Now, it’s been eight years. Eight years since a young woman named Erynn decided to launch an alternative to TV Tome. Eight years since the initial version of the database holding all of the forum’s posts were put online. Eight years since the first of you decided to give this small website a chance. It’s been a good five years since the last website redesign. Today, I am very, very proud to unveil for you today the first step in a glorious new age for our website.
Lyokofreaks and Lyokophiles, I give you:
Lyoko Freak 2013
Meet the main site
Since 2005, the main site has not had any of its content rewritten. As of today, the main site now is now a hub for what is happening in the community, and a showcase for community content! It will be updated every week* with the happenings of the community.
* Time based on Valve time, update frequency may vary
Introducing the wiki
Taking over the role of organizing data for the site is the brand new Lyoko Freak Wiki! Simple to use, the LF Wiki runs on the same great software that powers Wikipedia, but melds seamlessly into the new design of the website. Only your forum account is needed to access the wiki.
Redesigned with the mobile web in mind
Since 2005, the face of the Internet has changed unimaginably. Every piece of information known to humankind is accessible from our fingertips, whenever and wherever we want to access it. Previously, however, Lyoko Freak was not optimized for the touch screen devices that we use on a regular basis, effectively making accessing the site a massive pain for mobile access. The new site design has been developed around the Bootstrap framework, which has been designed to seamlessly work on both mobile phones and desktop computers. Every corner of the site, be it the main site, the forums, or the wiki, now instantly and elegantly scales to provide a first-class user experience regardless of which device is being used.
Introducing the Showcase
One of the goals of Lyoko Freak is to give the community a way to access the creations of others and to contribute their own creations for all to see. With the Showcase, a new feature on the main site, we celebrate the best of the best, made by the community, chosen by the community. Every six months, a community vote will commence to determine which new pieces of fan work will be added to the Showcase, every April and October. To start it off, I have placed three excellent examples of fan content on the Showcase, as well as all of the legacy content from the old site update.
Now what?
We’re not stopping here and calling it a day. We’re committed to making this site bigger, better, and easier to use. Have any suggestions? Find any bugs? Post a thread in Site Improvement, and describe your concern/criticism/complaint/undying love. Alternatively, contact me via PM or by our new Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr accounts. We’re always looking to make the website easier and more efficient for you to use.
