Thread: hello
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Old 03-05-2010, 03:36 PM   #6
MudMann
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Europe
Home MUD: Primordiax
Home MUD: Threshold
Posts: 178
MudMann will become famous soon enough
Re: hello

Critique should you want any, and as you have linked in a public forum, I will exercise my right to speak ^^

1) Text is far too small, with no options to increase it. I am guessing the site is based on a free template program with a built in custom CMS. If you are trying to dip into webdesign, you should go with something like Joomla which combines the ability to have an out the box website, with flexibility to grow your own web design skills. Joomla also conforms to most webdesign standards using a MVC (Model, View, Controller, see ) standard and has built in accessibility and SEO modules.
2) Moving background is annoying as hell, and detracts from reading.
3) Games listings are hidden behind a login screen, people are getting savvy to giving away their email details, and your site in no-way offers any reason to signup. There is certainly no incentive for online games companies to list with you as they will not gain any SEO advantages which is a primary reason for using directory sites such as this one. Content locked away behind a security login is not content that Google (for example) can spider.
4) The site contains popups, dont know what they are, but dont care, my popup blocker stays on. No good site should have popups anymore, you want a seperate screen to popup, use Lightbox.
5) Punctuation / grammer does not scream professional website, will gaming companies want to be listed on your site at all?
6) From a developer perspective, why RUNE? Where is the about the site section.. about us.. why is there a picture of a skier (assumtion due to ski glasses and snow) with a gun?

from a player perspective

1) Do we need another game directory / discussion site? What is your going to offer that is different?


I am not trying to be nasty or critical for the sake of it. I have been designing websites and webbased applications for a long time (199x) and programming for nearly 3 decades. I was discussing web design with Tim Berners Lee when the WWW was so quiet you could pretty much guarantee a response from anyone with a mail address as junk mail just didnt exist ^^... now I feel really old.... I was quite young then and made the mistake of assuming he invented the internet... tut tut.. but I am sure people still make that mistake even today

I am gathering from your posts you are dipping your toe into webdesign, and its best to stamp on bad habits, and bad design early. The quality and standards demanded today in webdesign mean you need to spend more time designing and thinking about accessibility and ease of use of a website before you code a single line.

Keep at it, and if you are serious about webdesign check out articles written by these guys, as they usually will keep you on the straight and narrow. Pick a language to specialise in (I recommend open source such as PHP, but a great commercial one is Coldfusion by Adobe.. a development server is free). Database skills are also pretty much essential (MYSQL, MSSQL).

You can very quickly turn you home pc into a server by installing WAMP, which will quickly and simply give you an Apache / PHP and MYSQL webserver up and running in a few mins.
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