My website - what's your opinion?

[Julia.Ru]

Hi all!
I've recently launched my website Lemonade.su - please, have a look and give your opinion.

[pschriel]

Hi Julia,

I like the design, but I would like to see more content. In my opinion the two stories you submitted are too short.

While checking out the links on your site, somehow I submitted a complaint.

Btw, I like the idea that people can submit their own stories.

[givejonadollar]

I think the fact that people can submit their own stories is what could make it a success.

It's a young blog but I actually think it has potential.

Good luck!

[yogendraji]

quiet like run of the mill
1 more in the enormous sea of gyan but no ZERO help

[noitcefrep]

I was turned off immediately because of the very common phrase "when life gives you lemons...".

There is no central focus area on the page, so your eye is wondering everywhere to find out what the page is about. Is it about sending personal stories about emotions? I really couldn't tell, and a passerby wouldn't invest 5 seconds into finding out the purpose of the website - it has to be IMMEDIATLY apparent.

The graphics are very early-internet style, and for that reason I would be inclined to believe it is a dated, obsolete website.

And what's with the "3" that you can click that turns it into a "4". Didn't get that at all.

Look at the websites listed on these pages. Study them. What do they have in common? What do they have that your website is lacking? What does your website have that these sites are lacking?

Best Web Gallery - Flash + CSS Gallery

The Best Designs - The Best Flash and CSS Web Design Gallery

Here are some links to fantastic resources in graphic design and web design.

40 Sources To Download High-Quality Free Photoshop PSD Stuff | Showcases | instantShift

Good luck in improving your website!

[gamingaffiliatesguide]

this site needs more work and focus but I think it is better to start with a new template. Are you using a CMS? If you are not why not try Wordpress and get a free blog template that is easier on the eyes and better to organize your content for the readers.

[Julia.Ru]

Thank you all for your opinions.
I think my main mistake is that I haven't made it clear on this website that it's NOT a blog at all! It's more like a forum, or a guest book.
It's a service for confessions - for example, when a person had a bad day or a success, or when they made a mistake, etc. and have no one to talk to about it or prefer not doing it in real life, then they may make a confession on my website and others may leave a comment or simply press "Hold on!" button to cheer them up.
I wrote what this website is for in the right part of it - probably, it's hard to notice it? Or should I write exactly that this place is for confessions?
So, it'a COMPLETELY for other people's stories. I put my own story "As the years are passing by" just for a start, to welcome others. And the story "Self-Esteem and Happiness" above it is meant to be a general discussion that would probably be changed every 2-3 weeks.
Should I write "Add a comment" instead of just "Comments" to welcome comments from other people, by the way?

As for the web design, yeah it's pretty simple, but I wanted to make it plain and simple, and as for flash - wouldn't it take much time to download the pages and wouldn't it prevent Google, etc. to index my website?

The website is built on MySQL (my sister made it, she's a programmer), by the way.

[newmark]

I also think your site needs more content. Why would people go there in the first place? If you write interesting articles, then people will be more likely to share their own stories.

And the phrase 'when life gives you lemons...' is too commonplace.

[noitcefrep]

Originally Posted by Julia.Ru

As for the web design, yeah it's pretty simple, but I wanted to make it plain and simple, and as for flash - wouldn't it take much time to download the pages and wouldn't it prevent Google, etc. to index my website?

Flash websites do tend to load slower, however if done properly should load quick and have no problem being indexed by google. I didn't intend to promote flash (I noticed afterwards that most of the links I sent to you were flash related), but instead I wanted to show you the characteristics of attractive web designs, and what you should do to achieve a better look. I understand going for the simplistic look, however it's important to look modern, and thus relevant. Here is another resource you may find helpful.

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/desig...c-web-designs/

[Julia.Ru]

Thanks for the links, noitcefrep, - I'll look through them.
As for the content, still it's definitely not going to be a blog and there won't be any articles.
Honestly speaking, this idea of a website for confessions made by other visitors is not mine. Some time ago I asked on these forums for advice regarding what website I could do. One of members gave me a good piece of advice - to take a good idea and make it better. So, I saw such kind of a website and made almost the same, only in English. So, I think this idea will work for sure, as the traffic of that website is 700 visits per day. What I mean is that people need such a site.

[Crushable]

Seems like your trying to do something like Fmylife.com

You need to make the focus about the site a little more clear, so when someone hits the site they immediately know what it is and what is is not. I say that because this is a slight problem with my site, I'm always asked "where do I sign up?"

"when life gives you lemons you make lemonade" should be the tagline of your site, not the title. Take my site Super Awesome Dating | Find love, Be Happy. Awesome. Title then tagline.

Focus on one theme not multiple themes, like Fmylife is about frustrating experiences, you site "feeling depressed, or feeling happy? Share it!" Is not focused enough. Fmylife is popular because the stories are short and entertaining and have the same theme.

[InterfaceLeader]

You need to make it a lot clearer what the site is for, and how it's meant to be used. I too was confused by the 'hold on' number button - what's it for? It doesn't look like a button either, which doesn't help.

The design itself doesn't feel simple, it feels old-fashioned and amateurish. There are SO MANY good, free/cheap templates and themes out there.... although, equally I feel that with something slightly off-the-beaten track like this you would want to look at getting a custom design with a very solid interface. Because this isn't a blog or a forum, you don't want a theme that's designed for a blog or a forum.

Good design tells people what things are, what they need to do, without spelling it out. Your site needs some of that.

I do like the idea for the site. You just need to make it more accessible.

[AaronA]

Originally Posted by InterfaceLeader

The design itself doesn't feel simple, it feels old-fashioned and amateurish. There are SO MANY good, free/cheap templates and themes out there.... although, equally I feel that with something slightly off-the-beaten track like this you would want to look at getting a custom design with a very solid interface. Because this isn't a blog or a forum, you don't want a theme that's designed for a blog or a forum.

Good design tells people what things are, what they need to do, without spelling it out. Your site needs some of that.

Hi IF,

I wanted to ask a follow-up question, and hopefully the original poster would find it on point as well. You mention that the page isn't a blog or a forum, so you wouldn't want to use a template intended for those. So, what are some good non-blog, non-forum themes? And, does that also mean that you would not use WordPress, but some other "full-bodied" CMS?

Aaron

[Julia.Ru]

Thanks for the opinions again.
Yes, my website is something like Fmylife, though on the website I copied it from, there are also various themes, desperate and happy altogether, and it was really nice to see stories about one's dreams and hopes on that website. Plus on my website (like on the one I copied), there are several categories for stories.

As for the design, seems like I really need to make it more modern, I'm just not a professional web-designer and didn't want to steal ready-made pictures from anywhere, so I made them with the help of just my Photoshop skills plus I'm not that creative when it comes to images... but still something may be done with the design.

As for the structure, I still like its simplicity. The "Hold On" link - I also didn't understand the necessity of using it on that website, but decided to apply it anyway, just felt it might be a not bad idea in the long run. Regarding using templates, I don't think some kind of CMS will suit me. As far as I understand, it doesn't even require skills in programming. Why using it if my website it's based on MySQL?

Anyway, I've made some changes to better the focus of the website (I'll change the design a bit later) and we're going to upload it soon.

[ginkgo]

There are lots of blog sites that use wordpress and people can leave a link to their site in their name. You do not have that. People are more inclinded to leave a comment if it has a link to their site.

Also your signature does not have a link to your site so people have to copy and paste. Make it a link.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

I will try to show you the code by using { instead of [

{B}{URL="lemonade.su"}When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade{/URL}{/B}

[Julia.Ru]

Thanks, ginkgo.

[brendannz]

I'd make these links;

"STORIES All Love Hatred Hopes and Dreams Self-Esteem Fears Mistakes Miscellaneous"

Slightly bigger