Another site critique

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:53 am

Hey all,
I've been starting to advertise my comic - <a href="http://vikodin.comicgenesis.com">Vikodin</a> - but wanted some feedback on the site layout/design.

Are the buttons in accesible places? Is the over-all design pleasing to the eye? Is the navigation confusing? I would really appreciate any suggestions for improvement.

Thanks,
Josh

OfNaturalOccurrence · Post by **OfNaturalOccurrence** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:59 am

I like it. It's simplistic and well designed. My only issues with it is the use of the colour white in the background; it hurts my eyes. It's fine in the comic, though. I'd suggest making it a white that's not pure white, but slightly off white. Then again it then clashes with your comic, so I don't know if my point's valid. The navigation is fine, I like it. The thing at the top is a little huge, but I don't know how to suggest to make it smaller.

Anyway, yes, I like it.

Swikan · Post by **Swikan** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:16 am

The white is a bit jarring, bit I find I get used to it right away. I like the soft blue/fade to white, though, as it has a nice frosty feel to it. Very appropriate environment for your characters!

Regarding the navigation button, I think it would be easier to navigate if they were above your comment section there, and a second set at the top would be convenient, too.

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:31 pm

All righty!

I've cut out as much white from the background as I can - Hopefully its less of an eyesore now. Added the navigation buttons up the top as well - and shrunk the size of the leaderboard - which I really like.
I think I might shrink the 'home', 'cast', 'links', etc. buttons, which will really make the comic the focus of attention.

Thanks for that guys! So far so good!

Any other pointers?

By the by Swikan - I'm not sure how to put the nav buttons above the comment section ... ? I'm using the auto-update feature (naming the comments "20070205b", for example), so the comment and the comic are sort of connected, and I don't know how to split them up. I'd love to try it out, if you could explain to me how to do it.

Thanks again guys,
Josh

Moonshadow · Post by **Moonshadow** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:55 pm

I think it looks pretty good, though I would like to see at least some of the comic "above the fold" so that a portion can be seen without scrolling down.

The background looks pretty good as it is, and seems to match the theme of the comic pages themselves. Your navigation buttons seem a bit out of place, though. Try changing them to an icy blue to match the theme you have in the rest of the graphics, rather than the heavy black. The look of them is nice, but the color doesn't mesh.

To add nav buttons above the comments when you treat them as a "comic," what I've been doing is just continually altering a file that has the code for said buttons across the top, and I add the comments below. Autokeen will interpret that code as part of the page when it processes the update, and sticks the buttons in for you.

I know you didn't ask about the comic itself, but since I noticed it I'll mention it to you; the layout of panels on the current page (16) is unclear. Because of the uneven heights horizontally, and the even widths vertically, it looks like the comic should be read top-down in two columns, rather than across (as the dialogue suggests). The others I looked over do seem to be pretty clear. Interesting comic, I think I'll take a look through your archive.

Biev · Post by **Biev** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:55 pm

I think it's fine, easy to navigate, gets the job done.

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:49 pm

Ok - navigation buttons swapped out for something a little more suitable. Once I've shrunk all the stuff at the top (leaderboard, menu buttons), you should be able to see more of the comic 'above the fold'.

And yeah - I know the panel arrangement in #16 is a failure. I thought I needed the space for all the text in the last panel, but it turns out I didn't. Anyway, you live and learn. None of my other comics are/will be confusing like that.

About the comments/nav buttons - So can I use the keen tags (for the nav buttons) on the .txt document? Autokeen will recognise the tags?

Anyway, thanks Moonshadow and Biev for your input.

Take it easy,
Josh

Moonshadow · Post by **Moonshadow** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:47 pm

Just took a look at your new layout, it looks more unified now. ^_^

And yes, if you include the autokeen tags in your text file, it will interpret them as tags and not text. I've been doing it that way on my page for... um... since I started. I forget when. But it's a couple of years or so, with no problems showing up, so it should work just fine for you too. ^_^

(Also, your comic is very entertaining!)

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:31 am

Your main page design requires too much scrolling.

I can barely see your comic on the front page.
I feel the big empty white space with the penguin planted on top of each page is a waste of space.
The white space between the logo and menu and natigation just adds to the already too horizontal layout.
Usually if I don't see something interesting on the front page on an art/media website, I close it o_O
try to move your content upwards so it is visible on one screen when the visitor first sees your website.

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:28 pm

All right Kodama - I'll see if I can make the menu buttons part of the leaderboard - that should free up some space around the top of the page. Do you think it's worth-while having the second set of navigation buttons along the top? Or should I take them out as well?

I dont <i>really</i> want to remove the vikodin logo attached to the comic (I've had good comments about that) but I suppose if it's just wasting space, then I guess I'll have to. Anyone else have any thoughts on that?

Other than that - thanks moonshadow for the tip about keentags in the txt document - very handy!

Thanks all, and take it easy.
Josh

Fourth Floor · Post by **Fourth Floor** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:52 pm

I honestly don't agree about the too much scrolling thing. Do people really hate moving down a page as much? Are we all getting stiffness in our middle fingers from having to work the mouse wheel? The difference between having to tap the space bar/press the down arrow/click the mouse button and not having to do that isn't exactly the same as the difference between getting up to change channels and using a remote. If people like Kodama just glance at the page and close the window it's their loss. Me, I go to comic sites to look at the comic and don't leave until I've seen it. Call me crazy but I'm just like that.

I think your site looks great. Keep the logo where it is because it's a nice introduction to the comic. Personally, I don't have scroll buttons above my comic but then I have a menu down the left-hand side with a button that takes you to the archives so I can't think why anyone would want to scroll backwards through past strips instead of going there. So it's up to you if you want to leave them there. They're good scroll buttons.

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:27 pm

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Fourth Floor. I suppose it's a bit of a compromise - between what the public wants to see, and what the author/site designer wants. I fully understand the importance of having the comic right there on the first page to grab peoples attention though. Hey, like you said - that's why people go to webcomic sites. For the comic.

A menu along the side is a great idea, it keeps it out of the way, but with the current background I have, I was trying to avoid using the blue space. It's a little constricting =/

On a different note - I moved the menu buttons up into the leaderboard (which I like the look of), but can anyone tell me how to get rid of the white line going through it all? Do I have to re-design the images?

Thanks, and take it easy,
Josh

OfNaturalOccurrence · Post by **OfNaturalOccurrence** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:35 am

You should do what I've done on my site; you should make it into an image map. If you google "how to make an image map" or get an image map maker, then you're set.

My site, just to show you what the menu looks like: http://ofnaturaloccurrence.comicgenesis.com
(bear in mind my links don't work yet, only recently got my site)

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:50 pm

Ok, I'll look into imagemapping.
Thanks!

Edit: Imagemapping done! I uploaded a 'test' image with the imagemapping done to it, and I like it. I'll whip up a better image sometime soon.

[geoduck] · Post by **[geoduck]** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:17 pm

Mobi wrote: I dont <i>really</i> want to remove the vikodin logo attached to the comic (I've had good comments about that) but I suppose if it's just wasting space, then I guess I'll have to. Anyone else have any thoughts on that?

I agree that it's slightly annoying to see the name of the comic twice in immediate succession. Maybe you could make "in-comic" name a little smaller and move it to the bottom of the strip, combining it with your copyright statement. Keep the name and number at the top, though.

And while you do feature nice art, you did rather blatently copy Berkley Breathed with that opening "tropical island" gag...

Mobi · Post by **Mobi** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:26 pm

I have to admit, I'd never heard of Berkely Breathed until you mentioned it just now. My apologies to him.
Its damn hard to be original these days.

I'll see what I can do about the repetitive logos.

Thanks,
Josh