[WEBSITE v2] MusicBee website and forum redesign

[AvikB]

Hey AvikB,

Just in case you are curious what the forum looks like now on a system with a strict 'no fuzzy fonts here' policy ;-)
The previously serif fonts are now indeed sans-serif.
Not all the fonts look particularly nice on my setup (especially the small-type bold ones), but that's not a problem.
(and I am the only one bitching about it anyway ;-)

Ah thanks for posting this issue, i will post an update in 1-2 day to resolve this issue.
I am thinking of completely switching to verdana if font-smoothing is disabled, what font do you think will suite for those edgy view?

[hiccup]

Ah thanks for posting this issue, i will post an update in 1-2 day to resolve this issue.
I am thinking of completely switching to verdana if font-smoothing is disabled, what font do you think will suite for those edgy view?

The font used in the current forum looks fine. is that verdana?

[hiccup]

PS,
The screenshot from the other forum I pm'ed you last week also looked good. Not sure what font that was though.
But you said it was some SMF default theme?

[AvikB]

The font used in the current forum looks fine. is that verdana?

it is Lao UI, i will probably stick to a system font like verdana, sans-serif, even segoe UI(since it is windows only, sans-serif will be backup).

[AvikB]

PS,
The screenshot from the other forum I pm'ed you last week also looked good. Not sure what font that was though.
But you said it was some SMF default theme?

that should be Verdana.

[Steven]

I have also added(and tested) support for HTTPS(SSL) for the site.

Btw do you have any plan to move the site to ssl? letsencrypt.org give free ssl certificate, and backed up some major corporations(mozialla, facebook and others). i am sure this topic has been discussed previously and the cost is always the issue. But yesterday Lets Encrypt released their first stable release and it could be a great opportunity to make the site more secure and trusted.

i would need to purchase a dedicated IP address which i am fine with doing.
However for the certificate itself, i dont have access to any command line in order to generate the certificate. I will look into this though

[phred]

I am actually planning on making a separate login page for v2.0(the next big update), the forum will use it's own login page and the site will use it's own. But both of them will use same credential. OFC it is nothing more than plan at this point as i haven't looked in what kind of hash algorithm SMF uses.

Does this mean you're planning to have a login for the website???  I can understand the need for authorization on the forum, but not for the website.

[AvikB]

Does this mean you're planning to have a login for the website???  I can understand the need for authorization on the forum, but not for the website.

Don't worry there won't be any login for the website. i will use forum for authentication, only there will be a much more modern login page. OFC as i said it is only a idea now no promise.

[phred]

Does this mean you're planning to have a login for the website???  I can understand the need for authorization on the forum, but not for the website.

Don't worry there won't be any login for the website. i will use forum for authentication, only there will be a much more modern login page. OFC as i said it is only a idea now no promise.

I understand that this is only an idea at this point.
When you say you'll use the forum for authentication for the website, does that mean that visitors to the website would need to register on the forum?

[AvikB]

I understand that this is only an idea at this point.
When you say you'll use the forum for authentication for the website, does that mean that visitors to the website would need to register on the forum?

The website can be fully accessed with or without any authentication. The only thing that require login/account is the addon like feature, addon submission and creating a new topic on forum ofc.

[AvikB]

i would need to purchase a dedicated IP address which i am fine with doing.

i don't think that is needed. here is one of letsencrypt dev's response:
https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/shared-hosting/384/14

However for the certificate itself, i dont have access to any command line in order to generate the certificate. I will look into this though

There are few ways around that, you can also talk to your hosting provider.

[phred]

The website can be fully accessed with or without any authentication. The only thing that require login/account is the addon like feature, addon submission and creating a new topic on forum ofc.

Understood.  Thanks.
I do think that requiring a user to register solely to download skins or plugins is a mistake.  I agree it should be required for uploading.  But not for downloading.  Neither the current forum nor the Wiki require it now.

[AvikB]

I do think that requiring a user to register solely to download skins or plugins is a mistake.  I agree it should be required for uploading.  But not for downloading.  Neither the current forum nor the Wiki require it now.

downloading won't require an account in anyway. i am not keen on forcing user with unnecessary restriction.

[hiccup]

I know phred is going to review the text on the website before it goes live, so perhaps I speak too soon, but I have some doubts about using the word 'simple' in the slogan "Simple, Powerful, and Fast"

MusicBee is a lot, but simple is not the first word that comes to my mind describing it...
(and in my language that word can also have some slightly negative connotation, as the opposite of advanced, smart, refined)

[AvikB]

MusicBee is a lot, but simple is not the first word that comes to my mind describing it...
(and in my language that word can also have some slightly negative connotation, as the opposite of advanced, smart, refined)

for me when describing MusicBee the first words that come to my mind is beutiful, powerful, snappy.
ofc different people will have different experience, but i care how software looks and works, and musicbee is a wonderful combination of both