New Look
';I’m experimenting with this new theme for the site, and want your feedback.
Note: It still needs some tweeking, such as the inclusion of my banner, but I am interested in your opinion on the general look and feel, navigation, and load time.
Sphere: Related Content
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.
March 16th, 2008 at 12:21 am
i just wrote a post, and deleted it with this new “reset” gadget ;9 i guess, we’ll have to get used to it.
i like the new layout, it loads fast, looks nice and clean and the flash thingy on top with recent posts is neat.
colors, though? maybe we need more “israeli” colors?
March 16th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Of course I would not keep these colors, and make it “less dull.”
I am more interested in your feedback on the features slideshow at the top, navigation, and load times.
March 16th, 2008 at 1:00 am
I actually like the dull colors. And for me, “Aussie Dave” is a trademark just like white-and-blue
I found your previous design a bit too busy. This one is airier. I’m curious to see how it will look in the end.
March 16th, 2008 at 1:26 am
1. The width should not be fixed. Make the site not break at (almost) any width. Horizontal scrolling is evil.
2. The font size of the main content (articles) should not be defined. Make them “1 em” and let the users decide at which size they read the articles.
3. The colors are bland. The blue and white of the Israeli flag would be fitting.
Thanks for your great service to humankind!
March 16th, 2008 at 1:42 am
The site looks more professional, but I miss the aussie/israeli touch it had before.
March 16th, 2008 at 3:42 am
Upload time was very quick, but im in Israel. The flash is changing too fast….hard to read the captions in such a short time and i dont like the header……a bit plain.
March 16th, 2008 at 6:02 am
I miss the koala.
On the upside Natalie Portman was a welcome distraction.
very professional, I had to do a double take just to make sure I was on the right website and not CNN or something.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Loads faster. Looks clean.
Suggestion: whatever banner you use, make it smaller than the original one.
Thanks for the work!
March 16th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Also, “Recent Comments” should appear on article pages, not just on the home page.
About your “Support IC” banners: do you really make any money off of those? If not, consider moving them lower down the righthand column. If yes, then keep on truckin’!
March 16th, 2008 at 9:47 am
No koala at top, bummer. It loaded fast for me. Also, I’m not seeing any avatars, and I wanted to test mine (unoriginal though it is) that I went off and got after reading your gravatar post, but maybe it’s just my computer settings preventing such images, don’t know.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
The site looked way better before. IMHO. But as long as you keep up with the great content. I will keep coming back here everyday.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I like it. As long as you put back your banner (which you said you would), it is fine. It loaded must faster than before. Keep up the great content. No matter what you do, that’s what keeps all of us coming back for more. I really like the feature on top. It makes your website look sharper.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
It looks clean and crisp. It loaded quickly. I am not a fan of fancy web pages. I like simple and to the point which this is.
Stan
March 16th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
are you still 33 years old?
March 16th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Looks very tidy. FOr me what makes the page longer to load is all the sponsor widgets (amazon, etc…). Probably can’t do much about it though…
Oh, where is my gravatar? :o)
Anyway, like all the others said, only the content matters! So keep up the good work !
March 17th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Possible bug. Didn’t happen yesterday. Now, when I post successfully, my browser window goes blank and I do not return back to the article page I posted from.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I will look into it when I get the chance.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’m getting a blank page after posting a message and I’m not being forwarded automatically to either the hp or the particular article.
For the rest: thumbs up!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
(blank page in IE6, btw).
And something else: can’t you make the pictures above referring to articles clickable?
March 17th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I really like the new look, but I’ve been reading Israellycool on RSS for several months. It’d be great if you could make the feed look like the page.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I really like the new look. Don’t change a thing…..Quicker load time, crisp, clean.. Has that new car feel….
March 17th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Heya Dave!
Nice work… here is the feedback.
Good:
> The widget showing the latest 3 stories is awseome!
> Simple and good looking design.
Not Good:
> You can expand the box to comment in so wide that you can’t see the edge of the comment box even wider that the screen width so that you can’t see the edge of the comment box any more.
> I prefer the comment links at the bottom of a post (aka, once I have read the article I comment) rather than at the top (aka. commenting before I read the article or having to read the article and scroll back to the top to find the comments link).
March 17th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Thanks for the comments so far. It might take a while to implement some of the changes, due to the fact I am no expert at this. Volunteers are welcome.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
The Gravatars are now back!
March 18th, 2008 at 2:37 am
I like most of it. What is not convenient is the Share This. I would like to be able to choose where and when I send links to your page, without going through a sharing site. I don’t choose to hit other people over the head with a hammer with alternative opinions. As such, I would like to be able to send a specific URL in an email to somebody that may not be like-minded, yet might be open-minded. Is there a way for me, as an example, to send a URL to the Doron Mahareta posting, that then allows a visitor to choose for themselves about exploring the page? That would be useful, for me, and I don’t spy an easy answer.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:57 am
maybe you should change the colors a little to highlught the articles so it doesnt all run together. idk, just a suggestion. also some colors and koalas would be nice. maybe a kangaroo too, just because kangaroos are awesome
March 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
The comments should now be working fine, without the problem of the blank page after posting a message. This seems to have been caused by the Popularity plugin.
On the downside, there is no longer a view on the most popular posts.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Test.
No view of the “most popular posts”? There’s not view now of the “most recent posts”. They appear for a second when the home page is loading and disappear around when the ad graphics display.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
It’s working for me. The view is in the Latest tab.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:06 am
The problem of the blank screen after posting is back.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Um. No it’s not, though it happened to me a minute ago.