Open Designs

Open Designs Forum » Water Cooler

1. Sean
   Founding Member

   Well it's been about a week now since leaving OD as an admin and as I mentioned in my departure post, I've been working on a new design download and submission site the past few months.

   As most know, I haven't posted the URL here on OD yet. I'm still on the fence about posting it on the forum, not because I don't want people to know about the URL, I just don't want people thinking I'm trying to steal any thunder from OD.

   I'd be interested in some feedback if I should in-fact post the URL to the new site but in the mean time, if someone wants to know what it is, contact me directly as the site is up and running in full swing.

   Posted 2 years ago #

2. Utah web design
   Member

   I don't think it should be an issue, as I posted before, although the two sites have similarities they are two different niches. Good idea to get permission though. You have my vote.

   Posted 2 years ago #

3. pseudoxiah
   Member

   competition is the heart of progress. i'm sure that both websites working together for a better community support can only lead to good results.

   Posted 2 years ago #

4. coollew
   Member

   @ Sean
   I doubt that any one here would object to you posting your url including the current admin or anyone else that knows what you have done for this and other sites.

   I admire your reluctance to do so because of your concerns but I for one say post it soon or I will (lol)

   Posted 2 years ago #

5. tomw
   Member

   If this is an issue with Joe, he would have or should have already spoken up.

   Posted 2 years ago #

6. Sean
   Founding Member

   Well based on the following feedback in this thread and emails I've received since my announcing my departure from OD as an admin, I've decided to post the URL on the forum:

   http://www.getfreewebdesigns.com/

   Keep in mind that you do not need a user account on the new site if you only want to download designs. You only need an account if you are going to submit designs.

   It's also setup that if you don't submit any designs within the first 30 days of registering your account, it will be removed. This isn't being done to be mean, it's being done as mentioned before, you only need an account to submit designs.

   There is also no forum on the GFWD site and there are no plans to add a forum to the site, so please don't ask.

   If you are someone who is a designer, we would love to have you submit your designs to the site. GFWD's is not a replacement for OD, it's only another site to help promote designers and the templates they create.

   Thank you for your support and enjoy the new site.

   Posted 2 years ago #

7. kirby145
   Member

   That is a pretty cool site, instead of a forum could you put a shoutbox though so you could say "" is a cool design!

   Posted 2 years ago #

8. Sean
   Founding Member

   @kirby145: Thanks for your kinds words. Lots of things are in the works, so keep an eye on the site blog to know what features are coming next to the site.

   Posted 2 years ago #

9. Rob
   Member

   The similarities are very obvious but I suppose that was bound to happen. I would have liked to have seen it progress a bit further and pick up on some of OD's failings.

   But I suppose it depends what you want from it, I know what i'd do with a site like this, in regards web designs news/tips/links, but if you want to keep it simple as an upload/download site then it looks good.

   Is this a "Hi i'm Sean I own this site and if it makes a million bucks i'll be stoked" type site or another community based endeavour?

   Posted 2 years ago #

10. Sean
    Founding Member

    @Rob: The new project has improved on a lot of things from all three previous sites (oswd, owd, od) but one of the major things is it's privately owned and run, this way decisions can be made quickly... however the site has community support as seen from all the designers who have contributed so far.

    Also, thanks to my partnership with Aaron, huge amounts backend work has taken place with brand new from the ground up coding. Everything is coded to be very scalable for future upgrades, site features and enhancements based on what users would like to see.

    What failings from OD would you like to see improved on in a new site? Any ideas, suggestions, etc are always welcome.

    Since Joe (LobsterMan) took full control of Open Designs about a month ago, so it's no longer a community owned site either... it's private as well. Joe is the owner. He has all the power to do or not do anything with the site.

    You mention about having news, tips and links... that's already part of the new site. Check out the footer area. We've got links, news, etc from 3 design related sites (WebDevNews, Attackr, BloggingRockStar) and if people contribute to WebDevNews and Attackr, they one help the community with useful information and two get major link exposure across 3 sites.

    For the designers who submit designs, they also get cross site exposure. Their designs get shown on WebDevNews and also Attackr. Again the new site is all about promoting the designers and the templates they build. We also have a blogroll for all the designers who contribute to the site. More things are also in the works but they will be announced later.

    Last, the site wasn't built to make money. I've never been in it for "the money" either. If that was the case, I would have never been an admin on OSWD, OWD or OD... however if the site makes a few bucks, that would be nice.

    So to sum it up, the site is privately owned, has community support and is in place to help promote the designers and awesome templates they create.

    Posted 2 years ago #

11. James
    Member

    Since Joe (LobsterMan) took full control of Open Designs about a month ago, so it's no longer a community owned site either...

    The title of the homepage still says Open Designs Community bit strange for a non community owned site (was it ever really community owned)?

    @ Sean: I think your new site looks great and in time will become very popular. I like the forum on this site and would have suggested including one if it wasn't for all the petty arguements which occur (admittedly infrequently).

    I feel a little let down by this site going commercial - it might sound silly but it feels like its been taken away from us (the users / community)...

    Posted 2 years ago #

12. Sean
    Founding Member

    The title of the homepage still says Open Designs Community bit strange for a non community owned site

    @James: Indeed it still says "community" in the title as you pointed out. In Joe's defense the site is still a community site in the sense that people from the open design community submit design templates and interact on the forum, helping people, etc...

    As for the future of OD, Joe will need to chime in as I am no longer an admin. I know that he's got some master plan in the works but I don't have all the details and again, it's his place to let the community know what his plans are for OD.

    Thank you for your kind words on the new site. One of the main reasons for not having a forum is exactly what you said "petty arguments" and trying to always keep the peace and positive information flowing.

    Another reason for not having a forum on GFWD's is because there are already so many other forums and sites for people to contribute to the design community. We just wanted to focus on the designs and the designers.

    Posted 2 years ago #

13. Rob
    Member

    In regards hints, links etc, I'd like to have seen something similar to the community news you get at noupe (http://www.noupe.com/), it's always surprised me how this place is a home for so many designers, but seems to miss out on alot of what's going on in the world. I've never once seen a link from here (in the forums) linking to places such as noupe, web designer wall, smashing magazine etc or discussing trends within the web design industry as so many blogs do nowadays.

    It seems to be all about little things, for the most part it's just people posting asking for help, which I don't have a problem with, but there needs to be more than that. I never see topics discussing any of the designs that are posted up here. Maybe now and then, but it's very infrequent.

    Admittedly I can sound like a hypocrite as I never make the kinds of posts i'd like to see either, but personally, if I was to find a forum that I really enjoyed, it would be one that was regularly discussing and commenting on designs from throughout the web as well as ones that are submitted here, discussing the latest trends in web design, new techniques and tutorials that are appearing, just generally people being excited by the world of web design.

    I understand that alot of the people that come here are beginners and i'm more than happy to help out whenever I can and have been helped out in the past as well, but a support/help forum will never breed a truly strong community, a love and interest in everything web design would and unfortunately that rarely comes across.

    I know that, may not be that helpful to you personally as you seem intent not to have a forum on your new site, which is totally understandable. But you did ask me what I felt the failings of this site have been and I think I answered that.

    Posted 2 years ago #

14. Sean
    Founding Member

    @Rob: Thanks for your detailed feedback.

    I just added Noupe to the footer area of Get Free Web Designs per your suggestion. Thanks for the tip.

    Posted 2 years ago #

15. septor
    Member

    Only two things:

    1. Not a huge fan of the font.
    2. Everything seems to be crammed together. Feels cluttered.

    Posted 2 years ago #

16. Sean
    Founding Member

    @septor: Which font are you talking about that you don't like? The logo font, navigation font, etc?

    Posted 2 years ago #

17. wundertype.de
    Member

    Speaking of fonts: Arial/Helvetica is fine for me.

    I find the logo font (Frutiger/Myriad ?) a bit stale.
    IMO it should either be New Helvetica matching the overall design or something completely different from a functional sans serif.

    Just my opinion, happy to find inspiring submissions here or there.

    Posted 2 years ago #

18. Sean
    Founding Member

    @wundertype.de: Thanks for your feedback on the logo font. I'll bounce around some ideas and see what we can come up with for a better looking logo font based on your suggestions. Thanks again.

    Posted 2 years ago #

19. septor
    Member

    There just seems to be too many different fonts with no rhyme or reason to them. It could just be my personal opinion getting in the way though.

    Edit: I just realized I said "font" in the first post. I meant to say "fonts".

    Posted 2 years ago #

20. wfiedler
    Member

    @septor: I'm the designer of the exclusive design for GFWD. There are only two fonts used. A special one for the header and arial, helvetica, sans-serif for the rest of the site. Propably a WP widget uses a different font, I'm not sure, 'cause I only did the layout.

    Posted 2 years ago #

21. Aaron D. Campbell
    Member

    Well, I'm not the designer (or even *A* designer really), but when I looked at the site there is a single CSS font family set, which means everything that's actual text is in the same font. The header is different because that's actually an image, but that still leaves only 2 fonts.

    Posted 2 years ago #

22. Dean
    Member

    Good Luck Sean! I hope it works out for you... although I don't personally like the design.

    Posted 2 years ago #

23. Sean
    Founding Member

    @Dean: Thanks for the good luck wishes. Things are moving along very nicely. As for the design, sorry you don't personally like it, can't please everyone, however we like it :)

    Posted 2 years ago #

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