep that theme until the holiday season, then have a TS4 theme ready to go in the new year. Or, if not a TS4 theme, a new theme entirely, based on TS4 (when we'll hopefully have more stuff to work with). --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 16:54, August 5, 2013 (UTC)

(Resetting indent) I like the idea of implementing a sharp and sleek ItF theme for when summer finishes in the Northern Hemisphere. I also like the idea of a TS4 theme, but I think that should wait until closer to the release date of TS4, when we have more knowledge of it to work with. ~ Waikikamukow  ( Anyone wanna chat? ) 22:12, August 9, 2013 (UTC)
 * I was thinking we could do it with ITF for autumn 2013 and then to do a final theme in winter which has a relation to all of the expansions packs for the sims 3. 07:11, August 10, 2013 (UTC)
 * Since TS4 will be unveiled at Gamescom in just ten days (on August 22nd), we might get some new material (like pictures of something more than eyes and stuff) to work with in order to create a TS4 theme. So, I was thinking that we could go with Into The Future to follow the current theme and then at the end of the year we could apply the TS4 one. 16:56, August 12, 2013 (UTC)

Designing the new theme
Alright, it seems that we're opting for a ItF-based theme for late 2014. For the current theme, we changed menu and some other colors, the background, and (somehow only temporarily) the logo. For a late 2014 redesign, I think we should focus on the same features. So, we should identify a new color scheme to use, figure out some appropriate images to use as background images, and contact Erry to work on a wordmark design with ItF features (not sure what that would be... maybe change the colors and replace the plumbbob with a time machine or something). As for color scheme, I think a good scheme would be purple, white and light blue (like a steel blue). The ItF logo uses purple and white, and a light blue/steel blue resembles the time-travel effect and a futuristic look. As for the background image... maybe we should open it up to public submissions, and then pick the best submission. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 03:14, August 20, 2013 (UTC)
 * I'm thinking something blue, or something metallic would suit a futuristic theme quite well. 13:50, August 25, 2013 (UTC)
 * Seeing as we're aiming to get this implemented by mid-September, it's probably time we get a move on. I don't know how we're going about or who is going to design the theme and logo changes, so if anybody has any ideas then please bring them to our attention via this thread. As for a colour scheme, I played around a bit and landed on what you see on this page (save the Island Paradise background). It's using Theme Designer colours (as I don't really want to make a new CSS configuration) so it should be easy to implement, disregarding our own CSS tweaks. Thoughts on the colour scheme? 23:19, September 3, 2013 (UTC)
 * Honestly, I'm not a fan of that purple on the Wikia header. However, it would probably be easier to plan and visualize the colors when we have a background to compare it to. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 23:27, September 3, 2013 (UTC)

Bump. Also stickied this thread so maybe it will start to get some attention.--  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 00:04, September 16, 2013 (UTC)
 * I think purple and this light grey with a hint of blue would do the job as wiki colours, because of ITF's logo. As for the background, a futuristic hexagon pattern along with some pre-release pictures could be suitable. 17:47, September 16, 2013 (UTC)
 * I think I've mentioned before that I'm a fanatic about purple, so I think that would probably suit well... most likely light gray/metallic blue and possibly some black in there(...?) might work well. 02:58, September 18, 2013 (UTC)
 * Purple definitely seems to be are recurring theme in this discussion, and I think it would be great. I think silver and black would match really well with the purple, no matter the opacity of the purple. And I like DanPin's background idea - I think it will look sleek and represent ItF very well. ~ Waikikamukow  ( Anyone wanna chat? ) 00:02, October 2, 2013 (UTC)

Sound's like a really good idea. I'm sure some greyish blue metallic colors would match the the theme about the upcoming release of ItF. Although I'm not so sure about using purple as one of the options, unless the purple is a bit darker. --Walker guy94  Talk to me! 02:41, October 2, 2013 (UTC)


 * What about these colours on my wiki? Jason (contributions) (talk) 11:35, October 6, 2013 (UTC)


 * I think I would prefer an Indigo if purple is really the choice. How's that? --Walker guy94  Talk to me! 11:52, October 6, 2013 (UTC)


 * Maybe, I think I might make a different wiki for me to just test things there... <font color="#9AB973">Jason <font color="#536878">(contributions) <font color="#954535">(talk) 15:13, October 6, 2013 (UTC)

As you may have noticed, I took action on the theme. We're getting very close to the ItF release, so it seemed silly to still have an IP-based theme.

Since we don't have an ItF-based wordmark/logo or background, I reverted back to the standard designs... it's not too late to add a new one of either, so if you have one in mind, upload it now! As for the colors... I chose them based on what looked good and what was discussed here. The Wikia header and footer bars are a sort of violet-ish color, and the wiki header and buttons are a light blue. I'm not 100% devoted to these colors, so if anyone wants to play around with them and make them look better, feel free. There's also an issue on the wiki navigation menu (at least in Firefox) where a differently-colored horizontal line appears between the lines on the menu. I can't figure out why that appears or where the issue is. Finally, I changed the background behind the navigation menu to a hexagon image, derived from this image. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 01:46, October 17, 2013 (UTC)


 * Some users, especially those without an ad blocker, may also notice that the wiki background is often replaced by an ad for Into the Future. The ad looks decent enough, so perhaps we could just make that into the background itself, so it's visible to everyone? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 01:48, October 17, 2013 (UTC)


 * That's a pretty good combination, blue and purple, along with the hexagonal patterned background from the ItF loading screen. Anyway, how's that ad background look like? --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 01:55, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * This is the TSW Main Page with the ad, displayed in Chrome. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:08, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * Looks good enough, but the release date info is a little bit disturbing. --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 02:14, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * Disturbing? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:19, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * You know, when the game's already out, that date would be unnecessary. I mean, if we really gonna use that background, we need to think of a replacement after the game is released. --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 02:35, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * Hmm, that's true... Maybe someone could Photoshop the date out of the image? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:40, October 17, 2013 (UTC)

How about this one? --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 12:07, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * I think we need a plainer background. Otherwise, the page will be hard to read. How about we borrow the background from TheSims3.com? But it's not plain either, and not really original.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  13:26, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * Link doesn't seem to be working. --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 13:35, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * That's strange. Doesn't work how? Try this.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  13:57, October 17, 2013 (UTC)
 * The first link somehow doesn't allow hotlinking. Anyway, that panoramic view of Oasis Landing seems good enough for me. --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 14:05, October 17, 2013 (UTC)

Voting
Okay so we actually have a few contenders for a background image. To keep things fair to those who have suggested theme ideas, I'm going to take it to a vote. The vote will last for 1 week to allow for everybody to make their choice. I am aware that the game drops in a couple of days but you know what they say, "better late than never".

These are our three proposed backgrounds:

Please indicate your support for one of the following options:
 * Option A - the background suggested by Frostwalker
 * Option B - the background suggested by Nikel23
 * Option C - the background suggested by Erry
 * Option D - Other/none of the above (please state what you would prefer)

Note that I purposely omitted LiR's suggestion due to the issue with the logos and date being present. If there's a solution and anybody wishes to pursue it then please state this under Option D.

Option B - It doesn't hamper readability too much and it scales well across different computer monitors. It might not be the most original background ever presented but it's perfectly serviceable and a good all-round option. 19:47, October 20, 2013 (UTC)

Option C - I think Erry has done a great job with the IP theme and he followed suit with this option. It's original, not an eyesore and it seems like a viable choice for the post-release time. 19:54, October 20, 2013 (UTC)

Option C - It could have worked better if the saturation was toned down a bit, but it's very original, and goes well with the purple header. EpicJoyBoy  (My talk page!)  20:10, October 20, 2013 (UTC)

Option C - As much as I like the other two backgrounds, I think we should go with Erry's background as it screams "originality". Erry also done an excellent job with the IP theme, so it would be nice for us to showcase another one of his themes. <font color="#6B1D51">Beds (<font color="#512d17">parlare - <font color="#512d17">da leggere ) 20:18, October 20, 2013 (UTC)

Option C As per the people above me. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 20:21, October 20, 2013 (UTC)

Option C Per above. I'm kinda fascinated with his work. --<font face="Verdana" color="RoyalBlue">Frostwalker <font face="Comic Sans MS" color="DarkOrange">Talk to me! 00:07, October 21, 2013 (UTC)

Option B While design wise I do like option C I don't think it would be the best choice as it hampers readability a bit, and contrasts a bit with the rest of the theme. Option B is clean and simple and goes with basically anything.

Option C Erry's creation is very unique and it really got my attention. If the background got in the way for readability, perhaps we could make the layout less translucent.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  06:34, October 21, 2013 (UTC)

Option C I believe that option C is unique and very well-thought out, and also that is represents ItF well. However, I do think that it is a bit too far on the opaque side and, like some above me, I think I will hamper readability. I think that changing the image to make it more transparent would work to fix that and that doing so will make it the best choice, in my opinion. ~ Waikikamukow  ( Anyone wanna chat? )  10:14, October 22, 2013 (UTC)

Conclusion
Seven days seemed a bit excessive, especially considering the support for one of the options. Therefore, I've gone with the results of the vote. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:29, October 23, 2013 (UTC)