Updates

This is a update of announcements for the General category.

We’ve decided that TFL needs a shake up! The current layout has been up for some time now, and while it works fine, we’d like to have a bit of a make-over. Instead of creating a new layout ourselves, we thought it would be fun to ask you, our visitors, to come up with a layout for us.

What is involved:
We want ‘contestants’ to submit a layout for the senior staff that is currently set up on a host (their own domain or free service). The entry should include styling as the layout would appear if on the Network. We will provide all entrants with the current TFL layout (headers; CSS and PHP) as a starting point.
Entrants must keep the current content of the main page intact (i.e., the button rotation; advertising, menu options etc). Styling may be changed (i.e., if you can find a better way to do the menu, you can re-vamp it). The layout does not need to retain the three-column set-up, however it must be functional for the needs of the network.

Things to keep in mind:
- The layout needs to work for everyone – don’t create a layout that will look fantastic in 800×600 resolution, but horrible on anything else.
- The layout must be cross-browser compatible and preferably XHTML and CSS valid. If you are unsure how to make your layout compliant with these particular guidelines, please feel free to ask for help on the forums.
- Keep the colour-scheme viewable! You don’t need to stick to the grey/maroon we have now, but don’t blind everyone with highlighter pink/yellow (unless you can really work it :)).
- Perhaps use a ‘theme’ that TFL can have to promote itself (i.e., we’ve got the globe right now). Keep in mind that we still need to look professional to attract advertisers, but it doesn’t have to be bland or boring!
- Be careful of using fandom images – this is going to be the primary TFL layout, it needs to cover lots of different interests.
- If you want, you can also create a header image for the message board (which we will update to suit the colours of the main site) and link buttons for the Network.

Dates:
The competition is open until the 31st of December. Once entries are closed, the senior staff will go through the entries and select a short-list that will be put to a public poll.
If the votes are close, we may decide to skin the site with several winners.
Winners should be announced early in the new year, along with TFL’s new look! :)

Submitting your design:
Entrants should e-mail the senior staff (seniorstaff@thefanlistings.org) with the following:

Name
Contact E-mail
Domain/Collective URL
URL to the Entry URL
And any comments/information they wish to provide about their entry.

Entries MUST be recieved by the 31st of December. Late entries will not be accepted.

For the Winners:
Apart from seeing your work every time you visit TFL, we will also give the winner credit on the footer of all TFLs pages and on the Credits page. We will also give the winner 3 free months on our button rotation for an eligble site of their choice.

The current layout is available at the message board in this post.