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Ask HN: Please review my webapp: Da Button Factory - create shiny buttons

dabuttonfactory.com

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Re: Ask HN: Please review my webapp: Da Button Factory - create shiny buttons

#81

Post by palsecam »

pmjordan wrote: post #52
palsecam wrote: post #2

(Web) design is hard. For us programmers, it's a pain in the ass, and when it comes to create UI elements for a (web) app, we are stuck with two choices: 1. create something very basic, or 2. spend countless hours searching the web for Photoshop tutorials on how to create a bubble or depth effect, then spend even-more-countless hours fighting with Photoshop to implement it, and finally, maybe adapt the image with som…

Looks very nice. Note that the preview produced in "CSS Background" mode doesn't seem to work in Opera. (9.6) Niche browser, I'll admit, but good browser support is not asking too much from a service like this.

No no, you are right, it is important, and Opera is not a niche browser in my opinion.

I'll look ASAP at browser issues, but unfortunately I've currently no easy access to several OS/browsers :-/

Re: Ask HN: Please review my webapp: Da Button Factory - create shiny buttons

#82

Post by palsecam »

fragmede wrote: post #44

This is really nicely done. I like it a lot. Branding is important; make a "Buttons by DaButtonFactory.com" button that people can use. Others have already mentioned a colorwheel. Adding that would help usability. Unless I've been doing colors recently, I don't know #f00 from #0f0. Even a simple popup-grid of colors, something like what makebutton.com has for color selection would help here. Minor bugs I came across:…

Thanks for reporting all these things!

- the undo is now ok with the "swap" buttotn

- you can "hammer" the increment/decrement buttons

- the error messages are a bit better ('integer expected' and not 'number expected'). What do you mean by "better all around", what do you think of?

- west/east only shadows are possible

- the title is now a link

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Please review my webapp: Da Button Factory - create shiny buttons

#85

Post by ralph »

palsecam wrote: post #22
alecco wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent. How does it work? :)

The images are queried by Ajax to the server, where a Fast-CGI Perl script generates, caches, and sends the images. Javascript is used, obviously for the Ajax job, for some small visual effects, and to generate the CSS code.

Slide the old button image vertically and put the new one in its place. I'd like to be able to compare the before and after. Also, while it's sliding, I'm distracted from waiting for the new one, but don't make me wait for the slide to finish if the new image is ready to display.

Re: Ask HN: Please review my webapp: Da Button Factory - create shiny buttons

#88

Post by dpurp »

Not bad.

1. On a first glance the interface is a little overwhelming, and I am not sure where to go/what to change first. Have a single column of options that can be expanded/condensed accordion style (think the Mac MS Word formatting sidebar).

2. Buttons produced are only a single image. It would be nice if multiple images/sprites were created (that is, a single image file, with multiple images). The additional images would enable hover and on click capabilities, providing a user with visual feedback that the image is indeed a button, and that it is working. That being said, you may also need to include the relevant CSS necessary for a user to select the correct sprite in each situation.

3. Having the Undo/Redo on the top right seems a bit unnatural. (I didn't even notice these options at first; moving them to the top left may be better?) You might also consider using the standard arrow icons for these options with a text description on the bottom or on the right

4. Other people have already mentioned this, but additional fonts and a color picker would be very useful.

5. The site's layout requires a fairly wide screen. When I don't have my browser window maximized, the layout gets kinda messed up (input boxes flow to the next line abandoning their label).

Re: Ask HN: Please review my webapp: Da Button Factory - create shiny buttons

#90

Post by jackchristopher »

palsecam wrote: post #16
yef wrote: post #14

Great job. The buttons look great for such minimal effort. Suggestions for next steps: 1. Add an easy way to get hover and pushed states for buttons. Basically, provide some clever defaults that allow the user to get all 3 at once with minimal work. 2. Put in a paypal or tip jar link (it can't hurt, right?) 3. Add a pretty attribution link, "Buttons by Da Button Factory" or something.

Thanks for your advice. 1. yes, it's in my mind, it will be the big step towards the "version 2" 2. and 3. it may come ;-)

I don't know if he meant this too but I'd be great to add to the Examples section, a PayPal "Donate" button.

I don't like the standard one, but I'd want users to know it's Paypal. But I don't know if using their logo is be infringement, but you could still use a PayPal-like logo.

I don't like the word "donate", but I'm not sure how that change would effect users actions; that's been the standard for a while. But I like "contribute" and "support".

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