I have been working on the new theme for a little while now, not the exact design but more the layout and feature system.
I want the site to be as fast and easy to use as possible. The way I use it is very different from readers, and long term readers ause it very differently from new readers.
Therefore the only way for me to know how you use it is to ask!
I have created a survey which contains 6 compulsory questions. After the 6 questions there is a field for you to enter your email address.
Everybody who completes the survey and enters their email address will be enetered into a draw to win some games.
At this point I have to confess I don’t know which games but there will be a sealed Orange Box, a used Crysis and probably another 5 or 6 used, older games.
You have until 11:59PM 30th April 2009 to complete the survey.
As always, I am interested in hearing your comments about how I can improve the site and would be grateful if you could use the FEEDBACK button on the site.
Use this post to talk about the survey itself.
Robspace1 is the winner, congratualtions to him.
The survey is now closed. Thanks to everybody who participated.
PlanetPhillip (2351)
andyb (1022)
mel (819)
Goddess Alyria (424)
Stef (404)
Jasper (364)
AI (314)
piledriver (311)
Grey Acumen (299)
Kasperg (283)
01 April 2009 at 10:50 pm
i know im old (ive even used mosaic
and my opinion doesnt represent the majority of visitors but heres a few likes and dislikes.
i like a design thats pleasing to the eye but its functional – the latter is more important. i like to find what i want and fast. i personally dont use many modern functions, a clean menu and and a board for the news is good enough for me.
i dont like a cluttered page with many colunms that i all have to read to find the information i need. i dont like those modern sites that are full of flash and when i open three of them my not-so-new but not-so-old pcs processor is at 100%, and i have frequently 10-20 pages simultaneously open.
and please, please, whatever direction you choose to go, always allow right click/open in new tab – another problem with flash based slideshows, so fashionable now – these are killing me 8).
personally i like what planetphillip looks like now although i dont use most of the functionality (and wasnt login on the bottom of the page? it was hard to find).
only one persons opinion, but i guess these are you are interested in 8).
01 April 2009 at 10:52 pm
im logged in and NOW i cant edit my post?
02 April 2009 at 6:22 am
I took the poll, I hope the results are all helpful in the end!
Overall, I like the current aesthetic, so I hope the new design is an evolution of this one, rather than a deviation to something vastly different.
The only thing I really don’t like about the site now has nothing to do with design, really, just the technology it’s running on. I have strange problems with the registration and login system. I registered long ago, but whenever I log in, I’m immediately taken to /wp-admin/ and given the message:
“You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page.”
But it seems to work nonetheless as my name is showed when I post comments.
However, on the comment form, it says:
“Logged in as . Logout >>”
So it displays a blank where it should show my name.
Finally, if I try to log out, I’m taken to /wp_login.php?action=logout and given the message
“You are attempting to log out of PlanetPhillip
Please try again.” (this is a hyperlink that leads back to the page I tried to log out from.)
These problems have persisted for a long time and occur whether I visit the site in Internet Explorer or Firefox.
02 April 2009 at 10:24 am
I participated in the survey, hope it helps out.
I really like the current site. It’s very easy to read and pleasing for the eye. I never liked drop-down menus at the top, but I got used to them, but I hardly ever use them since they are too many navigation and clicks away. The frontpage is where i access most things.
I just recently registered. Kind of late since I have been visiting the site for years now. The reason why I registered is because I visit everyday, but other than that I don’t know why I should register. This is both good and bad. I like how the site is easy to use without having an account, but I think the users should get more. I want to be registered user since I really like this site and its community.
I hope there will be more profile specific features, for both developers and players. Stats for how many of the sites mods that you have played, how you have rated them, what and how many maps and mods you have released, your favorite author, favorite type of themed maps. These are just ideas..
02 April 2009 at 11:38 am
@galocza
The new theme will have two columns; a right hand sidebar with all the main links and information and a left hand content column. The content column will be the same width as it is now.
I disabled comment editing because it slowed the site down.
@MattyDienhoff
Sorry to hear about your login and out troubles. I presume you have tried clearing your cache etc. Other than that I can’t help at this point. WordPress is not perfect for my needs but it is very flexible. I would certainly considering changing platforms if the new platform did what I needed it to do and was easy to import.
@WizardExt
There are few, if any, benefits to registering so don’t worry about not doing for so long. I feel very strongly that a site should make things easy for readers not put obstacles in their way.
The ideas you mention about the profile have been discussed before but it simply comes down to code. I am not a coder and finding a good one to do things for me for free is impossible. I recently got a quote to add tags to the comments and it was 2,000 dollars, which is obviously WAY out of my price range!
If i win the lottery then things like that will be a reality.
I’ll post the results of the survey at the end of the month but here’s what I have gleaned so far:
Most visitors have been coming for more than a year
Most visitors visit everyday (That’s important for the archives)
Most visitors don’t use RSS (80%)
Most visitors have been playing mods for more than 3 years
Everybody visits the frontpage
The Spreadsheet is very rarely used. (I’ll probably drop this feature because it would be a LOT of work to bring it up to date)
More readers use the Alphabetcial listing than the Chronological, which is really surprising.
Most other features are used a little, even the TAG system, which is a shame because I feel that is really useful.
Thanks to everybody who has completed the survey so far.
02 April 2009 at 2:59 pm
i might be able to explain the alphabetical vs chronological thing on my own example, backed up by this surveys data.
guy likes hl2. guy wants more, looks for mods. finds this site and browses through it alphabetically (at least i did), because its easy to remember where did he left off. guy goes through the mod list.
guy gets addicted to the site, visits daily (bookmarking the front page) so he can see the latest additions, never goes back to the lists.
three of the partial results fit into this theory + my own experience 8).
04 April 2009 at 9:29 am
Hi Phillip,
The quote you got for the coding sounds reasonable. But don’t forget that you have visitors to the site that may have the skills to do it without asking for payment…
Is the source code available? Feel free to contact me directly at the email attached to this comment and we can discuss this – and other features that you may want to add. I’m quite busy so it may take a while to get it done but it’s free
Kalkin
06 April 2009 at 3:27 pm
Also completed the survey.
I have nothing to complain really. The site works fine for me the way it is.
I rarely complain about websites. What I really like about this site as it is, is the fact I never feel i’m missing something. The main page is what does it for me. it’s clean, I can see any new updates very easily and it just works.
I can’t say more then this, i’m not much of an expert. I just go to sites and browse them.
This site’s functionality is one I really enjoy.
I also hope you wont ruin it with flash based stuff, so right clicking it will be useless, I hate it when I can’t right click on links.
I agree with galocza with what he said.
06 April 2009 at 7:55 pm
Don’t worry I have no plans to use flash on the frontpage, just for the panoramic images within certain posts.
My objective for the new theme is easy navigation and simple layout.
03 May 2009 at 12:56 pm
Drum Roll Please……
The Winner is Robspace1!
Thanks to everybody who completed the survey, it will make the site better.