Post tutorial Report RSS Your Mod's Website

Tips, advice and suggestions on starting and running a website for your mod. Covers layout, backend, hosting, domain and advice on FTP access, content, updating and community.

Posted by on - Basic Website

[page=Introduction]
Before I begin, I know there's already a few tutorials available here on modDB on starting a website for your mod. I'm not trying to copy them or improve upon them or replace them or anything like that. I'm simply offering my advice as a long time web designer profficient in graphics, programming and management on the subject. So without further ado, let's begin.

Your mods website is it's home. It'll serve as a tool for getting people onboard with your ideas, getting word out about your mod, building a fan base, letting visitors know about your progress and eventually unleashing your creation onto the world.

[page=Layout]
If you have an unprofessional, messy layout it'll turn off visitors. On the flip side, if you have a layout that's overly complex it will also scare away guests. The trick is to make it as quick, easy and painless as possible for your visitor to find the information they want. I personally recommend making every page or section on your site accessible from an easy to locate menu along the top or left or right edge of every page. I know it sounds boring and cliche, but you gotta keep in mind certain "standards" exist because they simply work best.

If you don't know what you're doing, don't make your site "atmospheric". Things like modelling your site after the website of the evil corporation in your mod only confuses visitors.

When it comes to the graphical design of your layout, either get someone on your team that really knows what he's doing with graphic design, slicing, formatting, web programming and uploading to do it, recruit a talented web designer specifically for the task, or keep it simple. Don't try and do something overly fancy if you're inexperienced. Take Amazon.com for example, it's one of the biggest sites online and it hardly has a graphically intense layout.

[page=Backend]
When it comes to a websites backend, you have a few options. For starters, if your site is small you may want to simply forego a backend alltogether. I personally think backends are only really valuable for large database sites, such as modDB.

What I recommend instead of a full-blown backend is scripts. scripts are self-contained bits of code that make it easier to do things like update news on the main page or maintain an image gallery. scripts are powerful, can usually be customized to suit your needs, and often come with documentation detailing how to install and use them.

Be warned though, scripts can be tricky and sometimes give an air of unproffessionality if they don't match your site. Chances are you're better off simply updating your site manually. However, I don't want to discourage you from possibly making your life easier. Just know that scripts can be tricky devils, so keep your guard up when working with them if you're new to this sort of thing.

Hotscripts.com is an excellent source for free and commercial web based scripts in various languages.

[page=Hosting and Domain]
Lots of fan sites will host mods for their specific game for free. Gamespy's "Planet" sites are a good example. If you really want to look proffessional though, and can afford to cough up some cash, you'll probably want your own host and domain.

A host is the company or group that provides the server on which you put all the files that make your website run. I'm personally a fan of ipower.com, they include a free domain name with one of their hosting packages and are particularly inexpensive. I've always been more than satisfied with their tech support and uptime as well. However there are a LOT of hosts out there, so ask around before making the buy.

A domain is the actual www.yourmodssitename.com that people type into their browser to access your server. Yes, you have to buy that as well. When you're purchasing your sites domain name, pick something simple and easy to remember. Avoid using dashes and, if it's available, get a .com instead of a .net or .org. .com is the most common top level domain and will be easier to remember for your visitors checking back for updates or giving the URL to their friends. Also keep it short, but avoid acronyms if possible. You may also want to consider buying other versions of the domain and having them direct to your site, but I'd only recommend using the money if you're really, really serious as domain names add up fast.

Nothing's wrong with a free host like planetunreal.com though, just avoid using places like geocities as they absolutely scream, "unproffessional".

[page=Upload Access]
This section is written due to some of my own personal experiences and will probably come off as sounding bitter, because I am a tad. When your working on your mods website you'll need to upload things onto your host's server. This is usually done via an FTP client, I'd recommend SmartFTP or CuteFTP. To use the file transfer protocol you need a username and password that should be given to you by your host, along with the proper addresses to connect to.

Be very careful who you give FTP access to.
I can name three sites I've worked at or run where Person A gave FTP access to Person B only to have Person B get upset and leave the staff, but not before deleting the entire site with the FTP access granted him by Person A. It is possible with some hosts to make a different FTP account for each team member. Just be sure you can quickly delete this account yourself (without having to ask tech suport to do it for you) in the event a team member goes crazy.

A great alternative to communist FTP access is scripts, as in the ones mentioned but two pages ago. A lot of news and gallery scripts allow internet based control panel access for multiple users, very similar to what modDB has setup here with their User Control Panels.

[page=Content and Updating]
One of the major reasons for running a website is to get word out about your mod and keep people insterested in it until and after release so you get as many players as possible. To keep people interested in the site is to keep people interested in the mod. To keep people interested in the site is to provide fun content and updates.

Downloads make great content and updates. Things like music, screenshots, renders. Wallpapers are doubley devious as whenever the visitor boots up his or her PC he's flashed in the face with your mods logo and is reminded how excited he is about it. Don't get so caught up in media that you forget information though. While it's true a picture is worth a thousand words, it's difficult to explain what your game is all about or convey a story with a picture. Don't forget to post videos if you can, as everyone loves a good trailer.

Keep the world updated on your mods progress via the front page as well with frequent news posts. Don't take so much time out of your schedule to update every time you finish some cool, new, little feature, but try to update frequently enough visitors get in the habit of returning.

[page=Community]
A community is an extremely useful tool for your website and your mod. It brings fans of your work together, allowing them to all build off eachothers excitement and get even MORE excited! It also gives you an opportunity to interact with your fans on a personal level and get to know the people that'll be playing your masterpiece. Lastly, it gives people a good reason to come back to the site beyond updates you make to it.

Forums are probably the best method for building a community. phpBB is one of the better free boards available. If you think investing in a nicer bulletin board will pay off, then you may want to consider vBulletin. IRC chatrooms are also another good community builder. Don't ask me about IRC though, it isn't my cup of tea. Another extremely complex but possibly very cool community idea is in-game stats tracking that's displayed on the mods site.

Be careful about community integration into the site however. It's possible to get carried away, and this can actually scare off potential signer-up-ers. Not to mention it isn't neccessary and will most likely turn out to be time and energy that would've been better spent working on your actual mod.

[page=Closing Words and a Warning]
At the end of the day, if you have no idea what to do, you may just want to bring a web designer/master onto the team to create, maintain and update the mods site so you can focus on actually getting that brilliant mod of yours finished. Give some online tutorials a try first though, as websites are a lot simpler than they seem at first. Check out WebMonkey if you're a complete newbie with no idea what to do.

I must offer a Word of Warning to all of you though. Be careful how much time and energy you spend on your website. I've seen many a mods with incredibly brilliant websites, but that never get finished. Don't let your website be too much of a focus, as your number one priority should be simply to make an excellent, fun modification. Don't get me wrong, a good website is important, but don't forget what the website is for.

I hope that helps some of you, even if just in a very small way. I've been around this great 'ol internet of ours for quite a while and I've learned a lot. I simply hope I've managed to pass some of that onto you.

Post comment Comments
Crispy
Crispy

Thanks for the advice, it was clearly presented and informative. I liked the fact it touched on elements of PR and Mod Leadership prioritisation as well as giving sound advice on design and implementation. The links are helpful addition.

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Jossse
Jossse

hey... on Tony Hawk's Underground 2, on "mardi grass" level the girls raise their t-shirts!! ya... but its "censored" :(
anyone knows how can i mod that ****??
or a program that can modificate the textures??
or a thug2 mod??
please... it will help me on my new mod... :)

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NinjaTheory
NinjaTheory

i've been into gfx and web deisgn for a few years, tho i've skipped on the web stuff for im sure at least a year lol

my team just recently started up a hlao mod for homeworld, and i made a site, and i mroe read this to double check to make sure i didn't do anything wrong/give me improvement ideas lol as far as i can tell..nothing wrong...but still room for improvment, which is always a plus :p

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