Topic: Feature test, please

This is not exactly a site review, per se, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put it. I think it is most appropriate to this forum.

Anyway, some of you may remember my site--it was in here a while ago for reviews. It has been up and running for several months now, but I'd appreciate it if I could get a few people to look at it again. I'll tell you what I'm looking for after you look at it--it's important that you look at the site first. So, please click on the link first and then come back and read the rest of this post.

This paragraph is for people who may have been reading too quickly and thus had difficulty slowing down or stopping. This is one of the dangers of speed-reading. In fact, there have been studies that show speed-reading is the second leading killer of web geeks around the world, right after massive trauma resulting from muscle atrophy. So, for your own safety, please get a little exercise, and read a little more slowly. Thank you.

OK, back to the story. There is a link on the front page, right below the menu. Yes, the site updates link. How many of you saw it? Of those who saw it, did you feel any urge whatsoever to click on it?

In the past week, my front page has seen 86 hits. The site updates page, however, got no hits (well, it got one after I told someone about it). This dismays me a great deal. The journal entries on the front page are, of course, very important, and it is the most frequently updated part of the site. But the other parts get updated occasionally as well, and I wanted to provide the site updates page as a quick way to access that information. But if no one is clicking on the link, then it is likely that no one will know, for example, that I finally put up my translation of Kim Young-ha's 'Christmas Carol'--something I am quite proud of, despite the fact that it is a constant reminder of failure.

So, what I want to know is this: is there any way I can make the site updates link more conspicuous (ie, make people want to click on it more) without making it sing and dance? A devoted fan of mine has suggested two options: moving the link up to the menu, or making the site updates the front page. The first might not be a bad idea, but it would also mean that the menu would wrap to a second line in 800x600 (minor, but annoying). The second is something I have considered, but I can't help feeling that that would be like walking into a restaurant through the kitchen (it took me a while to perfect that analogy).

So, what do the great minds of the Asylum think? I would have thought that having a single link sitting there by itself would have been enough, but apparently it's not. Or is just that nobody but me really cares about the other parts of the site? Hopefully that's not the case. Any and all ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Edit: Grammar 'n' stuff]



www.liminality.org

Never saw it, when you pointed it out I assumed that maybe I subconciously registered it as a typical blogentrydate.

I would agree with putting it in the link bar, it's a link to another page after all. Wrapping is more than a minor thing, for a control freak. Make your menu class smaller so it won't wrap? You might want to think about the flexibility of your navigation going forward. It isn't, this may just be a hint of things to come as you grow it.

Mebbe a different color, a strong accent to the rest of the page, a yellow of some sort if you really want to leave it there and call attention to it.

btw, you have a checked transparent/black gif bg for your content area? Touch of class that =)

Jason

Adding it to the link bar sounds like a good idea.

Changing the front page to the updated page doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Most of the things on that page aren't interresting for the 'normal' user (techinical changes) and the presentation changes will be noticed by the user as he browse the site anyway. So most of the time the user will only be interrested in reading your journal so he will except to be taken to that page when he loads the page.

Another option could be that each time you upload something like this that you want the users to see, you can add a short 'intro' about it in front of the journal entry. Keep the 'intro' there for as long as you think the story is new (a week or so) and then remove it. This way those who visit your site to read the journal wil see that there is something else to read on the page, but if you keep it short it won't take the focus away from the journal. Having some more text beside the link will also make it seem less like a normal blog link thingy which is easily overlooked.

Great translation/story btw

_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"

mhmm well i "saw" the link....but after i came back and read this post i REALLY "saw" it....you know...baah..hard to explain
but since i am a big of of liminality(maybe its because of our simliar names...hehe ), and i visit it quite often, i never clicked this link before.
i think you should try to add it as already said to the link bar.
(btw, i know that doesn't fit in here:
do you preload your images because of the style selector?if yes;how? i also just tried preloading some but somehow it didn't work..mebbe i'm just too tired
oh and your page still switches back to the black style when clicking on a link....thats a bit annoying...)
good luck with finding a solution master suho



elysiumart

Thank you, all. To quote the wise and wizened Gandalf, "It is as I feared."

Jason: Good point about the navigation. To be honest with you, it has bugged me since the beginning. I have felt like I am balancing on a pinnacle, and that the slightest push will send me plummeting into the depths below. Yes, I am a drama queen, but you knew that.

I have been concerned about the future possibilities for the navigation, and at present reducing the space between elements is the only thing I can think of to avoid wrapping. Of course, if I do end up with a bunch more elements, I could work with the wrap instead of against it. That is something I will have to think about, though.

As for the screen GIF, that was an idea I got from another site, actually (the site is now apparently defunct, or at least it's not where I remember it). It actually bugs me a bit, since the text runs right up against the edge, but I'm thinking about phasing that style out (to be replaced with another black-based style, since a number of people seem to like that), so I haven't done anything with it.

V: Yup, that's exactly why I didn't want to make the updates page the front page. I never thought of actually having a blurb on the front page leading to new content. It would have to be short, as that is valuable real estate up there above the fold, but it is definitely an idea worth mulling over. I may implement this in combination with moving the link up to the main menu, since it would then most likely lose the date, making it harder for people to know when there has been an update.

And while I'm moving stuff up there, maybe I'll move the contact link up there as well. I'll have to see how it goes. If I can keep everything on one line after moving the updates link, I may leave the contact link out. I have a feeling that the wrapping issue is something I'm going to have to deal with sooner or later, though, since right now it is acting as a restraint.

mas: suggestion duly noted, and I think that just about settles it. As for preloading, no I don't preload the images--it honestly never occurred to me. As for the black blink syndrome, I am currently working on a solution (with help from Drac). In fact, it is in place and working on my local host, I just need to iron out a few more bugs before it goes live. I'm pretty pysched about it, though, because that style blinking has always gotten on my nerves.

Thanks again for the feedback and advice, guys. I really appreciate it.

Update: I have followed the suggestions here and made some changes to the page. If anyone has a spare moment, I would appreciate some feedback.

I also fixed the style switching flicker problem, mas.

I decided to disregard possible wrapping in the menu. It doesn't wrap at 1024x768, even with the two extra links, but those two links do wrap at 800x600. And you know what? I've decided that I'm OK with that, because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and--gosh darn it--people like me.

Seriously, though, I've decided to go with the flow and not stress over little things like that. I had to stab the control freak in me repeatedly with a sharp object, but I think I've finally gotten the upper hand.

Oh, yeah, I also scrapped the first two color schemes. Sorry, Jason--I know you liked that screen GIF I was using (I actually got the idea from another site, which is apparently no longer online). I just felt it was time to move on. So I've got three new color schemes, and one modified scheme. Just to satisfy my curiosity, tell me which one you like.

Works like a charm =)

As for the menu links wrapping... eh, I don't mind at all, infact I didn't notice it untill I read through your entire post.

I like the new styles too. Personally, I'm not a fan of styles that radically change the layout of a site. It's nice to demonstrate the power of CSS like that but it just confuses the hell out me when content sections end up on the opposite side of the page and all. I like the new styles you've added though. My favoutite is now Buddah, but I've had a thing about brown colours lately. Lanterns has a nice feel to it as well, very festive.

Thanks for the input, Drac. Your reasoning on not changing styles is exactly what I'm thinking. I know some people like variety, but I like to feel more at home with a site, to have something I can latch onto.

Also glad to hear you like the new styles. Buddha is my favorite, too (it seems to be a popular choice, actually). I just like that picture, and the colors are... um... munahada... let me go look that up. Ah, "elegant, graceful, refined." Sounds about right. And brown is just the shiznizzle (if this is not an acceptable slang term, blame DL, not me--he's my source).

I like the colors but the basic layout is..off somehow..on the Journal Page the photo is too far down or not where it should be. Perhaps it is as Drucius says..we are becoming creatures of surfing habit..and the photos goes here, the menus go there...

sky: While I appreciate the (somewhat belated) input, I must disagree... the layout is not "off." I have never actually had any comment on the photo being too far down... it's there for a reason, and for a certain effect, that would not have been achieved by having the photo at the top of the page (I tried, believe me). Just because you are not used to something doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong, right?

Then again, I suppose it's all a matter of opinion, and you are certainly entitled to yours, as I am entitled to mine.

[Edit: to clarify a bit on my comment here, which may strike some as overly defensive, I was prompted to write this reply because of this statement: "the photo is too far down or not where it should be." It's the "not where it should be" part that got to me, I suppose. Who is to say where the photo should be? Ah, anyway, I like the layout. It works for me.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 07-16-2003).]

I like the photo where it is. I also know that you'd have tried every other concievable positioning for it before the site ever graced the www.

So whilst it didn't feel like a pair of old slippers the first time I strolled through your site, I knew it was there because it it worked there. Now however, it wouldn't be the same site if you moved it. Besides, it's a personal site, it helps to be a little different. =)

eh... my 2c

The photo is fine..it is a very good photo that blends well with the site..it is a rigidity of my own browsing habits that make the photo appear misplaced..I glance up to the "menu- upper-left corner" and it is blank..or slipped half way down the page..but as art design color, the entire design is excellent..iI am veiwing it at 800x600 so it is very low on the page..

Am I on the right page..I seem to remember a photo on the journal page of trees ?..and it is gone..am I posting to the wrong thread? lol

I'll give you a hint and you can slap yourself: click some of those little square boxes. =)

Oh, that is beautiful..I was busy reading the Journal and didn't click the color links..but that is really fine. Lovely colors, great design..I read the page and mentally skipped the graphics ..it was a corner of my eye sight of the picture..The pictures are slow to load on my setup but well worth the wait