I think the colour of the side boxes should be a bit lighter, so that the contrast with the text is better. Perhaps the background colour of the page should be a bit lighter too, as the background white of the middle section seems a bit too bright. Also, the menu bar at the top of the page ("Stories", "Rebuttals", etc) could do with standing out a bit better. But apart from that, I like it! It's definitely an improvement!
I'm actually a fan of the background color; the sidebars and top bar might be a little lighter, but I'm good with them as they are. It's the width of the sidebars that gets me, they're too narrow for my taste and I don't like how the story titles in the archives are so scrunched. If the widths were in percentages instead of fixed that would be good, if that would work with the background
The font on the logo is a bit too bright and blurry for me - I preferred the old banner. Using a version of the old banner would break up some of the solid red going on, too. The sidebars seem to overwhelm the main part of the page. The low percentage opacity of the sidebars makes the text difficult to read. Having the font of the stories unbolded would make them easier to read. I like the red of the background, but would make it a shade or two darker for better contrast.
It's kind of atrocious. The background has already been commented on, but the sidebars are bad. They're far too wide, the center is too narrow for comfortable viewing. If I try to widen the page, it just stretches and adds more background instead of opening up the center. Both sidebars are far too busy. The search function should be placed higher on the sidebar, right now it's off the screen on first viewing and has to be searched for. (not a good thing for a search function) The archive should probably be it's own tab, it drives the page length right now. The "most popular" section is unnecessary and just causes clutter. If you really like it, I'd suggest shortening it to one or two at the most. "In the media" and "friends" should also be put elsewhere. This reminds me of a mid 90's website now. Everything is thrown on the front page willy-nilly and obstructs ease of access. It looks very disorganized. Webpages are supposed to provide information (in whatever form) and with this site the information is the stories. Right now, the background and sidebars draw attention away from the center where the information is. Regardless of what I have to say, it is your website and you should do with it what you wish. If other readers are happy then I'm the odd man out. It may also be all the red on the page that's driving my irritation. Red is a very aggressive color and provokes a like response. http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/color/coloremo.htm
Thanks for the thorough notes. The background, surrounding the main site, has always been the dark red. My concern for making the center too wide is that not everyone is running at a higher res.
To be fair, I think that it's a lot better organized now, and that its previous iteration was far more willy-nilly, all stuffed together on the right.
I'll keep experimenting, although I'm pretty close to settling on this basic design.
I likes it. The only glitch I have, is when I open the stories using the titles from the right hand side, it directs me to the bottom of the comments page and not the top where the story is. Therefore, I have to scroll up to read it. It happened just prior to the redesign...I use Safari, if that helps?
JMG, I think the site has gone through some good changes in the last few months. I like the nested replies in the comments. I think Howie is referring to an anchor tag that should be near the "Comments" header instead of the comments box - you had fixed that a few months ago but it's back again.
I think you're putting too much padding in the archives list to the right -->, since it seems very scrunched.
I agree with Wolfe's comment that there are just too many "popular" links - it makes the site really long. I didn't even know there WAS a search bar until someone said something in these comments. I think your ads are very prominent but not obtrusive, and that's admirable.
I need to comment that, as a graphic and web designer, I am not a fan of your color choices or your header. The typography in the header is not beautiful, and kind of gives the impression that a sixth-grader designed it. I think you were going for something lovable and gentle, but maybe try some of the free fonts on this site: http://www.exljbris.com/ (I am not affiliated with that site - I just like the fonts and they are free). Something like Fertigo Pro would give you a nice sans-serif font to headline your site with, giving a whimiscal feel while also making people take your site seriously. Something like Fontin would be nice for the subhead.
As far as the colors go, if the sidebars were in a complementary color rather than the same, people would be less overwhelmed by all the red. The background red is beautiful, but the sidebars are too much. Try a nice warm yellow or a khaki-beige - it will go a long ways towards lightening up the site.
Amanda, thanks for your thoughtful input. The site's always had at least seven stories on the front page, in fact, it's shorter now than it's ever been, and the popular stories have been around for months. I figure that if people don't want to read them, they won't.
Agreed on the sidebar colors. I'll experiment with making the right sidebar thicker, although I don't want to leave any of our low-res cousins behind.
I still might play around with the header, and I'll check out those fonts. Thanks for the link!
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Other than the colours I think it's a nice improvement.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Andrew. Still tweaking away.
ReplyDeleteI like the colors personally, but I'm on the mobile version.
ReplyDeleteI like it. Everything's all neat and in place and easier to find. I like the side bars.
ReplyDeleteDitto^
ReplyDeleteI have to harp on the background color. A bit too drab and dreary. Otherwise it looks cleaner and easier to read.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was similar to the dark red I used before. I'll experiment with it over the forthcoming days.
ReplyDeleteI think the colour of the side boxes should be a bit lighter, so that the contrast with the text is better. Perhaps the background colour of the page should be a bit lighter too, as the background white of the middle section seems a bit too bright. Also, the menu bar at the top of the page ("Stories", "Rebuttals", etc) could do with standing out a bit better. But apart from that, I like it! It's definitely an improvement!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'll experiment with the colors over the next day or so.
ReplyDeleteThat background red is rather too strong imo. Makes the site look too much like a Christmas decoration tbh.
ReplyDelete^
DeleteI'm actually a fan of the background color; the sidebars and top bar might be a little lighter, but I'm good with them as they are. It's the width of the sidebars that gets me, they're too narrow for my taste and I don't like how the story titles in the archives are so scrunched. If the widths were in percentages instead of fixed that would be good, if that would work with the background
ReplyDeleteAlso I really like the new banner, ignore the person below :P I think having a chunk of white up there would look bad.
DeleteThe font on the logo is a bit too bright and blurry for me - I preferred the old banner. Using a version of the old banner would break up some of the solid red going on, too. The sidebars seem to overwhelm the main part of the page. The low percentage opacity of the sidebars makes the text difficult to read. Having the font of the stories unbolded would make them easier to read. I like the red of the background, but would make it a shade or two darker for better contrast.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of atrocious.
ReplyDeleteThe background has already been commented on, but the sidebars are bad. They're far too wide, the center is too narrow for comfortable viewing. If I try to widen the page, it just stretches and adds more background instead of opening up the center.
Both sidebars are far too busy. The search function should be placed higher on the sidebar, right now it's off the screen on first viewing and has to be searched for. (not a good thing for a search function)
The archive should probably be it's own tab, it drives the page length right now.
The "most popular" section is unnecessary and just causes clutter. If you really like it, I'd suggest shortening it to one or two at the most.
"In the media" and "friends" should also be put elsewhere.
This reminds me of a mid 90's website now. Everything is thrown on the front page willy-nilly and obstructs ease of access. It looks very disorganized.
Webpages are supposed to provide information (in whatever form) and with this site the information is the stories. Right now, the background and sidebars draw attention away from the center where the information is.
Regardless of what I have to say, it is your website and you should do with it what you wish. If other readers are happy then I'm the odd man out.
It may also be all the red on the page that's driving my irritation. Red is a very aggressive color and provokes a like response. http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/color/coloremo.htm
Thanks for the thorough notes. The background, surrounding the main site, has always been the dark red. My concern for making the center too wide is that not everyone is running at a higher res.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I think that it's a lot better organized now, and that its previous iteration was far more willy-nilly, all stuffed together on the right.
I'll keep experimenting, although I'm pretty close to settling on this basic design.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI likes it.
ReplyDeleteThe only glitch I have, is when I open the stories using the titles from the right hand side, it directs me to the bottom of the comments page and not the top where the story is. Therefore, I have to scroll up to read it. It happened just prior to the redesign...I use Safari, if that helps?
That's an issue I'm working on. It works fine in Chrome, and I thought it worked fine in Safari. I'll keep checking into it.
DeleteDuh...sorry dude. I'm not with it today. It WORKS in Safari at home...not on Firefox in prison...I mean, work. Thanks!
DeleteJMG, I think the site has gone through some good changes in the last few months. I like the nested replies in the comments. I think Howie is referring to an anchor tag that should be near the "Comments" header instead of the comments box - you had fixed that a few months ago but it's back again.
ReplyDeleteI think you're putting too much padding in the archives list to the right -->, since it seems very scrunched.
I agree with Wolfe's comment that there are just too many "popular" links - it makes the site really long. I didn't even know there WAS a search bar until someone said something in these comments. I think your ads are very prominent but not obtrusive, and that's admirable.
I need to comment that, as a graphic and web designer, I am not a fan of your color choices or your header. The typography in the header is not beautiful, and kind of gives the impression that a sixth-grader designed it. I think you were going for something lovable and gentle, but maybe try some of the free fonts on this site: http://www.exljbris.com/ (I am not affiliated with that site - I just like the fonts and they are free). Something like Fertigo Pro would give you a nice sans-serif font to headline your site with, giving a whimiscal feel while also making people take your site seriously. Something like Fontin would be nice for the subhead.
As far as the colors go, if the sidebars were in a complementary color rather than the same, people would be less overwhelmed by all the red. The background red is beautiful, but the sidebars are too much. Try a nice warm yellow or a khaki-beige - it will go a long ways towards lightening up the site.
Hope this helps.
Amanda, thanks for your thoughtful input. The site's always had at least seven stories on the front page, in fact, it's shorter now than it's ever been, and the popular stories have been around for months. I figure that if people don't want to read them, they won't.
DeleteAgreed on the sidebar colors. I'll experiment with making the right sidebar thicker, although I don't want to leave any of our low-res cousins behind.
I still might play around with the header, and I'll check out those fonts. Thanks for the link!
That sidebar color is niiiiiice.
DeleteLooks good to me.
ReplyDeleteI like that the stories are still of really Bad Dates!
When you click on comments or random stories, the page moves to the end of the comments which is really annoying. Otherwise its ok
ReplyDelete