Another suggestion for the site...

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 11:58 pm

Put a button-link to the forums somewhere at the top of the main news page so people can see it better.

I was talking to a couple peeps who heard of these forums but couldn't find where to access them from the main page, because its down and to the left.

IMO, these forums should get more traffic, and if the forums were more accessible it would help.

Also, sometimes I accidentally hit the irc link just below the forum link. I hate that Wink

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 3:46 pm

No problem I will look into changing that. Good idea!

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 3:51 pm

I adjusted them. How does it look now?

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 3:57 pm

Much better.

I can't help but think the link should be higher up on the page though, to give it more priority. Maybe put it just above the "review" section on the left.

Still its much better. Thank you!

Ultimate Fanboy Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 508

you might consider moving it to the other side tycho...

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 8:09 pm

People tend to look at the left side first...

but I'll let you guys sort it.

Ultimate Fanboy Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 508

I don't think forums rank over content and articles...

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 12:20 am

I'm talking about accessibility, not rank.

Then again, I just read the news on my way to the forums, so I might be biased.

Maybe if, for instance, all those tutorials weren't listed under the heading, and instead a link to a page with links to all the tutorials existed, then the left side wouldn't be so crammed with text links, and everything could be moved up a bit, making everything easier to reach upon loading the main page. That's just one possibility though; you could also have people click on the headings, which would open up a list of related links below it. You could have some type of rollover menu (those are generally despised though).

Something to keep in mind...:
The ideal maximum number for sub-sections is 7, or people tend to forget what was listed when they return to the site.
You guys are slightly exceeding this number, and if the current design scheme continues it will go even further. I don't think listing all those articles on the main page is necessary anyway.

Reducing confusion (not that your site is all that confusing to navigate, but could be improved), should be high on the list of design decisions.
Or in other words, keep it simple.

An alternative would be to implement some type of general horizontal link system towards the top of the page (in addition to a more specific left vertical navigation, like you have).
This could reduce scrolling and make things more readily available, for those who don't wish to deal with the designers idea of what people should be doing immediately at the site.
All aspects of your site should be treated with some sense of equality.
Of course you tend to be a news site primarily, so it makes sense to have a news page as the main page, but this shouldn't mean some things are much harder to reach than others. Your site has many functions, not just news articles.

I am sure a lot of different people have different ideas of what is more important, and you should try to accomodate all (for instance myself Wink

)
but in the end I guess you will do what you want.
I am just trying to give some input, as a person that visits your site daily.

However, since I have been visiting a lot lately, I have gotten used to the navigation, but that does not make the navigation ideal, TBH.

All told, it's a great site! Keep up the good work. Smile

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:04 am

lol, sorry for all that.
I'll just be thankful for the change you already made... it works a lot better, and is more than most websites would have done for thier visitors.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:09 am

Just to give some feedback, I like the new way, makes it stick out more, and it's easily visible. Though, I'm in full agreement with Barbos, forums shouldn't take presidence to the content, afterall, that's what the site is really here for in the end.

/me crawls back into his hole.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 4:34 am

Plumb,

I know that the article listings are starting to get long (which is a good thing as far as content is concerned) and I have some ideas in mind. However I won't be doing any serious thought until after my vacation next month. Any ideas are very much welcomed.

Smile

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 5:11 am

Cool, I was hoping it wouldn't be taken the wrong way. Cool

Long posts kill my confidence Laughing

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 8:51 am

there also a pain to read Razz

jk

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 4:10 pm

I know

sorry. Won't happen again anytime soon Wink

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:42 pm

OK, yet another suggestion for the site Smile

This has to do with forum threads that are more than one page long.

I noticed that the little page number links at the top of the page (both in the thread, and in the thread list), are always the same color. This kind of makes it hard to remember what page you are on, and which ones you have visited.

Maybe make visited ones a darker shade of orange, and make the active ones italic or something.

What do you think?