I’ve been doing a lot of moving around of the directories on the site (offline) and thought I’d share with you guys what I’ve been doing.
I’ve tried to integrate some of the sections so that it looks like each section has more content. First off, there is no more “Features” section. Blue navigation bar will have the “main areas” of the site. If needed, we’ll have a Special Features subsection within the area. I know we were confused about this topic before, so I thought this was the best solution.
Second, I know Mark probably won’t like this (though he has been MIA for almost six months), I’ve made the “Animation Art” into a subsection within the Cartoon area. It just seems logical to do that. The Merchandise area is also going to be a subsection of the Cartoon area as well. If you think about it, most of the merchandise made for ThunderCats was licensed off of the cartoon, so it makes a lot of sense to add it to the Cartoon area. There are exceptions of course, and I will be flexible when needed.
The rest of the areas will stay intact. The major reason why I’m doing all of this is because it makes sense, and two, the cartoon area needs as much content as it can get. With the encyclopedia/bible project coming into it’s own, I want our Cartoon area to be have as much content as possible to go around the said project. It’s more of a strategy tactic that I’m going to use to enhance the two major areas of the site (Cartoon and Toys).
So as of right now, the blue bar will consist of these key areas of the site:
[CENTER]Cartoon | Toys | Comics | Community | About | Site Map[/CENTER]
[LEFT]It is still subject to change as I’m working with Jon to “enhance” the look of the site…which means I’m planning to do more changes in the near future.[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Let me know how you guys feel about the changes and if you have any suggestions. I really feel this is the best way to do things. 
[/LEFT]
That sounds really good. I did think that slight restructure was required, and it seems that you are addressing this. As far as I am concerned I have no problems with that proposal. Look forward to seeing the changes!
Keep it up
Chris here…
The only thing I personally wouldn’t have done is incorporated the Merchandise Section into the Cartoon Section, and the only reason I say that is because whilst it’s fair to say that a lot (in reality probably the majority) of the merchandise did come off of the back of the cartoon, I still feel it is better suited to its own section rather than being lumped in with the cartoon stuff, because it isn’t really directly to do with the cartoon itself.
Otherwise, I completely, totally agree with the decisions you’ve made, and if I’m being honest as far as the Animation Art section is concerned I think it should have been part of the Cartoon Section from day 1. After all, what are animation cels if not an intrinsic part of the cartoon?! 
And, I agree that each section should have its own “Features” section when needed, rather than a dedicated “Features” section off of the navigation bar.
Keep up the fantastic work, Manny!
Take care…
Perhaps Merchandise should be divided into 2 areas cartoon related merchandise and Misc Toy merchandise. Not all merchandise will fall under Cartoon since there is merchandise out there like Role Playing costumes that would fall under toys. If its more cartoon related then it could be put under cartoon but if its something more of a toy then it should be put under toys
I agree with Manny on the Merchandise issue. I feel that sticking it all in the cartoon section may not be the answer. I would associate merchandise more with the toys section than I would with the cartoon section. Toys are technically merchandise when you think about it.
It should be obvious what is considered toys and what is considered general merchandise. Things like bed sheets or lamp shades would not be considered toys by any means I guess we’ll have to decide depending on what kind of merchandise it is. Most of it IMO will fall under toys and although it is not strictly related to LJN it is toys after all. Placing “merchandise” under cartoon will make people wonder exactly what area they are viewing if its cartoon or if its toys. We dont want to confuse fans just to make the cartoon section stand out more because it has the extra merchandise content. If it means putting all merchandise under the Cartoon section regardless if it falls under toy theme or cartoon theme then I’m strongly against that. But if the merchandise will be separated into toy themed and cartoon themed then by all means
You guys have good points, but I still feel that most, if not all of the merchandise I’ve seen comes from cartoon licensing. Heck, the toys are all based on the cartoon.
And like I said, I will be flexible when it comes to where things will go. The Toy Area of the site has a ton of content as it is – I just feel that if we can put some things in the Cartoon Area, it will strengthen it that much more. Toys are toys, no matter if it’s LJN or not. I don’t consider mini-figures or radio controlled Thundertanks merchandise…they are toys. But folders, costumes, cassette tapes, books, calendars, bed sheets – those are all based on the cartoon license. I’m not going to make a merchandise section under the Toy Area simply because it’s not merchandise that I’m assuming you guys are talking about.