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 REVIEW:
Fred follows up on Joyce's
review of
Furry Tree Punk & Metal
Fan Zine
YIKES !
I want to give the devil his dues, here Joyce. YES Tripod spam
is the pits -- it caused Darren's site to clock in at 48 seconds to first content
(28.8 at 6 am EST) and little change... down to 32 seconds (ISDN 128K 6:15 am). So
you see Darren, Tripod is killing you in terms of load time. (They should NOT be
busy at that time of the morning, but the ad was 39K !)
__ But Joyce, it's a
generation thing... my kids (both teens) probably listen to these groups, and as
I watch them surf I realize they never even see the spam. CLICK and it's gone. Max
has gotten so good he knows it's coming -- watch very closely -- he seems to click
even BEFORE the window comes up! WHOA, wish I were that fast... must be youth?
__ One thing I know for
sure. They WILL NOT READ that text. (above) Period. They'll get rid of that text
almost as fast as the spam! Y'know why? Because it looks like work...
They won't read it if it looks like work!
__ I want to focus on the structure
of the site. There are very obvious problems with the implementation -- problems
which really stand in the way of reader "experience".
__ Dropping into a content area (shown above) we're
met with this overpowering left bar layout, with terribly difficult to read typography.
Darren, you've got to get your text
a) away from the border, and
b) easier to read.
Make the column width about half as wide. Kick the type to "normal"
or "4" setting.
__ I know, it's very trendy to do ugly type, and most
will say it's well positioned for the readership. But I challange you to get with
some of your target market and quietly watch as they surf the site. (Wired Magazine
used to brag that their type was all but unreadable. Have you seen Wired today?)
Your content is no good if no one wants to read it.
Now... let's
look at another page...
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