Help me make my site better (site critique)

[Zstream]

So I've been working on this project for quite sometime now. As the owner, I'm looking for any advise on layout and organization.

Divided Politics

Let me know what you think.

I appreciate the feedback

 

[Zstream]

Usually everyone is so opinionated around here I would at least expect some sort of crazy reply

 

[sigurros81]

More pictures of naked women needed. I see zero.

 

[Texashiker]

The site is rather "bland"

Needs more contrast between the backgrounds.

More content on the home page

There is nothing that grabs the reader by the balls and gets their attention

 

[rivan]

You have a rhetoric-filled ultra-slanted blog with images like this.

Want a better site? Do some actual journalism and drop the thinking that we need another bitchy, one-sided blog. All you're doing is barfing back up what you see on the same sites the rest of your target audience already looks at.

 

[Zstream]

The site is rather "bland"

Needs more contrast between the backgrounds.

More content on the home page

There is nothing that grabs the reader by the balls and gets their attention

I just changed the entire site, hopefully it's better at grabbing attention.

 

[Zstream]

You have a rhetoric-filled ultra-slanted blog with images like this.

Want a better site? Do some actual journalism and drop the thinking that we need another bitchy, one-sided blog. All you're doing is barfing back up what you see on the same sites the rest of your target audience already looks at.

Yes, I'm aware and this was addressed.

 

[Texashiker]

5 columns? Holy crap,,,, 3 or 4 columns at most

 

[lxskllr]

5 columns? Holy crap,,,, 3 or 4 columns at most

Three columns, with each being specific type material. I didn't really read it. Looks like political crap? Current news to the left. Actionable news in the center. Editorials to the right.

 

[vshah]

load N+1 pages of articles, where N is the current page, so that the user can scroll down one page without pausing for loading.

 

[sourceninja]

Way too busy, no way I would spend time even looking to see if there was anything useful on that site.

 

[clamum]

IMO the site is way too "busy". I guess it's due to the number of columns you have. There must be a way to limit all the stuff on the screen and still have the ability to scroll through the articles. I do like how you auto-load the next set of articles when you scroll down though.

 

[TechBoyJK]

I would say frame the content area so it doesn't grow all the way to the left/right edges. This might reduce the number of columns(a legit complaint, AND focus the reader's eyes to the columns that are left over. You probably also want a bit more space between the left sidebar (navbar) and the actual content.

Lastly, when I hover over an article, the last div "discuss this article in the forums" butts right up against the onHover:border that appears. I'd push that 'discuss this article' div over a few pixels. It just seems shifted left to far.

Basically, It'd tone it down with the columns and overwhelming content, and line things up a bit better. But for what it's trying to achieve, I think it can be functional after a few tweaks.

 

[purbeast0]

Way too busy, no way I would spend time even looking to see if there was anything useful on that site.

this was my first thought as well.

 

[xanis]

UI/UX designer here. This is going to be a bit harsh, but you asked for it.

The biggest problem I have with the site is that it's a content-rich site, but the focus isn't on the content; it's on the gimmicky layout and effects from that JA Wall plugin.

1) Work on your typography. You need more visual separation between headlines, links, and body copy. Right now it all kind of seems to blend together; try using a different typeface for the headlines and make them bigger.

2) Less copy in the homepage article blocks. There's a lot of text on the homepage right now, and I think you'd do well to reduce the amount of intro copy to maybe 5-10 lines.

3) The images all seem kind of bland right now. I'd look for some more eye-catching imagery for your posts.

4) You've got some problems with the responsiveness of the page. This site looks terribad on mobile screens (see here).

5) Why do articles open in a popup? I suppose that this isn't a terrible thing, but if you want to do it you need to work on them a bit to make them a little more pleasant to read.

--

A good site you might want to look at for inspiration is Quartz.

 

[eits]

So I've been working on this project for quite sometime now. As the owner, I'm looking for any advise on layout and organization.

Divided Politics

Let me know what you think.

I appreciate the feedback

i had no idea you lived in st. charles. i live in chesterfield

we should go out for a beer soon... trailhead.

 

[Zstream]

i had no idea you lived in st. charles. i live in chesterfield

we should go out for a beer soon... trailhead.

I've moved cross country now, dangit. I love trailhead, the food and beer is always good

 

[Zstream]

UI/UX designer here. This is going to be a bit harsh, but you asked for it.

The biggest problem I have with the site is that it's a content-rich site, but the focus isn't on the content; it's on the gimmicky layout and effects from that JA Wall plugin.

1) Work on your typography. You need more visual separation between headlines, links, and body copy. Right now it all kind of seems to blend together; try using a different typeface for the headlines and make them bigger.

2) Less copy in the homepage article blocks. There's a lot of text on the homepage right now, and I think you'd do well to reduce the amount of intro copy to maybe 5-10 lines.

3) The images all seem kind of bland right now. I'd look for some more eye-catching imagery for your posts.

4) You've got some problems with the responsiveness of the page. This site looks terribad on mobile screens (see here).

5) Why do articles open in a popup? I suppose that this isn't a terrible thing, but if you want to do it you need to work on them a bit to make them a little more pleasant to read.

--

A good site you might want to look at for inspiration is Quartz.

Thanks! I had the site similar to qz but people didn't like it. I'll take your considerations and make some corrections. It's a work in progress

 

[eits]

I've moved cross country now, dangit. I love trailhead, the food and beer is always good

where do you live now? on "about us," it says you're hq'ed out of st. chuck.

 

[purbeast0]

Thanks! I had the site similar to qz but people didn't like it. I'll take your considerations and make some corrections. It's a work in progress

i personally don't like quartz site either.