DustyPigeon
Tender vittles  Posts: 3 Registered: 8/19/2006 Offline
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8/19/2006 at 09:40 |
This is my attempt to find interesting anecdotes and amusing true stories.
http://www.anecdota.org
I think it is fairly functional and usable but it's also a bit plain. What would be a good way of making it more interesting? I don't want to turn it into a 500KB behemoth and I don't want it to look garish, loud or busy. Maybe some different colours, background images or topic icons?
Any other suggestions and improvements welcome too.
DP
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dragonstaff
Too old to Rock and Roll...too young to die   SSHOLEPosts: 741 Registered: 8/19/2004 Offline
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8/19/2006 at 12:40 |
I like it just the way it is. The content, whilst mainly linked from other sites, is a good read, and having it all in one place is convenient.
All in all, one of the better sites put up for review lately.
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jwalker
Token Discordian  SSHOLEPosts: 946 Registered: 8/6/2005 Offline
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8/19/2006 at 16:23 |
Pretty good.
Have you had any issues with copyright, or do you not have to worry because you only reproduce a portion of the story?
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Clavis_Apocalypticae
Beautiful Puppet of Chaos  SSHOLEPosts: 749 Registered: 5/16/2004 Offline
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8/19/2006 at 16:36 |
Whoa, an "anecdote" aggregator.
It's like blogging for the lazy.
Color me underwhelmed.
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DustyPigeon
Tender vittles Posts: 3 Registered: 8/19/2006 Offline
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8/19/2006 at 17:58 |
Have you had any issues with copyright, or do you not have to worry because you only reproduce a portion of the story?
It is my understanding that 'fair use' allows for the quoting of a portion of text; this is a no-brainer when it comes to long stories as I can quote a paragraph or two then provide a link to the source webpage, which may also contain similar anecdotes. If the whole anecdote is only a few paragraphs then I quote the entire thing to save the hassle of clicking (but with a source URL still provided).
Whoa, an "anecdote" aggregator.
It's like blogging for the lazy.
Color me underwhelmed.
Heh, there's nothing lazy about this. I'm trawling newsgroups, blogs and websites looking for anecdotes - weeding out the non-anecdote material and unfunny stuff. Long, hard, monotonous work. My eventual goal is to unearth and reveal old and obscure anecdotes that don't get as much publicity as something like "the time my Dell laptop's battery exploded".
I think I get where you're coming from, and I agree that blogs that do nothing more than quote other blogs are a waste of bandwidth, but my website does a lot more than that. Sure, if I saw an anecdote on Digg (or whatever) I wouldn't turn it down, but I'm also including content that wouldn't normally get aired. Note that I don't actually receive any submissions (yet).
Clavis: do you like the anecdotes themselves? (not just on the front page, but in random categories too)
DP
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Mofo
dont give a shit  SSHOLEPosts: 423 Registered: 2/8/2004 Offline
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8/20/2006 at 02:10 |
Haha. I was about to say "MOAR ADS" before I saw the google ads.. Guess I just ignore them now.
Make a random anecdote script. If you need help, several people here know php. |
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Lefen
I think Clavis wins my heart <3  SSHOLEPosts: 896 Registered: 9/16/2003 Offline
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8/20/2006 at 07:05 |
I don't like all that space between your left and right columns; your layout looks too blocky and unfinished.
And then I reach the bottom of the page and I want to click Next to visit the next page of anecdotes, and there isn't a Next button at the bottom of the page. So I think that there's no more content and I hit X; your left menu is not a substitute for paging, inlcude both.
I suppose the muted colourscheme is fine, but the thing is rather boring to look at and contributes to an overall amateur feel to the page (along with the layout). Maybe consider a graphical header and/or some tasefully-used gradient effects to make all those blocks of text interesting to look at?
Best of luck, internets is hard :< |
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DustyPigeon
Tender vittles Posts: 3 Registered: 8/19/2006 Offline
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8/20/2006 at 10:21 |
I don't like all that space between your left and right columns; your layout looks too blocky and unfinished.
*nod* I would like to do rounded borders but until CSS3 comes out there isn't a simple way of doing this. I haven't decided whether I want to use a workaround in the meantime. I don't like kludges and stuff like that (HTML/CSS idealist). Having said that, I'm not 100% certain my webpage is valid. Hmm..
And then I reach the bottom of the page and I want to click Next to visit the next page of anecdotes, and there isn't a Next button at the bottom of the page. So I think that there's no more content and I hit X; your left menu is not a substitute for paging, inlcude both.
Noted. There are links like that at the bottom of the busier topics (e.g. work) but not on the front page. I think I'll try implementing that.
I suppose the muted colourscheme is fine, but the thing is rather boring to look at and contributes to an overall amateur feel to the page (along with the layout). Maybe consider a graphical header and/or some tasefully-used gradient effects to make all those blocks of text interesting to look at?
Originally I had a colourful (*too* colourful?) 'tag cloud' in the sidebar (http://www.anecdota.org/cloud.html), and on the topic pages each anecdote had a different coloured background (but very subtle pastel shades). I considered adding an image background to the header but wasn't sure how to best illustrate 'anecdotes' - possibly a page from a book (the actual text would be irrelevant) although to be pedantic my website doesn't get its anecdotes from books... I might try a montage of webpages instead.
I think some more icons or graphics would look nice. Maybe my website should have a (don't shudder) "Web 2.0" appearance - rounded, colourful, soft.
Best of luck, internets is hard :<
Cheers! Every time I redesign my website I think, "Well, that's finished FOR GOOD"... until I redesign it again.
DP
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Egaladeist
Tender vittles Got Textwar? Posts: 45 Registered: 8/9/2006 Offline
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9/1/2006 at 10:55 |
It looks fine...for a site like that it serves the purpose...you don't want to detract from the content by putting in more eye candy.
All-in-all I think it's very well put together...if you're looking for perfection you're never going to find it...every site has issues to somebody...
if you like it...and it the content is good and readable...that's more than a lot of sites out there.
Eg :FARTBANG:
For instance...has anyone here ever really looked at your options? I personally find this gray on black a major eye strain...so...I went to look at your options...and every option I looked at either the titles or the stats on the bottom can't be read.
It's a great site...but your template choices and text colors need some work.
And...it might be worth noting...not everyone who comes here is 14 years old with 20-20 vision.
On 2006-09-01 at 06:15:29, Egaladeist wistfully remembered Bowie's codpiece in Labyrinth
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azron123
I can break you with my mind. Watch, I'll do it.  SSHOLEPosts: 1505 Registered: 3/6/2003 Offline
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9/1/2006 at 12:42 |
This is my attempt to find interesting anecdotes and amusing true stories.
http://www.anecdota.org
I think it is fairly functional and usable but it's also a bit plain. What would be a good way of making it more interesting? I don't want to turn it into a 500KB behemoth and I don't want it to look garish, loud or busy. Maybe some different colours, background images or topic icons?
Any other suggestions and improvements welcome too.
DP
The site looks fine. The trouble with anecdotes is that most people are anecdotally vacant. Maybe you could be a little more selective. If not maybe you could add some pics of large boobies.
I liek boobies
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baesparza
Tender vittles  Posts: 27 Registered: 8/5/2006 Offline
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9/4/2006 at 22:16 |
I like the site. Not too goopy. But, hard to dance to.
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JohnLenin
Putting the semen in amusement  SSHOLEPosts: 1017 Registered: 7/8/2005 Offline
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9/4/2006 at 22:23 |
not enough pork 
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