Review: Entertainment & Technology Portal

Since this is an Entertainment and Technology Site, you really need to have a more exciting and itneresting design. This looks like a pared down cross between C|net and Yahoo. Boring. Your logo is too small. That yellow colour is really boring by itself. The layout is boring. Basically I've seen way too many other sites that look like this. "Your journey begins here" What the heck is that supposed to mean ?!?!? I hate all these meaningless catchphrases people use.

You need a more exciting layout and more interesting colours. Check out coolhomepages.com for some ideas. "Digiverse" is an interesting and exciting name for your site - the logo should be BIG.

It's really annoying how the navigation menu keeps changing and disappearing. You should have your main navigation menu on every page. Also, when you post articles, don't have them span the entire page with a flexible layout. When you're surfing at 1024 or higher it gets hard to to read text that goes all the way across the screen.

Another major problem is that you don't seem to have a lot of content. ie. your "Technology" section only has stuff about video production and freebies. What's up with that? If you're going to try to be a directory you really have to be more thorough.

Gee Megan, thank you for your thoughtful and considerate response. I'm still experiemnting with the site and you're right there isn't much in the Technology and Business section. However I do not understand why the logo, navigation and slogan bother you.

Firstly, the logo image isn't meant to be the main focus of the site.

Secondly, the navigation doesn't "change and disappear"... when you click on a link you are taken into sub directories where you have other options you can choose. If you wish to go back to a previous area there is a series of links that tell you where you are located within the site and you can always go back to another directory.

Thrirdly, many web sites and companies have a slogan. I do not understand why a slogan would upset you. Even this very site uses a slogan "your direct link to the webmaster community".

You neglected to mention my webmaster resources, movie & video game reviews and a few other services that are somewhat useful. There is still room for improvment, but it is hardly something worth insulting.

To be perfectly honest, it bothers me when people are rude just because they feel like it. I realize that my web site is not Yahoo or MSN, I'm just one person trying to do something interesting on the net. I know my site still needs a bit of work, but your response shows me you are just another thug on the internet unable to show the least bit of respect to anyone.

[Edited by vector_matrix on 08-24-2000 at 08:52 PM]

First I'm going to tell you one thing, Vector: Megan gave her opinion which you asked for. You may not like it because you put a lot of effort into the site, but no matter what, you asked her for it.

Now.. onto the critique.

1). I agree the logo is -way- too small. I had to glance around the site for a moment, and that is not something that attracts visitors.

2). I really don't see what all of these people say about 'too small fonts.' Either they're blinder than bats [in the figurative sense,] or they just don't 'like' small text.
Personally, it's a lot larger than the text on my web site, and I can read mine perfectly.

3). The layout is dull, this I agree. It looks kind of slapped together. And while I realise that producing a web site by yourself is a lot of hard work, the layout is the thing that the visitor actually sees.

4). In a lot of your tables, there is a lot of white space at the bottom.

5). The subsections don't look organised. Again, I had to look around a bit before I could grasp the concept of the layout--normal visitors will just hit 'back,' instead of looking around.

6). I notice on a lot of subsections, the layout differs in how its organised, what is presented [in terms of how it is,] etc. Consistency is key to a successfull web site.

7). On the first page, there is a lot of white space and then the copyright and other such things, I don't see the purpose of the huge white space.

[edit]A few mistakes. :-)[/edit]

[Edited by Mike Fisher on 08-24-2000 at 09:09 PM]

I'm not very suprised that someone was quick to defend Megan's previous comments. I have a feeling that this board attracts a certain type of audience...

Of course I understand that not everyone will like my web site and I do not expect everybody to tell me what I want to hear. Yet, repeated use of the word boring and meaningless was not very useful in the development of my site. To focus on the negative aspects of the site and totally ignore everything else doesn't help me very much.

I'm sure someone could say that the entire site is terrible and empty. But I know that would not be entirely true considering the amount of content...well over 60 articles, is hardly a bare bones web site.

I still do not understand why people feel the site is confusing or unorgranized. Nor do I understand why a person would need to spend time figuring out how to navigate. The site has a consistant design, I am saying this because I created a template for all my pages. (Others who have reviewed my site in the past have found the site easy to navigate.)

If people do not like the site, I accept that, but I would really like to undertstand why people are so confused about the navigation. It isn't that much different from the style of Yahoo or Excite, which was my original intent.

I know I asked for the opinions of the members on this board and that would include Megan. However, it would seem that too many people on message forums, are eager to "tear apart" another person's work if they have the opportunity to do so. Some of the feedback I have recieved so far, conflicts with what I have recieved on other forums, but I will do my best to improve the site.

I have already removed the business and technology areas because they are incomplete and I will also try to create a larger logo. But I would like to understand why the navigation is so confusing even though the menu bar remains "fixed" on every page of the site and the sub-categories are always located in the same space aswell.

It's pretty plain. Maybe some borders around the columns will help?

Are you using Netscape? It was designed for IE and I just recently learned that page looks awkward in Netscape, if you are using that browser I will try to figure what is causing the problem. If not, I don't know why you are not seeing borders around the columns.

I'm using IE and I agree with what everyone has been saying so far...the page does look very plain.

You do have a decent amount of content...but the way the page is set up, it looks like the page is barren. I am finding it really tough to think up one or a few things you could change about your current design to fix this, but it's not happening.

Try to fill in the spaces somehow, all I see is white, a little black text, and not to be a jerk...but plain and boring yellow outlines. Maybe, spruce up the yellow columns with different colored header caps? Bigger Logo.

Maybe make each feature listed on the main page have a title, an associated image, and a longer description??

Also, for say the video games section, you have three links on the left, news listings on the right, and a blank 500 or so width section with one sentence at the top!!

You have to fill in all that white some how.

-Tim Yarosh
Lucid Games

Try adding some more pertinent imagery. Your trying to attract visitors with an interest in technology and entertainment - your site needs to reflect that style.