On September 14, 2011, I made a call to all interested web designers/developers to join me on a quest to show the Nigerian community at large that there are still people in the Nigeria capable of walking the talk, with respect to identifying an issue and coming up with a solution, In this case, the look and feel of a website (reference: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-759968.0.html).

I didn't expect more than 5 people to participate but was overwhelmed to have 40 sign up. I budgeted 3 months for the project and we finished a few days shy of that deadline. I didn't know how we would do it or if we would make it. There were a few disagreements here and there but in the end, the overall goal was on our minds. During the course of this volunteer project, I have worked with some of the finest professional and discliplined web developers that Nigeria has to offer and wouldn't hesitate to work with them again.

Enough said, I am proud to present to you our prototype for a redesigned nigeria.gov.ng: http://www.newnigeria.org.ng/ - site credits may be found under the "credits" link, bottom right of the page.

Could it have been better? Could it have been done in less than the 3 months? Could it have been done by 1 person? Sure, to all of the above. What you won't disagree with is that, for a project handled by 40 people and done for free, it is way better than the current nigeria.gov.ng. Again, this is just a prototype. If we were actually paid to do what we did, based on what we've learned so far, some things would change for sure.

What you can do to help promote this effort:
1) Click the "like" button that accompanies each response to this thread on NL
2) Like us on facebook and join the conversation: www.facebook.com/nigeria40
3) Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nigeria40
4) Help promote us to all you know (blogs, fora, friends, family, etc
5) Help push this thread to the front page of NL where it will get maximum exposure

In time, we will be reaching out to various famous bloggers, newspaper journalists, etc.

Our goal:
1) Demonstrate that there are a bunch of individuals ready and capable of handling a job the magnitude of nigeria.gov.ng or something similar for individuals, corporations or government entities

2) Contrary to popular belief, to show that there are still those who believe in the greatness of Nigeria and who are willing to sacrifice to make it better. We all have PHDs (Passion, Hunger and Drive) and will bring this to the table, should you decide to use our services.

Thanks for your time and thanks for those who were aware of this project from inception (https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-759968.0.html) and offered encouraging words, thanks as well.

If you have any questions about the project overall that I haven't addressed, post them here. If I don't get to it, one of the other 39 will.

Thanks for your time

http://newnigeria.org.ng/Not too bad but a lot need to be done. The 'contact' nav text is out of place. The nav banner should be stretched to the same length as the header and footer. The body text and font need to be maximized - too light for a govt page. There is need to move the sidebar for the social media and its related information to the right-hand side on the front page. Little text information on the banner images to explain them. When all these and other observations are cleared it would look better.

This is a repeat of my previous post from the former thread.

all4naija:

http://newnigeria.org.ng/Not too bad but a lot need to be done. The 'contact' nav text is out of place. The nav banner should be stretched to the same length as the header and footer. The body text and font need to be maximized - too light for a govt page. There is need to move the sidebar for the social media and its related information to the right-hand side on the front page. Little text information on the banner images to explain them. When all these and other observations are cleared it would look better.

This is a repeat of my previous post from the former thread.

Pls can you state the browser you viewed the page from?

The website is ok for start. It's now left for people to review it and make suggestions so that changes will be made.

Why una hide the source code na? Abi DHTML don buy the site from una? Na him link i just dey see.

@afam4eva:
It's a redirect/mask from where it is hosted to the newnigeria.org.ng domain.

@all:
Thanks for the input so far. As stated in the OP, things can certainly be better in a paid iteration. This is just a prototype for what could be done and disagree if you must but agree that it is much better than what is out there currently. Also, don't forget to like us on facebook and twitter (@nigeria40) and like us on NL and to spread the word

yawa-ti-de:

@afam4eva:
It's a redirect/mask from where it is hosted to the newnigeria.org.ng domain.

Ohh ok.

Btw, the domain name does not sound nice. I know that there's a popular forum called newnigerians. I also don't like the .org.ng. Except it's a dummy domain which will be changed later.

afam4eva:

Ohh ok.

Btw, the domain name does not sound nice. I know that there's a popular forum called newnigerians. I also don't like the .org.ng. Except it's a dummy domain which will be changed later.

This is a prototype and not an actual work. This can either be integrated into the existing domain name where things will still be further developed or discarded. it's just a dummy website reason why you have dummy contents too.

@*omni
are you omnipotent?

@afam4eva:
Sure, there are a gazillion better names but as we did with everything on the project, we voted upon what we settled with and more importantly, someone spent his own money to buy the domain (as cheap as it may have been, relatively speaking), considering this is a volunteer job.

Secondly, what we've done in no way is meant to compete with the actual site. This is merely a proof of concept and in time we hope to reuse it to offer our consulting services to other projects.

*omni:

Pls can you state the browser you viewed the page from?

It's Google Chrome. That doesn't nullify the fact that a lot need to be done to correct somethings out of place, although, it is a dummy site.

1) On a prototype, you demonstrate what can be done and note corrections for the actual site. So on those terms, we appreciate your input and feedback. In terms of changes being made now, that won't happen as again, it is merely a prototype

2) Yes, it is a dummy site which we hope can be improved upon and turned into an actual site.

Thanks

afam4eva:

@*omni
are you omnipotent?

Think harder!

Please show screencapture of any design errors.

Before you guys start doing your layout judgements, please do a comparison between the former and the later (which is just a prototype) and give a thumbs up or thumbs down. Lets tell everyone we are capable of rebranding Nigeria through patriotism. Please Like the project on facebook and follow on twitter so the word goes round. Cheers.

Welcome to FP!

Am i the only one clicking the FB Like Button?

As with all things in life, there will always be detractors. We can't help it and it is to be expected. What's important is that despite all odds, we stay on point.

yawatide

like your effort

u can check this site for a more comprehensive info
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm

This site is great and lovely, and i only wished i had also contributed to the project, but notwithstanding the navigation needs to be worked on, am currently viewing the site on Google chrome, i know lists and CSS was used on the navigation, but when you hover on the drop down list, the background changes to white, which rests on the page content, which is also white, it makes it look odd, if the navigation can be given a 3d feel navigation like wordpress.org navigation, the navigation will be on the green background top, it will make it look nicer.

But again you people have tried, and may your efforts be rewarded and recognized by our leaders.

Its a dummy, dummies    

As seen on Google Chrome 16.0.912.0

I like your effort so far,

But also look at the attached prototype i came up with some time ago while i was bidding to develop this site from the presidency which is still on board for approvals.

please comment on it.

Dual Core:

Its a dummy, dummies    

yawa-ti-de:

As with all things in life, there will always be detractors.  We can't help it and it is to be expected.  What's important is that despite all odds, we stay on point.

First off, it would be good you guys accept criticism (constructive or destructive ), don't make people scared to say the truth.

My views:

A good attempt but could be better,
I know it's a dummy site so I hope we see better pictures when you guys are through.
Also, do you have any good graphics designer working with you? Take a look at this site. http://nigeriaat50.gov.ng/

This is another one with blue instead of the first one which is green

@nevosys:
Though I prefer your green version, both are equally good. If you are still in the running for the job, I hope you get it

@muskeeto:
If you read all my posts from #1, you will see that I do accept criticism, both constructive and destructive. The 3 things I will NOT accept, no matter what are: Arm chair generals, distractions and monday morning quaterbacking. . . and yes, there is a difference b/w criticisms and the latter 3 things I just mentioned

An improved design for our country's official website is bigger than any one of us. Together with nevosys, we have hopefully kicked off a trend that we hope results in thinking out of the box and future success.

I have chrome but don't c what uv attached. Wat OS r u using and wat screen resolution?

yawa-ti-de:

@nevosys:
Though I prefer your green version, both are equally good.  If you are still in the running for the job, I hope you get it

@muskeeto:
If you read all my posts from #1, you will see that I do accept criticism, both constructive and destructive. The 3 things I will NOT accept, no matter what are: Arm chair generals, distractions and monday morning quaterbacking. . . and yes, there is a difference b/w criticisms and the latter 3 things I just mentioned

An improved design for our country's official website is bigger than any one of us.  Together with nevosys, we have hopefully kicked off a trend that we hope results in thinking out of the box and future success.

It looks out of place. The page takes the dimension of e-commerce. I would prefer if the footer map of Nigeria is relocated or minimized to the barest minimum. The choice of color is bad and I would go for the Nairaland project color representing the national flag colors.

Pls, include" upload button" for videos of corrupt activities round the nation

I am in total support of your effort so far, the design i presented above was already done before i found this tread some months back ( https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-759968.0.html ). I was so much interested and full of gratitude for coming up with the idea of developing a website for our great nation, hence the zeal for me to go ahead wasn't there, because i saw the list of already volunteered Men and Women of honor who beside their busy schedule was willing to contribute their time and expertize to see that the project is a reality. I wish you all the best.

na wetin concern me with this one? abegi joor

I commend the effort. It's a good job. There is an aesthetic imbalance, though. If a graphic artist could do some panel beating of the template, it would be nice.

And thanks for attempting to save Nigeria from the embarrassing version we had! Great job too, @Nevosys.