Web Site Critique

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by OnionJack

Check out this link Digg / tools / integrate

Yeah, I looked at that page, but it only works for "news and video", which wouldn't work because my lists arent either of those.

Originally Posted by OnionJack

Also just as a side note. It looks like your in college right now. I'm not sure how big your social circle is. But if you can even start with Top Ten lists that intrigue/insight other students to respond, that can at least start helping with your traffic.

Are you reffering to basic viral marketing here to get the word out?

[OnionJack]

You can try » Digg This - Wordpress Plugin Aviran’s Place - The Technology Hangout

But that looks more complicated to me. I believe you could get away with the original digg integrate. As your top ten lists still fall under categories they list it seems like.

And yes that's all I was referring to was basic viral marketing. And the thought also popped in my head maybe you also want to do Blog comments on other people top ten lists until your traffic ramps up. For example here's some that were on Digg recently.

Digg - 10 Drinks Guys Should Never Order...

Also

*Edit didn't properly format first time Digg - Top 10 Things America Would Have if it was Actually a Democracy.

And to finish it off, it may not be a top 10 ordered list but 10 great things from star wars

Digg - Ten Great Moments from Star Wars: A New Hope.

**Another Edit: I've been looking at the site a lot inbetween writings comments here on my take on it. One thing I've lacked a notice of is pictures. You may want to look into a stock photo site like STOCKXPERT - Royalty free stock photography community

And I wanted to note I like your logo. Simple works best.

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by OnionJack

You can try » Digg This - Wordpress Plugin Aviran’s Place - The Technology Hangout

But that looks more complicated to me. I believe you could get away with the original digg integrate. As your top ten lists still fall under categories they list it seems like.

After days of messing around with the plugin, tring to learn about it, it has been too complicated for me.

Is there any place to just get some text link code that says "digg this" (Maybe even for other sites too, such as delicious, stumbleupon text links, etc.)

[hotwired]

Hi
I'm up early and my eyes are a little tired and that's a good thing in this case because I just learned something new!! Because my eyes are "lazy" this morning, the first thing I notice about your site is that everything grabs your attention equally. And therefore, I don't really focus on ANYTHING. My suggestion would be to put some emphasis on something, preferably in the content area, maybe also list your newest lists instead of the blogging invite?

[PicklePaws]

At first glance, I had no idea what kind of site it is, I was actually surprised to find that it's actually fun.

You should put a few "sample" lists right there on the front page, not just links to them, and maybe work in a picture or some other graphic element. Your site says Toptenlisted, but if I don't SEE those lists immediately, I'm not going to take the effort to go digging for them.

The design of your site is clean, but it's a little conservative-looking, so you aren't letting the viewer know immediately that they have arrived at something entertaining. I enjoy the irony of something so methodical as a list attached to something so emotionally charged as believing in God. I think if you change the "feel" of your site, you will attract more people to stay; you only have about a second to convince a reader that your site is worth his/her time.

[jamestl2]

Thanks for the input

Originally Posted by hotwired

the first thing I notice about your site is that everything grabs your attention equally. And therefore, I don't really focus on ANYTHING. My suggestion would be to put some emphasis on something, preferably in the content area, maybe also list your newest lists instead of the blogging invite?

I thought I was making an emphasis on the diversity of my lists and that users can even write and submit their own lists. Although I do list my latest lists, towards the bottom-left, mixed in with the RSS feed, maybe that should just be placed higher so it is more noticeable.

Originally Posted by PicklePaws

You should put a few "sample" lists right there on the front page, not just links to them, and maybe work in a picture or some other graphic element. Your site says Toptenlisted, but if I don't SEE those lists immediately, I'm not going to take the effort to go digging for them.

I was thinking about adding a graphic element, but I didn’t want to add anything too flashy. Besides, I have no idea what kind of graphics would e appropriate for my type of site, and also the fact that it may slow down my hosting bandwidth.

Originally Posted by PicklePaws

The design of your site is clean, but it's a little conservative-looking, so you aren't letting the viewer know immediately that they have arrived at something entertaining. I enjoy the irony of something so methodical as a list attached to something so emotionally charged as believing in God. I think if you change the "feel" of your site, you will attract more people to stay; you only have about a second to convince a reader that your site is worth his/her time.

By “conservative-looking”, do you refer to the color, or the specific layout the theme offers? What do you mean by feel? Believe me, I’ve changed the theme countless times over, and decided to go with a simple, clean theme, which received positive design reviews from other sites.

[jamestl2]

Also, I was able to find a plugin that offered plenty of social bookmark links, so I have that problem solved.

[PicklePaws]

It's a great design, it just looks like it belongs to a more serious site. By "feel" I mean the feeling that the site gives the viewer; your site feels serious, there is no visual offer of entertainment. I would trust your site to do my taxes for me. A small graphic shouldn't slow things down.

[jamestl2]

I gave my site a completley new theme and made a few minor changes, like adding forums.

I think it looks MUCH better than the previous theme I was using, so if anyone has comments about it, I'd welcome them.

PS: pertaining to my forums, I'm still working on them, so don't worry about that section for now, as I'll update when there totally completed.

[GuerillaInternetMarketing]

There is an issue on your front page - the tag line runs on top of the main navigation. I am using Firefox 2.0.0.6.

Also, I think you should put a featured top 10 list on the front page, maybe even multiple ones.

Best of luck

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by GuerillaInternetMarketing

There is an issue on your front page - the tag line runs on top of the main navigation. I am using Firefox 2.0.0.6.

It's frustrating when I can't find the source of these errors, I'll work on fixing it.

EDIT: Fixed it

Originally Posted by GuerillaInternetMarketing

Also, I think you should put a featured top 10 list on the front page, maybe even multiple ones.

I thought about it, but didn't want to go through all the "loop programming" involved with that sort of task, besides. I do have a recent list section in the sidebar.

[jamestl2]

I just launched my own forums, so if anyone wants to comment on them, give me advice about it, etc. I'd appreciate it.

Do you like the RSS post feature I implemented?
Are they easy to navigate, enough categories?
Do the colors go well? etc.

[OnionJack]

Hey James,

I took a look at the redesigned site. The colors look good!

You already know my usual writing style so I won't hold back any punches.

With the outline on the logo, I would get rid of the white around outside parts of the letters. Makes it look pixelated. The inside looks good with the colors changing and drawing back.

What was the thinking behind using forums instead of comments? Making me go to forums to contribute instead of just commenting doesn't go with blogging philsophy in general practice, IMO.

and RSS definitely helps the site, it's a requirement!

Also what about external links? IE you have the 10 great rock bands but they don't like to their site. Also for instance, can you get any pictures of the bands that are copyrighted/trademarked?

-OJ

[jamestl2]

Thanks again for the review

Originally Posted by OnionJack

With the outline on the logo, I would get rid of the white around outside parts of the letters. Makes it look pixelated.

I used logo generating software to create it, it didn’t have that many features with it.

Originally Posted by OnionJack

What was the thinking behind using forums instead of comments? Making me go to forums to contribute instead of just commenting doesn't go with blogging philsophy in general practice, IMO.

Although my site uses wordpress, I don’t technically consider it a blog. Plus, I was getting lots of spam with comments, even with anti-spam plugins installed.

With forums, like Steve has said before, it is easier to manage, and more people can communicate with each other better. Also, members can submit any of their own lists easier, without worrying about editing, moderating their list for the main site.

Originally Posted by OnionJack

Also what about external links? IE you have the 10 great rock bands but they don't like to their site. Also for instance, can you get any pictures of the bands that are copyrighted/trademarked?

That wasn’t my list, someone else submitted it in. Maybe since it was simple, I should have suggested it go in the forums, but they’re pretty young right now.

[Brutha]

@ your design:
I think the writing (Top 10) in the logo should begin in the blue space instead of in the black space.
The way it is at the moment lets the attention of the reader go to the top (the transition from black space to blue space)
The Top 10 label image also seems a bit to have no smooth border. I think you could improve it a bit.

Why do you made the RSS icon that is normally orange, blue?
Drawing attention to it by making it orange sounds like a good idea to me, to get readers to subscribe to the blog.

Have you thought about having RSS field for single catogaries in addition to the whole feed.
Someone who wants to subscribe to "Philosophy & God" might not necessarly be wanting to subscribe to "Business & Financial".

With forums, like Steve has said before, it is easier to manage, and more people can communicate with each other better. Also, members can submit any of their own lists easier, without worrying about editing, moderating their list for the main site.

A forum needs an inital mass to get going. Even the lifehack.com forums lack that mass. It isn't easy to get one going when you have no audience.

@About me page:
I think "About me" is better than "About us". Calling it Ten Things About me seems even better to me. You should also link that way to the page.
I think you should have of yourself in your "about me" page.

Your front page:

To find a particular list, just click on one of the links to the right. Thank you for taking your time to visit this site.

To you really have to waste my time with telling me that things are the way they are supposed to in a blog?

I work to update the site weekly, so check back often for original top ten lists.

I don't care about whether you update your site regulary.
If I like what I read I subscribe to the RSS. It doesn't matter to me whether you give me a quality post every month or every week.

Members that have already registered can log in here

Is this something a new vistior should know? Why? Always remember that is time is the most valuable asset that he has.

@:How to contact or contribute to toptenlisted:
Maybe we can up with ten:
1. Link to me on your blog.
2. Give a friend a link to one of my article that gave value to you.
3. Donations
4. Subscribe to RSS feed
5. Register for forums
6. Participate in the forums
7. Submit your own list
8. Suggestion for improvements
9. Be delighted, and joyful when reading my lists
10. Tell me that you are

That wasn’t my list, someone else submitted it in. Maybe since it was simple, I should have suggested it go in the forums, but they’re pretty young right now.

Maybe you should indicate that it someone else submitted it. That creates social proof that submitting a list is a reasonable thing to do.

[jamestl2]

Thanks for the review, Brutha

Originally Posted by Brutha

@ your design:
I think the writing (Top 10) in the logo should begin in the blue space instead of in the black space.
The way it is at the moment lets the attention of the reader go to the top (the transition from black space to blue space)
The Top 10 label image also seems a bit to have no smooth border. I think you could improve it a bit.

Is it not centered right? Should I choose something a little less “eye-catching”?
Like I said before, I used a logo-generating program to create that logo, and it didn’t have that many features.

Originally Posted by Brutha

Why do you made the RSS icon that is normally orange, blue?
Drawing attention to it by making it orange sounds like a good idea to me, to get readers to subscribe to the blog.

Have you thought about having RSS field for single catogaries in addition to the whole feed.
Someone who wants to subscribe to "Philosophy & God" might not necessarly be wanting to subscribe to "Business & Financial".

That RSS color was originally with the theme, I thought it looked nice, and was easy to find. I also didn’t think it would flow right as orange.

I wouldn’t know how to create that for list for each individual category. What do you think would be the best way to implement that sort of feature? Just create an RSS Static Page? Add small icons next to each category, etc.?

Originally Posted by Brutha

A forum needs an inital mass to get going. Even the lifehack.com forums lack that mass. It isn't easy to get one going when you have no audience.

For now, I wasn’t too concerned about, “getting the forums going” as soon as possible. I just wanted to have a better system too interact with my site. A few of the lists’ comment systems were getting out of hand, had lots of spam, etc.

Originally Posted by Brutha

@About me page:
I think "About me" is better than "About us". Calling it Ten Things About me seems even better to me. You should also link that way to the page.
I think you should have of yourself in your "about me" page. .

That’s the way it already is, so not quite sure what you mean.

Originally Posted by Brutha

Your front page:
To you really have to waste my time with telling me that things are the way they are supposed to in a blog?
I don't care about whether you update your site regulary.
If I like what I read I subscribe to the RSS. It doesn't matter to me whether you give me a quality post every month or every week.
Is this something a new vistior should know? Why? Always remember that is time is the most valuable asset that he has.

I wasn’t completely sure of what to say, I wanted a welcome screen on the homepage (without any of those flashy intro screens). Is it difficult to read / sift through? I’ll see about what wlse I could have there.

Originally Posted by Brutha

@:How to contact or contribute to toptenlisted:
Maybe we can up with ten:
1. Link to me on your blog.
2. Give a friend a link to one of my article that gave value to you.
3. Donations
4. Subscribe to RSS feed
5. Register for forums
6. Participate in the forums
7. Submit your own list
8. Suggestion for improvements
9. Be delighted, and joyful when reading my lists
10. Tell me that you are

I was actually thinking about creating something like this, just never had the time lately to make all the changes to it

Originally Posted by Brutha

Maybe you should indicate that it someone else submitted it. That creates social proof that submitting a list is a reasonable thing to do.

There is an indicator of who submitted the article, if you look on the top of a post (right below the title), it provides icons and it says what they mean, and they have text next to them, where one of them is the author’s identity.

[Andreas]

I like the concept.

Unfortunately the site breaks in Safari 2.0.4, which is weird right? Usually Wordpress is really good about this. I think your theme needs to be tested more thoroughly.

Also, might be a good idea to hit me with more than one post on the front page.

I'm in a similar situation with regard to traffic. I just need to get my butt in gear and interact with communities that center around graphic design and photography, and I began that today. I wouldn't put too much emphasis on directories. From what I've read, it's somewhat helpful in the beginning, but the real secret sauce is:

1. Content that's like brain candy
2. Easy consumption of the content (this means little effort for the surfer)
3. Networking with people who do similar stuff!
>> a. commenting on other (popular) blogs
>> b. getting involved in communities and forums (like this forum, OMG!)

Get it?

[jamestl2]

Thanks Andreas

Originally Posted by Andreas

I like the concept.

Unfortunately the site breaks in Safari 2.0.4, which is weird right? Usually Wordpress is really good about this. I think your theme needs to be tested more thoroughly.

I don’t have safari, or other minor web browsers on my computer, are there any good ways to test these sort of problems, and save time?

(So I don't have to test ten different web browsers everytime I make a minor template change.)

Originally Posted by Andreas

Also, might be a good idea to hit me with more than one post on the front page.

Actually, I have a static, welcome page on my homepage, no posts, but I do currently have a “recent posts” function on my sidebar.

[Brutha]

The site also breakes in Opera.

@About me:
Curretly you have to click a link that says "About me" to reach the page.
In future the link could say instead: Ten things about me.

I wasn’t completely sure of what to say, I wanted a welcome screen on the homepage (without any of those flashy intro screens). Is it difficult to read / sift through? I’ll see about what wlse I could have there.

Steves blog serves you the newsest blog entry when you visit it's start page. I think that strategy is better.
What do you think is the advantage that you gain by having your start page?

I wouldn’t know how to create that for list for each individual category. What do you think would be the best way to implement that sort of feature? Just create an RSS Static Page? Add small icons next to each category, etc.?

I thought you could do it without much effort in wordpress.
Maybe someone else could help you there that knows more about coding than I do?

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Brutha

@About me:
Curretly you have to click a link that says "About me" to reach the page.
In future the link could say instead: Ten things about me.

That’s the best way to do it IMO. If the entire “Ten things About Me” permalink was in the menu, there is no way the rest of those would fit on the single line

Originally Posted by Brutha

Steves blog serves you the newsest blog entry when you visit it's start page. I think that strategy is better.
What do you think is the advantage that you gain by having your start page?

That’s not what happens when I go to his homepage, it starts with…

This site will help you make conscious decisions in your personal development and courageously follow through on them. This means having the maturity to take 100% responsibility for your health, your career, your finances, your relationships, your emotions, your habits, and your spiritual beliefs.

Originally Posted by Brutha

I thought you could do it without much effort in wordpress.
Maybe someone else could help you there that knows more about coding than I do?

I have an RSS feed on my site, just not sure what to “code” for individual categories.