New Official Skin News

[FarCry]

Just a preview of the new official skin...
http://www.spinnahost.com/da/da.jpg

we currently only have the layout created, and the side bars. working on new icons now.

there will also be an alternate layout that will mainly be in text for low bandwidth usage :)

ill post in here any updates. Must say thanks to Mark, he has been a great help when im too lazy to read the manual

[Two_A_T]

Lookin good!!

[FarCry]

anybody else got comments?

[idiot]

WoW Wee Manz.. it is great .. but is it for free ? anyway i got help from a fren to get directadmin for me .. i wil be using it TOO !! it is great !!!!

[FarCry]

Yeh, it will be for free, as it will be the default skin packaged with the software

[jlasman]

What I'd really like to see added to it is some branding identification... sure, leave the DirectAdmin logo as a default, but allow a replacement gif at the login level, and at each reseller level.

That would be nice :) .

Jeff

[host4leicester]

when will this skin be released as i like it so much and want to use it lol :)

[FarCry]

Originally posted by jlasman
What I'd really like to see added to it is some branding identification... sure, leave the DirectAdmin logo as a default, but allow a replacement gif at the login level, and at each reseller level.

That would be nice :) .

Jeff

I was thinking this would be cool, but i dont know how you could possibly add it in without John adding a feature for it...

[DirectAdmin Support]

All you'd do is download the skin, change the the gifs you want and re-upload the package as you own skin, then apply it to your users.

John

[jlasman]

Would I have to do that for my resellers, John, or could they do it themselves?

Jeff

[DirectAdmin Support]

Skins are controlled at the reseller level.. they'd do it themselves.

John

[FarCry]

Originally posted by DirectAdmin Support
All you'd do is download the skin, change the the gifs you want and re-upload the package as you own skin, then apply it to your users.

John

i meant something automated, like a |RESELLERLOGO| thingy that was set via control panel

[DirectAdmin Support]

Hmm... that could be looked into..

John

[FarCry]

had some suggestions to make the icons on the skin 32x32 instead of 64x64.. ideas?

[host4leicester]

Is this skin ever going to be released? :(

[KH-Matt]

I'd like to know the status on this skin also. The huge icons on the current default skin is a huge turn-off for users.

One thing CPanel does have over DirectAdmin is the nice icons.

[FarCry]

This skin will be released with the next full version of DA (the one that supports freeBSD). I have to have it ready for the 20th of august i believe.

The SpinnaHost clients are all using what we have so far. I wasn't going to show previews.. but anyway:
http://borris.spinnahost.com:2222
un: graph
pw: logintest

note: this is an account for an actual domain of mine... so please don't screw things..

[KH-Matt]

That username and password isn't working for me...

[FarCry]

some wise guy obviously changed it... i reset it.

[host4leicester]

I like that one a lot better.
Can you optimize the images a bit more because they take a while to load, it would be better if it was almost instant :)

Also is there going to be a power user skin with the same kind of layout and colour scheme?

Other than that, HUGE improvement!

[jlasman]

I like it as well. My ability to use it will be based on whether or not there's a help site for it.

As I wrote before in another thread, I don't mind doing a help site, but I need some help.

And so far I haven't had any offers <frown>.

And...

If I may be so bold as to ask... can we get a version of it with slightly muted colors?

No? I thought not.

:)

Jeff

[KH-Matt]

One word: WOW!

I like this skin a lot. Icons are nice and very much what I envisioned.

Looking for any beta testers? ;)

[gmilazzo]

this is the best looking skin so far i can't wait for it to come out

[gmilazzo]

this is the best looking skin so far i can't wait for it to come out

[FarCry]

thanks for all the great feedback guys!

---

Muted Colours:
i guess i could

---

Beta testers:
Sorry, no we have about 100 clients on this skin

---

Optimised Images:
yep, i know i REALY need to do this

---

Site-Helper.Com
Also going to be redone by us and DA.. kinda needs to be considering this is going to be the default skin...

---

"Also is there going to be a power user skin with the same kind of layout and colour scheme?"
eh?

[jlasman]

Originally posted by SpinnaHost-Mark
Site-Helper.Com
Also going to be redone by us and DA.. kinda needs to be considering this is going to be the default skin...
Now you've brought up another minor problem....

Those of us who've started with the current skin may very well want to stick with it, at least on the systems we've got installed with it already. So is DA going to maintain two versions of Site-Helper.com?

I'd hope so.

Jeff

[FarCry]

i believe that the current skin wont be around... and if it is, it will be a option thing, not the default.

DirectSkin is going to be the new default skin, hence sitehelper will be directed towards that, sooooo im not sure whats happening in regards to that. i know if it was me, i wouldnt want to look after 2 sites where one is for a redundant skin.

john or mark please correct me if i am wrong

[jlasman]

Mark, I don't know how many customers you've got on DA (I currently have none but I'm starting to move clients today).

Frankly the support issues involved in changing a skin are great. In fact, more than great. I don't know if you've ever managed supports for hundreds of sites; I have.

I'd actually wait for the new skin before moving any clients if I could, but I can't my Plesk Gold Partner license expires in September and I've decided to not renew it.

Depending on how many clients I've got moved by the time the new skin comes out I'm not sure I'd ever want to switch them, even if it meant maintaining my own copy of Site-Helper (which I'm working on now).

Jeff

[FarCry]

i can give you the whole site helper tar file if you want, you can use it freely if you have a DA liscense.

We moved about 150 domains over to the new skin, and only about 20 people said anything, all positive. Some of these users are a little "hosting illerate" and they were very pleased that it made things easier to navigate.

The whole user section is working (other than graphs), now also the reseller section. Im still working on the admin section.. it has some of the old icons mixed in with new, but is fully functional.

If you would like a tar of the skin, i will be putting it up as well as the ai files, psd's, etc when i get source forge project verification today. So you can, if you want, move clients directly onto the new skin. I also have a dutch version of the skin :P

[jlasman]

Originally posted by SpinnaHost-Mark
i can give you the whole site helper tar file if you want, you can use it freely if you have a DA liscense.
Only two licenses as of today, but growing :) . I'm not even hosting yet and already have two licenses.
We moved about 150 domains over to the new skin, and only about 20 people said anything, all positive. Some of these users are a little "hosting illerate" and they were very pleased that it made things easier to navigate.
Pretty much all of our hosting clients are hosting illiterate; we bought a small local ISP years ago and ended up with people who don't know anything. It's gotten so bad I had to learn Front Page :( . And I don't go after new hosting clients as often as I should because most of our business is in supporting other ISPs and hosting companies. But that will change now with DA.
The whole user section is working (other than graphs), now also the reseller section. Im still working on the admin section.. it has some of the old icons mixed in with new, but is fully functional.
By graphs do you mean webalizer or something else?
If you would like a tar of the skin, i will be putting it up as well as the ai files, psd's, etc when i get source forge project verification today. So you can, if you want, move clients directly onto the new skin.
Yes, please let us know when you've got that done, hopefully by a short note here.
I also have a dutch version of the skin :P
Now that would cause me a lot of support calls :) .

Thanks for all your help to the community! And please don't take any of my comments as being negative against your efforts; I don't mean them that way. However, I've been hosting since '95 (definitely one of the first hosting companies in the U.S. if not the first, Linux Kernel version 0.99, one IP# and one domain name on the box, 10 megabytes for us$30/month) so my comments are usually based on years of experience.

Jeff

[FarCry]

cbf quoting and deleting stuff, so im just gonna quote it my way!

"By graphs do you mean webalizer or something else?"
- login to the control panel (player graph details on page 1) look up the top :D

"Yes, please let us know when you've got that done, hopefully by a short note here."
- sourceforge dont work on the weekend.. so this will be put back to monday

"Now that would cause me a lot of support calls ."
- how so?

[jlasman]

Originally posted by SpinnaHost-Mark
"Now that would cause me a lot of support calls ."
- how so?
Did you note my smiley? While some of my clients speak German, I don't believe any of them speak Dutch :) .

Jeff

[FarCry]

heh, sorry i didnt see the smiley :P

did you see what i mean about the graphs?

[jlasman]

Originally posted by SpinnaHost-Mark
heh, sorry i didnt see the smiley :P

did you see what i mean about the graphs?
I haven't had time to look yet; I'm leaving in a minute for a LUG group here in the Southern California desert.

But do you mean graphs on the standard install or on the new skin?

I'll have a look when I get back.

Jeff

[FarCry]

new skin

[RingToons]

A stupid question, but when is this skin availibe?
I like to use it for my customers!

[KH-Matt]

Yes... you said it would be posted Monday but nothing yet, you still going to post a location to get it from?

Thank you very much in advance :)

[FarCry]

sourceforge denied the project, so i'll put it up somewhere else.

[KH-Matt]

This is a forum of hosting providers so if you really need bandwidth, i'm sure one of us can provide it :)

[jlasman]

Let me know what you need in the way of resources, and your expected bandwidth drain, and I'll either provide something or try to get someone else to.

Jeff

[gmilazzo]

i have tons of space and bandwidth if you want i can hook you up

[FarCry]

lol, dw i'm co-owner of a webhosting company i think ive got enough bandwidth :)

ill tar it up now and start a new thread for it