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Good Website, Bad Website
This is my first editorial, so I hope you enjoy it. I would like to apologize now for my grammar mistakes and bad spelling...okay? This one is strickly about good websites and bad websites. I'm not talking about any certain one, just sites in general. These are all my opinions so don't send me hate mail if you don't agree or anything. Okay lets get started. I want to welcome you to an imaginary website. What's the first thing you see about this website? When you put the mouse arrow over the link. you see it's url. Some of these urls can get sort of long and that’s when those shorter url programs come in, the go.to type things. This is the first no-no that drives me crazy. The extra little pop-up really gets on my nerves, especially when you have another pop-up come up from your server. In my opinion, just stick with your own url. Okay, I click on that url and it takes me to a nice looking page. I look closer and it's just a splash page. That’s no-no #2. Splash pages should be used for a site that has different versions of that site such as: frames, flash, etc. My computer can be slow and loading useless splash pages is a waste of my time. Now lets move to the main page. The main page is the most important page on your site. It's where your visitors get their first impression.
Here is my list of do's and don'ts for a main page.
Don't...
-scatter images carelessly all over the main page. Be organized.
-have a busy background. Don't use normal pictures as a background. It makes your text too hard to read, even if you use a lighter color.
-have link banners scattered all over the page. If you want to have banners on your page, put them in a links section. Also put link banners to your site in their own section as well, it's tacky have them on the front page.
-have webrings on your main page. They take time to load and that’s time I don't want to waste.
-have a midi. Those things drive me batty. I like to listen to my own music while surfing. They too take time to load.
-have animated gifs scattered everywhere. They may be cute but they are a waste of space to me and also take time to load.
-have weird fonts. Use a font that most likely everyone has. Save your other fonts for headers, awards, etc..
-have scattered links. Have them organized and easy to read. Don't have links that are the same color as your text and are not underlined, if you do use hover links to bring them out.
-brag about your page too much. Saying things like: "This is the best anime site there is!! It rocks!" or bash other peoples sites:" Her site sucks!!!" and other such nonsense. Keep your opinions to yourself.
-curse a lot. That can be offensive to others. A little is okay, but don't rattle off a lot.
-misspell words on purpose. This is annoying and childish. Words like: thanx, cos, Neway, etc. can get on peoples nerves. I will admit I come out with the word "okies" but..well I guess I have no excuse.-_-.
-have a really wide page. I hate side scrolling. Try to size it correctly.
-force people to sign your guestbook. It's rude.
- broken links. grrr. Those things make me mad.
-DoN't Do ThIs. It'S tOo HaRd To ReAd.
Do...
-post images neatly and where they would look best. Not too many for the sake of your visitors
-be friendly and courteous.
-if you must have a midi, make it an embedded one so that the visitor can turn it off.
-use light, attractive backgrounds and matching text.
-check links to make sure they work.
Main pages should be friendly, easy to navigate, and quick loading. Now lets move on. Lets examine the profiles/bio section. When having info on your page, try to make sure if it is as correct as possible. Keep this info organized and easy to read. Moving along... we go to the image gallery. In an image gallery they're a few things you should keep in mind.
1. Speed. Use real thumbnails so your guests don't have to wait forever and a day to view your pictures.
2. Originality. Try to use as many of your own images as possible. Only take images from sites that allow you to do so.
3. Neatness. Make it easy to navigate.
I stop by the multimedia section. All I a say is try to be creative. Make what you can and then borrow what you can't. Avoid using the same stuff that’s been circulated since the beginning. Moving right along, we go to the interaction section. Try to have some stuff for your visitors to do: message board, fanart, fanfics, stuff like that. You don't have to if you don't want to; it's just nice to have them. I go to the awards section. Awards should be special, not just given to any ol' Joe. They should be given to sites that deserve them. Making a person have better chances at an awards by signing your guestbook is wrong! So is requiring a link back to your page. Those things mean nothing to my decision in giving an award. I give to the deserving. Moving along a little faster, the adoption section is next. When making an adoption section, try something different. Don't put your site's name on a picture of a character and call it an adoption. To me that’s just a link banner in disguise. Be creative. Last but not least, the links section. This should be organized for easy navigation. In my opinion, it's nice to see a short description of the site. It tells me where I'm going instead of stumbling in the dark. Before I wrap this up, I stop by the guestbook. Ask good questions, and use readable colors. I will admit when I first started I had stupid questions in my book. I learned fast. Keep it short and sweet!
To wrap it up, try to be original. Try to make everything a little different from everyone else. This example just came to me.. You know how almost every DBZ site out there has side navigation, mostly to your left. Be more original and try new things with your layout. Well, that’s it, our trip through an imaginary website is over. Hope I was of help to you!
Webmistress Jen-chan
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