View Full Version : My new website
Agrajag
09-08-2009, 04:01 PM
Hey guys
I've recently started up my own website to present all of the games and other things that I've made. I'm not trying to sell them, just get them out there more. Tell all your friends.
Here is the link: http://agrajagstowel.webs.com/
Please check it out and let me know what I can do to make it extra awesome.
dislekcia
09-08-2009, 04:30 PM
Having a site is cool and it's good that you're putting your stuff out there more... But that system is really confusing to navigate. Stuff keeps not being where you'd expect it to be on the screen after you've clicked it (due to other elements staying on the screen) and the menus are really small and non-obvious for subsections. It took me a while to figure out there was actual info about your games instead of just a games section - tags is not a good name for a menu.
Cyberninja
09-08-2009, 05:31 PM
It's kinda plain, dude. The "look" doesn't really say anything about you or your interests. It looks way too clinical. Inject some more personality into it, yo. That blue is really cool, but that banner isn't. Make a proper one. You could even create a nice towel logo for your site, if you're feeling creative. The layout could also use some work and that transitional effect (the grey rectangle) really cheapens the site, to be honest. Have a look at other website designs, you can find plenty of inspiration out there, if you look hard enough. :)
goleastro
09-08-2009, 09:12 PM
You have some good ideas man, it's just like Cyberninja and dislekcia said, it is confusing to find your way around and it is not attractive. If someone somehow ends up on you website by mistake, hes not going to stop a look what it's about, hes just going to carry on browsing other things. Give the home page some bang and make the collums on the sides have bigger writing. But i commend you on what you are doing, good job.
Agrajag
09-08-2009, 11:46 PM
Thanks for the great response so far. I've started trying to make changes already. However, I've built the whole website using an open source javascript program called TiddlyWiki (www.tiddlywiki.com) so I don't always know exactly which bit of the code to change to make it do what I want.
Dislekcia, I've taken out the menus in the bottom right that are really there for editing purposes so they shouldn't be there anyway. Is it looking a bit better now? I'm still going to figure out the best way to change the heading in the categories to make it more obvious that there is a separate page for each game. I'm also going to try to be a bit more aware of the interface and see if I can find a more intuitive way for it to work.
Cyberninja, I'm not generally very good with aesthetics but now that I see the issues I'll try my best to improve it. I'll also dig through the source code and see if I can eliminate the grey rectangle altogether. About the towel logo, there is actually one already on the home page. I agree that the site's look needs work, I'm learning as I go along.
Goleastro, thanks for the comment on making the menu bar bigger. That could be a useful way to make the system a bit more intuitive since it does depend on people noticing the menu.
Thanks again for the comments. The feedback is really useful.
Nandrew
10-08-2009, 12:12 AM
I'm going to +1 dislekcia's feedback. Cyberninja's advice, although very correct, isn't the critical point at the moment. I'm a (poor) design student, so I've been drilled on the importance of good presentation, but I'll opt for functionality first in this case.
Preferably (and this is in fact the most likely option), your site will be marketed on the merit of your games, which means that people will first see them posted on a forum or a review website and THEN follow those links to your own page. At this stage, navigation and intuitiveness will be key: the person who bothered to follow the link to your site is already sold on your game concept and will generally forgive unprettiness as long as they can hit the download link and explore your site without errors or confusion.
A lot of game developers have minimalist websites, and most of them are simple blogs. Some even pride themselves on said crudeness. Here's a few examples:
Auntie Pixelante (http://www.auntiepixelante.com/). Banner, plain white backgrounds, and all-lowercase text. Whoah.
Erik Svedang (http://eriksvedang.wordpress.com/blueberrygarden/) Standard Wordpress template. Red background. The banner is just the words "Erik Svedang". It's good enough.
Cactus (http://cactusquid.blogspot.com/) OH GOD PURPLE TEXT ON PINK BACKGROUND, WHAT THE **** WAS HE THINKING? Hey, still works.
Not to say that you shouldn't put a bit of pretty-work in when you have the time, but don't make it a priority. Make it navigable, then make it visible. The rest comes later. ;)
Bonezmann
10-08-2009, 09:51 PM
I know this is Agrajag's time to shine and all, but I'd like to use this oppertunity(<_spelling?) to shamelessly add a link to my own blog/site I recently started: www.bonezmannsgamez.iblog.co.za
It's not much but it's there. :)
Now, to Agrajag's site. Your site is a tad confusing, I'm wasn't sure what happens where at first, it took me a while to figure it all out. Make your site a tad simpler by taking the advice the others gave you already. :)
Agrajag
11-08-2009, 09:48 PM
Thanks for the functionality first advice, Nandrew. I've stopped using the funny tagging system in favour of manually set up tables. Hopefully this will make the whole thing look a little less confusing since I've indicated in the table headings "(click for more info)". Is it clear that the bar on the left is a menu bar?
The thing I'm still a bit worried about now is the way that the pages open without the others closing. Is this a distracting point? Is that making the site confusing? I looked around this morning but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to stop it short of editing the source code, and I don't have much experience with Javascript.
On Cyberninja's advice, I removed the transition effect (honestly, I had it off the whole time, it's just that those settings are saved in your browser. All I needed to do was find the way to change the default).
Bonezmann, I like your blog/site. The biggest advice I can give you there is to put up links to downloads. You talk about your portfolio of games, let people who come across your blog try them out.
Also, try to be a bit more active. I saw you have 3 posts: 2 on the first day and 1 more than a month later. Set an interval at which you are going to blog (once a week, once every two weeks, something like that) and stick to it. This way it will seem less like the site is dead and people are more likely to come back to see what's new regularly (at least, I think they will. I don't have any readers on my own blog yet...) Best of luck with it.
Nandrew
11-08-2009, 10:24 PM
Sweet.
Regarding what you guys are saying about garnering readers: remember that people will usually come to your blog with a purpose, and that it'll rarely attract readers passively. I've been maintaining my own blog for a while (which is tapering off since I stopped actively travelling), and it's aimed purely at a circle of friends who are interested in keeping up with me. My current tactic wouldn't work for a promotional vehicle of any kind, though I'm quite happy with that.
So two points to bear in mind when you're hungrily looking for readers:
(1) Your blog's primary value is as a portfolio device. If you're looking for a career in writing, you advertise your blog to potential employers when they ask for your experience and previous work. Experts agree: it counts. Especially since it's a good way for people to see how you write in a "relaxed" state. Which leads on to:
(2) If your angle is game development, your blog will be something you tack on at the end to strengthen and support a game submission. In other words, if you ever make an announcement on a forum about your game, or fire off an e-mail to somebody you want to review your game, it'll go kinda like this:
Blah blah game stuff.
... if you want further information, media or background details on this product, check out my blog at <here>.
This is in contrast to the more detached:
Blah blah game stuff.
Hey, also, I have a blog <here>!
... or even worse:
Blah blah I have a blog with games on it <here>.
People aren't going to play your games because they like your blog. They're going to like your blog because they play your games. Does this make sense?
Also, +1 on that recommendation of post regularity that you made. People tend to check more often when they know your established schedule. It's simple, really: you'd feel less inclined to load up a page if it's a gamble when it comes to seeing new content. If somebody goes through the effort of typing in an URL, it's because they expect something from it.
I'm not actually aiming this advice at any particular individual. You may or may not be aware of these points already. But the subject was going there, and I like to waffle about this sort of thing. :3
Bonezmann
11-08-2009, 10:55 PM
Agrajag, I'm posting on my blog as much as I can. :) Thing is, I'm not really 'developing' that much at the moment as I don't have too much time, thus there is no news to post. Also, what Nandrew said about the references to your blog is absolutely true. A blog can be a very good reference if you're aiming at a 'writing' career, I was once invited to the a game launch because of my gaming blog(where I review games).
dislekcia
12-08-2009, 05:05 AM
Nandrew, you're really taking your "exposure" role seriously! Great advice :)
Cyberninja
12-08-2009, 02:38 PM
On Cyberninja's advice, I removed the transition effect (honestly, I had it off the whole time, it's just that those settings are saved in your browser. All I needed to do was find the way to change the default).
It looks much better now. :) The site looks much more cleaner.
I suggest you listen to Nandrew and focus more on the functionality aspect. With website design, functionality/usability always comes first. The "pretty" comes later. ;)
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4 Copyright © 2019 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.