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Help me make my site better (site critique)

Zstream

Zstream

Diamond Member
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
 
Usually everyone is so opinionated around here I would at least expect some sort of crazy reply 🙂
 
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
 
You have a rhetoric-filled ultra-slanted blog with images like this.

150px-ObamaCareSymbol.jpg


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.
 
Texashiker said:
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
Click to expand...

I just changed the entire site, hopefully it's better at grabbing attention.
 
rivan said:
You have a rhetoric-filled ultra-slanted blog with images like this.

150px-ObamaCareSymbol.jpg


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.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm aware and this was addressed.
 
Texashiker said:
5 columns? Holy crap,,,, 3 or 4 columns at most
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Zstream said:
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
Click to expand...

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

we should go out for a beer soon... trailhead.
 
xanis said:
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.
Click to expand...

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 🙂
 
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