Libertines website - version two

23rd November 2004

I’m pleased to announce that we’ve finally completed version two of The Libertines official website. They’re still together, so it’s still important.

As you may know, version one was a rush job, turned around in three days. Eventually, we got back to the project and souped it up to give all the fans a very comprehensive members section. Importantly from our point of view, the site no longer uses ugly frames, all the forms are fully accessible, and the whole thing (aside from a couple of oddments) validates as XHTML transitional. Huge kudos goes to Creation Management for letting us give them an accessible site - unusual for a band’s website. Most of the juicy content is for members only, so if you wanna know more about the details, read on…

Going in and giving it a shake

The first task was to remove the frameset that the band were keen to retain, and was a serious drawback in our initial swift build. So, we got rid of that, which meant rebuilding the XML-powered Flash headers to be smaller, as they’d be reloading on every page. Next, we built a comprehensive members section - disguising content from non-members, building a series of preference forms, biography templates, and tools such as user-to-user emails. It was key that we used fully accessible forms, and I must credit Malarkey for his tutorial which refreshed my memory on the finer points there, and also this from Cameron Adams.

We had to dismantle much of our initial hastily-bashed-out code, and build again from the ground up. There’s still plenty of bits that are messy, and I advise you don’t look at the CSS just yet - it’s a ramshackle tip.

User-based discography

Next, we built a stupidly far-too-nice-to-the-fans Discography section, where the “Liberteenies” can log in and talk about each individual track, view guitar tabs, lyrics, cover artwork and much more. They can view a full list, or view by release. This was key to getting them really involved, and just one of the devices used to keep ‘em coming back. We’re also using random comments to drive them from page to page, and get some real dialogue going.

Let the fans swear!

Thankfully, the fine folks at Creation Management see the worth in giving the fans free reign. Most music sites repel any kind of fans interaction, except for heavily moderated forums. Here, fans can give their two-penneth about any news item, gig listing, record, or even external links. They can swear as much as they like, and we all like that. The Libertines are very careful to treat their fans with respect, and there is little distance between the two. The site had to reflect this.

Let me know what you think

So, I’d be interested to know what y’all think of this version. I’m sure there are a few more quirks to iron out, but it validates (aside from one page which I’m looking into), it’s accessible, it makes sense without styles or Javascript, and it hands a lot of power to the moderators and the fans. We also hope it fits the Libertines general raggedness and verve. They may not be together much longer, but the fans wil always need a sounding board.

There is still more we’d like to do, but we’re still not sure of the band’s future. I’d love to simplify the Flash menu a little, but we were keen to shrink that header and free up more page space. Oh, and if you’ve no idea who this band is, you must be in jail, or dead. Go and buy Up The Bracket from Amazon. Or, in true Libs spirit, download it illegally…or steal it from a shop.

Incidentally, top marks to Alan who came in and rattled out the Flash movies for us. Go visit his folio. It’s got robots on it.

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