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Dont think JM would want us to mess with the ads, so will have to work around those the best we can. BJ
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VDR Search
One item that would be very nice is to have a way to show if the thread's issue has been resolved......some icon of some type
I've seen this on other forums.......maybe it can be incorporated in the new one that's coming...:D
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Unfortunately that feature isn't part of the software in use, at least not that I'm aware of. But on some forums users are encouraged by the mod staff to edit the thread title to include "resolved" when their issue is.
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On our sister site at www.vbforums.com they have incorporated a "resolved thread" icon, since they upgraded to the new software.
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Big John,
On most websites, the ads take up 15-20% of the home page. This is especially important on the top half of the homepage defined as what appears without scrolling down.
On the VDR website, the top portion of the VDR website is all ads. There are other ways to address this issue and to make sure that there is VDR content in this top half.
However, if JP is insistent on everything staying the same, then there is really no point in doing a redesign. No one can expect a good design to come out of a discussion, when both of the designers hands are tied behind her back.
Part of what needs to be done is to have a discussion of priorities. For example, how can anyone say that subscribing to VDR newsletter has a higher priority than VDR content, a welcome message, an intuitive interface or a real VDR search button on the homepage?
IMO, what VDR needs a top to bottom review, not just how to patch this or patch that. I have already pointed out duplicate information. There may be other instances of this. There are also ample evidence of inconsistencies.
The core of VDR is excellent. It is a shame that the packaging is so bad.
Linda
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I don't really much to do with the homepage design. My responsibilities begin and end with the forums themselves.
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Hello Linda, just to give you an idea what we will look like after the software upgrade, VDR will look similar to this. BJ
http://windowsbbs.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16
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Great input by KatMac. As an editor on a large daily newspaper -- with little experience in page design, but someone who has seen lots of it, and participated in numerous discussions of design theories (they come and go, and I've seen 'em all!) -- I can comment.
1. The entry point, as others have said, is way too cluttered. Busy. A mishmash. I'm not thrilled either with having the ads take up my whole screen as I navigate, and having to scroll down, but unless JM finds a way to reframe how the ads are presented, I guess we're stuck. The ads aren't even very interesting and I certainly don't click on them. (Speaking as a semi-geeky nonprofessional) The format doesn't really draw the eye. Attractive, it is not. If you hadn't already been there, you wouldn't know where to go. You couldn't even tell there was supposed to be tech support in there somewhere.
2. Suppose you placed the stickies on the portal rather than keeping them cluttering up the forums. They could be attractively presented and a good headline (which you could ask me for! I've won prizes for headline writing) would give some folks information right off the bat that I'm sure they would click on.
3 I'm looking forward to the software update. I never really minded the format/design here, but now that I hear people saying that membership isn't benefiting and the search engines aren't turning up Virtual Dr., that has to be a priority. Virtual Dr is too good to be overlooked. (I've joined a few other forums here and there but almost never stuck around -- only here.)
Tee hee. I must admit I never noticed that "Practically Networked" tab on the front. I had no idea it was even part of Jupiter Media. See what we mean? Ya can't find anything unless you already know where it is. Pretty daunting.
JM's theory of Web design seems to be something along the lines of "Let's throw everything but the kitchen sink up there, something for everybody! It just doesn't work that well anymore. People expect to be able to find things readily on a site, and if they can't they give up. It's kind of like wading through those endless voicemail choices. Why bother??
If you didn't know what great folks were here. The most helpful, the most respectful and kind on the Web! They never make you feel like an ass just because you ask a dumb question.
Cheers
Wendy
:) :cool: :D
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Sorry Joe, I did not have a link to one of our upgraded sites. BJ
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While we're on the subject of design, do any of you have any opinions on VDr's colour scheme? Is it welcoming, or unfriendly?
I do know that marketing people have spend millions on research in this area over the years, so there is probably a benefit in getting a scheme that is well liked.
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I like the alternating gray and off white posts and they are easy to read..........and reading is the name of the game, eh ?:D
poppy
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All,
I looked at the link that JPNYC posted. SuperSparks asked about color scheme. Typically the color scheme that works best is light background and the text in a black or a darker color. IMO, the color scheme on your link is fine.
However, the design of this link at http://forums.datamation.com/index.php? is very poor.
What visitors want when they visit a website are order and consistency. A corporation has an organizational structure which is a pyramid with the CEO at the top. The front page of a newspaper follows the same principle. The most important news articles are at the top and above the fold.
Also notice that newspapers do not put ads on their front page, nor do magazines. The first objective of these publications is to sell their publication to the public, then they work on selling the ads.
There is no reason that this same metaphor cannot also be used for websites. This is why most websites limit the amount and placement of ads that appear on their homepage.
However, on the webpage above, there is no order or heirarchy. Would you read a newspaper that had their banner headline with the newspaper name and then went into details of various articles. No. News articles are also written in a pyramid with the most important information first and gradually in succeeding paragraphs the details of the news article are fleshed out. In other words there is order.
When you pick up a tech documentation or a book if there is not an executive summary, a good table of contents and good index, how likely are you to read it. If a technical book is written like a novel, how likely are you to read it beyond the first couple of pages. I don't even buy books like that. I have found that when there is no order, then critical information that I want is also left out because the proper analysis was not done in terms of designing the book and its chapters.
Ideally, VDR should do a top to bottom analysis and redo ads as well as, structure. However, if that is not possible at this time, then here is one basic design that VDR might consider.
1. Jupiterimages banner headline
2. Sponsored Links
3. Virtual DR banner headline
4. Delete Discussions Home
Put all of the ads in one column on the left, which is the width of the Discussions Home column. These ads include internetnews.com, HP, Intel, HP Whitepapers.
Either delete or move to the bottom of the home page the Search Earthweb and the Free Tech Newsletters. Also delete on succeeding pages the Search VirtualDR link or else rename it. This search textbox is very deceptive and is likely to turnoff a lot of first time visitors. Most websurfers hate to have their time wasted. I used to subscribe to several "tech news" newsletters and I would get these emails featuring content, which would be buried 8 webpapes later. I eventually got disgusted and blacklisted these emails. These websites tended to overhype the news.
Treat your website visitors and their time with courtesy and respect, then you will create customers for life, if you are providing a quality product.
IMO, most website surfers will accept slower download webpage times than deceptive practives within the website. This is why so many of members of the user group that I belong to have never been back. No one placing an ad should be allowed to include in their ad, something which is deceptive and which hurts the image of the owner of the website. The Internet News ad with its "Search Virtual DR" textbox, definitely falls into this category.
If some of the ad banners and the VDR banner could be redesigned, then VDR could include a link for first-time visitors and another link for VDR members telling about why this is their favorite tech support site. This is also were the number of registered VDR users and online should be shown.
As the page is currently configured, there is no room to add these items. It is critical that 1st time visitors see some substantive content such as the most recent threads, etc.
5. Virtual DR most Recent Threads
6. Virtual DR most active threads
7. Virtual DR Discussions by Topic
Cheers,
Linda
;)
