I have been giving this some thought and I feel that the Portal needs to be moved off of the front page. The first thing people should see when they visit
www.planetarion.com is clean idea of what to expect and something that will capture their interest and make them want to stay.
I believe the portal does not do that and never will.
My suggestion is simply to revert back to the splash screens of old with minimal links to other interesting information. Here is what I propose;
SPLASH SCREEN:
This should have a nice graphic on it, the name of the round, the price to play and a brief captivating write up with links to the following;
-Login
-Sign Up
-Portal
-Playing Guide (quick guide)
-FAQ
The aim of this page will be to catch a persons interest and make them want to sign up, so its important not to have too much information displayed. Keep it clean and to the point.
PORTAL
This should be where all the juicier information can be found along with community contributions.
Announcements
Playing Guide (more detailed)
Sign Up
Login
Forums
Community Sites (PAWiki, Vision Tools, LCH Tools, Scouse History)
Creators Hour
User Agreement
Glossary
Manual
Com Unit
Support
IRC Information
History Files
Downtime Proceedure
Mini Games
Background Story
Competitions
Postbag
PAWiki
Credits
Affiliates
Merchandise
I feel the purpose of the portal should be a place to come for information concerning not only the game but also the community as a whole. At the moment most of the stuff is PA related but I think this should be extended into community related stuff. For example, offer blogs to community, links to tutorials on web design, film + album reviews, funny websites, etc.
This extended section does not have to be extensive but interesting.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?