Homepage Feedback

[Andy]

As stated earlier, we're thinking of adding a homepage to the site. It's not finished, but I have played with the idea somewhat, and I'm looking for some feedback on this test page:

http://www.youngwritersonline.net/cmps_index.php

I'd like the homepage to be useful for everyone. At the moment, it:


Gives new members a feel for what the site is about
Gives all of you a sense of the latest updates - most recent posts and literature, who's online.

So...feedback (critiques) appreciated! If you don't like the box-feel, colors, layout, or think something's missing or excessive, please say so. ;)

[Rafael Domination]

I think it's simple, but fine. ^^

[Rouge]

Oooh, I like it. ^^ I don't know what you could do to make it better. . . I'm not very creative. :laugh: But, I love it. Nice job Andy!

[Majyk]

I like it, too. In the blue style, though, the gray center/background part doesn't seem to go as well as in the gray style when it's white... Although as I'm looking at it, I'm starting to like it, so maybe never mind ^^

[Starry]

Yeah, it's really simple, but good. I think it almost looks too white in the center though (looking at the gray layout). This entire layout is pretty much done in shades of gray, and I like that. :)

[Andy]

Yeah, apparently I forgot to add the gray rectangle in the gray style. Go figure. :)

[Starry]

Ok then! As long as that gets fixed, I'm happy. It could still be a little more interesting and pretty, but I don't know how. :(

[Carraka]

It needs a colorful picture, obviously.

... I have no idea what kind of colorful picture could be added. Stick my logo on the front! xD I'll make each letter a different color of the rainbow.

[Andy]

It needs a colorful picture, obviously.

... I have no idea what kind of colorful picture could be added. Stick my logo on the front! xD I'll make each letter a different color of the rainbow.
I was thinking about adding a logo. Or something. A nice background image. Something to do with writing.

Your logo would confuse the newbies to bits! :D Not that it isn't fiendishly creative, though. :approve:

[Ichigo]

I think that the site is perfect the way it is, but I'm not opposed to anything that everyone thinks will add to the site.

[jordanisonfire]

-flashback to YWS homepage-

...tis a looker.

[Andy]

-flashback to YWS homepage-

...tis a looker.
Uhhhh....what? :confused:

[jordanisonfire]

Nah, it just looks like the one YWO has (which is to be expected, as its similar software to YWO). But it's still good.

[Andy]

Nah, it just looks like the one YWO has (which is to be expected, as its similar software to YWO). But it's still good.
Oh. Well, the most-used addon for homepages is this one (http://www.vbadvanced.com/), which has 3 columns by default. I was trying to keep it simple, since that seems to be what people here preferred.

[jordanisonfire]

Yessir, sounds good.

[Andy]

I got an idea to display the most recent literature as book covers, with each one showing the title and author. I'm going to play around with the idea. :)

[Andy]

Oooh that would be good. It'd introduce the image element we talked about and break up the boxes. :D
Heh, yeah. I actually pulled it off. I'm pretty much happy with the entire right column at this point. Except maybe brushing up a few small things.

Hopefully it works in IE. Haven't tested IE yet.

http://www.youngwritersonline.net/cmps_index.php

[Andy]

Did some more work on it last night. Made an ad out of a postage stamp and turned the recent discussions list into a sheet of notebook paper.

IE is giving me a big blank spot left of it, which Imelda mentioned, which I can't seem to figure out. :confused:

[Andy]

The homepage is coming along nicely. It's just about finished (blue style, anyway), except I'm looking for something(s) to replace the welcome message for logged-in people. Most members probably don't need to be told to join the site. :rolleyes: Probably something fun, or useful that will change on its own, like literature news or something.

http://www.youngwritersonline.net/cmps_index.php

[jordanisonfire]

Nice job, dude.

[Starry]

Yay! Nice job. My one concern is on the book links on the side, on some of the links (I think it's the ones you've looked at before) the text is too dark to actually read what it says. I think it's just the color the hyperlink goes to after you've been to that page, but it kind of bothers me that you can't really read it. And that seems like it would take about five seconds to fix. :)

[Andy]

Yay! Nice job. My one concern is on the book links on the side, on some of the links (I think it's the ones you've looked at before) the text is too dark to actually read what it says. I think it's just the color the hyperlink goes to after you've been to that page, but it kind of bothers me that you can't really read it. And that seems like it would take about five seconds to fix. :)
Oh, I gotcha. Yeah, easy to fix. Thanks for catching that.

EDIT: Which browser are you using? I think I made it override the browser default, but I can't tell because all mine already showed it properly.

[Starry]

Oh, I'm using a somewhat outdated version of Internet Explorer. :) Which might explain why things never work exactly the way they're supposed to.

[Andy]

Oh, okay. Does it work now?

EDIT: And while I'm at it, do the dropdown menus at the top work for you?

[Starry]

The dropdown menus work, but the links are still dark. :P If it's just my outdated browser that's the problem, then it's not a big deal. I should probably get around to updating it anyway.

[Andy]

The dropdown menus work, but the links are still dark. :P If it's just my outdated browser that's the problem, then it's not a big deal. I should probably get around to updating it anyway.
Oh, were you using the gray style? I hadn't updated that one yet. Try it now.

I'm testing it with IE 6, and it did show dark links before I fixed it.

[Starry]

Problem solved! Yay!

[nuttychooky]

-flashback to YWS homepage-

...tis a looker.

YWS? Well, as your official YWS spy, Nate (YWS Admin boss dude thingy) is redoing the whole site sometime early next year.

On another note, that homepage looks great. Nice and simple. I like.

[appleofmyeye]

I really like it, especially how the stories are put up. It's practically advertising for crits ^^. You're right though, the last sentence is a bit off. Almost like your selling something on an infomercial. Everything else is perfect :).